Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Carolina Red Maple - Blackgum / Cinnamon Fern - Greater Bladder Sedge / Yellow Peatmoss Seep Forest

Colloquial Name: Appalachian Forested Acidic Seep

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: These forested acidic seeps occur in the Cumberland Plateau, the Ridge and Valley, areas of the western portions of the Southern Blue Ridge at lower elevations, as well as in the Appalachian Plateaus of Kentucky (Cliff section), and western Kentucky at the edge of the Shawnee Hills (Dripping Springs Escarpment). These forests are found primarily in streamhead swales on broad ridges on sandy, saturated soils derived from shales and sandstones. This community develops where a perched water table is present, as opposed to seepage from the base of a slope [for vegetation related to this latter condition, see ~Acer rubrum var. trilobum - Nyssa sylvatica / Rhododendron canescens - Viburnum nudum var. nudum / Woodwardia areolata Seep Forest (CEGL004425)$$]. Canopy coverage can be moderately dense to quite open. Canopy composition is highly variable, but Acer rubrum var. trilobum, Nyssa sylvatica, Liriodendron tulipifera, and Liquidambar styraciflua are common. Subcanopy trees can include Ilex opaca var. opaca, Carpinus caroliniana, and (within range) Magnolia macrophylla. Tall shrubs are scattered and may be locally dominant. Typical shrubs include Ilex verticillata, Alnus serrulata, Rhododendron maximum, Aronia melanocarpa, Vaccinium simulatum, Viburnum nudum var. nudum, and Cornus foemina. In examples from the Southern Blue Ridge, Viburnum nudum var. cassinoides will replace Viburnum nudum var. nudum in this type. Woody vines can be common and include Toxicodendron radicans and (especially towards the southern part of the association''s distribution), Decumaria barbara and Bignonia capreolata. Typical herbaceous species include Osmunda cinnamomea, Osmunda regalis var. spectabilis, Chasmanthium laxum, Thelypteris noveboracensis, Woodwardia areolata, Oxypolis rigidior, Carex intumescens, Carex debilis, Carex crinita, Medeola virginiana, Lobelia cardinalis, Juncus effusus var. pylaei, Scirpus polyphyllus, Rubus hispidus, Solidago patula var. patula, Athyrium filix-femina ssp. asplenioides, and Viola x primulifolia. Platanthera integrilabia and Platanthera clavellata are also known from these forested seeps but are more typical in more open woodland seeps. Patches of Sphagnum spp. are common and Sphagnum lescurii is typical. In the Daniel Boone National Forest (Kentucky), some stands can contain Tsuga canadensis and be transitional to ~Tsuga canadensis - Acer rubrum - (Nyssa sylvatica) / Rhododendron maximum / Sphagnum spp. Seep Forest (CEGL007565)$$.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: There is a good deal of variability in examples of saturated Acer rubrum var. trilobum - Nyssa sylvatica forests in this region, in terms of hydroperiod, extent, and environment. More typical examples exhibit dominance or at least codominance by Osmunda cinnamomea, but some apparently drier or shorter hydroperiod examples are dominated by Thelypteris noveboracensis instead, and often lack Sphagnum or have it at very low density. These are included here as marginal to the concept and may represent either part of the natural variation or lower quality examples. Often this apparent variability is present within one stream reach. Some "examples" or parts of examples are very narrow bands along streams, and these are effectively below the minimum size for an occurrence, and thus would be mappable only at the very finest scales.

Examples are known from the Somerset and Stearns ranger districts of the Daniel Boone National Forest, in the Appalachian Plateaus, Cliff section of Kentucky. Similar seeps are known from western Kentucky, at the edge of the Shawnee Hills; they are included here for now. Related vegetation from the Cretaceous Gravel Hills of the Mississippi Embayment, which occurs at the bases of slopes rather than in streamheads on broad ridges, is accommodated in ~Acer rubrum var. trilobum - Nyssa sylvatica / Rhododendron canescens - Viburnum nudum var. nudum / Woodwardia areolata Seep Forest (CEGL004425)$$. This association is known from Tennessee in the southwestern portion of the southern Blue Ridge. A similar woodland community is ~Acer rubrum var. trilobum / Alnus serrulata / Calamagrostis coarctata Seep Woodland (CEGL003737)$$. In general, stands of this association (CEGL007443) have greater canopy cover and thereby denser shade, as well as being in a finer-textured, mucky substrate - in contrast to the more open canopy and coarser-textured, sandier substrate of CEGL003737.

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available

note: No Data Available