Northern Ontario Plant Database

Northern Ontario Vegetation Type (V-type)

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NE-V27: Black Spruce - Labrador Tea - Feathermoss - Sphagnum
Summary: A wet, black spruce forest type dominated by black spruce in the overstorey (21-40% cover) and understorey (11-20% cover); balsam fir provides only 2-5% cover in the understorey.

The shrub layer is dominated by Labrador tea (11-20% cover) and other ericaceous shrubs, such as blueberries, sheep laurel, and bog laurel, each providing up to 5% cover.

The species-poor herb layer contains creeping snowberry and bunchberry (2-5% cover) and small amounts of sedges, threeleaf false Solomon's seal, and small cranberry.

The forest floor is covered by carpets of Schreber's feathermoss (>40% cover), with patches of common green and northern peatmoss (11-20% cover each). Other feathermosses and sphagnum species are also common. Gray reindeer lichen can form patches with 2-5% cover on hummocky areas.

Soil and Ecosite Types: The Black Spruce-Labrador Tea-Feathermoss-Sphagnum Vegetation Type (NE-V27) occurs primarily on deep organic soils (S17, S18), but may also occur on moist, shallow organic soils (S16) and moist fine loamy to clayey soils (S14). The NE-V27 vegetation type may be found on ecosite types ES 5m (Black Spruce-Medium Soil), ES 8 (Black Spruce-Feathermoss-Sphagnum-Moist Soil), and ES 11 (Black Spruce-Labrador tea-Organic soil).

Trees:

overstorey

black spruce (Picea mariana) [10]

regeneration

black spruce (Picea mariana)
balsam fir (Abies balsamea)

Shrubs:

low shrubs

Labrador tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum)
lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium)
velvetleaf blueberry (Vaccinium myrtilloides)
sheep laurel (Kalmia angustifolia)
bog laurel (Kalmia polifolia)

Dwarf Shrubs & Herbs:

dwarf shrubs

creeping snowberry (Gaultheria hispidula)
small cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccus)

forbs

bunchberry (Cornus canadensis)
threeleaf false Solomon's seal (Maianthemum trifolium)

graminoids

sedges (Carex spp.)

Ferns and Allies:

horsetails

woodland horsetail (Equisetum sylvaticum)

Bryophytes:

Schreber's feathermoss (Pleurozium schreberi)
common green peatmoss (Sphagnum girgensohnii)
northern (or lady's tresses) peatmoss (Sphagnum capillifolium)
plume moss (Ptilium crista-castrensis)
stairstep moss (Hylocomium splendens)
wavyleaf moss (Dicranum polysetum)
midway (or red fatleaf) peatmoss (Sphagnum magellanicum)
Wulf's peatmoss (Sphagnum wulfianum)
naugehyde liverwort (Ptilidium pulcherrimum)
dusky broom moss (or curly heron's-bill) (Dicranum fuscescens)

Lichens:

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

Note: Species listed above are taken from the Vegetation type description and the Species Percentage Cover by Vegetation Type Tables (pg. D 34). Species are listed in order of most cover and abundance.