Northern Ontario Plant Database

Northern Ontario Vegetation Type (V-type)

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C-V26: Balsam Fir - White Spruce - Balsam Fir Shrub - Bush Honeysuckle

Summary: A conifer stand with balsam fir and white spruce as the most common species, but each occurring with only 30-50% frequency. White birch and trembling aspen occur occasionally in the canopy, but are replaced by white pine and black spruce in the subcanopy. Balsam fir dominates the subcanopy and regeneration layer, which also contains significant amount of sugar maple and red maple, and smaller quantities of trembling aspen and various conifers . White spruce occurs in the subcanopy and regeneration layers, but again with only 30-50% frequency. Common tall shrubs include beaked hazel, American mountain ash, and northern wild raisin, while lowbush and velvetleaf blueberry, Canada fly honeysuckle, and bush honeysuckle dominate the low shrub layer.

The herb layer is a bit more diverse than in vegetation types C-V24 and C-V25. It includes all of the characteristic boreal forest species, plus wild sarsaparilla, goldthread, rose twisted-stalk, largeleaf aster, and mountain rice grass. Common ferns and clubmosses of the herb layer include spinulose woodfern, bracken fern, running (or wolf's-claw) clubmoss, and ground pine.

This vegetation type is similar to C-V24 and C-V25 however C-V26, is characterized by the common presence of sugar maple regeneration, northern wild raisin, and running clubmoss, but lacks significant quantities of jack pine and white birch.

Soil & Ecosite Types: The Balsam Fir-White Spruce-Balsam Fir Shrub-Bush Honeysuckle Vegetation Type (C-V26) occurs most commonly on dry to moderately fresh, coarse or medium sandy soils (S1) and fresh to very fresh, coarse loamy to silty soils (S7). This vegetation type was described from sites scattered throughout Site Regions 4E and 5E. C-V26 can be found on a variety of ecosite types, including types C-ES 17.1 (Poplar-White Birch, dry to moderately fresh), C-ES 17.2 (Poplar-White Birch, fresh to moist), C-ES 18.1 (Poplar-White Birch-White Spruce-Balsam Fir, dry to moderately fresh), C-ES 18.2 (Poplar-White Birch-White Spruce-Balsam Fir, fresh to moist), C-ES 19.2 (Poplar-Jack Pine-White Spruce-Black Spruce, fresh to moist), C-ES 20.1 (White Pine-Red Pine-White Spruce-White Birch-Trembling Aspen, dry to moderately fresh), and C-ES 21.1 (White Cedar-White Pine-White Birch-White Spruce, dry to moderately fresh).

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 spruce (Picea glauca)]
[balsam fir (Abies balsamea)]
[white birch (Betula papyrifera)]
[trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides)]

subcanopy

balsam fir (Abies balsamea)
[white spruce (Picea glauca)]
[white pine (Pinus strobus)]
[black spruce (Picea mariana)]

regeneration

balsam fir (Abies balsamea)
sugar maple (Acer saccharum)
red maple (Acer rubrum)
[trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides)]
[white pine (Pinus strobus)]
[white spruce (Picea glauca)]
[white cedar (Thuja occidentalis)]
[black spruce (Picea mariana)]

Shrubs:

tall shrubs

beaked hazel (Corylus cornuta)
American mountain ash (Sorbus americana )
northern wild raisin (Viburnum cassinoides)
[mountain maple (Acer spicatum)]
[showy mountain ash (Sorbus decora)]

low shrubs

lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium)
Canada fly honeysuckle (Lonicera canadensis)
bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera)
velvetleaf blueberry (Vaccinium myrtilloides)
[skunk currant (Ribes glandulosum)]

Dwarf Shrubs and Herbs:

dwarf shrubs

[twinflower (Linnaea borealis)]

forbs

bluebead lily (Clintonia borealis)
wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis)
bunchberry (Cornus canadensis)
wild lily-of-the-valley (Maianthemum canadense)
starflower (Trientalis borealis)
goldthread (Coptis trifolia)
rose twisted-stalk (Streptopus lanceolatus)
largeleaf aster (Eurybia macrophylla)

graminoids

mountain rice grass (Oryzopsis asperifolia)

Ferns and Fern Allies:

ferns

spinulose woodfern (Dryopteris carthusiana)
bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum)

clubmosses

running (or wolf's-claw) clubmoss (Lycopodium clavatum)
ground pine (Lycopodium dendroideum or Lycopodium obscurum)

Bryophytes:

glossy moss (Plagiothecium laetum)
spiky dicranum (Dicranum flagellare)
[Schreber's feathermoss (Pleurozium schreberi)]
[broom moss (Dicranum scoparium)]
[common haircap moss (Polytrichium commune)]
[nodding pohlia (Pohlia nutans)]
[naugehyde liverwort (Ptilidium pulcherrimum)]
[beautiful branch moss (Callicladium haldanianum)]
[wavyleaf moss (Dicranum polysetum)]
[three-lobed leafy liverwort (Bazzania trilobata)]
[reflexed cedar moss (Brachythecium reflexum)]

Lichens:

common powderhorn (Cladonia coniocraea)
mealy pixie cup (Cladonia chlorophaea)