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III. SHRUBLAND
III.B.2.N.e. Seasonally flooded
cold-deciduous shrubland
III.B.2.N.e.3. CEPHALANTHUS OCCIDENTALIS SEASONALLY FLOODED
SHRUBLAND ALLIANCE
Buttonbush Seasonally Flooded Shrubland Alliance
Concept: Vegetation in this alliance occurs in seasonally
flooded basins in which the water level generally is beneath the soil surface by
the end of the growing season. Cephalanthus occidentalis is the dominant
species. Herbaceous species that may be present include Carex striata, Glyceria
spp., Polygonum amphibium, and Panicum verrucosum. This alliance is distributed
in the Coastal Plain in Maryland and Virginia and possibly along the Atlantic
north to Massachusetts, the Interior Low Plateau of Tennessee, and possibly
adjoining states; it also occurs in California. This alliance includes shrub
vegetation of ponds over fragipan soils in southeastern central Tennessee.
Comments: This alliance needs resolution against III.B.2.N.f
Cephalanthus occidentalis Semipermanently Flooded Shrubland Alliance (A.1011),
which is distributed throughout the Southeast and the Midwest. This description
is based primarily upon information from California examples of the alliance.
Further documentation and description of the alliance from other portions of its
range are needed.
Range: This alliance is distributed in the coastal plain in
Maryland and Virginia and possibly along the Atlantic north to Massachusetts,
the Interior Low Plateau of Tennessee, and possibly adjoining states; it also
occurs in California. This alliance includes shrub vegetation of ponds over fragipan soils in southeastern central Tennessee. In California, this alliance
occurs in seasonally flooded basins throughout the inner northern and central
Coast Ranges, the foothills of the Klamath, Cascade, and Sierra Nevada
mountains, and in the Great Central Valley.
States/Provinces: AL? CA DE GA IL IN KY MA? MD MO MS? RI? TN VA
TNC Ecoregions: 32:P, 38:C, 39:C, 40:C, 43:P, 44:C, 50:C, 58:C,
59:C, 62:C
USFS Ecoregions: 221A:CC, 222Ab:CCC, 222Ag:CCC, 222Ah:CCC,
222An:CCC, 222Eb:CCC, 231Ga:CCC, 231Gb:CCC, 231Gc:CCC, 232Ac:CCP, 232B:CC,
234Aa:CCP, 234Ac:CCC, 234Ae:CCC, 234Af:CCP, 234Ag:CCP, 234Ah:CCP, 234Ai:CCP,
234Ak:CCP, 234Al:CCP, 234Am:CCP, 234An:CCC, 262A:CC, M221Ab:CCC, M222Aa:CCC,
M222Ab:CCC, M231Aa:CCC, M231Ab:CCC, M231Ac:CCC, M231Ad:CCC, M261A:CC, M261C:CC,
M261F:CC, M261G:CC, M262A:CC
Federal Lands: DOD (Arnold, Fort Benning); USFS (George
Washington, Mark Twain); USFWS (Felsenthal, Pond Creek)
Synonymy: Buttonbush Scrub, in part (Holland 1986b)
References: Holland 1986b, Sawyer and Keeler-Wolf 1995, Sneddon
1994
Authors: ECS, MOD. M. SCHINDEL, MP, East Identifier: A.988
CEPHALANTHUS OCCIDENTALIS / POLYGONUM
HYDROPIPEROIDES - PANICUM VERRUCOSUM SHRUBLAND
Buttonbush / Swamp Smartweed - Warty Panicgrass
Shrubland
North Atlantic Coastal Plain Buttonbush / Warty Panicgrass Pond G3? (98-12-14)
Ecological Group (SCS;MCS):
Northern Coastal Plain Shrub
Swamps (490-18; n/a)
Concept: Pond
community is known from the Coastal Plain of Delaware and Maryland (and possibly
other states), with disjunct examples in the Great Valley of Virginia. Examples
include seasonally flooded shrublands that occur in relatively small basins that
draw down entirely during dry years, exposing some bare substrate by the end of
the growing season. The substrate is a shallow organic
layer overlying silt loam or clay loam.
Cephalanthus occidentalis
is the dominant shrub, but Decodon verticillatus may
also be present. Characteristic herbs are Panicum verrucosum, Dulichium
arundinaceum, Polygonum hydropiperoides, Torreyochloa pallida, Rhexia virginica,
and Panicum hemitomon. Other associates may include Bidens frondosa,
Scirpus cyperinus, Proserpinaca palustris, Triadenum virginicum, Dichanthelium
spretum (= Panicum spretum), Scleria reticularis, and Fimbristylis
autumnalis. Species composition of this community tends to be variable among
occurrences.
Comments: With a geographic distribution similar to many of
the region's unusual plants, Shenandoah Valley stands of this community type
appear to be outliers of an association more widespread on the Coastal Plain.
Excellent Coastal Plain examples of this community are found at the Grafton
Ponds complex in York County (Rawinski 1997). Additional data and analysis are
needed to determine whether the regional expressions in Virginia should be
considered formal subtypes in the National Vegetation Classification (USNVC).
This vegetation often occurs with other community types in ponds
exhibiting distinct hydrologic zonation. In these situations, it often occupies
zones intermediate between the semipermanently flooded Cephalanthus
occidentalis / Dulichium arundinaceum Shrubland (CEGL007854) and the more
shortly seasonally flooded Quercus palustris / Panicum rigidulum var.
rigidulum - Panicum verrucosum - Eleocharis acicularis Herbaceous Vegetation
(CEGL007858).
Range: The known range of this community includes the
central Atlantic Coastal Plain of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, with an
uncertain northward extension to Rhode Island and Massachusetts. There are at
least 21 disjunct occurrences of the type documented from natural pond complexes
along the western foot of the Blue Ridge in Augusta and Rockingham counties,
Virginia.
States/Provinces: DE:S?, MA?, MD:S?, RI?, VA:S?
TNC Ecoregions: 58:C, 59:C, 62:C
USFS Ecoregions: 221:C, 232A:CC, 232B:CC, M221Ab:CCC
Federal Lands: USFS (George Washington)
Synonymy: Cephalanthus occidentalis / Torreyochloa
pallida - Decodon verticillatus Association (Rawinski 1997), Cephalanthus
occidentalis / Proserpinaca palustris - Polygonum hydropiperoides community
(Fleming and Van Alstine 1999), Cephalanthus occidentalis / Polygonum
hydropiperoides - Glyceria acutiflora - Proserpinaca palustris Shrubland
(Fleming and Coulling 2001) F. VA Srank = S1, Cephalanthus occidentalis /
Polygonum hydropiperoides - Torreyochloa pallida - Panicum verrucosum Shrubland (Fleming and Coulling 2001) F. VA Srank = S1
References: Berdine and Gould 1999, Bowman 2000, Buhlmann et
al. 1999, Fleming and Coulling 2001, Fleming and Van Alstine 1999, Fleming et
al. 2001, McAvoy and Clancy 1994, Rawinski 1997, Sneddon 1994, Tyndall et al.
1990
Authors: G. Fleming and P. Coulling, ECS Confidence: 2 Identifier: CEGL006242
- Maryland Vegetation Classification Subset Report III.
Shrubland
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