Print Report

A3190 Quercus fusiformis - Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii Forest Alliance

Type Concept Sentence: This vegetation is dominated by Quercus fusiformis and/or Prosopis glandulosa var. glandulosa and is found in coastal areas south of the Brazos River, and also inland in southern Texas on the South Texas Sand Sheet.

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Texas Live Oak - Wax Mallow Forest Alliance

Colloquial Name: Texas Live Oak - Wax Mallow Motte & Coastal Forest

Hierarchy Level:  Alliance

Type Concept: Vegetation is dominated or codominated by Quercus fusiformis and/or Prosopis glandulosa var. glandulosa and found in coastal areas south of the Brazos River, and also inland in southern Texas on the South Texas Sand Sheet. Other associated species include Callicarpa americana, Ilex vomitoria, Persea borbonia, and Quercus hemisphaerica. These communities are typically intermixed with grasslands, and open-canopy woodland ecotones are common between the forest and grassland components in these landscapes.

Diagnostic Characteristics: Dominated or codominated by Quercus fusiformis and/or Prosopis glandulosa and found in coastal areas south of the Brazos River, and also inland in southern Texas on the South Texas Sand Sheet.

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: According to Nixon and Muller (1997), the nominal oak of this alliance (and all of coastal Texas southwest of the Brazos) should be considered Quercus fusiformis, likely introgressed with Quercus virginiana and/or the Mexican species Quercus oleoides. This alliance includes vegetation referred to as "thornscrub" vegetation of the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas and adjacent Mexico. The composition and environment of these communities are highly variable. Within the Coastal Plain of southern Texas, they occur over fine- and coarse-textured Holocene alluvium, fine- and coarse-textured Pleistocene-aged alluvium of the Beaumont Formation, and active clay dunes (lomas) in the tidal delta of the Rio Grande and near the coast in eastern Cameron County. Johnston (1952) collected vegetation data from xeric shrublands on various of these habitats and concluded that no clear patterns of dominance could be correlated with different habitats; these shrublands all seem to intergrade. This alliance includes the shrublands (thornscrub) occurring on coarse- and fine-textured Beaumont Formation strata characterized by emergent individuals of Prosopis glandulosa.

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: This alliance consists of forests that form closed- to open-canopy "mottes" surrounded by grasslands. It includes a variety of associations dominated or codominated by tree-sized Quercus fusiformis or Prosopis glandulosa, usually with highly variable canopy closure.

Floristics: This alliance consists of forests dominated by Quercus fusiformis and/or Prosopis glandulosa. Other associated species include Callicarpa americana, Ilex vomitoria, Persea borbonia, and Quercus hemisphaerica. These communities are typically intermixed with grasslands, and open-canopy woodland ecotones are common between the forest and grassland components in these landscapes. In southern Texas associated species can include Vachellia farnesiana (= Acacia minuta ssp. minuta), Acacia greggii, Celtis ehrenbergiana (= Celtis pallida), Condalia hookeri, Opuntia spp., Phaulothamnus spinescens, Zanthoxylum fagara, and Ziziphus obtusifolia.

Dynamics:  Drought, grazing, and the effects of hurricanes contribute to the dynamics of this vegetation. Some of these woodlands occur in riparian areas and receive infrequent flooding.
Environmental Description:  This alliance includes vegetation on the Quaternary sands of the South Texas Sand Sheet in Kenedy and Brooks counties, and of the Ingleside barrier-strandplain along the Texas Coastal Bend.
Geographic Range: This alliance is found along the Texas coast south of the Brazos River, and also includes similar vegetation on the South Texas Sand Sheet (of Brooks and Kenedy counties). It may also occur in Tamaulipas, Mexico.

Nations: MX?,US

States/Provinces:  MXTAM?, TX


Confidence Level: Low

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNR

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.2 Live Oak - Texas Live Oak - Darlington Oak Forest Macrogroup M885 1.B.1.Na.2
Group 1.B.1.Na.2.c Texas Live Oak - Wax Mallow Forest Group G799 1.B.1.Na.2.c
Alliance A3190 Texas Live Oak - Wax Mallow Forest Alliance A3190 1.B.1.Na.2.c
Association CEGL002117 Texas Live Oak - Redbay Forest CEGL002117 1.B.1.Na.2.c
Association CEGL007785 Texas Live Oak - Honey Mesquite / Texas Mallow Forest CEGL007785 1.B.1.Na.2.c
Concept Lineage: This new alliance has 2 associations from old alliance A.1926 and 2 associations from old alliance A.611.

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: >< Mesquite: 68 (Eyre 1980) [(southern type)]
Concept Author(s): C. Nordman, in Faber-Langendoen et al. (2014)

Author of Description: C. Nordman

Acknowledgements: Past work of J. Teague, B. Carr, D. Diamond, M.C. Johnston and A.S. Weakley is gratefully acknowledged.

Version Date: 09-26-14
  • Diamond, D. D. 1993. Classification of the plant communities of Texas (series level). Unpublished document. Texas Natural Heritage Program, Austin. 25 pp.
  • Eyre, F. H., editor. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and Canada. Society of American Foresters, Washington, DC. 148 pp.
  • Faber-Langendoen, D., J. Drake, M. Hall, G. Kittel, S. Menard, C. Nordman, M. Pyne, M. Reid, M. Russo, K. Schulz, L. Sneddon, K. Snow, and J. Teague. 2013-2019b. Screening alliances for induction into the U.S. National Vegetation Classification: Part 1 - Alliance concept review. NatureServe, Arlington, VA.
  • Jahrsdoerfer, S. E., and D. M. Leslie. 1988. Tamaulipan brushland of the lower Rio Grande Valley of south Texas: Description, human impacts, and management options. USDI Fish & Wildlife Service. Biological Report 88(36). 63 pp.
  • Johnston, M. C. 1952. Vegetation of eastern Cameron County, Texas. M.S. thesis, University of Texas, Austin. 127 pp.
  • Nixon, K. C., and C. H. Muller. 1997. 5c. Quercus Linnaeus sect. Quercus. White oaks. Pages 471-506 in: Flora of North America Editorial Committee. Flora of North America, North of Mexico. Volume 3. Magnoliophyta: Magnoliidae and Hamamelidae. Oxford University Press, New York.