Environmental Description:  This dry to xeric Ouachita shale barren community occurs on exposed gentle to steep slopes along small stream drainages and on steep slopes along larger streams. It has very shallow soils which are excessively drained and are adjacent to bare shale outcrops and fine talus. These glades are generally circumneutral, but some examples are a little calcareous and some a little acidic. Several of the shale formations in the Ouachitas have interbedded limestones, and these examples will contain calciphilic plants (e.g. Pellaea atropurpurea, Cheilanthes alabamensis, Ratibida pinnata, Quercus muehlenbergii, Asplenium rhizophyllum, etc.). Some examples are acidic though with Hypericum gentianoides, Vaccinium arboreum, Pinus echinata, etc. It all depends on the local geology and probably on the relative landscape position of a particular glade. For example, even in calcareous shales, the local high ground may be acidic because all the calcareous material has been leached out (T. Witsell pers. comm. 2012).