Lutz spruce / Barclay's willow / Bluejoint
	Picea X lutzii / Salix barclayi / Calamagrostis canadensis
	n = 68
	I.A.2. Open Needleleaf Forest
	Ecosystem:  Discharge Slope

Lutz spruce / Barclay willow / bluejoint grass is very common on the Kenai Peninsula lowland, but is little-described elsewhere.  Only on Chugach National Forest, where DeVelice et. al. (1999) mention a Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) / Barclay's willow (Salix barclayi) "undersampled” type, is any needleleaf forest with Barclay's willow named.  Their Lutz spruce (Picea X lutzii) / Bluejoint (Calamagrostis canadensis) (PICLUT / CALCAN) type has some Barclay's willow, but at low abundance.

The Lutz spruce / Barclay's willow / Bluejoint type is widespread on foot and toeslopes, but found only on the southern peninsula, most commonly at higher elevations on Caribou Hills terraces.  Sometimes it is found at the margins of lower elevation fens.  Groundwater discharge, or a dense till maintains a water table near the surface. 

A very open to woodland Lutz spruce canopy dots an often dense stand of Barclay's willow.  Equally abundant, both bluejoint, as a tall grass, and Canadian burnet (Sanguisorba canadensis), as a low herb, are common.  Field horsetail (Equisetum arvense) is often abundant and fireweed (Chamerion angustifoliumis typically present.  A rich variety of forbs is usually present, though scattered.  Oakfern (Gymnocarpium dryopteris) can be abundant (hidden under taller forbs later in the season) and false hellebore (Veratrum viride) is typically present, especially at higher elevations.  

The organic layer is uniformly thin, although at two sites it was measured at nearly a meter thick, and it was over 1.5 m thick at a third site.  Redoximorphic features or a water table within 30 cm of the surface indicate(s) wetland criteria are met at 46 of the 68 sites measured.  This type is usually, but not always a jurisdictional wetland.

Table 1. Frequency of occurrence and hydric status of soil series named at NRCS holes.  Bold type indicates soils on the NRCS Alaska hydric soils list. 

Table 2.  Summary of plant frequency and average cover for plants occurring in more than 50% of plots.

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