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
  • Plant Adaptations to Rock Outcrops
  • Plant Adaptations to Deciduous Forests

Blue Ridge Seepage Wetlands

Seepage wetlands develop where water is slowly, sometimes imperceptibly, moving downhill at or near the surface, causing saturated soils.  Seepage occurs at streamheads, in channels within floodplains, on stream edges, at the base of slopes, and in rocky areas where joints in the rock channel water to the surface.  Herbaceous (non-woody) plants dominate, with a few shrubs.  Trees tend to root around, rather than in, the seepage.
Indicator species: jewelweed, cinnamon fern, royal fern, cut-leaf coneflower, netted chain fern, and sensitive fern.

What's special: seepage wetlands add diversity to the landscape by encouraging a new suite of plant species, which in turn attract a diversity of fauna.  They are important amphibian habitat.
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Related communities:  Often embedded within and intergrade with bottomlands and cliffs, and rock outcrops.
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​Plants


Click on a plant name to see images.  The plant lists are in alphabetical order by scientific name.
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Shrubs
Tag alder Alnus serrulata
Silky dogwood/Swamp dogwood Cornus amomum
Virginia willow/sweetspire Itea virginica
Common elderberry Sambucus canadensis
American snowbell Styrax americanus
Southern wild raisin Viburnum nudum

Ground Layer
Wildflowers
Eastern blue monkshead  Aconitum uncinatum
False-nettle Boehmeria cylindrica
Roundleaf sundew  Drosera rotundifolia
​Monkshead  Aconitum uncinatum

Jack-in-the-pulpit Arisaema triphyllum
White turtlehead  Chelone glabra
Water hemlock  Cicuta maculata
Umbrella-leaf  Diphylleia cymosa
Roundleaf sundew  Drosera rotundifolia
Hollow-stem Joe-pye-weed  Eutrochium fistulosum 
Soapwort gentian Gentiana saponaria
Thyme-leaf bluet  Houstonia serpyllifolia
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Cliff/Michaux's saxifrage  Hydatica petiolaris
Orange jewelweed  Impatiens capensis
Yellow jewelweed  Impatiens pallida
Turk's-cap lily  Lilium superbum
Cardinal flower Lobelia cardinalis
Virginia bugleweed Lycopus virginicus
Branch lettuce  Micranthes micranthidifolia
Winged monkeyflower Mimulus alatus
Allegheny monkeyflower Mimulus ringens
Bee-balm  Monarda didyma
Cowbane Oxypolis rigidior
Golden ragwort Packera aurea
Kidney-leaf grass-of-Parnassus  Parnassia asarifolia
Bigleaf grass-of-Parnassus Parnassia grandifolia
Cutleaf coneflower  Rudbeckia laciniata
Small green woodland orchid Platanthera clavellata
Lizard's-tail Saururus cernuus
Roughleaf goldenrod  Solidago patula
Oval ladies'-tresses  Spiranthes ovalis
Purple swamp aster  Symphyotrichum puniceum
Lady-rue  Thalictrum clavatum
Mountain foamflower Tiarella cordifolia
Common foamflower Tiarella wherryi
Tassel-rue  Trautvetteria caroliniensis
White-hellebore  Veratrum viride

Blue marsh violet  Viola cucullata
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Ferns

Netted chain fern Lorinseria areolata/Woodwardia areolata
Sensitive fern/Bead fern Onoclea sensibilis
Royal fern  Osmunda spectabilis
Cinnamon fern  Osmundastrum cinnamomeum
New York fern  Thelypteris noveboracensis

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​Representative Shrubs in order by scientific name

Representative Wildflowers in order by scientific name

Representative Ferns, 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.
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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
  • Plant Adaptations to Rock Outcrops
  • Plant Adaptations to Deciduous Forests