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
Nyssa sylvatica a large deep taproot when young that makes transplanting difficult. Because of this, it is fairly uncommon in cultivation and the nursery trade. Additional characteristics include: "Nyssa sylvatica" grows in various uplands and in alluvial stream bottoms from southwestern Maine and New York, to extreme southern Ontario, central Michigan, Illinois, and central Missouri, south to southern Florida, eastern Texas, and eastern Oklahoma. It also occurs locally in central and southern Mexico. Optimum development is made on lower slopes and terraces in the Southeastern United States. "Nyssa sylvatica" is found in a variety of upland and wetland habitats in its extensive