Print Report
CEGL006242 Cephalanthus occidentalis / Polygonum hydropiperoides - Panicum verrucosum Shrub Swamp
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Common Buttonbush / Swamp Smartweed - Warty Panicgrass Shrub Swamp
Colloquial Name: Coastal Plain Buttonbush Pond
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This pond community is known from the Coastal Plain of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia (and possibly other states). Examples include seasonally flooded shrublands that occur in relatively small basins that draw down entirely during dry years, exposing some bare substrate by the end of the growing season. The substrate is a shallow organic layer overlying silt loam or clay loam. Cephalanthus occidentalis is the dominant shrub, but Decodon verticillatus may also be present. Characteristic herbs are Panicum verrucosum, Dulichium arundinaceum, Polygonum hydropiperoides, Torreyochloa pallida, Rhexia virginica, Polygonum amphibium, Juncus repens, and Panicum hemitomon. Other associates may include Bidens frondosa, Scirpus cyperinus, Proserpinaca palustris, Triadenum virginicum, Dichanthelium spretum, Scleria reticularis, and Fimbristylis autumnalis. Species composition of this community tends to be variable among occurrences.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: Excellent Coastal Plain examples of this community are found at the Grafton Ponds complex in York County, Virginia (Rawinski 1997).
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: Physiognomy of stands varies from sparse to rather dense shrublands dominated by Cephalanthus occidentalis. Decodon verticillatus may also be present or even codominant. Characteristic herbs include Dulichium arundinaceum, Polygonum hydropiperoides, Torreyochloa pallida, Rhexia virginica, and Panicum hemitomon. More irregular herbaceous associates of the compositionally variable stands include Bidens frondosa, Scirpus cyperinus, Proserpinaca palustris, Triadenum virginicum, Dichanthelium spretum, Scleria reticularis, Fimbristylis autumnalis, Carex lurida, Woodwardia virginica, Onoclea sensibilis, Arisaema triphyllum, and Dichanthelium dichotomum (= Panicum dichotomum). The most frequent and characteristic herbaceous species in 16 ponds of the Grafton Ponds complex in York County, Virginia, are Panicum verrucosum, Dulichium arundinaceum, Juncus repens, Polygonum hydropiperoides, Eragrostis hypnoides, Cyperus erythrorhizos, Proserpinaca palustris, Torreyochloa pallida, Scirpus cyperinus, Rhynchospora corniculata, Utricularia radiata, Utricularia gibba (= Utricularia biflora), Triadenum virginicum, Rhexia virginica, and Fimbristylis autumnalis. Less frequent, but locally abundant species include Hottonia inflata and Ludwigia sphaerocarpa.
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: Habitats are relatively small basin wetlands that draw down entirely during dry years, exposing some bare substrate by the end of the growing season. Soils typically have a shallow organic layer overlying silt loam or clay loam. Most of the Coastal Plain ponds are believed to be sinkhole features that formed through dissolution of underlying carbonate-rich shell marl deposits. The marl deposits are too deep to influence soil or water chemistry of the ponds, which are strongly acidic in most examples.
Geographic Range: The known range of this community includes the central Atlantic Coastal Plain of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, with an uncertain northward extension to Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: DE, MA?, MD, NJ, RI?, VA
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.684722
Confidence Level: Moderate
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G3?
Greasons: No Data Available
| Type | Name | Database Code | Classification Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class | 2 Shrub & Herb Vegetation Class | C02 | 2 |
| Subclass | 2.C Shrub & Herb Wetland Subclass | S44 | 2.C |
| Formation | 2.C.4 Temperate to Polar Freshwater Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Formation | F013 | 2.C.4 |
| Division | 2.C.4.Nd Eastern North American Temperate Freshwater Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Division | D323 | 2.C.4.Nd |
| Macrogroup | 2.C.4.Nd.2 Broadleaf Cattail - White Snakeroot - Rush species Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Macrogroup | M069 | 2.C.4.Nd.2 |
| Group | 2.C.4.Nd.2.d Appalachian-Northeast Wet Meadow & Shrub Swamp Group | G903 | 2.C.4.Nd.2.d |
| Alliance | A3670 Common Buttonbush - Swamp-loosestrife Shrub Swamp Alliance | A3670 | 2.C.4.Nd.2.d |
| Association | CEGL006242 Common Buttonbush / Swamp Smartweed - Warty Panicgrass Shrub Swamp | CEGL006242 | 2.C.4.Nd.2.d |
Concept Lineage: CEGL006015 has been subsumed within the concept of this association.
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Cephalanthus occidentalis / Polygonum hydropiperoides - Panicum verrucosum Shrubland (Walz et al. 2006b)
? Cephalanthus occidentalis / Torreyochloa pallida - Decodon verticillatus Association (Rawinski 1997)
= Cephalanthus occidentalis / Torreyochloa pallida - Panicum verrucosum Shrubland (Fleming and Patterson 2003)
< Panicum (verrucosum, spretum) - Rhexia virginica - Fimbristylis autumnalis / Cephalanthus occidentalis Herbaceous Vegetation (Berdine and Gould 1999)
? Cephalanthus occidentalis / Torreyochloa pallida - Decodon verticillatus Association (Rawinski 1997)
= Cephalanthus occidentalis / Torreyochloa pallida - Panicum verrucosum Shrubland (Fleming and Patterson 2003)
< Panicum (verrucosum, spretum) - Rhexia virginica - Fimbristylis autumnalis / Cephalanthus occidentalis Herbaceous Vegetation (Berdine and Gould 1999)
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- Coxe, R. 2009. Guide to Delaware vegetation communities. Spring 2009 edition. State of Delaware, Division of Fish and Wildlife, Delaware Natural Heritage Program, Smyrna.
- Eastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Boston, MA.
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- Sneddon, L. A. 1994. Descriptions of coastal plain pondshore proposed community elements. Unpublished. The Nature Conservancy, Boston, MA.
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