Plants and Animals
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Plants
The trees in this woodland are widely spaced and often stunted or gnarled. Most of the trees are chestnut oak and Virginia pine, although you may spot an occasional northern red oak or white ash. Hillside blueberry bushes are common. Low plants include grasses such as little bluestem, starved witchgrass, poverty oatgrass, and wildflowers such as longleaf summer bluet and smooth Solomon’s seal.
Canopy Trees
The trees whose crowns intercept most of the sunlight in a forest stand. The uppermost layer of a forest.
- chestnut oak
- Virginia pine
- northern red oak (occasional)
- white ash (occasional)
Understory Trees
Small trees and young specimens of large trees growing beneath the canopy trees. Also called the subcanopy.
- common serviceberry (occasional)
- flowering dogwood (occasional)
- pignut hickory (occasional)
- red maple (occasional)
- sassafras (occasional)
- scarlet oak (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.
- hillside blueberry
- cat greenbrier (occasional)
- eastern poison-ivy (occasional)
- northern dewberry (occasional)
- summer grape (occasional)
Low Plants (Field Layer)
Plants growing low to the ground. This includes small shrubs and tree seedlings.
- clasping Venus’-looking-glass
- common dittany
- dwarf cinquefoil
- goat’s-rue
- Howell’s pussytoes
- little bluestem
- longleaf summer bluet
- narrowleaf tick-trefoil
- Pennsylvania sedge
- poverty oatgrass
- rattlesnake-weed
- starved witchgrass
- variable panicgrass
- wavyleaf aster
- woman’s tobacco
- smooth Solomon’s seal (occasional)
Non-Native Invasive Plant Species
The dry, thin, infertile soil is not very welcoming to non-native invasive plants, although tree-of-heaven* is present. See Ecological Threats.
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.