| Pigeon
Mountain, GA |
Jess
Riddle |
| Sep
08, 2004 14:02 PDT |
The Cumberland Plateau, the Cumberland Mountains in the north
and broad
elevated uplands in the south, makes up the southwestern end of
the
Appalachian Mountains. Composed of sandstone and limestone, the
region
supports most of the tree species found at moderate elevations
in the Blue
Ridge Mountains as well as several species restricted to
sedimentary
terrain. Where the edge of the physiographic province cuts
across the
northwestern time of Georgia, Pigeon Mountain projects off the
main
plateau into the adjacent lowlands of the Ridge and Valley
province. The
approximately 10 mile long mountain rises about 1000 to a
more or less
level, two mile broad top at around 2000 elevation. The
mountain is home
to an endemic salamander, Georgias only population of
smoketree, and a
number of other floristic oddities.
A few small streams deeply dissect the east side of the mountain
creating
highly sheltered environments for forests. However, those
environments
remain effectively dry due to rapid draining as evidenced by the
fact that
the streams flow for extended distances underground. Chestnut
oak is
widespread in the ravines, but sweetgum and a mix of hardwoods
occupied
the slopes near the streambeds and cucumbertree and black birch
survive on
some north-facing slopes. Mountain laurel occurs in patches in
the
understory and Catawba rhododendrons hag off of some boulders,
but chalk
maple is by far the most prolific understory species.
In two areas I visited on the east side of the mountain,
different bedrock
allowed a distinct forest community to develop. Those forests
occupied
slopes moderately inclined with varying degrees of a south
aspect and
frequent low rock ledges and scattered large blocks of stone. In
those
area, white oak, white ash, shumard oak, southern shagbark
hickory, and
chinquapin oak formed the canopy. Redbud and small winged elms
constituted a dense midstory, and beauty berry was the most
abundant
shrub. Eastern red cedar and maple were common at one site and
patches of
small flowered leafcup blotted out the view of the ground in
some areas.
Southern shagbark hickory (Carya caroliniana)
Florida maple (Acer barbatum)
Beauty berry (Calycarpa americana)
Small flower leafcup (Polymnia Canadensis)
East Side Pigeon Mountain
Chinquapin Oak 511 x 87.6+
Eastern Red Cedar 60 x 84.3
Downey Serviceberry 22.5 x 45.6
Dickson Gulf (A named area on the E side of the mountain)
Florida Maple 40 x 93.2
Florida Maple 48 x 94.4
Eastern Red Cedar 57 x 73.2
A chinquapin oak on the north end of Johns Mountain in northwest
Georgia
is 93 x 91.3. The eastern red cedar may constitute a
new eastern
height record; A 49 tree on McGill Branch near Long Cane
Creek in SC is
80.7 tall. The juniper currently on the ENTS list from
Cumberland Island
Georgia is more likely a southern red cedar. Downey
serviceberries in the
area are concentrated along the top of an extensive line of
cliffs, and
the individual listed above far exceeds the size of all others
in the
area. The possible presence of chalk maple, sugar maple, Florida
maple,
black maple, and hybrids there-of, all in the sugar maple group,
complicates maple identification on the mountain. The maples
listed above
have larger leaves than typically borne by florida maples, and
the do not
occupy the normal floodplain habitat; however, they grow among
other
species more typically encountered in floodplains, have to much
hair on
the leaves for sugar maple, and the bark is most consistent with
florida
maple. They slightly exceed the previous record height held by a
larger
individual in the Murder Creek RNA.
Jess Riddle |
|