Print Report

CEGL006110 Liquidambar styraciflua - Acer rubrum - Quercus phellos / Eubotrys racemosa Swamp Forest

Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Sweetgum - Red Maple - Willow Oak / Swamp Doghobble Swamp Forest

Colloquial Name: Sweetgum - Red Maple Swamp Forest

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This association is a seasonally flooded forest of shallow basins and other depressions of the Coastal Plain of the Chesapeake Bay region. The substrate is characterized by mineral soils, generally acidic, gleyed to mottled, sandy or clay loams. Characteristic tree species include Acer rubrum, Liquidambar styraciflua, and Nyssa sylvatica, which are nearly constant in the canopy. Associates include Ilex opaca, Magnolia virginiana, Nyssa biflora, Sassafras albidum, Quercus palustris, Pinus taeda, and Quercus phellos, and occasionally Quercus falcata, Quercus lyrata, or Betula nigra. The shrub layer is characterized by Eubotrys racemosa, Vaccinium corymbosum, Clethra alnifolia, Lindera benzoin, Ilex verticillata, and Rhododendron viscosum. Smilax rotundifolia is a particularly characteristic vine. The herbaceous layer is generally sparse but may include Mitchella repens, Osmunda cinnamomea, Chasmanthium laxum, Woodwardia areolata, Onoclea sensibilis, Osmunda regalis, Carex albolutescens, Carex debilis var. debilis, Scirpus cyperinus, Juncus effusus, and Polygonum spp. Carex joorii is inconstant but locally abundant in some stands in the southern part of the range.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: Classification of this type is supported by two regional analyses of Maryland and Virginia plot data conducted by VDNH for the NCR vegetation mapping project. It is represented by 15 plots from the greater NCR region and an additional 57 plots from The Peninsula in York County, Virginia (Grafton Ponds complex). Delaware examples contain Quercus spp. and Magnolia virginiana. In Maryland, Clethra alnifolia is more prominent than Eubotrys racemosa, and Quercus phellos is less characteristic than Nyssa sylvatica.

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

Floristics: Characteristic tree species include Acer rubrum, Liquidambar styraciflua, and Nyssa sylvatica, which are nearly constant in the canopy. Quercus phellos is an important associate or codominant in many stands. Other associates include Ilex opaca, Magnolia virginiana, Nyssa biflora, Sassafras albidum, Quercus palustris, Pinus taeda, and occasionally Quercus falcata, Quercus lyrata, or Betula nigra. The shrub layer is characterized by Eubotrys racemosa (= Leucothoe racemosa), Vaccinium corymbosum, Vaccinium fuscatum, Vaccinium formosum, Clethra alnifolia, Lindera benzoin, Ilex verticillata, and Rhododendron viscosum. Smilax rotundifolia is a particularly characteristic vine, often forming dense tangles among the shrubs. The herbaceous layer is generally sparse but may include Mitchella repens, Osmunda cinnamomea, Chasmanthium laxum, Woodwardia areolata, Onoclea sensibilis, Osmunda regalis, Carex albolutescens, Carex debilis var. debilis, Scirpus cyperinus, Juncus effusus, and Polygonum spp. Carex joorii is inconstant but locally abundant in some stands in the southern part of the range.

Dynamics:  No Data Available
Environmental Description:  This type occurs in seasonally flooded shallow basins or depressions. Substrates are acidic, gleyed to mottled, sandy or clay loams. Sites are commonly flooded by perched groundwater to depths up to about 50 cm during the winter and early part of the growing season, but commonly are drawn down by late summer. Soils collected from 12 Virginia plot samples were extremely acidic (mean pH = 4.1) with very low cation levels and total base saturation.
Geographic Range: This association is a seasonally flooded forest of shallow basins and depressions in the mid-Atlantic region. It is primarily associated with the Coastal Plain but occurs locally in gentle, highly acidic terrain of the eastern Piedmont in central and southern Virginia.

Nations: US

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


Confidence Level: Moderate

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G3

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.3 Temperate Flooded & Swamp Forest Formation F026 1.B.3
Division 1.B.3.Nb Southeastern North American Flooded & Swamp Forest Division D062 1.B.3.Nb
Macrogroup 1.B.3.Nb.3 Sweetbay - Swamp Bay - Pond Pine Swamp Forest Macrogroup M032 1.B.3.Nb.3
Group 1.B.3.Nb.3.b Atlantic White-cedar - Pitch Pine Swamp Group G039 1.B.3.Nb.3.b
Alliance A3637 Sweetgum - Red Maple / Wax-myrtle Mid-Atlantic Swamp Forest Alliance A3637 1.B.3.Nb.3.b
Association CEGL006110 Sweetgum - Red Maple - Willow Oak / Swamp Doghobble Swamp Forest CEGL006110 1.B.3.Nb.3.b
Concept Lineage: concept covered by CEGL006110 as per Chesapeake Bay Ecology Group (April 2002).

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: = Acer rubrum - Liquidambar styraciflua - (Quercus phellos) / Vaccinium corymbosum Forest (Fleming and Patterson 2003)
< Acer rubrum - Liquidambar styraciflua - Nyssa sylvatica Swamp Forest (Clancy 1996)
= Acer rubrum - Liquidambar styraciflua / Leucothoe racemosa Community (Sneddon and Anderson 1994)
= Acer rubrum - Quercus phellos - Liquidambar styraciflua / Leucothoe racemosa Community (Sneddon et al. 1996)
= Pinus taeda - Quercus phellos / Ilex opaca / Chasmanthium laxum Association (Rawinski 1997)
= Quercus phellos - Acer rubrum - Liquidambar styraciflua / Vaccinium (corymbosum, formosum, fuscatum) Forest (Fleming et al. 2007b)
= Red Maple - Sweetgum Community (Hunt 1998)
> Sweet Gum - Red Maple - Mid-successional Forest (LA2) (Windisch 2014a)
= Sweet Gum - Red Maple - Willow Oak - Holly Palustrine Forest (LA1) (Windisch 2014a)
= Sweetgum - Red Maple Depression Swamp (Bowman 2000)
= Sweetgum - Willow Oak Coastal Plain Palustrine Forest (Zimmerman et al. 2012)
Concept Author(s): L.A. Sneddon

Author of Description: L.A. Sneddon, E. Largay and G.P. Fleming

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 02-15-07
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