Northern Ontario Plant Database

Northern Ontario Vegetation Type (V-type)

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C-V33: Jack Pine - Blueberry - Feathermoss - Lichen

Summary: A jack pine-dominated conifer stand, with red pine, white pine, and red oak occurring with 30-50% frequency in the canopy. The subcanopy contains jack and white pine with a similar frequency. The regeneration layer is dominated by red maple, white pine, and balsam fir, with jack pine occurring with only 30-50% frequency. The shrub layer is dominated by low shrubs, including blueberries, sweet fern, and bush honeysuckle.

The herb layer lacks much diversity, and is dominated by wintergreen, wild lily-of-the-valley, and bracken fern, with less frequent presence of largeleaf aster, mountain rice grass, and hair grass. The forest floor is covered by patches of Schreber's feathermoss and Dicranum mosses and reindeer lichens.

This vegetation type is similar to C-V32, however, C-V33 is characterized by the common presence of jack pine and sweet fern, but lacks white birch, wild sarsaparilla, and most of the characteristic boreal forest species.

Soil & Ecosite Types: The Jack Pine-Blueberry-Feathermoss-Lichen Vegetation Type (C-V33) occurs most commonly on shallow mineral soils (SS3) and dry to fresh soils. This vegetation type was described from Site Regions 4E and 5E, mainly from the southeastern portion of the region, Site District 5E-10; only 20% of sample plots were from Site Region 4E. Like C-V32, 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

jack pine (Pinus banksiana)
[red pine (Pinus resinosa)]
[white pine (Pinus strobus)]
[red oak (Quercus rubra)]

subcanopy

[jack pine (Pinus banksiana)]
[white pine (Pinus strobus)]

regeneration

red maple (Acer rubrum)
white pine (Pinus strobus)
balsam fir (Abies balsamea)
[jack pine (Pinus banksiana)]

Shrubs:

low shrubs

lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium)
sweet fern (Comptonia peregrina)
[bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera)]
[velvetleaf blueberry (Vaccinium myrtilloides)]

Dwarf Shrubs and Herbs:

dwarf shrubs

wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens)

forbs

wild lily-of-the-valley (Maianthemum canadense)
[largeleaf aster (Eurybia macrophylla)]

graminoids

[mountain rice grass (Oryzopsis asperifolia)]
[hairgrass (Deschampsia flexuosa)]

Ferns and Fern Allies:

ferns

bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum)

Bryophytes:

Schreber's feathermoss (Pleurozium schreberi)
wavyleaf moss (Dicranum polysetum)
spiky dicranum (Dicranum flagellare)

Lichens:

gray reindeer lichen (Cladina rangiferina)
[green reindeer lichen (Cladina mitis)]
[common powderhorn (Cladonia coniocraea)