West Gulf Coastal Plain Stream Terrace Sandyland Longleaf Pine Woodland (Not Mapped)

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Nature Serve ID: CES203.891

Geology

This system is associated with coarse, Quaternary alluvial deposits, in the vicinity of Pleistocene surfaces.

Landform

Terraces adjacent to creeks and rivers where thick sand deposits develop.

Soils

Deep to very deed sands occurring on stream terraces. This may include psamments or psammentic soils such as the Bienville, Alaga, Turkey, or Tonkawa when they occur on the appropriate landform.

Parent Description

This system is relatively xeric vegetation, even though it occurs on terraces adjacent to, or within, floodplains. This is the case because the soils are deep and well-drained sands (often alluvial deposits), with low moisture retention and high permeability. Pinus palustris (longleaf pine) may form a discontinuous and sparse overstory, along with species such Quercus incana (bluejack oak), Quercus stellata (post oak), Quercus marilandica (blackjack oak), Pinus echinata (shortleaf pine), and Carya texana (black hickory). Where fire is excluded, the oaks become denser. Pinus palustris (longleaf pine) is absent from some instances. Pinus elliottii (slash pine) and Pinus taeda (loblolly pine) may be present to common in the current landscape. Depending on fire history, the shrub layer may be somewhat well-developed with species such as Vaccinium arboreum (farkleberry), Sideroxylon lanuginosa (gum bumelia), Persea borbonia (redbay), and Ilex vomitoria (yaupon). The herbaceous layer is usually sparse, with exposed sand and foliose lichens dominating the aspect of the sites. Species such as Aristida desmantha (curly threeawn), Bulbostylis ciliatifolia (capillary hairsedge), Carex tenax (wire sedge), Cnidoscolus texanus (Texas bull-nettle), Cyperus grayioides (Illinois flatsedge), Dichanthelium dichotomum (cypress panicgrass), Froelichia floridana (Florida snake-cotton), Opuntia humifusa (eastern pricklypear), Polanisia erosa (large clammyweed), Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem), and Yucca louisianensis (Gulf Coast yucca) may be present in the herbaceous layer. Phlox nivalis ssp. texensis (Texas trailing phlox) and Gaillardia aestivalis var. winkleri (Winkler’s firewheel) are two rare taxa associated with this system. This system is floristically similar to other sandhill longleaf pine systems, but the landform of occurrences makes this system unique.

Ecological Mapping Systems