Cumberland/Ridge & Valley Mesic Forests
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These hardwood forests grow in cool, protected sites where soils are deep and rich:valley floors, ravines, north-facing coves, and the bottoms of some large sinkholes. They most often occur on limestone-based soils in this ecoregion, but are sometimes found in cool, more acidic sites.
What's special: these forests can be lush and beautiful, especially in the spring on calcium-rich soils, when a rich diversity of spring wildflowers that are uncommon elsewhere bloom here, including celandine poppy, Virginia bluebells, bent trillium, and fern-leaf phacelia. The deep, moist soils and leaf litter support amphibians and snails. Related communities: Calcareous cliffs can be embedded within this community. Grades to Bottomlands and Floodplains. |
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Learn MORE HERE about plant adaptations in deciduous forests.
Plants In order by scientific name. Soil/bedrock nutrient traits, such as "rich", "calcareous" and "mafic" is provided in The Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States, here. Trees Southern sugar maple Acer floridanum (especially but not limited to calcareous and mafic soils) Northern sugar maple Acer saccharum Yellow buckeye Aesculus flava Ohio buckeye Aesculus glabra Musclewood/American hornbeam Carpinus caroliniana Bitternut hickory Carya cordiformis (especially in rich soils) American beech Fagus grandifolia var. carolina White ash Fraxinus americana (rich soils, and in calcareous or mafic soils on dry sites) Common silverbell Halesia tetraptera Tulip-tree Liriodendron tulipifera Cucumber magnolia Magnolia acuminata (especially but by no means strictly over mafic or calcareous rock Fraser magnolia Magnolia fraseri Umbrella magnolia Magnolia tripetala Ironwood/ American hop-hornbeam Ostrya virginiana (especially over basic bedrock) Northern red oak Quercus rubra White basswood Tilia americana var. heterophylla (rich soils) Shrubs Painted buckeye Aesculus sylvatica (nutrient-rich forests) Common pawpaw Asimina triloba (nutrient-rich forests) Strawberry bush Euonymus americana Smooth hydrangea Hydrangea arborescens Northern spicebush Lindera benzoin (slopes with circumneutral soils) Ground Cover Wildflowers Dolls'-eyes Actaea pachypoda (rich forests) Black cohosh Actaea racemosa (rich to very fertile forests) Sharp lobed hepatica Anemone acutiloba Round lobed hepatica Anemone americana Canada columbine Aquilegia canadensis (esp. but by no means entirely on calcareous and mafic rocks) Jack-in-the-pulpit Arisaema triphyllum Wild ginger Asarum canadense (rich, circumneutral soils) Wild hyacinth Camassia scilloides Cutleaf toothwort Cardamine concatenata (rich forests) Broadleaf toothwort Cardamine diphylla (rich forests) Blue cohosh Caulophyllum thalictroides (rich forests) Devil's-bit Chamaelirium luteum Northern horsebalm Collinsonia canadensis (rich forests, especially over mafic or calcareous bedrock) Yellow lady's-slipper Cypripedium parviflorum Harbinger-of-spring Erigenia bulbosa Dimpled trout lily Erythronium umbilicatum Wild geranium Geranium maculatum Summer bluet Houstonia purpurea Goldenseal Hydrastis canadensis (very nutrient rich soils over mafic or calcareous rock) Crested iris - Iris cristata (rich forests) Twinleaf Jeffersonia diphylla Virginia bluebells Mertensia virginica Hairy sweet cicely Osmorhiza claytonii (fertile forests) Smooth sweet cicely Osmorhiza longistylis (fertile forests) Ginseng Panax quinquefolius (nutrient rich forests though tending to avoid richest coves) Fernleaf phacelia Phacelia bipinnatifida Blue phlox Phlox divaricata (circumneutral soils) May-apple Podophyllum peltatum (rich forests) Yellow mandarin Prosartes lanuginosa Bloodroot Sanguinaria canadensis (nutrient-rich forests) Star chickweed Stellaria pubera Rue anemone Thalictrum thalictroides Foamflower Tiarella cordifolia Catesby's trillium Trillium catesbaei Decumbent trillium Trillium decumbens Bent white trillium Trillium flexipes Lanceleaf trillium Trillium lancifolium Yellow trillium Trillium luteum Sweet Betsy/Toadshade trillium Trillium cuneatum (rich forests, usually over mafic or calcareous rocks) Nodding trillium - Trillium rugelii (rich forests, usually over mafic or calcareous rocks) Halberd-leaf violet Viola hastata (often acidic coves) Tall white violet Viola canadensis Ferns Northern maidenhair fern Adiantum pedatum (especially over mafic or calcareous rocks) Rattlesnake fern Botrypus virginianus (especially on nutrient-rich slopes) Silvery glade fern Homalosorus pycnocarpon (very nutrient-rich forests over mafic or calcareous rock) Broad beech fern Phegopteris hexagonoptera Southern lady fern Athyrium asplenioides |
To quickly identify mesic forests, look for the following trees: southern sugar maple, red maple (for comparison), tulip-tree, American beech, yellow buckeye, and Canadian hemlock. Click on photos for id tips.
Representative wildflowers in order by color. See and learn more from the plant lists at left.
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