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Northern Ontario Plant DatabaseNorthern Ontario Vegetation Type (V-type)Summary: A mixedwood stand, with yellow birch as the dominant overstorey species, in association with sugar maple, white spruce, and white cedar. Trembling aspen, white birch, and balsam poplar occur in the canopy with less frequency. The subcanopy may contain most of the overstorey species, plus red maple and yellow birch. The regeneration layer is dominated by balsam fir, sugar maple, white spruce, and yellow birch. The shrub layer contains a few shrubs, including mountain maple, beaked hazel, and Canada fly honeysuckle; ground hemlock may occur occasionally. The herb layer is moderately rich, with most of the characteristic boreal forest species, plus largeleaf aster, bluebead lily, rose twisted-stalk, wild sarsaparilla, and wood sorrel. Spinulose woodfern, shining clubmoss, and ground pine also occur consistenly in the herb layer. This vegetation type is similar to C-V10, however, C-V11 is characterized by the common presence of starflower, wild lily-of-the-valley, largeleaf aster, and ground pine, but lacks false Solomon's seal and hairy Solomon's seal. Soil & Ecosite Types: The Yellow Birch-Sugar Maple-White Spruce-White Cedar-Mountain Maple Vegetation Type (C-V11) occurs most commonly on fresh to very fresh, coarse loamy to silty soils (S7) and dry to moderately fresh, coarse loamy to silty soils (S3), but may occasionally be found on moister soils. This vegetation type was described primarily from the northern portion of Site Region 4E, including Site Districts 4E-1, 4E-3, and 4E-4. Like C-V10, this vegetation type can be found on ecosite types C-ES 29.2 (Sugar Maple-Yellow Birch, fresh to moist), C-ES 29.1 (Sugar Maple-Yellow Birch, dry to moderately fresh) and C-ES 35 (Lowland Hardwood, fresh to very moist). Note: In sample plots, species listed below occurred with 50% frequency or more, except for those in square brackets, which occurred with 30-49% frequency. Trees: overstoreyShrubs:yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis)subcanopy tall shrubsDwarf Shrubs and Herbs:mountain maple (Acer spicatum)low shrubs forbsFerns and Fern Allies:starflower (Trientalis borealis) fernsBryophytes:spinulose woodfern (Dryopteris carthusiana)clubmossesshining clubmoss (Huperzia lucidula) Lichens:[reflexed cedar moss (Brachythecium reflexum)] [common powderhorn (Cladonia coniocraea)] |