Common (Translated Scientific) Name: (Chestnut Oak, Scarlet Oak) / Mountain Laurel / (Beetleweed, Eastern Teaberry) Forest

Colloquial Name: Chestnut Oak Forest (Subxeric Ridge Type)

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This community includes subxeric ridgetop and exposed slope forests in the Southern Appalachians, ranging south and east into the upper Piedmont, north into the Central Appalachians, and north and west into the Ridge and Valley. This community occurs over shallow soils, primarily on south- to west-facing slopes and ridgetops where solar exposure is high. Soils are rocky, infertile, dry, acidic sandy loams typically derived from sandstone. The community includes forests with canopies strongly dominated by Quercus montana and/or Quercus coccinea, with lesser amounts of Quercus velutina, Quercus rubra, Quercus falcata, Oxydendrum arboreum, Nyssa sylvatica, Pinus virginiana, and Acer rubrum, occurring over a typically dense shrub stratum dominated by ericaceous species. The shrub layer may vary between evergreen and deciduous dominance. Typical shrub species include Kalmia latifolia, Rhododendron maximum, Vaccinium stamineum, Vaccinium pallidum, Gaylussacia ursina, Gaylussacia baccata, and (in the more southern portions of the range) Eubotrys recurva. In addition, Castanea dentata may occur abundantly as root sprouts. The herb layer is typically sparse and includes subshrubs such as Epigaea repens and Gaultheria procumbens. Other common species include Chamaelirium luteum, Chimaphila maculata, Galax urceolata, Magnolia fraseri, Sassafras albidum, Symplocos tinctoria, Smilax rotundifolia, and Smilax glauca. This community is distinguished by its overall floristic composition, with a high abundance of acid-loving ericaceous species, which are indicative of this community''s extremely infertile, acidic soils.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: Like the other matrix oak/heath forests in Virginia, this type can occur on a wide variety of topographic positions, as long as soil conditions are favorable. A similar association defined for the southern Cumberland Plateau, ~Quercus montana - (Quercus coccinea) / Carya pallida / Vaccinium arboreum - Vaccinium pallidum Forest (CEGL008431)$$, occurs over sandstone or other geologies not as acidic as the Blue Ridge type and lacks species indicative of the Blue Ridge association, such as Kalmia latifolia, Gaylussacia ursina, Gaylussacia baccata, and Gaultheria procumbens.

In the Great Smoky Mountains, Acer rubrum is often dominant or codominant in these forests, presumably on former American chestnut (Castanea dentata) sites. In the Blue Ridge-Piedmont transition, below 853 m (2800 feet) elevation, where this community is often associated with Pinus rigida forests and woodlands, Quercus falcata may be a component of the canopy, and the shrub stratum is strongly dominated by Vaccinium pallidum. A similar association defined for the southern Cumberland Plateau, ~Quercus montana - (Quercus coccinea) / Carya pallida / Vaccinium arboreum - Vaccinium pallidum Forest (CEGL008431)$$, occurs over sandstone or other geologies not as acid as the Blue Ridge type and lacks species indicative of the Blue Ridge association, such as Kalmia latifolia, Gaylussacia ursina, Gaylussacia baccata, and Gaultheria procumbens.

In 55 plots classified as this association (homoteneity = 0.60) in the Appalachian Trail analysis (Fleming and Patterson 2009a), the most constant species, in order of descending constancy are Acer rubrum, Kalmia latifolia, Quercus montana, Quercus coccinea, Nyssa sylvatica, Vaccinium pallidum, Oxydendrum arboreum, Galax urceolata, Smilax rotundifolia, Castanea dentata, Sassafras albidum, and Smilax glauca. Species richness ranges from 13-52 species and averages 30 species per 400-m2 plot sample. In this same analysis, a group of 11 plots from the Great Smoky and Nantahala mountains segregated as a distinct group in cluster analysis. While the composition of this group fits within the broad concept of this association (CEGL006271), this "southern variant" is distinguished by the dominance of Gaylussacia ursina and the greater importance of Quercus rubra, Pyrularia pubera, Tsuga canadensis, and Magnolia fraseri than in the "typic" expression of CEGL006271. Further, species that are common in the "typic" expression of CEGL006271, Quercus coccinea, Nyssa sylvatica, Vaccinium pallidum, Gaylussacia baccata, and Eubotrys recurva, are absent or inconstant in the "southern variant." Based on available plot data, environmental and geographic distinctions could not be made between the two groups, but further study may be warranted.

Thirty-seven plots in southern West Virginia (mostly from New River Gorge National River and Gauley River National Recreation Area) are classified in this association. Floristics are similar to the global description, but some southern species such as Galax urceolata and Eubotrys recurva are present in only a small percentage of plots and the association is only weakly differentiated from West Virginia examples of CEGL005023 further north in the Western Allegheny Plateau. In West Virginia both CEGL006271 and CEGL005023 have abundant Oxydendron arboreum, but CEGL005023 lacks most other southern species, and Kalmia latifolia is usually absent or patchy.

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available

note: No Data Available