Northern Ontario Plant Database

Northern Ontario Vegetation Type (V-type)

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C-V32: White Pine - Red Pine - Blueberry - Feathermoss - Lichen

Summary: A conifer stand with white pine dominating the main canopy, followed by red pine and jack pine, both of which occur with less than 50% frequency. White and black spruce, as well as trembling aspen, also occur in the canopy with 30-50% frequency. White pine is the most common of the several hardwood and conifer species in the subcanopy, but all occur with less than 50% frequency. Red pine occurs in the subcanopy with 30-50% frequency, but is generally absent from the regeneration layer. Red maple, balsam fir, white pine, and white birch dominate the regeneration, with lesser quantities of white and black spruce. The shrub layer contains mainly low shrubs, including blueberries and bush honeysuckle, with beaked hazel occurring with less frequency in the tall shrub layer.

The herb layer is dominated by wintergreen, wild sarsaparilla, largeleaf aster, bracken fern, and lacks all of the characteristic boreal forest species, except bluebead lily.

The forest floor is covered by patches of Schreber's feathermoss and Dicranum mosses and lichen. This vegetation type is similar to C-V33, however, C-V32 is characterized by the common presence of white birch in the understory, wild sarsaparilla, starflower, and bunchberry, but lacks sweet fern and significant quantities of jack pine.

Soil & Ecosite Types: The White Pine-Red Pine-Blueberry-Feathermoss-Lichen Vegetation Type (C-V32) occurs most commonly on shallow mineral soils (SS3) and dry to moderately fresh, fine sandy soils (S2), but may occasionally be found on slightly moister soils. This vegetation type was described from Site Regions 4E and 5E, with 60% of sample plots from Site Districts 5E and the remainder from Site District 4E-3 (northern Sudbury region) and other districts within Site Region 4E. Like C-V33, this vegetation type can be found on ecosite types C-ES 13.1 (Jack Pine-White Pine-Red Pine, dry to moderately fresh) and C-ES 13.2 (Jack Pine-White Pine-Red Pine, 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

white pine (Pinus strobus)
[red pine (Pinus resinosa)]
[jack pine (Pinus banksiana)]
[white spruce (Picea glauca)]
[trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides)]
[black spruce (Picea mariana)]

subcanopy

[white pine (Pinus strobus)]
[white birch (Betula papyrifera)]
[balsam fir (Abies balsamea)]
[red maple (Acer rubrum)]
[white spruce (Picea glauca)]
[black spruce (Picea mariana)]
[red pine (Pinus resinosa)]

regeneration

red maple (Acer rubrum)
balsam fir (Abies balsamea)
white pine (Pinus strobus)
white birch (Betula papyrifera)
[white spruce (Picea glauca)]
[black spruce (Picea mariana)]

Shrubs:

tall shrubs

[beaked hazel (Corylus cornuta)]

low shrubs

lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium)
bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera)
[velvetleaf blueberry (Vaccinium myrtilloides)]

Dwarf Shrubs and Herbs:

dwarf shrubs

wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens)
[twinflower (Linnaea borealis)]

forbs

wild lily-of-the-valley (Maianthemum canadense)
wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis)
starflower (Trientalis borealis)
bunchberry (Cornus canadensis)
largeleaf aster (Eurybia macrophylla)

Ferns and Fern Allies:

ferns

bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum)

Bryophytes:

Schreber's feathermoss (Pleurozium schreberi)
wavyleaf moss (Dicranum polysetum)
spiky dicranum (Dicranum flagellare)
naugehyde liverwort (Ptilidium pulcherrimum)
[Ontario dicranum (Dicranum ontariense)]
[glossy moss (Plagiothecium laetum)]
[broom moss (Dicranum scoparium)]

Lichens:

common powderhorn (Cladonia coniocraea)
mealy pixie cup (Cladonia chlorophaea)
gray reindeer lichen (Cladina rangiferina)