Away from river forests are mostly successional on old farmland. Downslope has basswood and beech with lush ramps and twinleaf. Old fence line behind plot may have protected this forest from grazing (or marked boundary clearing?);Resistant ridgeline on top of bluffs (bedrock ledges) overlooking outside bend of river. Soils here are residual and somewhat less rich than surrounding colluvial and alluvial positions. Community is a deciduous forest dominated by medium - large red oak with sugar maple in subcanopy. Shrub layer is sparse from deer. Herb layer has spring ephemerals but lacks heavy cover by twin leaf and ramps found on the bluff slopes downhill. Surficial rock reacts vigourously to acid. July revisit found herb cover reduced with no sign of most spring ephemerals.
Representativeness
Red oak forest is rare on NCTC property. Small patch , narrow top bluff with dominance by red oak. Nice stand with relatively few weeds. Early spring sample. Vanderhorst revisited plot on July 26, 2011 to update herb cover.
