Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available

Floristics: This community is a needle-leaved evergreen forest with a usually somewhat open (occasionally closed) canopy. The canopy is typically short (<20 m) with tree height and canopy cover decreasing with increasing severity of the microsite. A deciduous subcanopy may be present. The shrub layers can be sparse but are more often dense to very dense and are composed of tall and short shrubs, predominantly ericaceous species. Herb cover is sparse, and leaf litter often dominates the ground layer. Pinus virginiana is the canopy dominant throughout the range of the type. In the Southern Appalachians and Southern Ridge and Valley it may occur with mixes of Pinus rigida, Pinus echinata, or Pinus strobus. Within its range, Pinus pungens may be present as a very minor component. Regeneration of Pinus virginiana is concentrated along cliff edges and tends to drop off inward from the edge. Small stems of Quercus montana (= Quercus prinus), Quercus coccinea, Acer rubrum, Nyssa sylvatica, and Oxydendrum arboreum are common in the subcanopy and sapling strata and may occur in the canopy as well. In the Southern Blue Ridge/Piedmont and Southern Blue Ridge/Ridge and Valley transition regions, Quercus marilandica, Quercus falcata, and Quercus stellata can be deciduous components. Common shrub dominants include Vaccinium pallidum, Vaccinium stamineum, Gaylussacia baccata, and Kalmia latifolia. Other typical shrubs can include Gaylussacia ursina, Kalmia latifolia, Sassafras albidum, and Vaccinium hirsutum (southwestern North Carolina and southeastern Tennessee only). Smilax glauca and Smilax rotundifolia can be common vines. In the sparse herb layer, characteristic species from the Southern Blue Ridge and Southern Ridge and Valley include Baptisia tinctoria, Chimaphila maculata, Dichanthelium commutatum, Danthonia spicata, Epigaea repens, Euphorbia corollata, Galax urceolata, Gaultheria procumbens, Hypoxis hirsuta, Iris verna, Pityopsis graminifolia var. latifolia, Pteridium aquilinum var. latiusculum, and Schizachyrium scoparium. Typical herbs from examples in the western portion of the range (Interior Low Plateau) include Antennaria plantaginifolia, Antennaria solitaria, Carex albicans var. albicans (= Carex artitecta), Danthonia spicata, Dichanthelium dichotomum, Lespedeza violacea (= Lespedeza intermedia), Hieracium gronovii, Hieracium venosum, Krigia biflora, Solidago erecta, and Tephrosia virginiana (M. Homoya pers. comm. 1999). In some of these examples Opuntia humifusa, Calamagrostis porteri ssp. insperata, and Solidago squarrosa may occur locally. Nonvascular plants have not been documented rangewide; West Virginia examples have identified lichen species including Cladonia caroliniana, Cladonia squamosa, Cladonia rangiferina, Cladonia pyxidata, Umbilicaria mammulata, Lasallia papulosa, Lasallia pensylvanica, Xanthoparmelia plittii, Xanthoparmelia conspersa, and Flavoparmelia caperata, and moss species including Leucobryum glaucum, Leucobryum albidum, Polytrichum juniperinum, Dicranum scoparium, Dicranum spurium, Dicranum condensatum, Hypnum imponens, and Thuidium delicatulum. In Indiana''s Knobstone Escarpment, this community provides habitat for that state''s only endemic vascular plant, Penstemon deamii.

Dynamics:  This xeric, evergreen forest community will be maintained on sites where local soil conditions and topographic extremes function to retard hardwood invasion. Although Pinus virginiana can become established by seed following fire, the trees are thin-barked and are easily killed by fire. Repeated burning is likely to select for Pinus rigida at the expense of Pinus virginiana. Infestations of southern pine beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis) can cause mortality of canopy trees. Examples affected by southern pine beetle in the Great Smoky Mountains can have up to 80-90% standing dead pine. This forest is also susceptible to damage by fire and has been found to be particularly sensitive to ozone, which causes foliar damage of Pinus virginiana (Burns and Honkala 1990a).

This community may occur as early- to late-successional stands. On sites where local soil conditions or topographic extremes retard succession and maintain pine dominance indefinitely, this community is considered a topo-edaphic climax. Other occurrences may be successional to forests with mixed deciduous-evergreen canopies dominated by mixtures of Pinus (pungens, rigida, virginiana, echinata) and Quercus (coccinea, montana) species.

Throughout most of its range, this community occurs as linear features along ridgetops and may be adjacent to or grade into xeric forests dominated by Quercus coccinea or Quercus montana or more mesic forests dominated by Quercus alba, Quercus rubra, Quercus velutina, Carya glabra, and Carya alba. In the Interior Low Plateau, individual stands can be small in size, occurring in a matrix of Quercus montana or Quercus montana - Quercus alba forest (e.g., ~Quercus montana / Smilax spp. Forest (CEGL005022)$$ or ~Quercus montana - Quercus (alba, coccinea) / Viburnum acerifolium - (Kalmia latifolia) Forest (CEGL005023)$$), but in more edaphically extreme circumstances.