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 Prairies and Barrens (Coosa Prairies)

Calcareous prairies and barrens (Coosa Prairies/Floyd County Prairies)  are highly unusual, rare communities prairies and barrens that grow over calcareous shale and limestone in Floyd County, Georgia, in the Coosa River watershed.  The rocks weather to shrink-swell soils that create difficult growing conditions for trees and promote the development of prairies, particularly where there is occasional fire.  Barrens grow where soils are thin and gravelly.  Deeper soils promote dry prairies, and transition to wet prairies in moist sites.  Different plant assemblages - often with rare plants and plants more common to the midwest - grow in each of the differing soil and moisture conditions.

​​Indicator species:   Beyond the grasses and forbs characteristic of all prairies,  species that prefer calcareous habitats, as shown in list below.
What's special:  These prairies are very rare and diverse.  Many  rare plant species, including endemics (found nowhere else), and two critically imperiled plant assemblages grow here.  Some species are disjunct - found in the midwest, but few places in between - and others are common in more midwestern prairies, making Georgia a special outpost.  Prairie plants attract pollinators and insects, and are habitat for many birds and small mammals.  
Related to:  
As dry prairie soils become thinner, they grade into Calcareous Glades and Barrens (Cedar glades).  Wet prairies that are not exposed to fire grade into Flatwoods, and are sometimes embedded within them.

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Learn MORE HERE about plant adaptations to rocky places.  ​
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Plants
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Click on a plant name to see images. Plant lists in order of scientific name.  
​  ​​Terms such as "rich", "calcareous" and "mafic" are from The Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States, here.  ​
 
Wildflowers
Barrens milkweed Asclepias hirtella (limestone)
Green milkweed Asclepias viridiflora (dry prairie, esp. over mafic or calcareous)
Green antelope-horn milkweed Asclepias viridis (mafic or calcareous rock)
Blue wild indigo Baptisia australis (dry prairie)
Prairie bluehearts Buchnera americana (dry prairie; limestone or mafic)
Alabama leatherflower Clematis socialis (calcareous)
Woodland coreopsis Coreopsis major
Prairie purple coneflower Echinacea simulata 
Tall thoroughwort Eupatorium altissiumum
Ashy sunflower Helianthus mollis (calcareous)
Naked-stem sunflower Helianthus occidentalis
Whorled sunflower Helianthus verticillatus (calcareous)
Barrens St. John's-wort Hypericum sphaerocarpum (dry prairie, limestone)
Rough blazing-star Liatris aspera (dry prairie)
Dense blazing star Liatris spicata
​Scaly blazing star Liatris squarrosa
Whorled loosestrife Lysimachia quadrifolia
Mohr's Barbara's-buttons Marshallia mohrii  (limestone, dolostone, calcareous)
Virginia marbleseed Lithospermum virginianum (dry prairie; mafic and calcareous)
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Sundrops Oenothera fruticosa
Common wild quinine Parthenium integrifolium
Obedient-plant Physostegia virginiana (esp. calcareous or mafic)
Virginia mountain-mint Pycnanthemum virginianum (wet prairie; calcareous or mafic)
Prairie coneflower Ratibita pinnata (calcareous or mafic)
Eastern coneflower Rudbeckia fulgida (dry prairie)

Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta
​Nettle-leaf sage Salvia urticifolia (mafic or calcareous)
Yellow sunnybells Schoenolirion croceum (wet prairie)
Starry rosinweed Silphium asteriscus
Prairie-dock Silphium terebinthinaceum (wet prairie; mafic or calcareous)
White prairie goldenrod Solidago ptarmicoides (dry prairie; mafic, ultramafic, or calcareous)
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Riddell's goldenrod Solidago riddellii (wet calcareous prairies)
Stiff goldenrod Solidago rigida (mafic or calcareous)
Great Plains ladies'-tresses Spiranthes magnicamporum (dry prairie; limestone)


Grasses
Big bluestem Andropogon gerardii

Broomsedge  Andropogon virginicus
Poverty oat-grass  Danthonia spicata
Little bluestem  Schizachyrium scoparium 
Yellow Indiangrass  
Sorghastrum nutans
Prairie dropseed Sporobolus herolepis

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Representative Wildflowers in order by scientific name

Representative Grasses in order by scientific name
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.
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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