More info for the terms:
association,
codominant,
fernBlue Ridge blueberry is a prominent understory species in oak (Quercus
spp.) woodlands, red maple (Acer rubrum) swamps, oak-chestnut (Castanea
dentata spp.) woodlands, pine (Pinus spp.)-oak communities, ecotonal
white pine (P. strobus) thickets, pitch pine (P. rigida) barrens, and
open pine savannas [
9,
23,
61,
64]. Numerous evergreen and deciduous
overstory dominants grow in association with Blue Ridge blueberry. Common
associates include northern red oak (Q. rubra), black oak (Q. velutina),
white oak (Q. alba), post oak (Q. stellata), chestnut oak (Q. prinus),
blackjack oak (Q. marilandica), Virginia pine (P. virginia), shortleaf
pine (P. echinata), pitch pine (P. rigida), loblolly pine (P. taeda),
longleaf pine (P. palustris), jack pine (P. banksiana), eastern hemlock
(Tsuga canadensis), red maple, and black cherry (Prunus serotina)
[
23,
28,
30,
37,
64].
Understory associates: Blue Ridge blueberry grows as a principal species
in higher elevation spirea (Spirea corymbosa) meadows of Virginia [
26].
In the southern Appalachians, mountain-laurel (Kalmia latifolia),
rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum), yellow birch (Betula
alleghaniensis), black huckleberry (Gaylussacia bacatta), wintergreen
(Gaultheria procumbens), and little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)
typically occur with Blue Ridge blueberry [
64]. Common associates in oak,
oak-pine communities, and the Pine Barrens of New Jersey include black
huckleberry, melampyrum (Melampyrum lineare), sweet-fern (Comptonia
peregrina), cat greenbriar (Smilax glauca), mountain-laurel, dangleberry
(Gaylussacia frondosa), yellow sedge (Carex pensylvanica), and bracken
fern (Pteridium aquilinum) [
12,
18,
34]. Sweet-fern, black huckleberry,
dangleberry, and low sweet blueberry often grow with Blue Ridge blueberry
in oak woodlands [
31]. In the upper Midwest, sedges (Carex spp.),
Dichanthelium depauperatum, and dewberry (Rubus hispidus) are common
understory associates [
2].
Blue Ridge blueberry grows as a "diagnostic understory species" in certain
old-growth post oak-black oak communities of the Piedmont [
30]. It is
listed as an indicator or codominant in the following community type
classification system:
Old-growth forests within the Piedmont of South Carolina [
30]