Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests hickories ("Carya" spp.), red maple ("Acer rubrum"), sugar maple ("Acer saccharum"), white ash ("Fraxinus americana"), tulip tree ("Liriodendron tulipifera"), American beech ("Fagus grandifolia"), black cherry ("Prunus serotina"), black birch ("Betula lenta"), black tupelo ("Nyssa sylvatica"), and American elm ("Ulmus americana"). Flowering dogwood ("Cornus florida") is a common understory tree. Central Appalachian pine-oak rocky woodlands occur on lower-elevation hilltops, outcrops, and rocky slopes and have a patchy or open aspect. Pitch pine ("Pinus rigida") and Virginia pine ("Pinus virginiana") are common within their respective ranges. These pines are often mixed with dry-site oaks such as chestnut oak ("Quercus prinus"), bear oak
Luzula sylvatica 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 plants sparkle when wet with dew; whilst "sylvatica" comes from silva, Latin for forest. "Luzula sylvatica" is the largest woodrush, with stems high. It forms clumps of bright green leaves which are glossy, flat, linear, about in length and wide; its leaves remain green or at