206 



the seedlings is essentially the same as that of the adult trees, a 

 fact which would indicate that the present type of forest is 

 naturally self-perpetuating and therefore permanent. 



Though not, perhaps, quite so spectacular as the arborescent 

 portion of the forest, yet to one accustomed to the omnipresent 

 Kalmia latifolia-Gayliissacia baccata-Rhododendron nudiflorum 

 thickets of the ordinary Connecticut woodlands the luxuriance 

 of the underbrush here is a revelation. As elsewhere, to be sure, 

 laurel is an important constituent, but along with this occur 

 in profusion two other shrubs which even in northern Connecticut 

 are seldom encountered in second-growth forests, viz., Viburnum 

 alnifoUum and Taxus canadensis. The usual failure of these 

 plants to survive the effects of lumbering is doubtless due to their 

 extreme mesophytism and shallow root systems. The yew is 

 much commoner in the lower grounds than on the drier slopes and 

 frequently preempts considerable patches to the exclusion of all 

 other undergrowth. Hamamelis virginiana, Viburnum aceri- 

 folium, Cornus alternifolia, and Lonicera canadensis are not in- 

 frequent, while Sambucus racemosa occurs locally. Associated 

 with these shrubs and occasionally forming a distinct stratum or 

 story of vegetation are two small trees, Acer pennsylvanicum and 

 Acer spicatum. These rarely attain a height of more than 6 m. 

 with a diameter of 15 cm. and, like the hobble bush, are char- 

 acterized by their broad, thin, mesophytic leaves. Seedlings 

 of the various larger trees also constitute a significant part of the 

 underbrush, and the high degree of mesophytism in such a 

 forest is emphasized by the fact that these often germinate 

 luxuriantly upon rotting logs and decaying stumps, a phenomenon 

 seldom witnessed in the more xerophytic second-growth wood- 

 lands. In a forest similar to this one, at Sheffield, Massachusetts, 

 the writer counted more than a hundred seedlings of hemlock 

 and yellow birch flourishing on a 15 meter log. 



In view of the richness of the substratum the number of species 

 of herbaceous vascular plants native to the Colebrook forest at 

 first thought seems surprisingly small. This paucity may doubt- 

 less be attributed to the lack of environmental diversity, coupled 

 with the inability of any but tolerant species to endure the deep 



