Print Report

CEGL006075 Fagus grandifolia - Quercus (alba, rubra) - Liriodendron tulipifera / (Ilex opaca) Forest

Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: American Beech - (White Oak, Northern Red Oak) - Tuliptree / (American Holly) Forest

Colloquial Name: Mid-Atlantic Mesic Mixed Hardwood Forest

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This forest of mesic to submesic, well-drained soils occurs in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain of Virginia and Maryland, extending north to Long Island, New York on the Coastal Plain. It also occurs occasionally at low elevations of the Blue Ridge and adjacent Ridge and Valley in Virginia and Maryland. It is characteristically a mixed forest dominated by Fagus grandifolia, Quercus alba, Quercus rubra, and Liriodendron tulipifera in various proportions. Overstory associates over the range include Quercus velutina, Quercus falcata, Quercus coccinea, Liquidambar styraciflua, Acer rubrum, Nyssa sylvatica, Carya tomentosa, Carya glabra, and Fraxinus americana. The subcanopy is characterized by young Fagus grandifolia, Acer rubrum, Carpinus caroliniana, Cornus florida, and Sassafras albidum. Ilex opaca is particularly characteristic and abundant on the Coastal Plain. The shrub layer varies from very sparse to well-developed and can include Asimina triloba, Viburnum acerifolium, Viburnum dentatum, and Euonymus americanus. Heath shrubs, such as Vaccinium corymbosum and Vaccinium pallidum, may be common but not abundant. Vines are common, including Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Smilax glauca, and Toxicodendron radicans. In the southern part of the range, Oxydendrum arboreum and Vitis rotundifolia may be conspicuous members of the understory. The herb layer is composed of Polystichum acrostichoides, Thelypteris noveboracensis, Uvularia perfoliata, Cypripedium acaule, Mitchella repens, Tipularia discolor, Goodyera pubescens, Eurybia divaricata, Chimaphila maculata, Carex swanii, Medeola virginiana, Athyrium filix-femina, Carex digitalis, Carex willdenowii, Epifagus virginiana, Maianthemum canadense, Desmodium nudiflorum, Polygonatum biflorum, Podophyllum peltatum, Arisaema triphyllum, and Maianthemum racemosum.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: The regional circumscription of this type is very robust and supported by 170 plots from Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. These were analyzed by VDNH with a 1300-plot regional dataset compiled for the NCR and Mid-Atlantic national parks vegetation mapping projects.

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

Floristics: Rangewide, this vegetation type is characteristically a mixed mesophytic forest dominated by Fagus grandifolia, Quercus alba, Quercus rubra, and Liriodendron tulipifera in various proportions. Overstory associates over the range include Carya tomentosa (= Carya alba), Carya glabra, Quercus velutina, Quercus falcata, Quercus coccinea, Liquidambar styraciflua, Acer rubrum, Nyssa sylvatica, and Fraxinus americana. The subcanopy is characterized by young Fagus grandifolia, Acer rubrum, Carpinus caroliniana, Cornus florida, Ilex opaca, and Sassafras albidum. The shrub layer varies from very sparse to well-developed and can include Asimina triloba, Viburnum acerifolium, Viburnum dentatum, and Euonymus americanus. Heath shrubs, such as Vaccinium corymbosum and Vaccinium pallidum, may be common but not abundant. Vines are common, including Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Smilax glauca, and Toxicodendron radicans. The herb layer is composed of Polystichum acrostichoides, Uvularia perfoliata, Cypripedium acaule, Mitchella repens, Tipularia discolor, Goodyera pubescens, Eurybia divaricata (= Aster divaricatus), Chimaphila maculata, Carex swanii, Medeola virginiana, Athyrium filix-femina, Carex digitalis, Carex willdenowii, Epifagus virginiana, Maianthemum canadense, Desmodium nudiflorum, Polygonatum biflorum. Podophyllum peltatum, Arisaema triphyllum, and Maianthemum racemosum (= Smilacina racemosa).

Several intergrading compositional variants have been noted in regional and local landscape analyses. On more submesic, convex slopes, Fagus grandifolia, Quercus alba, Cornus florida, and Vaccinium pallidum tend to be prominent, while pronounced mesophytes such as Carpinus caroliniana and herbaceous species in general are usually sparse. Coastal Plain stands tend to have understories heavily dominated by Ilex opaca, while Piedmont stands generally have only scattered Ilex opaca as well as slightly higher herbaceous richness.

Dynamics:  No Data Available
Environmental Description:  This forest association occurs on mesic to submesic slopes or gentle gradients. Ravines in dissected topography are particularly typical sites in the Piedmont and parts of the Inner Coastal Plain. The type also occupies rolling uplands with deep soils. Soils are typically well-drained, acidic sandy and silt loams derived from parent material of low to moderate fertility. This association is found throughout the Piedmont from south-central Virginia to New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and on the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain from southeastern Virginia northward.
Geographic Range: This association is currently described from Virginia northward to Long Island, New York. The type is characteristic of the Coastal Plain throughout its range and of the Piedmont from south-central Virginia through much of Maryland. Small outliers of this vegetation occur at low elevations on both flanks of the Blue Ridge in Virginia and Maryland.

Nations: US

States/Provinces:  DC, DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA?, VA


Confidence Level: Moderate

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G5

Greasons: No Data Available
Type Name Database Code Classification Code
Class 1 Forest & Woodland Class C01 1
Subclass 1.B Temperate & Boreal Forest & Woodland Subclass S15 1.B
Formation 1.B.2 Cool Temperate Forest & Woodland Formation F008 1.B.2
Division 1.B.2.Na Eastern North American Forest & Woodland Division D008 1.B.2.Na
Macrogroup 1.B.2.Na.9 Pitch Pine - oak spp. - American Holly North Atlantic Forest Macrogroup M525 1.B.2.Na.9
Group 1.B.2.Na.9.b Black Oak - American Beech - Pitch Pine Coastal Plain Forest Group G894 1.B.2.Na.9.b
Alliance A2054 American Beech - Northern Red Oak / Flowering Dogwood Forest Alliance A2054 1.B.2.Na.9.b
Association CEGL006075 American Beech - (White Oak, Northern Red Oak) - Tuliptree / (American Holly) Forest CEGL006075 1.B.2.Na.9.b
Concept Lineage: CEGL006921 was merged into this type on 2003-04-03 by S.L. Neid but then separated out again on 2003-12-10 by L.A. Sneddon

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Fagus grandifolia - Carya alba / Symplocos tinctoria - Cornus florida / Euonymus americana - Botrychium virginianum Forest (Walton et al. 2001)
? Fagus grandifolia - Liriodendron tulipifera - Quercus (alba, rubra) / Polystichum acrostichoides - Aster divaricatus Forest (Fleming 2001a)
= Fagus grandifolia - Liriodendron tulipifera - Quercus (alba, rubra) / Polystichum acrostichoides - Aster divaricatus Forest (Fleming 2002a)
= Fagus grandifolia - Liriodendron tulipifera - Quercus rubra / Polystichum acrostichoides - Carex laxiculmis Forest (Fleming 2002b)
= Fagus grandifolia - Liriodendron tulipifera - Quercus rubra / Polystichum acrostichoides Forest (Fleming and Patterson 2003)
= Fagus grandifolia - Liriodendron tulipifera / Asimina triloba / Botrychium virginianum Forest (McCoy and Fleming 2000)
= Fagus grandifolia - Liriodendron tulipifera / Carpinus caroliniana Forest (McCoy and Fleming 2000)
= Fagus grandifolia - Liriodendron tulipifera / Polystichum acrostichoides Forest (Young et al. 2007a)
= Fagus grandifolia - Quercus (alba, rubra) - Liriodendron tulipifera / (Ilex opaca var. opaca) / Polystichum acrostichoides Forest (Fleming and Taverna 2006)
= Fagus grandifolia - Quercus (alba, rubra) - Liriodendron tulipifera / (Ilex opaca var. opaca) / Polystichum acrostichoides Forest (Fleming et al. 2007b)
= Fagus grandifolia - Quercus (alba, rubra) - Liriodendron tulipifera / Ilex opaca var. opaca - (Asimina triloba) Forest (Fleming 2002a)
= Fagus grandifolia - Quercus alba - Liriodendron tulipifera - Carya spp. Forest (Coulling 1999)
= Fagus grandifolia - Quercus alba - Liriodendron tulipifera - Liquidambar styraciflua Forest (Clancy 1996)
= Fagus grandifolia - Quercus alba - Liriodendron tulipifera / Cornus florida Forest (Fleming and Patterson 2003)
= Fagus grandifolia - Quercus alba / Ilex opaca - (Oxydendrum arboreum) / Vitis rotundifolia Forest (Fleming and Patterson 2003)
? Mixed oak forest of the south Jersey mesic uplands (Robichaud and Buell 1973)
= Oak - Hardwood Mesic Inner Coastal Plain Forest (OH1) (Windisch 2014a)
? Southern New England oak / pine forest on sandy / gravelly soils (Rawinski 1984a)
Concept Author(s): L.A. Sneddon

Author of Description: S.L. Neid, G. Fleming and L.A. Sneddon

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 02-14-07
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