mon in Warren, Franklin, Wake, Chatham, and Anson 

 Counties. Virginia pine is the leading species in a broad 

 belt across the State paralleling the eastern slopes of the 

 Blue Ridge Mountains. The hardwoods, including yellow 

 poplar, sweetgum, red and white oaks, and hickories occur 

 in scattered mixed stands or associated with the pine 

 throughout most of the piedmont. 



The mountain forests are predominantly hardwood, 

 although shortleaf pine is rather common and Virginia, 

 eastern white, pitch, and Table Mountain pines, eastern 

 hemlock, red spruce, and Fraser fir are present in certain 

 localities. The hardwood species are numerous, but dead 

 chestnut, making up one-fourth ot the total volume, is 

 still outstanding in abundance. Practically all of the 

 chestnut has been killed by the chestnut blight which, 

 reaching the mountain forests about 1920, swept through 

 them in a few years. Yellow poplar, one ot the more 

 valuable trees, grows in the coves and on the lower moist 

 slopes (fig. 15). There are many species of oak growing 

 on practically all sites, but their quality is much influenced 

 by the kind of site. White oak and northern red oak 

 growing in the coves are excellent timber trees, but on 

 the high, dry ridges they are often of poor form, the best 

 being chestnut oak. Hickories are abundant, but are not 

 considered of very good quality- Red maple grows on 

 practically all sites, basswood and buckeye are frequently 



associated with yellow poplar in the coves, and black 

 locust is common except at high elevations. Ash, sugar 

 maple, black cherry, and black walnut are valuable 

 species but rather scarce. 



Shortleaf pine is common in the Asheville Basin, in 

 Henderson and Cherokee Counties, and, with Virginia 

 pine, on the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains- 

 Eastern white pine is most abundant in Caldwell and 

 Wilkes Counties. Pitch and Table Mountain pine are 

 relatively scarce and when found are usually on the upper 

 south and west slopes of the mountains. Eastern hemlock, 

 less abundant than white pine, grows best in the moist 

 soils and the cool, humid climate found in deep stream 

 valleys, in coves, and on north slopes. Red spruce and 

 Fraser fir grow high up on the mountains, particularly 

 in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and on 

 the Black Mountains in Buncombe and Yancey Counties. 



Forest Types 



Vegetal patterns, or forest tvpes, were classified bv 

 the Forest Survey on the basis of species composition of 

 stands and the proportion of commercially important 

 dominant trees (table 5). Nearly 30 percent of the cubic- 

 foot volume in the State is loblolly pine. Shortleaf pine 

 ranks next, and black and water tupelo make up an 

 important part of the hardwood stand. 



Table 5. — Species composition of the principal forest types, expressed in percent of net cubic volume in each type, 1938 1 



Species 



Loblolly pine 



Shortleaf pine 3 



Pond pine 



Longleaf pine 



Virginia pine 



White pine__ 



Hemlock. 



Red spruce 



Red cedar._ 



White-cedar 



Cypress 



Sweetgum 



Tupelos 



Yellow poplar • 



Red oaks 



White oaks 



Chestnut 



Scrub hardwoods. 

 Other hardwoods. 



All species. 



Softwood types 



Loblolly 

 pine 



Percent 

 76.1 

 3.9 



1.7 



w 



.1 



.1 



.3 

 4.8 

 3.0 

 1.2 

 2.2 

 2.5 



.6 

 2.6 



100.0 

 25.7 



Shortleaf 

 pine 



Percent 



2.6 



69.3 



.1 



3.9 



.6 



(<) 



2.0 



3.5 

 5.3 

 5.9 



4.8 



100.0 

 17.1 



Pond 

 pine 



Percent 



7. 5 



.1 



83.3 



2.4 



(') 



.7 

 .4 

 .3 

 3.0 

 .4 



w 



.4 

 1.4 



100.0 

 10.8 



Longleaf 

 pine 



Percent 



8.6 



.1 



4.6 



78.8 



W 



( 4 ) 



.2 

 1.3 

 1.0 



3.9 



.4 



100.0 

 4.8 



Virginia 

 pine 



Percent 

 0.3 

 16.0 



59.4 

 1.0 

 .1 



5.5 



4.5 



5.2 



.6 



.6 



5.4 



100.0 

 4.4 



White 

 pine 8 



Percent 



1.9 

 27.2 

 22.6 



8.1 



4.4 

 6.7 

 5.7 

 7.2 

 1.3 

 12.2 



100.0 



1.5 



Hardwood types 



Bottom- 

 land 

 hardwood 



Percent 

 6.8 

 .2 



(«) 



. 1 

 3.8 

 8.5 

 15.5 

 32.9 

 3.3 

 4.5 

 2.8 



1.3 

 19.7 



100.0 

 12.2 



Upland 

 hardwood 



Percent 

 1.4 

 3.3 

 («) 

 .2 

 .4 

 .5 

 .5 



(«) 



w 



2.7 

 .4 



5.4 

 19.6 

 22.0 

 20.5 



2.3 

 20.7 



100.0 

 21.6 



Cove 

 hardwood 



Percent 

 0.1 



.1 

 .3 

 2.8 



(*) 



30.2 

 6.9 

 3.5 



22.9 

 1.6 



31.6 



100.0 

 1.9 



All 



types 



Percent 

 28.9 



15.1 

 3.S 

 2.0 

 2.9 



.2 

 .2 

 .7 

 1.6 

 5.3 

 7.0 

 3.< 

 6.2 

 6.4 

 4.1 

 1.1 



100.0 

 100.0 



1 Net cubic volume outside bark of sound trees at least 5 inches d. b. h., tops and limbs of hardwoods omitted. 



! White pine, hemlock, and spruce-fir types. s Includes small amount of Table Mountain and pitch pine in the mountains. 



* Negligible. • Includes small amount of basswood. 



18 



