Within the walls of the Clay plain forest you will find a great diversity of herbs, shrubs, and trees. Much of this diversity is due to the fertility of the soils and the moderate climate. The soils of the Clay plain forest are very fertile which not only help the trees and shrubs to take root it also helps widen the variety of vegetation that is able to grow within the inner parts. There are more species of vegetation growing in the Clay plain forest than any other type of forest in New England. The Clay plain forest in a very unique place and also a very interesting place.

One of the more interesting topics to study in any kind of forest are the indicating species. By this I mean the fact of being able to tell what type of area you are in by the types of plants that live there. Some of the more interesting indicating species in the Clay plain forest are the Jack-in-the-pulpit, maiden hare fern, red trillium, and the jewelweed.

Learn more about plant mentioned

Although the forest is full of many very interesting things there are far to many subjects for one human being to study all of them. So, as you enter the forest you have to choose a few things to look at and observe. Every ecosystem has different specialties and different features but because of the soils the Clay plain forest has a very interesting pattern of tip-ups through out the forest. A tip-up is when a tree falls bringing it's roots and part of the ground with them.

Along with the tip-ups come a great diversity of trees. Through out the Clay plain forest you will find any thing from Red Oak trees to Muscle Wood. They all have certain circumstances that they like and grow better in. For example the Hemlock's grow better in the dry, higher areas compared to the wet, swamp like area.

Trees of the Clay Plain Forest