Name:
Lyonia lucida - Ilex glabra - Cyrilla racemiflora Bog & Fen Macrogroup
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
The vegetation of this wetland macrogroup is predominantly dense shrubland. Primarily evergreen shrubs and <i>Smilax laurifolia</i> vines dominate. The characteristic shrubs include <i>Cyrilla racemiflora, Ilex coriacea, Ilex glabra, Lyonia lucida</i>, and <i>Zenobia pulverulenta</i>, which occur along with <i>Smilax laurifolia</i>. The most characteristic tree is <i>Pinus serotina</i>; other scattered trees include <i>Gordonia lasianthus, Magnolia virginiana</i>, and <i>Persea palustris</i>. Herbs are scarce, but small patches dominated by <i>Woodwardia virginica, Carex striata, Sarracenia flava</i>, and <i>Sarracenia purpurea</i> are frequent in some examples. Mosses such as <i>Sphagnum</i> spp. may be common in patches. Under pre-European settlement fire regimes, stands of <i>Arundinaria tecta</i> (canebrakes) would have been more common and extensive, and herbaceous patches would have been more extensive. The vegetation of this macrogroup includes wetlands of organic soils, occurring on broad flats or gentle basins, primarily on the outer terraces of the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the Carolinas and southeastern Virginia, and also parts of the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains further south and west to Georgia and Alabama and possibly Mississippi. Soil saturation, sheetflow, and peat depth create a distinct gradient in structure within pocosins, with the tallest statured woody vegetation on the edges and shortest in the center. Catastrophic fires are important in this macrogroup, naturally occurring at moderate frequency. Fires generally burn all above-ground vegetation in large patches, creating a shifting mosaic. Vegetation structure and biomass recover rapidly in most of the burned areas, primarily by sprouting. In the Upper East Gulf Coastal Plain of Alabama, adjacent Georgia, and possibly Mississippi, the wetlands generally occur in small patches on slopes within a matrix of <i>Pinus palustris</i>-dominated vegetation. Wetland conditions are maintained by seepage flow from adjacent uplands. Examples of this macrogroup can vary between densely shrubby and fairly open and herbaceous, depending on frequency of fire and amount of elapsed time since the previous fires.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:40482-{F8867076-AD70-46A3-A0E1-644318B46C6A}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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