Cedar glade at Cedars of Lebanon State Park
Cedars of Lebanon State Park is a state park in Wilson County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. It consists of 900 acres situated amidst the 9,420-acre Cedars of Lebanon State Forest. The park and forest are approximately 10 miles (16 km) south of Lebanon, Tennessee.
Cedars of Lebanon State Forest is known for its cedar glades, a unique type of ecosystem that has adapted to the thin (or nonexistent) soil layers that often occur in the eastern Central Basin. These glades are typically flanked by thick stands of red cedar, a type of juniper tree that can survive in soil layers too thin to support most large wooded plants. The presence of the red cedar in the basin reminded the region's early Euro-American settlers of the Lebanese cedar forests of Biblical fame.
Cedars of Lebanon State Forest is underlain by Ordovician period limestone, formed roughly 460 million years ago from calcareous ooze deposited by a primordial sea that once covered Middle Tennessee. Weathering of this rock has led to the creation of karst formations such as joints, underground streams, caves, and sinkholes, which are common throughout the park and forest. The forest is located in a flat section of the Central Basin characterized by thin soil layers where the limestone bedrock is often exposed.
Cedar glade communities have adapted to the basin's harsh barrens, where the soil is too thin to support most plant types, especially large wooded plants. The glades are typically open areas resembling rock or gravel-strewn meadows. Most glades include small areas of bare rock where nothing grows, gravelly areas where only grasses grow, and patches of very thin soil that support shrubs and small red cedars. Cedar glades are typically surrounded by stands of red cedar known as cedar thickets. Beyond the cedar thickets, the soil is thick enough to support a hardwood forest consisting primarily of oak and hickory.
The cedar glades of Cedars of Lebanon State Forest are home to 350 plant species, 29 of which are endemic to the cedar glades. Flowering plant species living in the glades include the formerly endangered Tennessee Coneflower (Echinacea tennesseensis), the Prickly Pear cactus (Opuntia humifusa), Limestone flame flower (Phemeranthus calcaricus), Gattinger's Prairie Clover (Dalea gattingeri), Glade Phlox (Phlox bifida), and Nashville Breadroot (Pediomelum subacaule). Nonflowering plants include reindeer moss and glade moss. Along with the red cedar, trees in the surrounding forest include white oak and shagbark hickory. Wildlife chiefly consists of rodents and birds.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedars_of_Lebanon_State_Park
Cedar glade at Cedars of Lebanon State Park
Cedars of Lebanon State Park is a state park in Wilson County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. It consists of 900 acres situated amidst the 9,420-acre Cedars of Lebanon State Forest. The park and forest are approximately 10 miles (16 km) south of Lebanon, Tennessee.
Cedars of Lebanon State Forest is known for its cedar glades, a unique type of ecosystem that has adapted to the thin (or nonexistent) soil layers that often occur in the eastern Central Basin. These glades are typically flanked by thick stands of red cedar, a type of juniper tree that can survive in soil layers too thin to support most large wooded plants. The presence of the red cedar in the basin reminded the region's early Euro-American settlers of the Lebanese cedar forests of Biblical fame.
Cedars of Lebanon State Forest is underlain by Ordovician period limestone, formed roughly 460 million years ago from calcareous ooze deposited by a primordial sea that once covered Middle Tennessee. Weathering of this rock has led to the creation of karst formations such as joints, underground streams, caves, and sinkholes, which are common throughout the park and forest. The forest is located in a flat section of the Central Basin characterized by thin soil layers where the limestone bedrock is often exposed.
Cedar glade communities have adapted to the basin's harsh barrens, where the soil is too thin to support most plant types, especially large wooded plants. The glades are typically open areas resembling rock or gravel-strewn meadows. Most glades include small areas of bare rock where nothing grows, gravelly areas where only grasses grow, and patches of very thin soil that support shrubs and small red cedars. Cedar glades are typically surrounded by stands of red cedar known as cedar thickets. Beyond the cedar thickets, the soil is thick enough to support a hardwood forest consisting primarily of oak and hickory.
The cedar glades of Cedars of Lebanon State Forest are home to 350 plant species, 29 of which are endemic to the cedar glades. Flowering plant species living in the glades include the formerly endangered Tennessee Coneflower (Echinacea tennesseensis), the Prickly Pear cactus (Opuntia humifusa), Limestone flame flower (Phemeranthus calcaricus), Gattinger's Prairie Clover (Dalea gattingeri), Glade Phlox (Phlox bifida), and Nashville Breadroot (Pediomelum subacaule). Nonflowering plants include reindeer moss and glade moss. Along with the red cedar, trees in the surrounding forest include white oak and shagbark hickory. Wildlife chiefly consists of rodents and birds.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedars_of_Lebanon_State_Park