This floristic and vegetational survey of the Chattooga River Gorge is a contribution to the accumulating body of biological knowledge regarding the gorges of the Southeastern Blue Ridge Escarpment of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, supported by Highlands Biological Station.
Two weather records not heretofore used in climatological evaluations of escarpment gorges are analyzed.
A comparison is made between the Chattooga River and other rivers of the escarpment with respect to their relative gradients.
Seven broad vegetation types are recognized as characteristic of the Chattooga River Gorge. (1) Mixed mesophytic: rare and located in a few northerly oriented coves or river slopes; (2) white pine-mixed deciduous: a successional type; (3) scarlet oak-chestnut oak-hickory: throughout and the most common type; (4) pitch pine-oak: on xeric peaks and ridges with southerly aspect; (5) flood zones: along the river; (6) rock outcrops: mesic and xeric phases on granite; (7) disturbed areas: scattered throughout.
Collections made between May, 1968 and October, 1968 totaled 502 different species or varieties.