Natural Communities of North Georgia
  • Home
  • Piedmont
    • Piedmont Overview
    • Piedmont Mesic (Moist) Forests
    • PIedmont Oak-Pine-Hickory Forests
    • Piedmont Bottomland/Floodplain Forest
    • PIedmont Pine-Oak Woodlands
    • Montane Longleaf
    • Piedmont Prairies and Savannas (Upland)
    • Piedmont Wet Meadows and Marshes
    • Granite Outcrops
    • Piedmont Glades and Barrens
    • 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
  • Plant Adaptations to Deciduous Forests
  • Plant Adaptations to Rock Outcrops
  • Impact of Rock Type on Plant Composition

Piedmont Oak-Pine-Hickory Forests
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Oak-Pine-Hickory Forests are deciduous, closed-canopy forests that grow on very dry and submesic sites. Oaks are usually dominant,  and hickories and other deciduous trees may be abundant with pines scattered through 
Most of these forests grow in fairly acidic soils in the Georgia Piedmont, but some stands are underlain by mafic rocks or marble, with higher pH soils that support greater plant diversity. An abundance of hickories, elms, ashes, viburnums, and maples, with few blueberries and other ericaceous plants are good indicators of higher pH sites.
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What's special:  These are the "matrix" forests of the Piedmont with other natural communities embedded within.  They are hugely important to wildlife. Acorns and other nuts, berries, leaves, leaf litter, tree trunks, fallen logs and branches, fruits, and nectar in many different vegetation layers provide a diversity of food and shelter opportunities.  The trees support large numbers of caterpillars, which are the main source of food for many birds feeding their young.  The temperate deciduous forest biome is special from a global perspective.

 Landscapes

Conservation: Ecologists generally  believe that periodic fire is needed to sustain the presence of oaks in the forests.  Without fire, shade tolerant,  thinner-barked trees, such as red maple and black gum, grow under the oak tree canopy and  shade out the oak saplings. The oaks do not regenerate and are gradually lost from the forest.  
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Grades to:  Mesic (moist) forests in shadier sites; pine-oak woodlands in drier or more fire-prone sites.
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​Plants
Click on a plant name to see images and further information.  Plants are listed in order by scientific name.  
​  ​​Terms such as "rich", "calcareous" and "mafic" are from The Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States.  
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Trees
Chalk maple Acer leucoderme (esp. mafic or calcareous rock)
Red Maple Acer rubrum
Pignut hickory  Carya glabra 
Red hickory  Carya ovalis 
Shagbark hickory Carya ovata (esp. mafic rock)
Pale/Sand hickory Carya pallida
Mockernut hickory Carya tomentosa
Redbud Cercis canadensis (esp. calcareous or mafic rock)
Flowering dogwood Cornus florida 
Eastern red cedar Juniperus virginiana (most abundant on circumneutral soils)
Sweetgum Liquidambar styraciflua
Blackgum Nyssa sylvatica 
Sourwood Oxydendrum arboreum
Ironwood/American hop-hornbeam  Ostrya virginiana (esp. over basic rocks)
Shortleaf pine Pinus echinata
Loblolly pine  Pinus taeda
Virginia pine Pinus virginiana
White oak  Quercus alba 
Scarlet oak  Quercus coccinea 
Southern red oak   Quercus falcata
Blackjack oak   Quercus marilandica
Rock chestnut oak Quercus montana
Northern red oak  Quercus rubra
Post oak   Quercus stellata

Black oak   Quercus velutina
Sassafras Sassafras albidum
Red elm/Slippery elm  Ulmus rubra (calcareous)

Shrubs
​Small-flower pawpaw  Asimina parviflora
Beautyberry Callicarpa americana
Sweetshrub Calycanthus floridus
Strawberry bush/Hearts-a-bustin, Euonymus americanus
Carolina buckthorn Frangula caroliniana (esp. over calcareous and mafic rock)
Mountain laurel  Kalmia latifolia (acidic, north-facing, nearly mesic slopes)
Gorge rhododendron  Rhododendron minus (acid)
Oconee azalea Rhododendron flammeum (acid)
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Oneflower hawthorn (and other hawthorns) Crataegus uniflora (and other Crataegus sp.)
Gorge rhododendron  Rhododendron minus (acid0
Pinxter flower Rhododendron periclymenoides 
Big-leaf snowbell Styrax grandifolius
Horsesugar Symplocos tinctoria
Sparkleberry Vaccinium arboreum (acid, typically)
Hillside blueberry  Vaccinium pallidum (acid)
Deerberry  Vaccinium stamineum 
Mapleleaf viburnum Viburnum acerifolium
Arrowwood Viburnum dentatum

Vines
Cross vine  Bignonia capreolata
Trumpet vine Campsis radicans
Coralbeads Cocculus carolinus (especially where calcareous)
​Carolina jessamine Gelsemium sempervirens
Carolina spinypod  Matelea carolinensis (nutrient rich soils/rock)
Virginia creeper Parthenocissus quinquefolia
Yellow passionflower Passiflora lutea
Muscadine Vitis rotundifolia 
Greenbrier (whiteleaf/sawbrier) Smilax glauca
Poison ivy Toxicodendron radicans

Ground Layer
Wildflowers
Spreading dogbane  Apocynum androsaemifolium
Hemp dogbane  Apocynum cannabinum
Harebell  Campanula divaricata 
Pipsissewa  Chimaphila maculata  (sub-shrub)
Green-and-gold Chrysogonum virginianum
Pink lady's-slipper orchid  Cypripedium acaule 
Common Elephant's-foot  Elephantopus tomentosus
Trailing arbutus  Epigaea repens  (sub-shrub)
Eastern flowering spurge  Euphorbia corollata 
White wood aster Eurybia divaricata
Galax  Galax urceolata
Rattlesnake-orchid  Goodyera pubescens 
Little brown jug/Arrowhead heartleaf Hexastylis arifolia 
Veiny hawkweed Hieracium venosum
Quaker ladies/Bluets  Houstonia caerulea
Summer/purple bluets  Houstonia purpurea
Naked tick trefoil  Hylodesmum  nudiflorum 
Yellow stargrass Hypoxis hirsuta
Solomon's plume  Maianthemum racemosum
Violet wood-sorrel Oxalis violacea
Hairy  phlox Phlox amoena
Solomon's seal  Polygonatum biflorum 
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Carolina petunia Ruellia caroliniensis
Starry campion Silene stellata
Fire-pink Silene virginica 
Indian pink Spigelia marilandica (usually on circumneutral soils)
Cranefly orchid Tipularia discolor
Catesby's trillium  Trillium catesbaei  
Perfoliate bellwort  Uvularia perfoliata

Ferns
Ebony spleenwort Asplenium platyneuron
Rattlesnake fern Botrypus virginianus (especially on nutrient-rich slopes)
Hay-scented fern Dennstaedtia punctilobula
Broad beech fern Phegopteris hexagonoptera (leaning to mesic)
Christmas fern  Polystichum acrosticoides

Grasses, Sedges, and Rushes
Hill cane Arundinaria appalachiana​​
Black-edged sedge  Carex micromarginata
Upland oats  Chasmanthium sessiliflorum
Silky oatgrass   Danthonia sericea
Poverty oatgrass  Danthonia spicata
​Nimblewill  Muhlenbergia schreberi

Some representative trees (in order by scientific name)

​ Some representative shrubs in order by scientific name

Some representative vines in order by scientific name

​Some representative wildflowers, in order by scientific name

Some representative ferns, in order by scientific name

Representative Birds
Picture

​Contents of this site are based on the book The Natural Communities of Georgia,

This site is a work in progress: comments and suggestions are welcome.  Email: ​[email protected]

  • Home
  • Piedmont
    • Piedmont Overview
    • Piedmont Mesic (Moist) Forests
    • PIedmont Oak-Pine-Hickory Forests
    • Piedmont Bottomland/Floodplain Forest
    • PIedmont Pine-Oak Woodlands
    • Montane Longleaf
    • Piedmont Prairies and Savannas (Upland)
    • Piedmont Wet Meadows and Marshes
    • Granite Outcrops
    • Piedmont Glades and Barrens
    • 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
  • Plant Adaptations to Deciduous Forests
  • Plant Adaptations to Rock Outcrops
  • Impact of Rock Type on Plant Composition