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CEGL004455 Alnus maritima ssp. oklahomensis - Amorpha fruticosa Wet Shrubland
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Oklahoma Alder - False Indigobush Wet Shrubland
Colloquial Name: No Data Available
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This association is restricted to the Blue River drainage in Johnston and Pontotoc counties, Oklahoma. Stands are dominated by Alnus maritima ssp. oklahomensis, with Amorpha fruticosa. It occurs on cobble bars and riparian zones. Other characteristic species include Boehmeria cylindrica, Chasmanthium latifolium, Equisetum laevigatum, and Platanus occidentalis.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: Alnus maritima is known from three widely disjunct locations: Oklahoma, Georgia, and the Delmarva Peninsula of Delaware and Maryland. Its distribution is a biogeographic enigma that has yet to be suitably explained. "The peculiar disjunct distribution of the species Alnus maritima is a wondrous curiosity that is yet to be sufficiently explained" (Schrader and Graves 2002). Speculation that the disjunct occurrence of Alnus maritima in southern Oklahoma could have resulted from an accident of migration (Little 1996) is not the best explanation, due to the discovery of a third taxon in Georgia, and the morphological differences among the three taxa. These were described as subspecies by Schrader and Graves (2002). The other extant members of the subgenus Clethropsis are indigenous to southern Asia. "Even if we grant the premise that Alnus maritima originated on or around the Delmarva Peninsula, the possibility of natural long-range dispersal to Oklahoma and Georgia seems unlikely" (Schrader and Graves 2002).
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: Stands are dominated by Alnus maritima ssp. oklahomensis, with Amorpha fruticosa. Other characteristic species include Boehmeria cylindrica, Chasmanthium latifolium, Equisetum laevigatum, and Platanus occidentalis.
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: This association occurs on cobble bars and riparian zones. Alnus maritima ssp. oklahomensis grows in slightly to moderately alkaline soils, low in nitrate, very low in phosphorus, low in potassium, high in calcium, and high in magnesium, along fast-flowing streams in southern Oklahoma, where the summers are very hot and dry (Schrader and Graves 2002).
Geographic Range: This association is restricted to the Blue River drainage in Johnston and Pontotoc counties, Oklahoma.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: OK
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.688305
Confidence Level: Low - Poorly Documented
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G1G2
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.5 Prairie Cordgrass - Cattail species - Bulrush species Great Plains Marsh, Wet Meadow, Shrubland & Playa Macrogroup | M071 | 2.C.4.Nd.5 |
| Group | 2.C.4.Nd.5.c Dogwood species - Chokecherry / Western Wheatgrass Great Plains Riparian Wet Meadow & Shrubland Group | G337 | 2.C.4.Nd.5.c |
| Alliance | A0942 Oklahoma Alder Wet Shrubland Alliance | A0942 | 2.C.4.Nd.5.c |
| Association | CEGL004455 Oklahoma Alder - False Indigobush Wet Shrubland | CEGL004455 | 2.C.4.Nd.5.c |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: No Data Available
- Hoagland, B. 2000. The vegetation of Oklahoma: A classification for landscape mapping and conservation planning. The Southwestern Naturalist 45(4):385-420.
- Hoagland, B. W. 1997. Preliminary plant community classification for Oklahoma. Unpublished draft document, version 35629. University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Natural Heritage Inventory, Norman. 47 pp.
- Hoagland, B. W. 1998c. Oklahoma riparian vegetation. In: A. Fallon and M. Smolen, editors. Riparian area management handbook. Publication number E-952. Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater.
- Little, E. L., Jr. 1996. Forest trees of Oklahoma: How to know them. Oklahoma Forestry Services, State Department of Agriculture. Publication No. 1, Revised Edition No. 14. Oklahoma City. 205 pp.
- McCoy, D. A. 1958. Vascular plants of Pontotoc County, Oklahoma. American Midland Naturalist 59:371-396.
- Schrader, J. A., and W. R. Graves. 2002. Infraspecific systematics of Alnus maritima (Betulaceae) from three widely disjunct provenances. Castanea 67:380-401.
- Southeastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Durham, NC.