Cryic Coniferous Flood Plain

Description

The reference plant community for this site is defined by the overstory dominance of Engelmann spruce (Picea englemannii) in association with mountain alder (Alnus incana). Understory herb and shrub species will depend on water table depth and seasonality. A diverse, herbaceous understory may often include common horsetail (Equisetum arvense), twistedstalk (Streptopus amplexifolius), monkshood (Aconitum sp.), wintergreen (Pyrola sp.), sedges (Carex sp.), prince's pine (Chimaphila umbellata), queencup beadlilly (Clintonia uniflora), starry solomonplume (Maianthemum stellatum) and bedstraw (Galium sp.). White fir (Abies concolor) and grand fir (Abies grandis) may be subdominant in the canopy and may increase within dry microsites along with lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta). Mountain alder may grow as a shrub or a tree. Other shrub species may include currants (Ribes spp.), and red-osier dogwood (Cornus sericea). Adjacent streambanks and meadows may host additional shrubs that may include snowberry (Symphoricarpos spp.), rose (Rosa spp.), spiraea (Spiraea sp.) and gooseberry (Ribes spp.).

Submodel