Cumberland Plateau/Ridge & Valley Dry Calcareous Forests
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Dry calcareous forests are unusual hardwood forests that grow in dry to somewhat dry soils. They occur over limestone on valley floors and lower slopes. Glade-like outcroppings appear occasionally within the forests. While similar to oak dominated forests over more acidic soils, these special forests support unique plant assemblages that flourish on the high calcium soils on these lower slopes, and are missing the heath component that is often present in Georgia forests.
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Indicator and representative species: calcium-loving species, such as Chinquapin oak, Shumard oak, chalk maple, eastern red cedar, many elms, hackberries, and hickories, white ash, redbud, Carolina buckthorn, coralberry, fragrant sumac, dwarf larkspur, nettleleaf sage, and nettleleaf noseburn.
What's special: In Georgia, deciduous forests growing on calcareous soils are unusual, adding important diversity. The plant communities here are very different from the somewhat acidic oak-pine-hickory communities that are far more common in Georgia.
Related communities: Can grade into calcareous (cedar glades) in rocky openings.
Learn MORE HERE about plant adaptations in deciduous forests.
What's special: In Georgia, deciduous forests growing on calcareous soils are unusual, adding important diversity. The plant communities here are very different from the somewhat acidic oak-pine-hickory communities that are far more common in Georgia.
Related communities: Can grade into calcareous (cedar glades) in rocky openings.
Learn MORE HERE about plant adaptations in deciduous forests.
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Plants
Click on the plant names below for images. Plants are listed 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 Redbud Cercis canadensis White ash Fraxinus americana (calcareous if dry site) Eastern red cedar Juniperus virginiana White oak Quercus alba Blackjack oak Quercus marilandica Chinquapin oak Quercus muehlenbergii (calcareous or mafic rocks) Shumard oak Quercus shumardii (needs calcium for dry sites) Post oak Quercus stellata Winged elm Ulmus alata American elm Ulmus americana Slippery elm Ulmus rubra (calcareous and/or rich forests) Shrubs Supplejack/American rattan Berchemia scandens Southern privet Forestiera ligustrina Carolina buckthorn Frangula caroliniana Alabama snow-wreath Neviusia alabamensis Wafer-ash Ptelea trifoliata Fragrant sumac Rhus aromatica Buckthorn bumelia Sideroxylon lycioides Coralberry Symphoricarpos orbiculatus Southern black haw Viburnum rufidulum Ground Layer Thimbleweed Anemone virginiana Common smooth rockcress Boechera laevigata Northern leatherflower Clematis viorna Dwarf larkspur Delphinium tricorne Crested iris Iris cristata Hoary puccoon Lithospermum canescens 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 |
Representative Trees , in order by scientific name.Representative Shrubs, in order by scientific nameRepresentative ground layer plants, in order by scientific name. |
