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The Scour Bar Wet Meadow consists of a wide variety of wildflowers that grow 3 to 6 feet tall. The community is found on sandbars, sandy riverbanks, and sandy deposits on bedrock which are frequently overrun when the river is running high. During these high-water events, moving water covers the vegetation, reworks the sediment, and even rearranges sandbars. The species in this community are tolerant of such disturbance; other species may gain a foothold, but are soon “scoured” away by floods.
Can you find this combination of key features?
Identifying This Natural Community
- Dense growth of mostly weedy vegetation that’s 3 to 6 feet tall by late summer (native and non-native annuals and perennials)
- Blue mistflower, late-flowering thoroughwort, or eastern black nightshade and one or more species of smartweed (knotweed), best seen in late summer and fall
- Grasses, trees or shrubs absent or nearly so
- Overhanging branches from a neighboring floodplain forest
- Location: on an unstable sandbar or sandy riverbank
If so, welcome to the Scour Bar Wet Meadow at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.
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