Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Common Beargrass - Great Burnet Meadow

Colloquial Name: No Data Available

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This association occurs on acidic mineral soil around the margins of seasonally wet meadows in the northern Coast Ranges of Oregon. The association is characterized by hummocks of Xerophyllum tenax interspersed with pockets of Sanguisorba officinalis, throughout which are distributed tightly packed mats and hummocks of Sphagnum capillifolium and Sphagnum mendocinum. The hummocks of Sphagnum capillifolium are in part elevated above groundwater influence, lowering the nutrient status of this association. Vaccinium cespitosum, Pteridium aquilinum, and Carex obnupta are occasional to frequent associates. The juxtaposition of the typically upland Xerophyllum with typically wetland Sanguisorba and Sphagnum suggests that this association occurs in a long-term hydrologic tension zone between upland and wetland. Long-term variation in water levels can be caused by beavers, humans, climatic variability, or combinations of these variables.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: This association has been sampled at only two sites but is expected to occur in a few other places. Inventories in the central Oregon Coast Ranges are still incomplete. Similar stands have been observed in ultramafic fens in the Klamath Mountains of Oregon, but it is not known if these are the same association. Sphagnum does not occur in ultramafic fens and other elements may also differ.

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available

note: No Data Available