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 Ultramafic Barrens and Woodlands:

Ultramafic woodlands and barrens are extremely rare natural communities in Georgia. Also known as Serpentine Woodlands, these communities are a mosaic of barrens, glades, and woodlands that grow over ultramafic rocks, such as dunite, soapstone and serpentine.  These rocks are very high in iron and magnesium, which inhibit the growth of some plants,  and may also contain levels of chromium and nickle that are toxic to some plants.  The rocks weather to shallow soils that erode easily,  and drain quickly, creating dry conditions.

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What's special: The highly unusual environmental conditions caused by ultramafic rocks result in a unique assemblage of plants that can tolerate the challenging habitat.  Rare species grow here because  they cannot compete with plants in more common conditions, but can tolerate these difficult ones.  This habitat is known to be very well developed in one site in the Georgia Piedmont, Burke's Mountain, which is not open to the public.  However, other outcroppings, such as Soapstone Mountain, while not having well developed, classic serpentine communities, have similar thin soils and base-loving plants.

Related communities:  This natural community is similar to the Glades, Barrens, and Woodlands natural community, and shares a number of plants in common with mafic versions of that community.  
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​Learn MORE HERE about plant adaptations to rocky places.  

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Learn MORE HERE about Piedmont rock types and their affect on plants.


Landscapes
Birds

​Plants
Click on the plant names to see images.  Plants are in order by scientific name.


​Trees
Shortleaf pine  Pinus echinata
Longleaf pine Pinus palustris
Loblolly pine Pinus taeda
Prunus serotina Black cherry
Blackjack oak Quercus marilandica
Post oak  Quercus stellata


Shrubs and Woody Vines
American beautyberry Callicarpa americana
Georgia calamint Clinopdium georgiana
Carolina jessamine Gelsemium sempervirens
Wax myrtle Morella cerifera
Fragrant sumac Rhus aromatica
Winged sumac Rhus copallinum
Carolina rose Rosa carolina
Sand blackberry Rubus cuneifolius

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 Ground Layer
Wildflowers
Cuthbert's onion Allium cuthbertii
Asclepias viridiflora Green milkweed
Thick-pod white wild indigo Baptisia alba
Creamy wild indigo Baptisia bracteata
Spurred butterfly pea Centrosema virginianum
Curlyheads Clematis ochroleuca
Butterfly pea Clitoria mariana
Common rough fleabane Erigeron strigosus
Pineweed Hypericum gentianoides
Velvety lespedeza Lespedeza stuevei
Dense blazing star Liatris spicata
Blazing-star Liatris virgata
Pineland Barbara's-buttons Marshallia racemosa
False garlic Nothoscordum bivalve
Yellow whitlow-wort Paronychia virginica
Dixie Mountain breadroot Pediomelum piedmontanum
Appalachian rock-pink Phemeranthus teretifolius
Silkgrass Pityopsis aspera var. adenolepis
Licorice goldenrod/Fragrant goldenrod  Solidago odora
Pencil-flower  Stylosanthes biflora
Stemless ironweed Vernonia acaulis

Grasses, Sedges and Rushes
Splitbeard bluestem Andropogon ternarius
Big bluestem Andropogon gerardii
Side-oats grama Bouteloua curtipendula
Bigtop lovegrass Eragrostis hirsuta
Little bluestem  Schizachyrium scoparium 
Yellow Indiangrass  
Sorghastrum nutans
Rough dropseed Sporobolus clandestinus
Sandhills/Piney woods dropseed Sporobolus junceus
Purpletop/Greasy grass Tridens flavus
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Ferns

Bracken fern Pteridium latiusculum


​Representative Trees in order by scientific name

Representative Shrubs and Vines in order by scientific name

Representative Wildflowers and Ferns in order by scientific name

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.
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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
  • Impact of Rock Type on Plant Composition
  • Plant Adaptations to Deciduous Forests