Forest Type
SAF 52: White oak-Black Oak-Northern red oak,
35 acres
SAF 91: Swamp Chestnut Oak-Cherrybark Oak, 15
acres
Total acres: 138 acres
Description
The primary site consists of steep north,
east and west slopes overlooking Stevens Creek.
There is a narrow floodplain buffer zone between
the creek and the steep slopes and a broad buffer
zone of gently rolling ridge top.
Radford (1959) considers this climax community
to be a relic of the mixed mesophytic forest
that covered the Piedmont during the last glacial
period of the Pleistocene. Although the canopy
of primarily oaks and hickories contains some
individuals from 175 to 250 years old, the area
as a whole is not virgin. There are, however,
some smaller pockets which have a totally undisturbed
soil profile, a situation that is very rare
in the Piedmont Province as a whole.
The most unusual aspect of this site is the
extraordinary diversity of plants, including
a large number of rare, threatened or endangered
species. The most significant plant at the site
is Ribes echinellum, Florida gooseberry. This
low spiny shrub is known from only two localities
in the world, here and at one site in Florida.
Seven more plants at the site are on S.C.'s
unofficial list of threatened and endangered
plants: including Isopyrum biternatum, Panax
quinquefolium, Trillium lancifolium, Trillium
discolor, Dicentra cucularia, Lithospermum tuberosum,
and Philadelphus hirsutus. An additional nine
plant species found here are rare or unusual
in S.C. the abundance of rare species is probably
related to the protective steep north aspect
and the circumneutral soil.
this site is also one of the few sites in
S.C. for the state threatened Webster's Salamander
(Plethodon websteri) and the Cooper's Hawk (accipiter
cooperii).
the geology of the site is in need of more
study. Of particular interest is the apparent
anomaly of a circumneutral soil over an apparently
acidic bedrock.
Radford, A.E. 1959. A relic plant community
in South Carolina. Jour. Elisha Mitchell Sci.
Soc. 75:35-36
Location
McCormick County, South Carolina
Access
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