Abundance and distribution of vegetation under four hardwood stands in north-central West Virginia

Forest floor samples were collected from four hardwood forest stands in West Virginia to study species composition, abundance, and distribution of vegetation that originated from seeds, rootstocks, rhizomes, and so on. The abundance and distribution of plants on square-foot sections of forest floor that were lifted and moved to the greenhouse indicate that under the most ideal conditions upwards of 800,000 stems per acre may occur during the first year. Sweet birch was the most abundant tree species, blackberry the most abundant shrub, and species of violets were the most abundant herbaceous plants. Implications of this vegetation of the regeneration of the forest are discussed.