Print Report

CEGL002217 Tripsacum dactyloides - Panicum virgatum - Sorghastrum nutans - Helianthus maximiliani Grassland

Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Eastern Gamagrass - Switchgrass - Indiangrass - Maximilian Sunflower Grassland

Colloquial Name: Gamagrass - Switchgrass Tallgrass Prairie

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This tallgrass community of the Crosstimbers/Southern Tallgrass is dominated by Tripsacum dactyloides and Panicum virgatum occurring with Sorghastrum nutans, Carex microdonta, Schizachyrium scoparium, Sporobolus compositus, Paspalum floridanum, and Andropogon gerardii. Important forbs include Symphyotrichum ericoides, Acacia angustissima var. hirta, Rudbeckia hirta, and Helianthus maximiliani. This community occurs on poorly drained or subirrigated soils and flat topography on the Blackland and Fayette prairie regions of Texas. Similar communities may exist as small patches in Oklahoma and Kansas. Gilgai microtopography, with circular depressions and ridges, is characteristic of this community where it occurs over Vertisols.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: This community may occur broadly on Alfisols, Mollisols, and Vertisols, including riparian strips along drainages within a matrix of Schizachyrium scoparium-dominated grasslands. On Vertisols, this type is found on upland sites with gilgai microtopography. In such locations Tripsacum dactyloides is generally associated with and dominant within microlows, while Andropogon gerardii, Schizachyrium scoparium, Sorghastrum nutans, and Sporobolus compositus are associated with the microhighs. Panicum virgatum may be represented in both the robust, glaucous, bottomland type as well as the spreading, clonal, upland variety (J. Eidson pers. comm.). Depending upon management history and weather conditions, Panicum virgatum cover can be quite variable temporally, ranging from dominance to only marginal importance. A similar community, ~Tripsacum dactyloides - Sporobolus compositus var. compositus Grassland (CEGL004036)$$, dominated by Tripsacum dactyloides and Sporobolus compositus var. compositus, which occurs on drier areas adjacent to the type described here, may represent broad variation within a single type. In northern Texas, on gilgai topography, this type is severely threatened with invasion by Schedonorus arundinaceus and may be rapidly overtaken by woody species if appropriate management is lacking. Similar communities occur over poorly drained soils north of Texas and into Kansas and Nebraska. Tripsacum dactyloides may become an indicator for the unglaciated wet-mesic prairie type in the Midwest.

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available

Floristics: This tallgrass community of the Crosstimbers/Southern Tallgrass is dominated by Tripsacum dactyloides and Panicum virgatum occurring with Sorghastrum nutans, Carex microdonta, Schizachyrium scoparium, Sporobolus compositus, Paspalum floridanum, and Andropogon gerardii. Important forbs include Symphyotrichum ericoides (= Aster ericoides), Acacia angustissima var. hirta, Rudbeckia hirta, and Helianthus maximiliani. On Vertisols, with gilgai microtopography, Tripsacum dactyloides is generally associated with and dominant within microlows, while Andropogon gerardii, Schizachyrium scoparium, Sorghastrum nutans, and Sporobolus compositus are associated with the microhighs. Panicum virgatum may be represented in both the robust, glaucous, bottomland type as well as the spreading, clonal, upland variety (J. Eidson pers. comm.). Depending upon management history and weather conditions, Panicum virgatum cover can be quite variable temporally, ranging from dominance to only marginal importance.

Dynamics:  No Data Available
Environmental Description:  This community occurs on poorly drained or subirrigated soils and flat topography on the Blackland and Fayette prairie regions of Texas. This community may occur broadly on Alfisols, Mollisols, and Vertisols, including riparian strips along drainages within a matrix of Schizachyrium scoparium-dominated grasslands. Gilgai microtopography, with circular depressions and ridges, is characteristic of this community where it occurs over Vertisols.
Geographic Range: This community occurs on the Blackland, Fayette, and Upper Coastal prairies of eastern Texas. Similar communities may exist as small patches in Oklahoma and Kansas.

Nations: US

States/Provinces:  OK, TX


Confidence Level: Moderate

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G1

Greasons: No Data Available
Type Name Database Code Classification Code
Class 2 Shrub & Herb Vegetation Class C02 2
Subclass 2.B Temperate & Boreal Grassland & Shrubland Subclass S18 2.B
Formation 2.B.2 Temperate Grassland & Shrubland Formation F012 2.B.2
Division 2.B.2.Nb Central North American Grassland & Shrubland Division D023 2.B.2.Nb
Macrogroup 2.B.2.Nb.1 Big Bluestem - Indiangrass - Dense Blazingstar Tallgrass Prairie Macrogroup M054 2.B.2.Nb.1
Group 2.B.2.Nb.1.a Little Bluestem - Prairie Bishop - Brownseed Crowngrass Tallgrass Prairie Group G335 2.B.2.Nb.1.a
Alliance A4060 Switchgrass - Eastern Gamagrass Grassland Alliance A4060 2.B.2.Nb.1.a
Association CEGL002217 Eastern Gamagrass - Switchgrass - Indiangrass - Maximilian Sunflower Grassland CEGL002217 2.B.2.Nb.1.a
Concept Lineage: No Data Available

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Tripsacum-Panicum-Sorghastrum Community Type (Diamond and Smeins 1985)
= Tripsacum-Panicum-Sorghastrum Community Type (Diamond and Smeins 1988)
< Gamagrass-Switchgrass-Indiangrass type (Diamond and Smeins 1990)
< ID4h. Gammagrass - Switchgrass Prairie (Allard 1990)
< Lowland Community Type (Diamond and Smeins 1984)
Concept Author(s): D.J. Allard and K.D. Patterson

Author of Description: D.J. Allard and K.D. Patterson

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 01-03-94
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  • Allgood, F. P., and F. Gray. 1974. An ecological interpretation for the small mounds in landscapes of eastern Oklahoma. Journal of Environmental Quality 3:37-41.
  • Baalman, R. J. 1965. Vegetation of the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge, Jet, Oklahoma. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Oklahoma, Norman.
  • Diamond, D. D. 1993. Classification of the plant communities of Texas (series level). Unpublished document. Texas Natural Heritage Program, Austin. 25 pp.
  • Diamond, D. D., and F. E. Smeins. 1984. Remnant grassland vegetation and ecological affinities of the Upper Coastal Prairie of Texas. The Southwestern Naturalist 29:321-334.
  • Diamond, D. D., and F. E. Smeins. 1985. Composition, classification and species response patterns of remnant tallgrass prairies in Texas. The American Midland Naturalist 113:249-308.
  • Diamond, D. D., and F. E. Smeins. 1988. Gradient analysis of remnant true and upper coastal prairie grasslands of North America. Canadian Journal of Botany 66:2152-2161.
  • Diamond, D. D., and F. E. Smeins. 1990. The prairie--The native plant communities of the blackland prairie. Unpublished draft report. Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife, Austin, TX.
  • Diamond, D., B. Amos, T. Cook, R. Edwards, W. Elliot, R. Evans, and K. Kennedy. 1992. Endangered, threatened, and watchlist of natural communities of Texas. Texas Organization for Endangered Species. Austin, TX. 14 pp.
  • Eidson, Jim. Personal communication. The Nature Conservancy, Texas Program Office, San Antonio.
  • Hoagland, B. 2000. The vegetation of Oklahoma: A classification for landscape mapping and conservation planning. The Southwestern Naturalist 45(4):385-420.
  • Hoagland, B. W. 1998c. Oklahoma riparian vegetation. In: A. Fallon and M. Smolen, editors. Riparian area management handbook. Publication number E-952. Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater.
  • Smeins, F. E., and D. D. Diamond. 1983. Remnant grasslands of the Fayette Prairie, Texas. The American Midland Naturalist 110:1-13.
  • Southeastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Durham, NC.