Northern Ontario Plant Database

Northern Ontario Vegetation Type (V-type)

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C-V39: Black Spruce - Jack Pine - Trembling Aspen - White Birch - Blueberry - Feathermoss

Summary: A conifer stand dominated by black spruce and jack pine, with trembling aspen and white birch occurring with less than 50% frequency. The subcanopy and is dominated by black spruce, with the regeneration of mainly balsam fir and jack pine. White birch occurs with 30-50% frequency in all both canopy layers and the regeneration. The shrub layer is dominated by blueberries and bush honeysuckle, while ericaceous shrubs, such as Labrador tea and sheep laurel, and several tall shrubs occur with 30-50% frequency.

The herb layer is dominated by creeping snowberry, goldthread, and all of the characteristic boreal forest species. The forest floor has patches of Schreber's feathermoss, Dicranum species, and some Sphagnum.

This vegetation type is similar to C-V40, however, C-V39 is characterized by the common presence of trembling aspen, bush honeysuckle, bluebead lily, and goldthread, but lacks white pine and wintergreen.

Soil & Ecosite Types: The Black Spruce-Jack Pine-Trembling Aspen-White Birch-Blueberry-Feathermoss Vegetation Type (C-V39) occurs on a variety of soil types, from dry to moderately fresh to very moist soils. This vegetation type was described from Site Regions 4E and 5E, mainly from Site Districts 4E-3 (northern Sudbury region), and 4E-4 (northern North Bay region), with 20% of sample plots described from Site Region 5E. C-V39 can be found primarily on ecosite types C-ES 15.1 (Jack Pine, dry to moderately fresh), C-ES 15.2 (Jack Pine, frest to very moist), C-ES 16.1 (Black Spruce-Pine, dry to moderately fresh), C-ES 16.2 (Black Spruce-Pine, frest to very moist), but it may occur, less frequently, on type C-ES 31 (Black Spruce-Tamarack, very moist to wet).

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

black spruce (Picea mariana)
jack pine (Pinus banksiana)
[trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides)]
[white birch (Betula papyrifera)]

subcanopy

black spruce (Picea mariana)
[balsam fir (Abies balsamea)]
[white birch (Betula papyrifera)]
[jack pine (Pinus banksiana)]

regeneration

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

Shrubs:

tall shrubs

[mountain holly (Ilex mucronata)]
[showy mountain ash (Sorbus decora)]
[northern wild raisin (Viburnum cassinoides)]

low shrubs

lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium)
velvetleaf blueberry (Vaccinium myrtilloides)
bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera)
[Labrador tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum)]
[sheep laurel (Kalmia angustifolia)]

Dwarf Shrubs and Herbs:

dwarf shrubs

creeping snowberry (Gaultheria hispidula)
twinflower (Linnaea borealis)
[trailing arbutus (Epigaea repens)]

forbs

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

Ferns and Fern Allies:

ferns

bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum)

Bryophytes:

Schreber's feathermoss (Pleurozium schreberi)
wavyleaf moss (Dicranum polysetum)
[dusky broom moss (Dicranum fuscescens)]
[common green peatmoss (Sphagnum girgensohnii)]

Lichens:

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