Shale Barrens
A shale barren is a steep, south-facing, eroding slope of thinly bedded, weathered shale, having sparse tree cover and little soil. Ranging from precipitous shale cliffs to open woods, shale barrens support a unique plant community, found in the Ridge and Valley province, from southern Pennsylvania to southern Virginia.
The shale barrens in Highland and Bath Counties are part of an extensive area called the Mid-Appalachian Shale Barrens. Generally the shales lie on steep southern or southwestern slopes with a basal stream that tends to wash away the debris of friable shale that results from erosion of the beds.
Smooth Rock Cress |
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Arabis serotina (endemic) |
Shale Barren Rockcress |
Red Milkweed |
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Calystegia spithamaea Pursh ssp. purshiana (Wherry) Brummitt (endemic) |
Shale Barren Bindweed |
Pennsylvania Sedge |
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Clematis albicoma Wherry (endemic) |
White-hair Leatherflower |
Clematis viticaulis Steele (endemic) |
Millboro Leatherflower |
Wild Bleeding Heart |
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Branched Draba or Branched Whitlow-grass |
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Eriogonum allenii (endemic) |
Shale Barren Buckwheat |
Forest or Licorice Bedstraw |
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Common Alumroot |
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Hieraceum trailii Greene (endemic) |
Shale Barren Hawkweed or Greene's Hawkweed |
Rattlesnake Weed |
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Long-leaved Houstonia or Bluet |
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Appalachian or Turgid Blazing Star |
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Oenothera argillicola (endemic) |
Shale Barren Evening Primrose |
Packera antennariifolia (endemic) |
Shale Barren Groundsel or Ragwort |
Paronychia montana (preferential) |
Mountain Nailwort or Shale Whitlowwort |
Hairy Beardtongue |
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Phlox buckleyi (endemic) |
Swordleaf Phlox |
Moss Phlox |
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Hairy Skullcap |
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Solidago harrisii Steele (preferential) |
Shale Barren Goldenrod |
Symphyotrichum x schistosum (endemic) |
Millboro Aster |
Taenidia montana (preferential) |
Mountain or Shale Barren Pimpernel |
Foamflower |
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Trifolium virginicum (endemic) |
Kate's Mountain Clover |