Cedar Glade Part 2 continued from Dan Pittillo

Cedar Cliff in Jackson County was surveyed by New York lichenologist Richard Harris and bryologist Bill Buck. They found there were over 120 species of lichens, especially crustose types, accounting for more species seen anywhere in the region for a similar sized area. 

Bob Dellinger, former student at Western Carolina University and assistant to Dan Pittillo for field surveys in the 1990's, first recognized the community uniqueness for these sites. With the NC Natural Heritage Program personnel, they decided to call these mainly southwest facing outcrops Montane Red Cedar-Woodland, differentiating them from Granitic Dome Outcrops frequent in the eastern Blue Ridge and Cedar Glades of lower elevations on the Valley and Ridge Province west of the Blue Ridge Province.  

Dan Pittillo