Cumberland/Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forests
These forests grow over dry to somewhat dry soils, and include both calcareous and sub-calcareous conditions on valley floors or lower slopes. Rocky outcroppings appear occasionally.
Indicator species: calcium-loving species, such as Chinquapin oak, Shumard oak, chalk maple, eastern red cedar, redbud, Carolina buckthorn, coralberry, fragrant sumac, white ash, and redbud,
What's special: In Georgia, these expanses of calcareous forests and the species that grow on them are rare because fairly acidic soils are most common.
Related communities: as trees become sparse and soils are rocky, this community can grade into calcareous (cedar glades). As soils become more acidic, this community will grade into the Acidic Oak-Pine-Hickory Forest.
photo by Hugh and Carol Nourse
Photos by Richard & Teresa Ware, Hugh & Carol Nourse, or Jay Pakchar. Click to expand images
Indicator species: calcium-loving species, such as Chinquapin oak, Shumard oak, chalk maple, eastern red cedar, redbud, Carolina buckthorn, coralberry, fragrant sumac, white ash, and redbud,
What's special: In Georgia, these expanses of calcareous forests and the species that grow on them are rare because fairly acidic soils are most common.
Related communities: as trees become sparse and soils are rocky, this community can grade into calcareous (cedar glades). As soils become more acidic, this community will grade into the Acidic Oak-Pine-Hickory Forest.
photo by Hugh and Carol Nourse
Photos by Richard & Teresa Ware, Hugh & Carol Nourse, or Jay Pakchar. Click to expand images
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Click on a plant name to see many detailed plant images from comprehensive regional websites. Plant names are in alphabetical order by scientific name.
Trees Chalk maple Acer leucoderme Carolina shagbark hickory Carya carolinae-septrionalis Pignut hickory Carya glabra Mockernut hickory Carya tomentosa Dwarf hackberry/Georgia hackberry Celtis tenuifolia Eastern redbud Cercis canadensis White ash Fraxinus americana Eastern red cedar Juniperus virginiana White oak Quercus alba Blackjack oak Quercus marilandica Chinquapin oak Quercus muehlenbergii Shumard oak Quercus shumardii Post oak Quercus stellata Winged elm Ulmus alata American elm Ulmus americana Slippery elm Ulmus rubra Shrubs and Woody Vines Supplejack/American rattan Berchemia scandens Southern privet Forestiera ligustrina Carolina buckthorn Frangula caroliniana Wafer-ash Ptelea trifoliata Fragrant sumac Rhus aromatica Buckthorn bumelia Sideroxylon lyciodes Coralberry Symphoricarpos orbiculatus Southern black haw Viburnum rufidulum Ground Layer Wildflowers Thimbleweed Anemone virginiana Common smooth rockcress Boechera laevigata Northern leatherflower Clematis viorna Dwarf larkspur Delphinium tricorne Crested iris Iris cristata Hoary pucoon Lithospermum canescens Eastern Solomon's plume Maianthemum racemosum Solomon's seal - Polygonatum biflorum Nettle-leaf sage - Salvia urticifolia Black snakeroot - Sanicula canadensis Indian pink Spigelia marilandica Nettleleaf noseburn Tragia urticifolia |
Ground layer |
