Small patches of less than 5 acres
Dry, exposed, and sometimes steep, middle and upper southwest-facing slopes
Thin, dry, and rocky, with high levels of the plant nutrient calcium
Weverton Formation; Harpers Formation
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The Basic Woodland is found on sunny slopes with exposures of bedrock and boulder debris. The soil tends to be thin, or non-existent (where the bedrock crops out). It also tends to be dry due to the southwest exposure. Ecobit: How Topography Creates Microclimates
Although the soil is thin and dry, it is strikingly fertile—an unusual combination that creates an unusual community. The fertility supports nutrient-demanding plants, but the dryness creates stunted trees that are widely spaced.
On Maryland Heights, this natural community is underlain by Weverton quartzite, a rock made of quartz. That’s a puzzle because the fertile, base-rich soils you find here typically overlie bedrock that’s high in calcium and other base elements. . . but quartzite is actually quite acidic. So how can the soil here be fertile enough to support the Basic Woodland? Ecobit: Defining Terms: Acidic and Basic
Perhaps the Weverton quartzite on Maryland Heights contains thin layers[/no-layers] of metamorphosed siltstone. . . or it may be that there are places the quartzite contains not just quartz but also calcium-rich feldspar. In any case, the presence of abundant spring wildflowers in the Basic Woodland on Maryland Heights indicates some source of nutrients in the soil.
