Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Honey Mesquite / Southern Cattail - Common Threesquare Southwestern North American Warm Desert Freshwater Marsh & Bosque Division

Colloquial Name: Southwestern North American Warm Desert Freshwater Marsh & Bosque

Hierarchy Level:  Division

Type Concept: This division covers herbaceous marshes and riparian shrublands widely distributed throughout canyons and desert valleys of the warm desert regions of the southwestern U.S. and adjacent Mexico. Riparian shrublands are found in riparian corridors of small, medium and large perennial and intermittent streams and rivers at low elevations (<1100 m). The vegetation is low scrub or shrub, not tall trees. Dominant scrub species are Prosopis glandulosa and Prosopis velutina, and dominant shrubs include Baccharis salicifolia, Pluchea sericea, Salix geyeriana, Shepherdia argentea, and Salix exigua. Woody vegetation is relatively dense, especially when compared to drier washes. Marsh vegetation is characterized by a lush, dense herbaceous layer with low diversity occurring sometimes as a monoculture. Dominant species include Carex pellita, Carex praegracilis, Cyperus spp., Distichlis spicata, Eleocharis palustris, Flaveria chlorifolia, Helianthus paradoxus, Juncus arcticus ssp. littoralis, Paspalum distichum, Ranunculus aquatilis, Schoenoplectus americanus, Schoenoplectus pungens, and Typha domingensis. Marsh vegetation occurs in bottomlands along drainages, in river floodplain depressions, cienegas, oxbow lakes, below seeps, on frequently flooded gravel bars, low-lying sidebars, infilled side channels, small ponds, stockponds, ditches and slow-moving streams, and perennial streams in valleys and mountain foothills, from 890 to 1560 m (2930-5120 feet) in elevation. Marsh substrates are variable but are generally fine-textured and often alkaline. Hydrologic regimes vary from seasonal inundation followed by complete soil desiccation to year-round standing water.

Diagnostic Characteristics: Desert climes of the southwestern U.S., seasonal inundation or at least near-surface or sub-surface water table saturation, characterized by emergent herbaceous vegetation, or intermittent and perennial streambanks and floodplains with native woody shrub species. Dominant scrub species are Prosopis glandulosa and Prosopis velutina, and dominant shrubs include Baccharis salicifolia, Pluchea sericea, Salix exigua, Salix geyeriana, and Shepherdia argentea. Dominant marsh species include Carex pellita, Carex praegracilis, Cyperus spp., Distichlis spicata, Eleocharis palustris, Flaveria chlorifolia, Helianthus paradoxus, Juncus arcticus ssp. littoralis, Paspalum distichum, Ranunculus aquatilis, Schoenoplectus americanus, Schoenoplectus pungens, and Typha domingensis.

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: Vegetation is dependent upon annual rise in the water table or annual/periodic flooding/saturation.

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available

note: No Data Available