The Vegetation of Benzie County Michigan: From the Introduction to the Flora of Benzie County Part I: Pteridophytes - 1985
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Authors
Overlease, Edith
Overlease, William
Issue Date
2014-05-29
Type
Technical Report
Language
en_US
Subject
Vegetation , Benzie County , Michigan , Pteridophytes , 1985
Alternative Title
Abstract
Benzie County, bordering Lake Michigan in northwestern Lower
Peninsula Michigan, is the smallest county in the state. It consists
of 223,187 acres comprising 348.73 sguare miles. The flat
to rolling topography is nearly entirely the result of deposition
of the Wisconsinan glacial period which ended approximately 10,000
years ago, terminal and other glacial moraines and out wash plains
provided the habitat for a northern hardwoods plant community which
with its variations originally covered nearly 75 percent of the
county. The dominant species were Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum),
American Beech (Faqus qrandifolia), Red Oak (Quercus rubra),
Eastern Hemlock (Tsuqa canadensis), Yellow Birch (Betula
alleqhaniensis h i t e Ash (Fraxinus americana), and American Basswood
(Tilia americana). American Elm (Ulmus americana) was common
on the moister sites. Following logging of this forest at the
turn of the century, Sugar Maple has become very abundant as sprout
growth with Eastern Hemlock and Yellow Birch becoming much less
common. Rich spring wildflower displays are found on finer
textured morainal soils and are good indicators of soil profile. development. A detailed summary of the variations within these
forests and their relationship to the development of the spring
herbaceous flora is found in Overlease and Overlease (1976).The
relative uniform dominance by Sugar Maple is a common feature of
these forests today. American Elm has been virtually eliminated
as a crown cover species in the county by the Dutch Elm disease.
Description
Partial OCR done. 15 pages total.