Name:
Liriodendron tulipifera - Tilia americana var. heterophylla - Aesculus flava Forest Alliance
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This alliance represents the mixed mesophytic forests of the Southern Blue Ridge, Appalachian Plateau, and adjacent ecoregions, with highly variable and diverse canopies, often with no clear canopy dominant. They are locally referred to as "cove forests." Characteristic canopy species include <i>Acer saccharum, Aesculus flava, Liriodendron tulipifera</i>, and <i>Tilia americana var. heterophylla</i>. Other species that may occur in the canopy include <i>Acer nigrum, Carya cordiformis, Halesia tetraptera var. monticola, Fraxinus americana</i>, and <i>Quercus rubra</i>. Species composition varies with geology and/or elevation. Shrub strata are open to sparse and can include <i>Hydrangea arborescens</i> or <i>Lindera benzoin</i>. Herbaceous strata are typically lush and diverse. Species commonly found include <i>Actaea racemosa, Asarum canadense, Caulophyllum thalictroides, Hydrophyllum canadense, Hydrophyllum virginianum, Laportea canadensis</i>, and <i>Sanguinaria canadensis</i>. However, the herbaceous layer is usually very diverse and variable. A partial list of other typical species includes <i>Adiantum pedatum, Ageratina altissima var. roanensis, Arisaema triphyllum, Carex plantaginea, Cystopteris protrusa, Delphinium tricorne, Dicentra canadensis, Dicentra cucullaria, Hepatica nobilis var. acuta, Impatiens capensis, Impatiens pallida, Osmorhiza claytonii, Polystichum acrostichoides, Prosartes lanuginosa, Tiarella cordifolia, Trillium erectum, Trillium grandiflorum</i>, and <i>Viola canadensis</i>. Examples of this alliance mainly occur on sites that are protected, mesic, and at low to moderate elevation (610-1370 m [2000-4500 feet]), primarily broad coves and lower slopes. Forests in this alliance are known from the Southern Blue Ridge of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, and the Cumberland Mountains of Kentucky, extending north at least through Virginia on the Northern Blue Ridge, as well as west into the Interior Low Plateau of southern Indiana, southern Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. More information is needed to characterize forests provisionally assigned to this alliance that occur in the Allegheny Plateau of West Virginia and Ohio and in Indiana, as well as in New Jersey and Connecticut.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:38034-{0002E636-65A9-4025-907C-8B3F18E370E6}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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