Print Report
CEGL003596 Pinus palustris / Quercus marilandica / Schizachyrium scoparium - Silphium laciniatum - Ruellia humilis Woodland
Type Concept Sentence: No Data Available
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Longleaf Pine / Blackjack Oak / Little Bluestem - Compass Plant - Fringeleaf Wild Petunia Woodland
Colloquial Name: West Gulf Coastal Plain Calcareous Clay Longleaf Pine Glade
Hierarchy Level: Association
Type Concept: This small-patch Pinus palustris community is associated with outcroppings of calcareous and/or high calcium clay soils in the Inner Coastal Plain on Tertiary terraces of the West Gulf Coastal Plain of Louisiana and Texas. Edaphic limitations produce a widely spaced, even stunted woodland canopy that contrasts strikingly with surrounding open Pinus palustris woodlands on deeper soils. A continuous herbaceous cover is present. The most abundant ground flora species in Texas are Coelorachis rugosa, Eryngium yuccifolium, Andropogon gyrans, and Schizachyrium scoparium. Silphium laciniatum is a good indicator species of this community.
Diagnostic Characteristics: No Data Available
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: At present, the concept of this community includes "Prairie Glade Woodlands" recognized on the southern Kisatchie District, Kisatchie National Forest (Wilson Branch Barrens, Agave Glade). It is also present in a single location in Fox Hunters Hill, Sabine National Forest. Additionally, this community may occur on or near the Catahoula barrens in eastern Texas; several of these species (Pinus palustris, Quercus marilandica, Berchemia scandens, Crataegus spathulata, Crataegus crus-galli, Quercus stellata, Ilex vomitoria, Schizachyrium scoparium, Ruellia humilis, Euphorbia corollata, Silphium laciniatum).
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available
Floristics: Pinus palustris dominates the canopy. Locally, there may also be Pinus echinata in the canopy. At the Texas site, the only other overstory/midstory trees are Liquidambar styraciflua and Nyssa sylvatica. Quercus marilandica is apparently a component of this community in western Louisiana. The most abundant ground flora species in Texas are Coelorachis rugosa, Eryngium yuccifolium, Andropogon gyrans, and Schizachyrium scoparium. Other species include Rhynchospora globularis, Aristida purpurascens, Dichanthelium aciculare, Symphyotrichum patens (= Aster patens), Stylosanthes biflora, Vernonia texana, Symphyotrichum ericoides (= Aster ericoides), Silphium laciniatum, Scleria verticillata, Mimosa quadrivalvis, Tephrosia virginiana, Asclepias viridiflora, Solidago odora, Rhynchospora inexpansa, Heterotheca subaxillaris, Scleria pauciflora, and Oligoneuron nitidum (= Solidago nitida). Other typical species of sites in Louisiana include Crataegus spathulata, Crataegus crus-galli, Quercus stellata, Berchemia scandens, Ilex vomitoria, Schizachyrium scoparium, Sporobolus junceus, Muhlenbergia expansa, Ruellia humilis, Euphorbia corollata, Manfreda virginica, Dalea candida, Andropogon gerardii, and Baptisia bracteata var. leucophaea (= Baptisia bracteata var. glabrescens).
Dynamics: Unlike most of the better known longleaf pine communities of both the West Gulf Coastal Plain and the southeastern United States, this type is more edaphically extreme and even glade-like. Under the same fire regime of adjacent longleaf woodlands on deeper, sandier soils, this type is an order of magnitude more open. Frequent fires are much less essential to maintaining an open aspect and herbaceous dominance in this type. However, such fires are still important to induce flowering in species such as Sporobolus junceus (Weakley and Peterson 1998), and some of the other species present.
Environmental Description: This association occurs on the Fleming Formation (Castor Creek Member, Dough Hills Member, Lena Member) in Louisiana, the Catahoula Formation (Louisiana and Texas), and potentially also on the Vicksburg Group, Jackson Group, and the Cook Mountain Formation. Soils at the single known site in eastern Texas have a pH of 5.2, with very shallow clayey surface soils above Catahoula mudstone or sandstone (R. Evans pers. obs.). These soils are unusually high in both calcium (1530 ppm) and magnesium (830 ppm) (Turner et al. unpubl. data). Sandstone outcrops studied by Van Kley (1999a) on the Kisatchie National Forest are even higher in calcium and magnesium than the known site in eastern Texas, in fact higher than any other community in his study area.
Geographic Range: This community is found in the Inner Coastal Plain on Tertiary terraces of the West Gulf Coastal Plain of Louisiana and Texas.
Nations: US
States/Provinces: LA, TX
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.689458
Confidence Level: Low
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: G1
Greasons: No Data Available
| Type | Name | Database Code | Classification Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class | 1 Forest & Woodland Class | C01 | 1 |
| Subclass | 1.B Temperate & Boreal Forest & Woodland Subclass | S15 | 1.B |
| Formation | 1.B.1 Warm Temperate Forest & Woodland Formation | F018 | 1.B.1 |
| Division | 1.B.1.Na Southeastern North American Forest & Woodland Division | D006 | 1.B.1.Na |
| Macrogroup | 1.B.1.Na.1 Longleaf Pine / Pineland Three-awn Woodland Macrogroup | M007 | 1.B.1.Na.1 |
| Group | 1.B.1.Na.1.d Longleaf Pine / Sand Post Oak / Three-awn species Woodland Group | G009 | 1.B.1.Na.1.d |
| Alliance | A3123 Longleaf Pine / Blackjack Oak / Little Bluestem West Gulf Coastal Plain Woodland Alliance | A3123 | 1.B.1.Na.1.d |
| Association | CEGL003596 Longleaf Pine / Blackjack Oak / Little Bluestem - Compass Plant - Fringeleaf Wild Petunia Woodland | CEGL003596 | 1.B.1.Na.1.d |
Concept Lineage: No Data Available
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: ? Sandstone Outcrops (Van Kley 1999a)
- Evans, Rob. Personal communication. Regional Ecologist, Plant Conservation Program, North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Raleigh, NC.
- LNHP [Louisiana Natural Heritage Program]. 2009. Natural communities of Louisiana. Louisiana Natural Heritage Program, Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries, Baton Rouge. 46 pp. [http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/page_wildlife/6776-Rare%20Natural%20Communities/LA_NAT_COM.pdf]
- Southeastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Durham, NC.
- Turner, R. L., J. E. Van Kley, L. S. Smith, and R. E. Evans. No date. Unpublished data from the national forests and adjacent areas of the West Gulf Coastal Plain. The Nature Conservancy, Nacogdoches, TX.
- Van Kley, J. E. 1999a. The vegetation of the Kisatchie Sandstone Hills, Louisiana. Castanea 64:64-80.
- Weakley, A. S., and P. M. Peterson. 1998. Taxonomy of the Sporobolus floridanus complex (Poaceae: Sporobolinae). Sida 18(1):247-270.