Name:
Acer saccharum - Tilia americana / Asimina triloba / Jeffersonia diphylla - Caulophyllum thalictroides Forest
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This community type occurs on mesic lower slopes at low elevations, over nutrient-rich substrates in the Ridge and Valley, Cumberlands, Central Appalachians, and Piedmont. Soils may be derived from limestone, dolomite, shale, siltstone, and various metamorphic and igneous rocks. Rock outcrops and bouldery colluvium are often prominent, but the soils supporting this unit are apparently deep, dark, and very fertile, with high mean pH and Ca levels. Canopy composition is mixed and variable, but either <i>Acer saccharum var. saccharum</i> or <i>Acer nigrum</i>, or both, are consistently important and characteristic. <i>Carya cordiformis, Celtis occidentalis, Fraxinus americana, Liriodendron tulipifera, Quercus muehlenbergii, Quercus rubra, Tilia americana</i>, and <i>Ulmus rubra</i> are frequent canopy associates. From the James River south, <i>Aesculus flava</i> is a frequent canopy associate. The most typical and abundant shrub layer species are <i>Asimina triloba</i> and <i>Lindera benzoin</i>, with shrub layers usually somewhat to very open (mean stratum cover = 35%). The herb layer is dense (>80% cover) and contains a number of leafy early-flowering species, among the most abundant of which are <i>Jeffersonia diphylla, Hydrophyllum canadense</i>, and <i>Caulophyllum thalictroides</i>. Somewhat more delicate spring ephemerals that are frequent to locally abundant include <i>Chaerophyllum procumbens var. procumbens, Delphinium tricorne, Dicentra canadensis, Dicentra cucullaria, Erigenia bulbosa, Erythronium americanum ssp. americanum, Floerkea proserpinacoides, Mertensia virginica, Phlox divaricata, Sanguinaria canadensis</i>, and <i>Trillium sessile</i>. Additional characteristic herbs are <i>Asarum canadense, Carex albursina, Carex jamesii, Cystopteris protrusa, Hydrophyllum virginianum, Impatiens pallida, Osmorhiza claytonii, Osmorhiza longistylis</i>, and <i>Viola pubescens var. scabriuscula</i>.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:36479-{0D08FFFB-39BB-4C8F-9549-24BEC69C6B99}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
37
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