Below the plot is the North Fork of the South Branch Potomac River. Upslope the forest is dry and oaky. There is an Apocynum plot located upsteam on river left ca. 100 m.;Dry open woodland on a steep W facing slope. There are loose gravely chutes between bedrock noses. The overstory is dominated by yellow oak and eastern red cedar. There is a scattered S1 layer which is a mixture of ironwood, dogwood, red bud, and leatherwood. The community feels prairie like with both big and little bluestem occurring in the plot. Charcoal observed on some of the woody debris in the plot.
Representativeness
Small patch limestone woodland represented by Quercus muhlenbergii and Juniperus virginiana with rich site herbs. Plot was placed to sample open woodland observed on SAMB2003 aerial photography and occurring limestone geology.