The Vegetation of the William L. Hutcheson Memorial Forest, New Jersey

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Abstract
The upland portion of the Hutcheson Memorial Forest (82% of the area) is dominated by white oak, black oak, red oak, and red hickory. These species form an almost continuous canopy about 95 ft. in height. Beneath the canopy is a pronounced dogwood understory. The shrub layer is characterized by maple-leaved viburnum. The herb layer is best developed in spring when May-apple is abundant. The poorly drained areas are dominated by white oak, white ash, red maple, and pin oak. Recent wind damage has created many openings in the canopy. The understory is not as distinct as it is on the better drained soils. Transgressives of red maple are the principal components. The shrub layer is characterized by arrowwood, spicebush, and greenbrier. Spotted touch-me-not and skunk cabbage are the principal herbs. Hutcheson Memorial Forest is a variant of the oak-hickory forest type complex of the Piedmont, but it does not have the climax status which this community exhibits on the southern Piedmont. Openings in the forest resulting from occasional severe windstorms or other catastrophe are closed again by a process in which local old-field species play a minor role in the re-establishment of typical forest structure and composition. Red maple and white ash, much more often than oaks and hickories, are the tree species that in the recent past and at present are destined to fill the gaps in the canopy.