Northern Ontario Plant Database

Northern Ontario Vegetation Type (V-type)

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C-V12: Sugar Maple - White Birch - Trembling Aspen - Red Maple - Balsam Fir Shrub
Summary: A hardwood dominated stand, with sugar maple, white birch, and trembling aspen as the most common species, but no single tree species occurs in the canopy of this vegetation type with 50% or more frequency, though sugar maple is dominant in the subcanopy and regeneration layers. Other associated hardwood species include red maple, red oak, while white pine is recorded from the canopy and balsam fir from the subcanopy and regeneration layers. Several shrub species occur commonly, including beaked hazel, mountain maple, and striped maple in the tall shrub layer and Canada fly honeysuckle in the low shrub layer.

The most common forbs are wild lily-of-the-valley, starflower, wild sarsaparilla, largeleaf aster, and bluebead lily, while spinulose woodfern is the most common fern. This vegetation type is similar to C-V13 and C-V14, however, C-V12 is characterized by the presence of red oak, but lacks white spruce, goldthread, and mountain rice grass.

Soil & Ecosite Types: The Sugar Maple-White Birch-Trembling Aspen-Red Maple-Balsam Fir Shrub Vegetation Type (C-V12) occurs on fresh to very fresh, coarse loamy to silty soils (S7), but may also be found on somewhat drier (dry to moderately fresh) soil types. This vegetation type was described from northern portions of Site Region 4E and 5E, primarily from Site Districts 5E-6 (southern Algoma) and 5E-1 (North Bay), with <10% of sample plots from Site Region 4E. Like C-V13 and C-V14, this vegetation type can be found on ecosite types C-ES 27.1 (Sugar Maple-White Birch-Poplar-White Pine, dry to moderately fresh) and C-ES 27.2 (Sugar Maple-White Birch-Poplar-White Pine, fresh to moist). Rarely, it may also be found on ecosite types C-ES 34 (White Cedar-Lowland Hardwood, very moist to wet) and C-ES35 (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:

overstorey

[white birch (Betula papyrifera)]
[sugar maple (Acer saccharum)]
[white pine (Pinus strobus)]
[trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides)]
[red maple (Acer rubrum)]
[red oak (Quercus rubra)]

subcanopy

sugar maple (Acer saccharum)
[red maple (Acer rubrum)]
[white birch (Betula papyrifera)]
[yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis)]
[white cedar (Thuja occidentalis)]
[balsam fir (Abies balsamea)]

regeneration

sugar maple (Acer saccharum)
balsam fir (Abies balsamea)
red maple (Acer rubrum)
red oak (Quercus rubra)
[white birch (Betula papyrifera)]
[trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides)]
[yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis)]

Shrubs:

tall shrubs

beaked hazel (Corylus cornuta)
mountain maple (Acer spicatum)
striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum)

low shrubs

Canada fly honeysuckle (Lonicera canadensis)

Dwarf Shrubs and Herbs:

forbs

wild lily-of-the-valley (Maianthemum canadense)
starflower (Trientalis borealis)
wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis)
largeleaf aster (Eurybia macrophylla)
bluebead lily (Clintonia borealis)
[false Solomon's seal (Maianthemum racemosum)]
[rose twisted-stalk (Streptopus lanceolatus)]

Ferns and Fern Allies:

ferns

spinulose woodfern (Dryopteris carthusiana)

clubmosses

[ground pine (Lycopodium dendroideum or Lycopodium obscurum)]

Bryophytes:

beautiful branch moss (Callicladium haldanianum)
naugehyde liverwort (Ptilidium pulcherrimum)
spiky dicranum (Dicranum flagellare)
reflexed cedar moss (Brachythecium reflexum)
[montane dicranum (Dicranum montanum)]
[glossy moss (Plagiothecium laetum)]

Lichens:

common powderhorn (Cladonia coniocraea)