Volume 54 – Issue 4 (Dec 1989)

The vegetation in two southern Appalachian boulderfields in north Georgia was analyzed and compared with that of a mesic, non-bouldered cove. Importance values were obtained for tree and shrub species from 100 m² quadrats. The canopy of the boulderfields is dominated by Yellow Birch (Betula allegheniensis L.) and Basswood (Tilia americana L.), species of relative unimportance in the cove. The shrub strata of the boulderfields is very dense and rich in species when compared to that of the cove. The canopy of the boulderfields is characterized by low density and numerous gaps.

The Brayton-Horsley Prairie is a 14-hectare prairie and spring fen complex in Bremer County, east-central Iowa. Three community types are found at this site, including mesic prairie, wet prairie, and spring fen. Of the 192 native vascular plant species found at this site, 35 are considered rare within the Iowan Erosional Surface. Nine are considered endangered or threatened in the state in the 1986 publication of Roosa et al. The spring fen community was found to harbor most of these rare taxa. Fens are one of the most important habitats in eastern Iowa for rare plant and animal populations, and should be protected to help preserve regional biodiversity.

North Carolina has a diverse hepatic flora with 196 taxa of which 60 (31%) are considered rare. Rare species are those represented by very few collections and restricted by ecological requirements or by sensitivity to critical habitat destruction. These taxa are concentrated in the high elevation mountains, the southern escarpment gorges and the southeastern coastal plain. The rare liverworts are categorized into 1) those endemic to limited areas of eastern North America, 2) those disjunct from other populations, and 3) those which occur on the northern or southern limits of their range. North Carolina distributions are given and some factors contributing to the scarcity of these plants are discussed.

Quantitative data on structure and composition of the vegetation were obtained for red oak-dominated stands at 13 sites in the Ridge and Valley and Blue Ridge physiographic provinces of western Virginia. All of the stands we sampled occurred at elevations > 1100 m (mean elevation = 1229 m) and the majority were situated on slopes with a northern exposure. In the overstory (stems ≥ 10 cm DBH) of these stands, red oak had an average importance value (where IV = relative basal area + relative density/2) of 70.2. The most important associates of red oak were red maple (average IV = 10.5), black birch (4.2), and white oak (3.8). Red oak was much less dominant (IV = 9.8) in the understory (stems ≥ 2.5 cm DBH but < 10.0 cm DBH), where witch hazel (19.6), red maple (16.2), mountain holly (9.9), and chestnut (8.3) were the other more important species present. Average species diversity (Shannon’s formula) of the overstory was 1.36, whereas that of the understory was 2.00.

At Big Run Bog, a Sphagnum-dominated wetland in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, annual aboveground net primary production (NPP) was estimated to be 1045 g/m². Bryophytes, herbaceous species, trailing shrubs, and upright shrubs contributed 43, 20, 10, and 27%, respectively, to the total aboveground NPP, while area-weighted mean percent cover for these 4 groups was 68, 42, 43, and 21%, respectively. Compared to estimates of aboveground NPP reported for more northern bog ecosystems, our value for Big Run Bog is relatively high, probably reflecting the higher temperatures and longer growing season in this relatively southern peatland.

Several botany students from William and Mary and I returned a few days ago from a backpacking foray to the river gorges of the southeastern escarpment of the Blue Ridge. It is with that fresh experience of the Southern Appalachians vividly in mind-their rugged beauty and floristic richness, as well as the vegetation-nurturing, botanist-soaking abundance of rainfall-that I write this message to my fellow members of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Club. I want to review the ’89 meeting of the Club with you and to outline plans for the coming year’s meeting.

The following seven species of vascular plants have not previously been reported for Kentucky. They are not included in the state checklists of Braun (1943) or Macfarland (1942) or the survey of the state’s wetland flora by Beal and Thieret (1986). These seven species are believed to be indigneous to Kentucky. General information on geographic range is taken from Fernald (1950) and Gleason and Cronquist (1963) unless otherwise stated. More complete data on these species are deposited in the Natural Heritage Database of the Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission, Frankfort.

Rhynchospora inundata (Oakes) Fern. (CY PERACEAE). Jasper County, several plants in north ditch of SC 46, 0.5 mile west of Hardeeville School. 8 October 1987, Uttal 14806 (VPI). This is a new county record for a species notably scarce in the Coastal Plain of South Carolina.

Thirty-three lichens, including a number of very rare species characteristic of Pine-oak Scrub, are listed. Since almost no records are available for Georgia lichens, most are useful records for the state, although Georgia is in the general range.