Downslope becomes steeper and rockier, supporting an oak forest with patchy shrub layer and lots of poison ivy. Some rocky cooler aspects support forests similar to N slopes on Harpers formation phyllite (see observation point uphill).;Sloping bench on the upper NW flank of the Blue Ridge. Bedrock geology of Weaverton quartzite. There are a few scattered boulders but otherwise the substrate is less rocky than the steep slopes uphill and downhill. Soils are apparently highly erodeable following removal of the organic horizon as by trail construction and gully erosion, but development of a thick, rooty, fibric organic layer is promoted by oak leaf litter and acidic conditions. A gully runs through the plot. Forest canopy is dominated by oaks with a subcanopy of red maple. Plot has few shrubs, but Kalmia latifolia, Cornus florida, and Vaccinium pallidum occur in small amounts and are more abundant where Aralia nudicaulis is less abundant.
Representativeness
Plot is placed in patch of understory dominance by Aralia nudicaulis more apparent than seen elswhere on this NW flank. An eroded gully runs through the plot, but these are hard to avoid. Tree canopy is typical of the larger matrix forest, but the herb la
Past clearing and logging. Ditches criss-cross this entire slope possibly related to old trails, armaments, or settlements. Scattered hemlock in vicinity are mostly dead or dying saplings killed by hemlock wooly adelgid.
