About Hill Forest
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TREES
Forest types in the Forest are about evenly divided between pine and hardwoods, with Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda) being most prevalent comprising about 45% of the acreage. This is largely the result of planting that began in the 1930s on abandoned farmlands. Various upland and bottomland hardwood mixtures cover another 39% of the forest consisting of oaks (Quercus spp.) and Tulip Poplar/Sweetgum (Liriodendron tulipifera/Liquidambar styraciflua) being the most identifiable forest types. But the large majority of the forest includes a wide range of species without dominance by any single species.
Hardwood species cataloged in a 1968 survey of 20 sites in Hill Forest, when it comprised 1,250 acres (compared to today's 2,450):
- River Birch (Betula nigra)
- Red Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica)
- Willow Oak (Quercus phellos)
- American Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
- Bitternut Hickory (Carya cordiformis)
- Eastern Black Walnut (Juglans nigra)
- American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)
- Tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)
- Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra)
- Southern Red Oak (Quercus falcata)
- Shortleaf Pine (Pinus echinata)
- White Oak (Quercus alba)
- White Hickory (Carya tomentosa)
- Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata)
- Red Hickory (Carya ovalis)
- Slippery Elm (Ulmus rubra)
- Red Maple (Acer rubrum)
- Pignut Hickory (Carya glabra)
- Post Oak (Quercus stellata)
- Black Tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica)
- Black Oak (Quercus velutina)
- Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccinea)
- Chestnut Oak (Quercus prinus)
- Blackjack Oak (Quercus marilandica)
- Scrub Pine (Pinus virginiana)
- Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis)
- Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum)
- American Hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana)
- American Holly (Ilex opaca)
- Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)
- Red Mulberry (Morus rubra)
- Winged Elm (Ulmus alata)
- Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana)
- Sassafras (Sassafras albidum)
- American Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana)
Sources:
- Nemeth, JC (1968). The hardwood vegetation and soils of Hill Demonstration Forest, Durham County, North Carolina. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 84(4):482-491.
- SmartWood Program (2003). Forest Management Public Summary for North Carolina State University, Department of Forestry