Cumberland/Ridge & Valley Pine-Oak Woodlands
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Woodlands let 20- 80% of all sunlight in to the forest floor. Pines and dry-site oaks dominate. Usually the shrub layer is sparse. A dense ground cover may develop, although some sites are rocky. Woodlands grow on sites that are too dry to support a closed canopy, such as on sharp ridges or south-facing slopes with stony, thin soils. They are most common in this ecoregion on sandstone ridges with acidic soils. They also grow on moister sites with frequent fire and as a mid successional phase as vegetation returns after a site was cleared.
What's special: The combination of trees and a ground cover adapted to the sunlight reaching the forest floor creates different habitats for wildlife, adding plant and animal diversity to the landscape. Related Communities: Grades into Oak-Pine-Hickory Forest, or Acidic Glades and Barrens community. |
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Common Plants of Pine-Oak Woodlands
Click on plant names to see images from regional websites. Trees Pale hickory Carya pallida Sourwood Oxydendron arboreum Shortleaf pine Pinus echinata Virginia pine Pinus virginiana Scarlet oak Quercus coccinea Southern red oak Quercus falcata Blackjack oak Quercus marilandica Rock chestnut oak Quercus montana Post oak Quercus stellata Black oak Quercus velutina Shrubs and Woody Vines Common New Jersey tea Ceanothus americanus Black huckleberry Gaylussacia baccata Carolina jessamine Gelsemium sempervirens Mountain laurel Kalmia latifolia Gorge rhododendron Rhododendron minus Great rhododendron Rhododendron maximum Winged sumac Rhus copallinum Horse sugar Symplocos tinctoria Sparkleberry Vaccinium arboreum Hillside blueberry Vaccinium pallidum Deerberry Vaccinium stamineum Ground Layer Wildflowers Purple gerardia Agalinis purpurea Slender gerardia Agalinis tenuifolia Hemp dogbane Apocynum cannabinum Butterfly weed Asclepias tuberosa White milkweed Asclepias variegata Honesty weed Baptisia tinctoria Spurred butterfly pea Centrosema virginianum Maryland golden-aster Chrysopsis mariana Butterfly pea Clitoria mariana Erect dayflower Commelina erecta Woodland coreopsis Coreopsis major Trailing arbutus Epigaea repens (a sub-shrub) Hyssopleaf eupatorium Eupatorium hyssopifolium Late flowering boneset/thoroughwort Eupatorium serotinum Eastern flowering spurge Euphorbia corollata Appalachian sunflower Helianthus atrorubens Small-headed sunflower Helianthus microcephalus Quaker ladies Houstonia caerulea Veiny hawkweed Hieracium venosum Yellow stargrass Hypoxis hirsuta Upland dwarf iris Iris verna Hairy lespedeza Lespedeza hirta Downy trailing lespedeza Lespedeza procumbens Smooth trailing lespedeza Lespedeza repens Dense blazing star Liatris spicata Blazing star Liatris squarrosa Carolina lily Lilium michauxii Downy lobelia Lobelia puberula Eastern sensitive briar Mimosa microphylla Common wild quinine Parthenium integrifolium Maypop Passiflora incarnata Silkgrass Pityopsis graminifolia Fragrant rabbit tobacco Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta Fire pink Silene virginica Rosinweed Silphium compositum Hedge nettle Solanum carolinense Tall goldenrod Solidago altissima Eastern gray goldenrod Solidago nemoralus Licorice goldenrod/Fragrant goldenrod Solidago odora Eastern silvery aster Symphyotrichum concolor Common clasping aster Symphyotrichum patens Frost aster Symphiotrichum pilosum Pencil-flower Stylosanthes biflora Virginia goat's-rue Tephrosia virginiana Hairy spiderwort Tradescantia hirsuticaulis Blue curls Trichostema dichotomum Bird's-foot violet Viola pedata Grasses Splitbeard bluestem Andropogon ternarius Bushy bluestem Andropogon gerardii Poverty oat-grass Danthonia spicata Silky oat-grass Danthonia sericea Bigtop lovegrass Eragrostis hirsuta Eastern beard grass Gymnopogon ambifuus Eastern needlegrass Piptochaetium avenaceum Little bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium Yellow Indiangrass Sorghastrum nutans Purpletop/Greasy grass Tridens flavus Ferns Bracken fern Pteridium latiusculum |
To identify Pine-Oak Woodlands, look for an open canopy and the following trees. Clockwise: shortleaf pine, Virginia pine, rock chestnut oak, blackjack oak, post oak, and scarlet oak. Click on photo for ID tips.
Representative wildflowers in order by color. See the plant list at left for more species and information.
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