Name:
Acer (rubrum, saccharinum) - Fraxinus pennsylvanica - Ulmus americana / Boehmeria cylindrica Floodplain Forest
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This swamp forest ranges from New Jersey and Pennsylvania, south to West Virginia and Kentucky, primarily in the Lower New England / Northern Piedmont, Piedmont, and Central Appalachian ecoregions. It occupies poorly drained backswamps, sloughs, abandoned oxbows, and depressions of large-stream and river floodplains. Soils are flooded at least early in the growing season, and water may be ponded in shallow hollows for most of the year. The overstory is dominated by variable combinations of <i>Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Acer rubrum</i>, and <i>Acer saccharinum</i>, with <i>Ulmus americana</i> as a common overstory and understory associate. In Virginia and Maryland, <i>Acer saccharinum</i> is most characteristic of large-river (e.g., the James and Potomac) floodplains, where <i>Acer rubrum</i> is nearly absent. On the smaller order streams that support this type, <i>Acer saccharinum</i> is usually absent. In central Kentucky, <i>Platanus occidentalis</i> may also be a canopy component. The shrub layer is typically very sparse or absent, but <i>Cephalanthus occidentalis</i> may be a component of this stratum. Vines, especially <i>Toxicodendron radicans, Parthenocissus quinquefolia</i>, and <i>Vitis</i> spp., are common. The herb layer is usually moderately dense or dense except in deeper hollows. <i>Boehmeria cylindrica, Impatiens capensis, Cinna arundinacea, Geum canadense, Glyceria striata, Leersia virginica, Polygonum arifolium, Polygonum punctatum, Pilea pumila, Lobelia cardinalis, Saururus cernuus, Commelina virginica, Carex stipata, Carex grayi, Carex tribuloides, Carex crinita</i>, and <i>Carex lupulina</i> are characteristic species. In the northern part of the range, examples may contain patches of <i>Symplocarpus foetidus</i>.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:35176-{0C52381B-6C20-44E3-95DE-2760660C1EDE}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
9
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