Print Report

CEGL008472 Polygonum cuspidatum Ruderal Wet Meadow

Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Japanese Knotweed Ruderal Wet Meadow

Colloquial Name: Ruderal Japanese Knotweed Gravelbar

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: Examples of this vegetation type are significant (monocultural) stands of the exotic forb Polygonum cuspidatum, which are found in temporarily flooded habitats such as scour bars. These disturbed habitats flood very frequently and have lots of light and rocky or sandy soil. Stands of this vegetation may be dense and shrubby, or somewhat more open. Species diversity is low, as the patches of Polygonum shade out other plant species. This vegetation ranges across the Southeast north at least to Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In North Carolina, this vegetation is found on scour bars and low rocky banks of the Nolichucky and French Broad rivers. In Kentucky, Polygonum cuspidatum is found primarily along disturbed riverbanks and bars mostly in the Cumberland Plateau and Cumberland Mountains where it can form pure, dense stands.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: Polygonum cuspidatum has also been treated as Reynoutria japonica.

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

Floristics: These are primarily monospecific stands of Polygonum cuspidatum with few other plant species. Some disturbance-oriented forbs may be present, such as Impatiens spp., Phalaris arundinacea, Leersia virginica, Polygonum hydropiper, Polygonum hydropiperoides, Polygonum persicaria, and Boehmeria cylindrica, along with seedlings of some woody plants (e.g., Platanus occidentalis, Salix nigra). The invasive exotic herbs Alliaria petiolata and Microstegium vimineum may be present.

Dynamics:  Stands of this vegetation may be dense and shrubby, or more open. The patches of Polygonum shade out other plant species.
Environmental Description:  Stands of this type are found in temporarily flooded habitats such as scour bars. These disturbed areas flood very frequently and have lots of light and rocky or sandy soil. In North Carolina, it is found on scour bars and low rocky banks of the Nolichucky and French Broad rivers (B. Brown pers. comm. 2001). In Kentucky, Polygonum cuspidatum is found primarily along disturbed riverbanks and bars mostly in the Cumberland Plateau and Cumberland Mountains where it can form pure, dense stands (M. Evans pers. comm. 2001).
Geographic Range: This vegetation is potentially found anywhere in the southeastern and mid-Atlantic United States where the exotic rhizomatous forb Polygonum cuspidatum has formed significant (monocultural) stands. This includes at least Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Nations: US

States/Provinces:  AL, GA, KY, NC, NJ, NY, OH, PA, SC, TN, VA?


Confidence Level: Moderate

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNA

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.90 Common Rush - Purple Loosestrife - Reed Canarygrass Eastern North American Ruderal Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Macrogroup M303 2.C.4.Nd.90
Group 2.C.4.Nd.90.b Reed Canarygrass - Common Reed - Narrowleaf Cattail Ruderal Wet Meadow & Marsh Group G556 2.C.4.Nd.90.b
Alliance A2005 Japanese Knotweed Ruderal Wet Meadow Alliance A2005 2.C.4.Nd.90.b
Association CEGL008472 Japanese Knotweed Ruderal Wet Meadow CEGL008472 2.C.4.Nd.90.b
Concept Lineage: No Data Available

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: No Data Available
Concept Author(s): M. Pyne

Author of Description: M. Pyne and S.C. Gawler

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 06-22-06
  • Brown, B. Personal communication. University of North Carolina.
  • Edinger, G. J., A. L. Feldmann, T. G. Howard, J. J. Schmid, E. Eastman, E. Largay, and L. A. Sneddon. 2008a. Vegetation classification and mapping at Gateway National Recreation Area. Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR--2008/107. National Park Service, Philadelphia, PA. 283 pp.
  • Edinger, G. J., D. J. Evans, S. Gebauer, T. G. Howard, D. M. Hunt, and A. M. Olivero, editors. 2014a. Ecological communities of New York state. Second edition. A revised and expanded edition of Carol Reschke''s ecological communities of New York state. New York Natural Heritage Program, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Albany, NY.
  • Evans, Marc. Personal communication. Ecologist. Kentucky Natural Heritage Program, Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission, Frankfort.
  • Hop, K., J. Drake, A. Strassman, E. Hoy, J. Jakusz, S. Menard, and J. Dieck. 2013. National Park Service Vegetation Inventory Program: Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio. Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/HTLN/NRT--2013/792. National Park Service, Fort Collins, CO. 302 pp.
  • NRCS [Natural Resources Conservation Service]. 2001b. Soil survey of Gateway National Recreation Area, New York and New Jersey. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and USDI National Park Service, Gateway National Recreation Area in partnership with Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station and New York City Soil and Water Conservation District.
  • Perles, S. J., G. S. Podniesinski, E. A. Zimmerman, E. Eastman, and L. A. Sneddon. 2006d. Vegetation classification and mapping at Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site. Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR--2006/079. National Park Service, Philadelphia, PA.
  • Perles, S. J., G. S. Podniesinski, E. Eastman, L. A. Sneddon, and S. C. Gawler. 2007. Classification and mapping of vegetation and fire fuel models at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR--2007/076. National Park Service, Philadelphia, PA. 2 volumes.
  • Perles, S. J., G. S. Podniesinski, M. Furedi, B. A. Eichelberger, A. Feldmann, G. Edinger, E. Eastman, and L. A. Sneddon. 2008. Vegetation classification and mapping at Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River. Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR--2008/133. National Park Service, Philadelphia, PA. 370 pp.
  • Schafale, Mike P. Personal communication. Ecologist, North Carolina Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program, Raleigh.
  • Southeastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Durham, NC.
  • TNC and WPC [The Nature Conservancy and Western Pennsylvania Conservancy]. 2004. Classification, assessment, and protection of non-forested floodplain wetlands of the Susquehanna drainage. Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, Harrisburg, PA. 128 pp.
  • WPC and TNC [Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and The Nature Conservancy]. 2002. Classification, assessment, and protection of forest floodplain wetlands of the Susquehanna drainage. Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, Harrisburg, PA. 160 pp.
  • Walz, K. S., K. H. Anderson, L. C. Kelly, A. G. Windisch, and M. C. Wong. 2008. New Jersey ecological community crosswalk: A tool for the identification of habitats across jurisdictional boundaries. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Parks and Forestry, Office of Natural Lands Management, Natural Heritage Program, Trenton.
  • Zimmerman, E. A. 2011s. Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program. Japanese Knotweed Floodplain Thicket Factsheet. [http://www.naturalheritage.state.pa.us/Community.aspx?=30011] (accessed February 13, 2012)
  • Zimmerman, E. A., T. Davis, M. A. Furedi, B. Eichelberger, J. McPherson, S. Seymour, G. Podniesinski, N. Dewar, and J. Wagner, editors. 2012. Terrestrial and palustrine plant communities of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Harrisburg. [http://www.naturalheritage.state.pa.us/Communities.aspx]