Northern Ontario Plant Database

Northern Ontario Vegetation Type (V-type)

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C-V5: Sugar Maple - Red Oak - Basswood - Ironwood - Leatherwood
Summary: A hardwood stand dominated by sugar maple in the canopy and regeneration layers. Associate species include red oak, basswood, white ash, beech, and several other hardwood species, as well as white pine and balsam fir. Ironwood is common in the regeneration layer, but is reported with less than 50% frequency in the subcanopy. Characteristic shrubs are leatherwood and Canada fly honeysuckle; beaked hazel occurs less frequently in the shrub layer.

The herb layer is dominated by wild sarsaparilla, wild lily-of-the-valley, largeleaf aster, broadleaf helleborine, and mountain rice grass. This vegetation type is similar to C-V4, however, C-V5 is characterized by the presence of leatherwood, but lacks striped maple, red ash, marginal woodfern, and large-flowered bellwort.

Soil & Ecosite Types: The Sugar Maple-red Oak-basswood-Ironwood-Leatherwood Vegetation Type (C-V5) occurs most commonly on dry to moderately fresh, coarse to medium sandy (S1) or coarse loamy to silty soils (S3), and fresh to very fresh, coarse loamy to silty soils (S7). This vegetation type was described from the southeastern portion of Site Region 5E, primarily from Site District 5E-11, with <10% of sample plots from Site District 5E-10. Like C-V4, this vegetation type can be found on ecosite types C-ES 24.1 (Sugar Maple-Red Oak-Basswood, Dry to Moderately Fresh) and C-ES 24.2 (Sugar Maple-Red Oak-Basswood, Fresh to 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

sugar maple (Acer saccharum)
[red oak (Quercus rubra)]
[basswood (Tilia americana)]
[white pine (Pinus strobus)]
[largetooth aspen (Populus grandidentata)]
[white birch (Betula papyrifera)]
[white ash (Fraxinus americana)]
[beech (Fagus grandifolia)]
[trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides)]

subcanopy

sugar maple (Acer saccharum)
[ironwood (Ostrya virginiana)]
[basswood (Tilia americana)]
[white birch (Betula papyrifera)]
[beech (Fagus grandifolia)]
[red oak (Quercus rubra)]
[white ash (Fraxinus americana)]
[white cedar (Thuja occidentalis)
[balsam fir (Abies balsamea)]

regeneration

sugar maple (Acer saccharum)
ironwood (Ostrya virginiana)
balsam fir (Abies balsamea)
red oak (Quercus rubra)
basswood (Tilia americana)
white ash (Fraxinus americana)
[beech (Fagus grandifolia)]

Shrubs:

tall shrubs

leatherwood (Dirca palustris)
[beaked hazel (Corylus cornuta)]

low shrubs

Canada fly honeysuckle (Lonicera canadensis)

Dwarf Shrubs and Herbs:

forbs

wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis)
wild lily-of-the-valley (Maianthemum canadense)
largeleaf aster (Eurybia macrophylla)
broadleaf helleborine (Epipactis helleborine)
[false Solomon's seal (Maianthemum racemosum)]
[white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)]
[starflower (Trientalis borealis)]

graminoids

mountain rice grass (Oryzopsis asperifolia)

Ferns and Fern Allies:

none

Bryophytes:

rough cedar moss (Brachythecium salebrosum)
reflexed cedar moss (Brachythecium reflexum)
beautiful branch moss (Callicladium haldanianum)

Lichens:

common powderhorn (Cladonia coniocraea)