Ninety-five percent of the Blue Ridge is wooded, and much of this forest
is made up of scarlet, red, and chestnut oaks. On the ridges and dry
slopes there may also be hickory, black locust, black birch, and
scattered maple, black gum, ash, and pine. In moister coves there is a
greater variety of species including white oak, maple, birch,
yellow-poplar, sycamore, and basswood. In cooler coves and on north
slopes, hemlocks are dominant. At higher elevations, red spruce and
balsam fir stand as relics of the northern forest type that covered the
Blue Ridge during the more arctic conditions of the Pleistocene Age.
The limberlost at the head of Whiteoak Canyon contains hemlocks that are
over 400 years old and 3 feet in diameter. The dead trunks of some giant
American chestnuts are still standing, but these trees are no longer a
part of the Blue Ridge forest—they were killed out by the chestnut
blight. The forests of 300 years ago were cut for wood products and to
clear land, and their regrowth was prevented by fire and grazing.
Today’s forest contains mostly small trees. The older oaks along the
exposed ridge lines have been twisted and broken by ice and wind. In
many places open fields are becoming overgrown with scrub pine, black
locust, sassafras, and other early invaders. These lead the way for the
return of the climax oak forest that will again someday clothe the
mountains.
The changing seasons make the variety of Shenandoah’s woody plants
conspicuous. The flowers of redbud, dogwood, wild cherry, black locust,
azalea, and mountain laurel make spring a veritable fairyland. The
autumn color parade begins with black gum and red maple, varied and
added to by hickories, dogwood, ash, and sassafras, until the climax of
oaks makes the slopes blaze with red and orange, then subside to russet
and brown. The gray of winter branches is relieved only by the dark
green of pine, spruce, fir, and hemlock.
From March to November, you will find flowers blooming in the Blue
Ridge. So many kinds: 80 different flowering plants can be identified in
a day’s walk.
In the spring, hepatica and masses of violets, bluets, and marsh
marigolds brave the uncertain weather of March and April, followed by
the bloodroot, trillium, and jack-in-the-pulpit. Summer brings great
clumps of goldenrod and Queen Anne’s lace, asters, daisies, and
black-eyed-susans along the roadside. In the fields look for columbine,
the showy turks-cap lily, and the purple thistle.
Autumn’s brilliant leaves compete with the flower displays, but many
varieties hold their own—goldenrod, asters, chicory, yarrow, fireweed,
and ironweed. To all these are added the bright fruits of the dogwood,
white baneberry, sumac, and mountain ash. It is no wonder that October
draws more visitors to the park than any other month except July.