Groundcover Information
During the fall of 1996, a 5% systematic survey was conducted on the McLoud Forest to survey the forest and groundcover layers. The groundcover area under the pine plantation was dominated by white pine (Pinus strobus) seedlings, sometimes covering the forest floor with a dense carpet of green. In areas where light is penetrating the forest floor, blackberries (Rubus allegheniensis) and wood violets (Viola latiuscula) are prominent. Some interesting plant species that were found in the Forest include: downy rattlesnake plantain (Goodyera pubescens), wild lettuce (Lactuca spp.) and bee balm (Montarda didyma). Overall, the diversity of groundcover species is greatest near the edges of the Forest and near the logging roads and trails. Diversity in the oak area is low due to a very closed canopy.
Groundcover Information (<3.5' tall)
| Common
Name Aster Bedstraw Bee Balm Bittersweet Nightshade Black Cherry seedlings Blackberry Box Elder seedlings Bracken Fern Bur Oak seedlings Butter-and-eggs Common Buckthorn Dandelion Downy Rattlesnake Plantain False Solomon’s Seal Horsetail Northern Bush-honeysuckle Orange Hawkweed Partridgeberry Pin Cherry seedlings Poison Ivy Pyrola Ragweed (common) Raspberry Red-berried Elder Red Oak seedlings Red Sorrel Sedge Serviceberry Spinulose Sheild Fern Staghorn Sumac Sweet Cicely White Oak seedlings White Pine seedlings Wild Lettuce Wild Strawberry Wood Violet Yellow Hawkweed |
Scientific
Name Aster spp. Galium aparine Montarda didyma Solanum dulcamara Prunus serotina Rubus allegheniensis Acer negundo Pteridium aquilinum Quercus macrocarpa Linaria vulgaris Rhamnus cathartica Taraxacum spp. Goodyera pubescens Smilacina racemosa Equisetum spp. Diervilla lonicera Hieracium aurantiacum Mitchella repens Prunus pensylvanica Toxicodendron radicans Pyrola spp. Ambrosia artemisiifola Rubus idaeus Sambucus pubens Quercus rubra Rumex acetosella Carex spp. Amelanchier spp. Dryopteris spinulosa Rhus typhina Osmorhiza claytoni Quercus alba Pinus strobus Lactuca spp. Fragaria virginiana Viola latiuscula Hieracium florintinum |
%
of Cover 0.05 0.10 0.05 0.05 1.90 11.20 0.05 0.90 0.05 0.05 0.10 0.05 0.30 0.10 0.05 0.05 0.20 1.00 0.25 0.05 0.05 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.70 0.45 0.40 1.20 0.45 0.05 1.60 0.05 72.80 0.25 0.05 2.90 1.3 |
*The groundcover information was collected by Sue Kissinger (September 1996)