Informed by Nature
    The natural plant communities that make up Bernheim serve as an important guide to the display and interpretation of plant collections in the 250 acre arboretum that adjoins the natural areas of Bernheim.

Cedar Glades
    Interspersed throughout Bernheim’s 14,000-acre forest are small, natural forest openings referred to as glades. These areas, typically less than an acre, are characterized by a cover of dry prairie and dry woodland grasses and herbs, along with scattered shrubs and trees. A combination of thin soils and fire are thought to have maintained the treeless conditions and species composition within glades. In the absence of fire, trees, primarily eastern red-cedar, encroach into the glades. Glades are often located on south- and west-facing slopes where exposure to sun and prevailing winds create particularly dry conditions. Although these communities are very small, they harbor a unique group of plant species, fungi, insects and other organisms.
    Two rare plants known to exist in Bernheim’s glades are the cedar glade violet (Viola septemloba subsp. egglestonii) and prairie ladies’-tresses orchid (Spiranthes magnicamporum).
    Dominant grass species include poverty oat grass (Danthonia spicata), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), and Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans).
    Succulents such as false aloe (Manfreda virginica), prickly-pear (Opuntia humifusa), and widow’s-cross stonecrop (Sedum pulchellum) are often present.
    Forbs commonly occurring in glades include little skullcap (Scutellaria parvula), hoary puccoon (Lithospermum canescens), white blue-eyed-grass (Sisyrinchium albidum), fringeleaf wild petunia (Ruellia humilis), and whorled milkweed (Asclepias verticillata).
    Forest edge species frequently associated with glades include eastern red-cedar (Juniperus virginiana), persimmon (Diosperus virginiana), chinquapin oak (Quercus muhlenbergii), sugar maple (Acer saccharum), redbud (Cercis canadensis), flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), Carolina buckthorn (Rhamnus caroliniana), plumleaf viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium), and tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera).

Islands Within Woodlands plant list