258 NICHOLS: THE VEGETATION OF CONNECTICUT 
Woody plants are seldom wholly absent from the strand stage 
of a flood plain; commonly, seedlings of willow and cottonwood 
are abundant. Indeed, certain species of willow, such as Salix 
cordata and Salix longifolia, occur here which are usually lacking 
on older flood plains. But woody plants are rarely well developed; 
for even if they are able to withstand submergence in winter, 
trees and shrubs of any size are liable to be badly battered or else 
Fic. 9. Nearly pure growth of willow (Salix nigra) near southern extremity of 
flood plain island in Connecticut River, Windsor. 
uprooted and carried away by the ice when it breaks up in spring: 
As soon, however, as the surface has been built up to such a height 
that it is beyond the reach of the winter ice, trees become the 
controlling element of the vegetation and ultimately a luxuriant 
forest may be developed. The boundary between the wooded 
part of a flood plain and the strand area is often marked by 4 
distinct shelf or step—the result of ice-shove in winter. 
