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George E. Nichols, 



Woody undergroivth in the climax forest. — Two small trees, 

 the mountain maple {Acer spicatum) and the moosewood {Acer 

 pennsylvanicum) , are usually conspicuous in the undergrowth. 

 The latter species sometimes attains a diameter of nearly a foot, 

 but, in the forest, both are usually little more than shrubs. The 

 mountain ash (Pynts americana) is not infrequent, but is more 

 characteristic of the evergreen coniferous climax forest of the 



Figure 12. — Primeval forest of the regional climax type, at Tarbet, along 

 the Barrasois ; mostly beech, maple, and yellow birch ; balsam fir 

 abundant in undergrowth but absent from mature stand. 



highland. Of the shrubs, the yew {Taxns canadensis) is the 

 most characteristic species : usually this is common, and fre- 

 quently it forms a dense tangle which excludes other plants in 

 much the same way that the mountain laurel {Kalmia latifolia) 

 does in the woods of southern New England. Sometimes, how- 

 ever, the yew is entirely absent over considerable areas. The 

 northern hazel-nut {Coryhis rostrata) occupies a position in the 

 forest here somewhat parallel to that held by the witch hazel 

 in woods farther south. A few other shrubs are ordinarily 

 represented by scattered specimens, namely: fly honeysuckle 



