Southeastern mixed forests grow in below the pines. Sugar maple ("Acer saccharum"), a shade tolerant tree, grows amid the oaks and hickories in the northern part of this ecoregion. Mesic forests occur in fertile, mesic, low-elevation habitats such as deep ravines and sheltered north- or east-facing slopes. Dominant trees include American beech ("Fagus grandifolia"), tulip tree ("Liriodendron tulipifera"), northern red oak, white ash ("Fraxinus americana"), black maple ("Acer nigrum"), sugar maple ("Acer saccharum"), basswood ("Tilia americana"), and bitternut hickory ("Carya cordiformis"). Understory trees include pawpaw ("Asimina triloba") and painted buckeye ("Aesculus sylvatica"). Mesic mixed hardwood forests grow on mesic uplands, ravines, lower slopes,
Luzula sylvatica as a weed suppressant), hardiness, as well as the ability to grow in shade and damp soils being particular boons; "L. sylvatica" is commonly used for ground cover and/or as an ornamental grass. The cultivar ‘Marginata’ has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit. Luzula sylvatica Luzula sylvatica, commonly known as greater wood-rush or great wood-rush, is a perennial flowering plant in the rush family Juncaceae. With regards to the etymology of the binomial, "Luzula" could come from the Italian "lucciola" ("to shine, sparkle") or the Latin "luzulae" or "luxulae", from "lux" ("light"), inspired by the way the