Plants and Animals
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Plants
Most of the trees in this forested natural community—up to 75% of them—are silver maple trees. Box-elder, northern spicebush, and pawpaw grow underneath the larger trees. In the spring, when floods are common, you won’t find many spring wildflowers. However, by late summer, there are usually plenty of low plants, including Canadian wood-nettle, jumpseed , small-spike false nettle, white snakeroot, and wingstem.
Canopy Trees
The trees whose crowns intercept most of the sunlight in a forest stand. The uppermost layer of a forest.
- silver maple
- American elm (occasional)
- American sycamore (occasional)
- box-elder (occasional)
- green ash (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.
Low Plants (Field Layer)
Plants growing low to the ground. This includes small shrubs and tree seedlings.
- Canadian wood-nettle
- jumpseed
- small-spike false nettle
- white snakeroot
- wingstem
- Canadian clearweed (occasional)
- Canadian germander (occasional)
- Canadian honewort (occasional)
- common blue violet (occasional)
- cutleaf coneflower (occasional)
- orange jewelweed (occasional)
- whitegrass (occasional)
Non-Native Invasive Plant Species
Many non-native invasive plants, like Japanese stiltgrass* and garlic mustard*, have hitched a ride into this community via the river. See Ecological Threats for more.
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.