Plants and Animals
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Plants
The Rich Floodplain Forest can have a lush look, especially in the spring, when beautiful wildflowers bloom—look for Virginia bluebells, squirrel-corn, Virginia springbeauty, Canadian waterleaf, Dutchman’s breeches, and wild blue phlox. You will see large (and probably old) individuals of American sycamore, cottonwood, tuliptree, and black walnut. Beneath these large trees, box-elder, pawpaw, and northern spicebush grow densely.
Canopy Trees
The trees whose crowns intercept most of the sunlight in a forest stand. The uppermost layer of a forest.
- American sycamore
- bitternut hickory
- black walnut
- eastern cottonwood
- Shumard oak
- tuliptree
- American elm (occasional)
- common hackberry (occasional)
- green ash (occasional)
- silver maple (occasional)
Understory Trees
Small trees and young specimens of large trees growing beneath the canopy trees. Also called the subcanopy.
- box-elder
- American elm (occasional)
Shrubs, Saplings, and Vines
Shrubs, juvenile trees and vines at the right height to give birds and others a perch up off the ground but below the trees.
- eastern poison-ivy (don’t touch!)
- grapes
- northern spicebush
- pawpaw
- trumpet creeper
- Virginia creeper
- American hornbeam (occasional)
Low Plants (Field Layer)
Plants growing low to the ground. This includes small shrubs and tree seedlings.
- Canadian waterleaf
- Canadian wild ginger
- Canadian wood-nettle
- Dutchman’s breeches
- squirrel-corn
- Virginia bluebells
- Virginia springbeauty
- clustered black-snakeroot (occasional)
- common blue violet (occasional)
- false mermaidweed (occasional)
- harbinger-of-spring (occasional)
- King Solomon's seal
- striped cream violet (occasional)
- toadshade (occasional)
- wild blue phlox (occasional)
- wingstem (occasional)
Non-Native Invasive Plant Species
The Rich Floodplain Forest is plagued by a high number of non-native invasive plants such as ivyleaf speedwell*, ground-ivy*, and Japanese stiltgrass*. See Ecological Threats for more.
Notable Variations
Along the Shenandoah River, there may be patches of forest (possibly older-aged) that contain more than one kind of oak tree, such as the flood-tolerant Shumard, chinquapin, and bur oaks. These are embedded in more typical stands of Rich Floodplain Forest dominated by American sycamore.
Animals
Even though natural communities aren’t named after animals, animals do play a crucial role in maintaining natural communities. Plants and animals need each other. To name just a few examples, plants provide food and habitat for animals, and animals help plants reproduce by spreading pollen and seeds. To learn more, see The Role of Animals in Natural Communities in Ecology Basics.
Check out iNaturalist to see photos of animals (and plants!) that people have seen in Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.