Northern Ontario Plant Database

Northern Ontario Vegetation Type (V-type)

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C-V6: Red Oak - Sugar Maple - Ironwood - Fly Honeysuckle
Summary: A hardwood dominated stand, with red oak and sugar maple listed as the characteristic species, but sugar maple occurs in >50% of the sample plots only in the subcanopy and regeneration layers, while red oak exceeds 50% frequency only in the regeneration. Ironwood is common in the regeneration, but occurs less frequently in the subcanopy. Occasional species in the overstorey include largetooth aspen, white birch, red maple, beech, and white ash.

In addition to sugar maple, red oak, and ironwood, other common species in the regeneration layer include balsam fir, red maple, black cherry, and white ash. The most common shrub species are striped maple and Canada fly honeysuckle. The herb layer contains a moderate number of species, the most common including wild lily-of-the-valley, wild sarsaparilla, largeleaf aster, hairy Solomon's seal, starflower, and mountain rice grass.

Soil & Ecosite Types: The Red Oak-Sugar Maple-Ironwood-Fly Honeysuckle Vegetation Type (C-V6) occurs on a variety of soil types, including very shallow mineral soils with 5-30 cm of soil (SS3), dry to moderately fresh, coarse loamy to silty soils (S3), and fresh to very fresh, coarse loamy to silty soils (S7), but may occasionally be found on somewhat moister soils. This vegetation type was described from the southern portion of Site Region 5E, mainly from Site Districts 5E7, 5E9, and 5E11. Vegetation type C-V6 can be found on ecosite types C-ES 23.1 (Red Oak-Hardwood, Dry to Moderately Fresh) and C-ES 23.2 (Red Oak-Hardwood, Fresh to Moist), and rarely C-ES 35 (Lowland Hardwood, Fresh to Very 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

[red oak (Quercus rubra)]
[sugar maple (Acer saccharum)]
[largetooth aspen (Populus grandidentata)]
[white birch (Betula papyrifera)]
[red maple (Acer rubrum)]
[beech (Fagus grandifolia)]
[white ash (Fraxinus americana)]

subcanopy

sugar maple (Acer saccharum)
ironwood (Ostrya virginiana)
red oak (Quercus rubra)
[white birch (Betula papyrifera)]
[red maple (Acer rubrum)]
[white ash (Fraxinus americana)]
[white pine (Pinus strobus)]

regeneration

sugar maple (Acer saccharum)
ironwood (Ostrya virginiana)
red maple (Acer rubrum)
balsam fir (Abies balsamea)
red oak (Quercus rubra)
black cherry (Prunus serotina)
white ash (Fraxinus americana)
[white birch (Betula papyrifera)]
[beech (Fagus grandifolia)]
[yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis)]

Shrubs:

tall shrubs

striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum)
[beaked hazel (Corylus cornuta)]
[smooth serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis)]

low shrubs

Canada fly honeysuckle (Lonicera canadensis)

Dwarf Shrubs and Herbs:

dwarf shrubs

[partridgeberry (Mitchella repens)]

forbs

wild lily-of-the-valley (Maianthemum canadense)
wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis)
largeleaf aster (Eurybia macrophylla)
hairy Solomon's seal (Polygonatum pubescens)
starflower (Trientalis borealis)
[false Solomon's seal (Maianthemum racemosum)]

graminoids

mountain rice grass (Oryzopsis asperifolia)

Ferns and Fern Allies:

ferns

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

Bryophytes:

[reflexed cedar moss (Brachythecium reflexum)]
[beautiful branch moss (Callicladium haldanianum)]
[glossy moss (Plagiothecium laetum)]
[spiky dicranum (Dicranum flagellare)]

Lichens:

common powderhorn (Cladonia coniocraea)