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

Piedmont Pine-Oak Woodlands 

Landscapes

Pine-Oak Woodlands are tree-dominated communities with  gaps in the canopy that allow roughly 25- 60% of the sunlight to enter.  They usually grow on dry sites, and are typically maintained through prescribed fire.  Loblolly and shortleaf pines and dry-site oaks that are adapted to fire, (such as post oak and blackjack oak) are most common. Fire-maintained woodlands were more common in the past when humans set more fires and the landscape was less fragmented. 

As some sites revegetate from human impacts such as agriculture or development, they will pass through a pine woodland phase before becoming hardwood forest.

​This community can also include forest edges and forest gaps.


What's special:  Well-managed pine-oak woodlands are beautiful, with sunlight and blue sky shining through the open canopy;  a thick, diverse ground and shrub layer; and a wide variety of bird species flitting among the trees, far more visible than they are in closed forests.  Old maps and early explorer descriptions have shown that these communities were once widespread in the Georgia Piedmont, adding biodiversity to the natural heritage of the state, especially in the ground layer.  

​
Conservation: Ecologists are now  using prescribed fires to bring woodlands back to the Piedmont, because the mix of trees, shrubs and ground cover supports diverse wildlife, and pollinators, and hosts rare plant species.
​

Related communities:  As tree cover gets denser, this community grades into Oak-Pine Forest.   As soils become thinner and numerous rock outcroppings appear,  the community grades to the Glades, Barrens, and Woodlands. ​



        Birds
Plants

Click on a plant name to see images. 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, here.  ​
Note:  the thinner-barked trees listed below will be most common if they reached old age before fire was introduced to the site, or if the site is naturally open due to thin soils or human disturbance,  and not experiencing fire.  

​Trees
Red maple Acer rubrum
Serviceberry (downy)  Amelanchier arborea
Pale hickory Carya pallida
Common chinquapin Castanea pumila
Redbud Cercis canadensis (esp. calcareous or mafic rock)
Flowering dogwood Cornus florida ​
Persimmon (American)  Diospyros virginiana
Wild crabapple Malus angustifolia
Blackgum Nyssa sylvatica ​
Sourwood Oxydendrum arboreum
Shortleaf pine  Pinus echinata 
Loblolly pine Pinus taeda
Hog plum Prunus umbellata
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
Sassafras Sassafras albidum

Shrubs and sub-shrubs
Thick-pod white wild indigo Baptisia alba
New Jersey tea Ceanothus americanus
Pipsissewa  Chimaphila maculata  (sub-shrub)
Fringe-tree  Chionanthus virginicus​
Georgia calamint Clinopdium georgiana
Trailing arbutus  Epigaea repens (a sub-shrub; esp. on acidic soils)
Carolina buckthorn Frangula caroliniana (esp. over calcareous and mafic rock)
St. Andrews cross  Hypericum hypericoides
Mountain laurel  Kalmia latifolia (acidic, north-facing, nearly mesic slopes)
Ninebark Physocarpus opulifolius (often basic)
Gorge rhododendron  Rhododendron minus (acid)
Fragrant sumac Rhus aromatica (especially over                       calcareous or mafic rock)
Winged sumac Rhus copallinum
Smooth sumac Rhus glabra
Carolina rose Rosa carolina
Dewberry (common) Rubus flagellaris
Blackberry (eastern) Rubus pensilvanicus​
Coralberry 
Symphoricarpos orbiculatus (esp. over calcareous and mafic rock)
Horse sugar  Symplocos tinctoria
Sparkleberry Vaccinium arboreum 
Hillside blueberry
   Vaccinium pallidum    
Deerberry
 Vaccinium stamineum
 

Vines
Crossvine  Bignonia capreolata
Trumpet vine Campsis radicans
Carolina jessamine Gelsemium sempervirens
Coral honeysuckle Lonicera sempervirens

Passion flower/May-pop Passiflora incarnata
Virginia creeper Parthenocissus quinquefolia
Greenbrier (whiteleaf/sawbrier) Smilax glauca
Poison ivy Toxicodendron radicans
Muscadine Vitis rotundifolia
​​
Wildflowers (Forbs)

Gerardia (purple) Agalinis purpurea
Gerardia (slender) Agalinis tenuifolia​
Hairy angelica
 Angelica venenosa
Thimbleweed Anemone virginiana (esp. on circumneutral soils)
Pussytoes Antennaria plantaginifolia
​Eastern columbine Aquilegia canadensis (esp. on calcareous or mafic)
Spreading dogbane  Apocynum androsaemifolium
Hemp dogbane Apocynum cannabinum
Clasping milkweed Asclepias amplexicaulis     
Butterfly weed 
Asclepias tuberosa
White milkweed Asclepias variegata
Whorled milkweed Asclepias verticillata (esp. mafic rock)     
Green milkweed  
Asclepias viridiflora (esp. over mafic or calcareous) 
Thick-pod white wild indigo Baptisia alba
Creamy wild indigo Baptisia bracteata
Wild indigo  Baptisia tinctoria
Spurred butterfly pea Centrosema virginianum
Partridge pea Chamaecrista fasciculata
​Green-and-gold Chrysogonum virginianum   
Maryland golden-aster  Chrysopsis mariana
Butterfly pea Clitoria mariana 
Tread-softly Cnidoscolus stimulosus
Erect dayflower Commelina erecta
Lobed coreopsis Coreopsis auriculata   
Large-flowered coreopsis
 Coreopsis grandiflora
Woodland coreopsis Coreopsis major
​Carolina larkspur Delphinium carolinianum (thin soils;sun)
Panicled tick-trefoil Desmodium paniculatum
Elephant's-foot (leafy) Elephantopus carolinianus
Elephant's-foot (common) Elephantopus tomentosus
Robin's plantain Erigeron pulchellus​
Hyssopleaf boneset Eupatorium hyssopifolium
Late flowering boneset Eupatorium serotinum
Sessile-leaf boneset Eupatorium sessilifolium
White wood aster Eurybia divaricata​
Indian physic/Bowman's root Gillenia trifoliata
Appalachian sunflower  Helianthus atrorubens
Spreading sunflower Helianthus divaricatus
Hairy sunflower Helianthus hirsutus
Longleaf sunflower Helianthus longifolius
Small-headed sunflower  Helianthus microcephalus
Roughleaf sunflower Helianthus strumosus   
Alumroot Heuchera americana
Veiny hawkweed  Hieracium venosum​
Quaker ladies  Houstonia caerulea
​
Summer bluet  Houstonia purpurea
Spotted St. John's-Wort  Hypericum punctatum
​Yellow stargrass Hypoxis hirsutus
Dwarf iris  Iris verna
Hairy lespedeza Lespedeza hirta
Downy trailing lespedeza Lespedeza procumbens 
Smooth trailing lespedeza Lespedeza repens 
Blazing star (dense) Liatris spicata
Blazing star (scaly) Liatris squarrosa
Carolina lily  Lilium michauxii
Downy lobelia Lobelia puberula
Sensitive briar Mimosa microphylla     
Wild bergamot  Monarda fistulosa
Bee-balm (spotted) Monarda punctata
​False garlic Nothoscordum bivalve
Wild quinine Parthenium integrifolium
Lousewort Pedicularis canadensis
Southern beardtongue  Penstemon australis
Phlox (hairy) Phlox amoena
Phlox (Carolina) Phlox carolina
Pokeweed Phytolacca americana
Silkgrass Pityopsis graminifolia
Rabbit tobacco Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium
​Mountain mint (southern) Pycnanthemum pycnanthemoides
​
​Carolina petunia Ruellia caroliniensis
​Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta
Lyreleaf sage Salvia lyrata
​Fire pink Silene virginica
Rosinweed Silphium compositum
Blue-eyed grass Sisyrinchium angustifolium
Horse nettle Solanum carolinense
Forest goldenrod Solidago arguta 
Slender goldenrod Solidago erecta   
Eastern gray goldenrod
 Solidago nemoralus
Licorice goldenrod/Fragrant goldenrod  Solidago odora
Pencil-flower  Stylosanthes biflora
Eastern silvery aster Symphyotrichum concolor
Georgia aster Symphyotrichum georgianum     
Calico aster Symphyotrichum laterifolum ​     
Clasping aster Symphyotrichum patens
Frost aster Symphyotrichum pilosum

Virginia goat's-rue  Tephrosia virginiana
Spiderwort (hairy) Tradescantia hirsuticaulis
Blue curls Trichostema dichotomum
Bird's-foot violet  Viola pedata
​     
Grasses, Sedges, and Rushes
Big bluestem Andropogon gerardii
Splitbeard bluestem Andropogon ternarius
Broomsedge  Andropogon virginicus 
Oval leaf sedge  Carex cephalophora
Black-edged sedge  Carex micromarginata
Silky oat-grass Danthonia sericea
Poverty oat-grass  Danthonia spicata
Bigtop lovegrass Eragrostis hirsuta
Purple lovegrass  Eragrostis spectabilis
Eastern beard grass Gymnopogon ambiguus
Pink muhly grass/hairgrass  Muhlenbergia capillaris
Eastern needlegrass  Piptochaetium avenaceum
Little bluestem  Schizachyrium scoparium
Yellow Indiangrass  Sorghastrum nutans
Purpletop/Greasy grass Tridens flavus
​​Gamma grass Tripsacum dactyloides
​
Ferns
Ebony spleenwort  Asplenium platyneuron
Bracken fern Pteridium latiusculum


​Representative trees, in order by scientific name.

Representative shrubs in order by scientific name.

Representative wildflowers in order by scientific name.

Representative ferns 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.
​



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