Piedmont Mesic Forests: are moist forests that grow in cool, shaded sites such as low on steep north-facing slopes, within deep ravines, and on terraces by streams beyond the bottomlands. Often soils are rich with organic material and nutrients that have collected in these low sites. Indicator trees include American beech, tulip-tree, magnolias, northern red oak, basswood, and southern sugar maple.
What's special: These forests often have stunning wildflower displays in the spring before the trees leaf out. The cooler temperatures, along with the moisture and nutrients that collect in these sites enable a diversity of plants to grow, and support a rich animal life including many amphibians. The tree canopy and the ground cover are often lush and the high moisture levels allow plants to grow large, thin, leaves.
Related Communities: These forests grade into Bottomlands near streams, and into Oak-Pine-Hickory Forests uphill and on south, east, and west exposures.
Learn MORE HERE about plant adaptations in deciduous forests.
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Plants
Click on a plant name to see images. Plant lists in order of scientific name. Terms such as "rich", "calcareous" and "mafic" are from The Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States, here. CanopyTrees Southern sugar maple Acer floridanum (esp. calcareous and mafic ) Red maple Acer rubrum Bitternut hickory Carya cordiformis (especially in rich soils) Red hickory Carya ovalis Shagbark hickory Carya ovata Persimmon (American) Diospyros virginiana American beech Fagus grandifolia White ash Fraxinus americana Tulip-tree Liriodendron tulipifera Black gum Nyssa sylvatica Cucumber magnolia Magnolia acuminata (esp. calcareous and mafic) Fraser magnolia Magnolia fraseri (often acidic forests) Bigleaf magnolia Magnolia macrophylla (esp. calcareous and mafic) Umbrella magnolia Magnolia tripetala Red mulberry Morus rubra White oak Quercus alba Water oak Quercus nigra Willow oak Quercus phellos Northern red oak Quercus rubra Shumard oak Quercus shumardii White basswood Tilia americana var. heterophylla (rich soils) Sassafras Sassafras albidum (esp. in gaps) White basswood Tilia americana var. heterophylla (rich soils) Sub-canopy Trees Serviceberry (downy) Amelanchier arborea Devil's walking stick Aralia spinosa (often a shrub) Musclewood/American hornbeam Carpinus caroliniana Redbud Cercis canadensis (esp. calcareous or mafic rock) Flowering dogwood Cornus florida Littlehip hawthorn Crataegus spathulata (esp. basic) American holly Ilex opaca Shrubs Painted buckeye Aesculus sylvatica (nutrient-rich) Pawpaw Asimina triloba (nutrient-rich) Sweetshrub Calycanthus floridus Strawberry bush Euonymus americana Witch-alder Fothergilla major Carolina buckthorn Frangula caroliniana (esp. over calcareous and mafic rock) Witch-hazel Hamamelis virginia Flowering hydrangea Hydrangea arborescens Oakleaf hydrangea Hydrangea quercifolia Possumhaw Ilex decidua Mountain laurel Kalmia latifolia (acidic) Doghobble Leucothoe fontanesiana (acidic slopes) Spicebush Lindera benzoin (circumneutral soils, otherwise bottomlands) Big-leaf snowbell Styrax grandifolius Horse sugar Symplocus tinctoria Mapleleaf viburnum Viburnum acerifolium Blackhaw/Nannyberry Viburnum prunifolium Vines Crossvine Bignonia capreolata Trumpet vine Campsis radicans Coralbeads Cocculus carolinus (especially where calcareous) Virgin's bower Clematis virginiana Climbing hydrangea Decumaria barbara Whorled wild yam Dioscorea quaternata Carolina spinypod Matelea carolinensis (nutrient rich soils/rock) Virginia creeper Parthenocissus quinquefolia Greenbrier (whiteleaf/sawbrier) Smilax glauca Poison ivy Toxicodendron radicans Muscadine Vitis rotundifolia Ground Layer Wildflowers Dolls'-eyes Actaea pachypoda (rich forests) Black cohosh Actaea racemosa (rich to very fertile forests) White snakeroot Ageratina altissima Fly poison Amianthium muscitoxicum Blue-stars Amsonia tabernaemontana Sharp-lobed hepatica Anemone acutiloba (esp. calcareous and mafic) Hepatica (round-lobed) Anemone americana Jack-in-the-pulpit Arisaema triphyllum Wild ginger Asarum canadense (rich, circumneutral soils) Cutleaf toothwort Cardamine concatenata (rich forests) Broadleaf toothwort Cardamine diphylla (rich forests) Blue cohosh Caulophyllum thalictroides (rich forests) Devil's-bit Chamaelirium luteum Horsebalm (southern/anise) Collinsonia anisata (rich forests) Horsebalm (northern) Collinsonia canadensis (rich forests, esp. mafic or calcareous) Yellow lady's-slipper Cypripedium parviflorum Beech drops Epifagus virginiana Harbinger-of-spring Erigenia bulbosa Trout lily Erythronium umbilicatum Wild geranium Geranium maculatum Avens Geum canadense Downy rattlesnake-orchid Goodyera pubescens Heartleaf ginger/little brown jugs Hexastylis arifolia Goldenseal Hydrastis canadensis (mafic and calcareous) Crested iris Iris cristata (rich forests) Fringed loosestrife Lysimachia ciliata Partridgeberry Mitchella repens Indian pipes Monotropa uniflora Hairy sweet cicely Osmorhiza claytonii (fertile forests) Smooth sweet cicely Osmorhiza longistylis (fertile forests) Ginseng Panax quinquefolius (nutrient rich forests) Blue phlox Phlox divaricata (circumneutral soils) May-apple Podophyllum peltatum (rich forests) Shooting star (eastern) Primula meadia (primarily with calcareous or mafic) Bloodroot Sanguinaria canadensis (nutrient-rich forests) Starry campion Silene stellata Blue-eyed grass Sisyrinchium angustifolius Goldenrod (Wreath/Axillary) Solidago caesia Indian pink Spigelia marilandica (usually circumneutral) Giant chickweed Stellaria pubera Rue anemone Thalictrum thalictroides Foamflower Tiarella wherryi Tassel-rue Trautvetteria caroliniensis Catesby's trillium Trillium catesbaei Sweet Betsy/Toadshade trillium Trillium cuneatum (rich forests, usually mafic or calcareous rocks) Nodding trillium Trillium rugelii (rich forests, usually mafic or calcareous) Perfoliate bellwort Uvularia perfoliata Halberd-leaf violet Viola hastata (often acidic coves) Ferns Northern maidenhair fern Adiantum pedatum (esp. over mafic or calcareous rocks) Southern lady fern Athyrium asplenioides Rattlesnake fern Botrypus virginianus (especially on nutrient-rich slopes) Silvery glade fern Homalosorus pycnocarpon (very nutrient-rich forests over mafic or calcareous rock) New York fern Parathelypteris novaboracensis Broad beech fern Phegopteris hexagonoptera Christmas fern Polystichum acrosticoides Southern grape fern Sceptridium biternatum Grasses and Rushes Longleaf spikegrass Chasmanthium sessiliflorum Wood-rush Luzulu acuminata Nimblewill/Nimbleweed Muhlenbergia schreberi |
Representative and indicator Trees in order of scientific name. Click on photos for ID tips.
Representative shrubs in order of scientific name
Representative wildflowers in order of scientific name.
Representative Ferns
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