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CEGL004476 Asplenium ruta-muraria - Pellaea atropurpurea Cliff Sparse Vegetation

Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Wall-rue - Purple Cliffbrake Cliff Sparse Vegetation

Colloquial Name: Montane Cliff (Calcareous Type)

Hierarchy Level:  Association

Type Concept: This community includes calcareous cliffs associated with limestone or dolomite geology in Alabama, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. This community includes dry to rather moist limestone and dolomite outcrops, usually shaded by trees rooted in adjacent forested communities. It has little vegetative cover, often with 90% of the rock surface unvegetated. Mosses and lichens can have moderate coverage; vascular plants occur on ledges and rooted in cracks. Calciphilic herbs such as Asplenium ruta-muraria, Pellaea atropurpurea, Pellaea glabella ssp. glabella, Asplenium resiliens, Aquilegia canadensis are characteristic. Moister microhabitats of the crevice may have mosses such as Anomodon rostratus and Anomodon attenuatus.

Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: This community is scattered in the Central Appalachian and Ridge and Valley provinces but is extremely uncommon in the Southern Blue Ridge.

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: Stands of this association are characterized by sparse herbaceous vegetation, with vascular plants rooted in crevices and on shelves.

Floristics: Calciphilic herbs such as Aquilegia canadensis, Dodecatheon meadia, Symphyotrichum ericoides, Symphyotrichum oblongifolium, Cystopteris bulbifera, Bouteloua curtipendula, Pellaea atropurpurea, Dryopteris marginalis, Allium cernuum, Heuchera americana, Carex oligocarpa, Asplenium trichomanes, Arabis hirsuta, Arabis lyrata, Phlox subulata, Hylotelephium telephioides (= Sedum telephioides), and Saxifraga virginiensis are characteristic. Woody species may occur scattered throughout or at the margins; these species include Juniperus virginiana, Rhus aromatica, Toxicodendron radicans, Hydrangea arborescens, Fraxinus americana, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Cercis canadensis, Tilia americana, Carya spp., Quercus muehlenbergii, Ostrya virginiana, and Cornus florida.

Dynamics:  Species composition varies with moisture, shade and exposure on the rocky surface. Introduced weeds, including Ailanthus altissima, Centaurea stoebe ssp. micranthos, Sedum acre, Verbascum thapsus, Lonicera japonica, and Melilotus officinalis, may become established on more sheltered and mesic faces.
Environmental Description:  This community occurs on calcareous cliffs, outcrops, and rocky slopes and is often shaded by trees rooted in adjacent forested communities and/or the outcrops. It has little vegetative cover, often with 90% of the rock surface unvegetated. Mosses and lichens can have moderate coverage, and vascular plants occur on ledges and rooted in cracks.
Geographic Range: This community occurs in areas of limestone or dolomite geology from Pennsylvania south to Alabama. It is found primarily in the Ridge and Valley and Cumberland Plateau, but ranges into scattered areas in the Blue Ridge.

Nations: US

States/Provinces:  AL, GA?, KY, MD, NC, PA, SC, TN, VA, WV


Confidence Level: Low

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G3G4

Greasons: No Data Available
Type Name Database Code Classification Code
Class 6 Open Rock Vegetation Class C06 6
Subclass 6.B Temperate & Boreal Open Rock Vegetation Subclass S04 6.B
Formation 6.B.1 Temperate & Boreal Cliff, Scree & Other Rock Vegetation Formation F034 6.B.1
Division 6.B.1.Na Eastern North American Temperate Cliff, Scree & Rock Vegetation Division D051 6.B.1.Na
Macrogroup 6.B.1.Na.1 Shrubby Fivefingers - Rock Polypody / Cup Lichen species Eastern North American Cliff & Rock Vegetation Macrogroup M111 6.B.1.Na.1
Group 6.B.1.Na.1.c Appalachian Cliff & Rock Vegetation Group G840 6.B.1.Na.1.c
Alliance A2076 Purple Cliffbrake - Bulblet Bladderfern Appalachian Circumneutral Cliff Alliance A2076 6.B.1.Na.1.c
Association CEGL004476 Wall-rue - Purple Cliffbrake Cliff Sparse Vegetation CEGL004476 6.B.1.Na.1.c
Concept Lineage: No Data Available

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: ? IE1a. Southern Appalachian Calcareous Cliff (Allard 1990)
? Spleenwort-cliffbrake calcareous cliff (CAP pers. comm. 1998)
Concept Author(s): Southeastern/Eastern Ecology Groups

Author of Description: E. Largay and G.P. Fleming

Acknowledgements: No Data Available

Version Date: 10-03-06
  • Allard, D. J. 1990. Southeastern United States ecological community classification. Interim report, Version 1.2. The Nature Conservancy, Southeast Regional Office, Chapel Hill, NC. 96 pp.
  • CAP [Central Appalachian Forest Working Group]. 1998. Central Appalachian Working group discussions. The Nature Conservancy, Boston, MA.
  • Fike, J. 1999. Terrestrial and palustrine plant communities of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Natural Diversity Inventory. Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Recreation, Bureau of Forestry, Harrisburg, PA. 86 pp.
  • Fleming, G. P., K. D. Patterson, and K. Taverna. 2017. The natural communities of Virginia: A classification of ecological community groups and community types. Third approximation. Version 3.0. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond, VA. [http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-communities/]
  • Harrison, J. W. 2011. The natural communities of Maryland: 2011 working list of ecological community groups and community types. Unpublished report. Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service, Natural Heritage Program, Annapolis. 33 pp.
  • Harrison, J. W., compiler. 2004. Classification of vegetation communities of Maryland: First iteration. A subset of the International Classification of Ecological Communities: Terrestrial Vegetation of the United States, NatureServe. Maryland Natural Heritage Program, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Annapolis. 243 pp.
  • Metzler, K., and J. Barrett. 2006. The vegetation of Connecticut: A preliminary classification. State Geological and Natural History Survey, Report of Investigations No. 12. Connecticut Natural Diversity Database, Hartford, CT.
  • Nelson, J. B. 1986. The natural communities of South Carolina: Initial classification and description. South Carolina Wildlife and Marine Resources Department, Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, Columbia, SC. 55 pp.
  • Schafale, M. P. 2012. Classification of the natural communities of North Carolina, 4th Approximation. North Carolina Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program, Raleigh.
  • Schafale, M. P., and A. S. Weakley. 1990. Classification of the natural communities of North Carolina. Third approximation. North Carolina Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program, Raleigh. 325 pp.
  • Southeastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Durham, NC.
  • WVNHP [West Virginia Natural Heritage Program]. No date. Unpublished data. West Virginia Natural Heritage Program, Elkins.