Natural Communities of North Georgia
  • Home
  • Piedmont
    • Piedmont Overview
    • Mesic (Moist) Forests
    • Oak-Pine-Hickory Forests
    • Bottomland/Floodplain Forest
    • Pine-Oak Woodlands
    • Montane Longleaf
    • Prairies and Savannas (Upland)
    • Wet Meadows and Marshes
    • Granite Outcrops
    • Glades, Barrens, and Woodlands
    • Ultramafic Barrens and Woodlands
    • Cliffs and Bluffs
    • Flatwoods (Upland Depression Swamps)
  • Blue Ridge
    • Blue Ridge Overview
    • Northern Hardwoods
    • Montane Oak Forests
    • Fertile Cove Forests
    • Acidic Cove Forests
    • Oak Forests
    • Pine-Oak Woodlands
    • High Elevation Outcrops
    • Mafic Dome Rock Outcrops
    • Rock Outcrops, Cliffs and Bluffs
    • Ultramafic Barrens and Woodlands
    • Mountain Bogs
    • Seepage Wetlands
    • Spray Cliffs
    • Montane Bottomlands and Flooplains
  • Cumberland Ridge & Valley
    • Cumberland Ridge & Valley Overview
    • Mesic Forests
    • Dry Calcareous Forests
    • Acidic Oak-Pine Forests
    • Pine-Oak Woodlands
    • Montane Longleaf
    • Calcareous (Cedar) Glades
    • Calcareous Cliffs
    • Calcareous Prairies and Barrens
    • Acidic Glades and Barrens
    • Acidic Cliffs and Outcrops
    • Flatwoods
    • Acidic Seepage Wetlands
    • Bottomlands and Flooplains
  • Impact of Rock Type on Plant Composition
  • Plant Adaptations to Deciduous Forests

Cumberland Plateau/Ridge & Valley Calcareous Cliffs

​Calcareous Cliffs are vertical or near-vertical rock faces that form as a result of limestone erosion.  They usually occur as bluffs along rivers and streams.  Often they are small patches embedded within mesic forest.  Unlike sandstone, which forms large blocks, limestone often has many ledges that form from the intricate bedding planes, providing many niches for plants to root.  A mosaic of moisture conditions, from dry to wet seepage, provides diversity.   Limestone erodes quickly, so these cliffs are uncommon, and often host unusual plant assemblages with calcium-loving species.
Indicator species: Canada columbine, eastern shooting star, sharp-lobed hepatica, purple cliff-brake fern, white ash, and eastern redbud.
​
What's special: these cliffs can be very picturesque, particularly in the spring when calcium-loving wildflowers are in bloom.  Some Rare plants grow on these cliffs.
Related communities:  These cliffs are often embedded within Mesic Forests. 
​


Learn MORE HERE about plant adaptations to rocky places.   
Plants

Click on a plant name to see images.  Plant names are in alphabetical order by scientific name. 
 Soil/bedrock nutrient traits, such as "rich", "basic", "calcareous" and "mafic" are shown in parentheses for the species where that information is provided in The Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States, here. 

Trees
Eastern redbud Cercis canadensis
White ash Fraxinus americana (rich soils, and in calcareous or mafic soils on dry sites)
​
Eastern redcedar Juniperus virginiana
Ironwood (Hophorn 
beam) Ostrya virginiana
Winged elm Ulmus alata
Slippery elm Ulmus rubra (most abundant in rocky areas with basic bedrock)

 
Shrubs
Smooth hydrangea  Hydrangea arborescens
Appalachian mock-orange Philadelphis inordorus (rich woodlands and calcareous outcrops)
Buckthorn bumelia Sideroxylon lycoides (usually circumneutral, mafic or calcareous substrate)


Ground Cover
Wildflowers
Sharp lobed hepatica Anemone acutiloba (especially calcareous or mafic)
Round lobed hepatica Anemone americana
Canada columbine Aquiligeia canadensis (especially but by no means entirely on calcareous or mafic)
Jack-in-the-pulpit Arisaema triphyllum
​
Common wild ginger Asarum canadense (rich, circumneutral soils)
Canada rockcress Boechera canadensis (especially mafic or calcareous)
Common smooth rockcress Boechera laevigata (especially over mafic or calcareous)
Wild hyacinth Camassia scilloides (circumneutral soils, on limestone)
Cutleaf toothwort Cardamine concatenata (rich forests)
Broadleaf toothwort Cardamine diphylla (rich forests)

Cumberland spurge Euphorbia mercuralina (mafic or calcareous)
Crested iris - Iris cristata (rich forests)

Early saxifrage Micranthes virginiensis
Roundleaf ragwort Packera obovata (nutrient rich, usually over calcareous or mafic)
Fernleaf phacelia Phacelia bipinnatifida
​
Blue phlox Phlox divaricata (circumneutral soils)

Shooting star (eastern) Primula meadia
Bloodroot Sanguinaria canadenis
Mountain stonecrop Sedum ternatum (nutrient rich forests)
Blue-eyed grass Sisyrinchium atlanticum
Rue anemone Thalictrum thalictroides
Foamflower Tiarella cordifolia
Long-spurred violet Viola rostrata

Ferns
Northern maidenhair fern  
Adiantum pedatum (especially over mafic or calcareous rocks)
Ebony spleenwort Asplenium platyneuron (especially calcareous rocks and masonry crevices)
Maidenhair spleenwort Asplenium trichomanes (slightly to strongly calcareous rocks, mafic rocks, limestone)
Walking fern Asplenium rhizophyllum (calcareous sedimentary rocks, mafic rocks)
Purple cliff-brake Pellaea atropurpurea (limestone and other calcareous/mafic rocks, rarely in masonry crevices)
Resurrection fern Pleopeltis michauxiana
​

Representative Trees

White ash (Fraxinus americana) with opposite compound leaves. Richard and Teresa Ware
Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) J. Pakchar
Winged elm (Ulmus alata), with the winged twigs for which it is named. J. Pakchar

Representative Shrubs

Representative Ground Layer in order by scientific name.

Northern maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum) by Richard and Teresa Ware
Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) in fruit. L. Edwards
Canada columbine (Aquilegia canadensis). Hugh and Carol Nourse
Wild hyacinth (Camassia scilloides). Hugh and Carol Nourse
Cut-leaf toothwort (Cardamine concatenata). J. Pakchar
Wild geranium (Geranium maculatum) by Hugh and Carol Nourse
Sharp-lobed hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba) with purple flower. by J. Pakchar
Sharp-lobed hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba), with white flower. by J. Pakchar
Sharp-lobed hepatica (Hepatica acuminata) leaf by J. Pakchar
Crested iris (Iris cristata) by J. Pakchar
Blue phlox (Phlox divaricata) by J. Pakchar
Shooting star (Primula meadia) Hugh and Carol Nourse
Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) by J. Pakchar
Rue anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides) by J. Pakchar
Foam flower (Tiarella wherryi) J. Pakchar
Picture

​Contents of this site are based on the book The Natural Communities of Georgia, which can be purchased from the University of Georgia Press, Amazon, and other vendors.
​



This site is a work in progress: comments and suggestions are welcome.  Email: ​naturalcommsga@gmail.com

  • Home
  • Piedmont
    • Piedmont Overview
    • Mesic (Moist) Forests
    • Oak-Pine-Hickory Forests
    • Bottomland/Floodplain Forest
    • Pine-Oak Woodlands
    • Montane Longleaf
    • Prairies and Savannas (Upland)
    • Wet Meadows and Marshes
    • Granite Outcrops
    • Glades, Barrens, and Woodlands
    • Ultramafic Barrens and Woodlands
    • Cliffs and Bluffs
    • Flatwoods (Upland Depression Swamps)
  • Blue Ridge
    • Blue Ridge Overview
    • Northern Hardwoods
    • Montane Oak Forests
    • Fertile Cove Forests
    • Acidic Cove Forests
    • Oak Forests
    • Pine-Oak Woodlands
    • High Elevation Outcrops
    • Mafic Dome Rock Outcrops
    • Rock Outcrops, Cliffs and Bluffs
    • Ultramafic Barrens and Woodlands
    • Mountain Bogs
    • Seepage Wetlands
    • Spray Cliffs
    • Montane Bottomlands and Flooplains
  • Cumberland Ridge & Valley
    • Cumberland Ridge & Valley Overview
    • Mesic Forests
    • Dry Calcareous Forests
    • Acidic Oak-Pine Forests
    • Pine-Oak Woodlands
    • Montane Longleaf
    • Calcareous (Cedar) Glades
    • Calcareous Cliffs
    • Calcareous Prairies and Barrens
    • Acidic Glades and Barrens
    • Acidic Cliffs and Outcrops
    • Flatwoods
    • Acidic Seepage Wetlands
    • Bottomlands and Flooplains
  • Impact of Rock Type on Plant Composition
  • Plant Adaptations to Deciduous Forests