Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Sweetgum - Swamp Chestnut Oak - Shellbark Hickory / American Beech - (Yellow Buckeye) Swamp Forest

Colloquial Name: Eastern Highland Rim Rich Floodplain Terrace Forest

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This bottomland hardwood forest is found on higher terraces of floodplains in the southeastern Highland Rim of Tennessee; the canopy is dominated by Liquidambar styraciflua, Quercus michauxii, and Carya laciniosa. Additional canopy or subcanopy species may include Quercus shumardii, Quercus nigra, Quercus phellos, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Quercus palustris, Quercus lyrata, and Juglans nigra. The subcanopy may contain Fagus grandifolia, Ulmus americana, Carpinus caroliniana, and Ostrya virginiana. Shrubs include Asimina triloba, Lindera benzoin, Staphylea trifolia, Corylus americana, and Ilex decidua, along with smaller individuals of successional tree species such as Acer negundo, Acer saccharinum, and Celtis laevigata. Herbs include Cardamine dissecta, Cardamine diphylla, Cardamine bulbosa, Claytonia virginica, Erigenia bulbosa, Pachysandra procumbens, Mitchella repens, Polemonium reptans, Trillium cuneatum, Geum canadense, Rudbeckia laciniata, Boehmeria cylindrica, Phryma leptostachya, Impatiens capensis, Arisaema dracontium, Arisaema triphyllum, Aristolochia serpentaria, Laportea canadensis, Polygonum virginianum, Carex debilis, Carex grayi, Carex squarrosa, Carex tribuloides, Chasmanthium latifolium, Viola spp., and Commelina virginica. Woody and herbaceous vines found here include Bignonia capreolata, Vitis rotundifolia, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Toxicodendron radicans, Amphicarpaea bracteata, and Passiflora lutea. Examples of this association which have sustained extensive recent disturbance will likely contain much Smilax sp. and Rubus sp. in the shrub layer. Soils which support this association are deep, moist, rich, loamy, and well-drained, including the Prader fine sandy loam. The exotics Ligustrum sinense, Alliaria petiolata, and Microstegium vimineum may be present in examples of this association.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: This association is unusual for the combination of Quercus michauxii, Carya laciniosa, and Aesculus flava, the ranges of which rarely overlap. Based on plot data and observations from Arnold Air Force Base; known from Bradley Creek and the Elk River at Negro Bottom.

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available

note: No Data Available