The Southeastern mixed forests are an

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

of the

temperate broadleaf and mixed forest Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is a temperate climate terrestrial habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature, with broadleaf tree ecoregions, and with conifer and broadleaf tree mixed coniferous forest ecoregions. Thes ...

biome A biome () is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. In 1935, Tansley added the ...

, in the lower portion of the

Eastern United States The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply the East, is a macroregion of the United States located to the east of the Mississippi River. It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital. As of 2011, the Eastern ...

Setting

This ecoregion covers the

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

region of the eastern United States, stretching in a broad arc from extreme southwest

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

southwest to

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. It is distinguished from neighboring ecoregions by elevation and vegetation. At lower elevations to the east are the

Middle Atlantic coastal forests The Middle Atlantic coastal forests are a temperate coniferous forest mixed with patches of evergreen broadleaved forests (closer to the Atlantic coast) along the coast of the southeastern United States. Setting The Middle Atlantic coastal for ...

on the

Atlantic coastal plain The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. Similarly, the Southeastern conifer forests occupy the

Gulf coastal plain The Gulf Coastal Plain extends around the Gulf of Mexico in the Southern United States and eastern Mexico. This coastal plain reaches from the Florida Panhandle, southwest Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, the southern two-thirds of Alabama, over m ...

to the south. Higher, and to the north and west, are the Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests and the

Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests The Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests is an ecoregion of the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund. It consists of mesophytic plants west of the Appalachian Mountains in the Southeastern United Sta ...

of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

. Small stands of these forests extend into north

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Climate

This ecoregion lies within the ''Cfa''

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

climate zones, and the ''Cf'' and ''Do'' Trewartha climate zones, placing it in the humid subtropical climate category, with hot, humid summers, and mild to cool winters. The coldest month mean temperature at or above freezing, and significant precipitation in all seasons.

Flora

Both oaks (''

Quercus An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

'' spp.) and hickories (''

Carya Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes 19 species accepted by ''Plants of the World Online''. Seven species are native to southeast Asia in China, Indochina, and northeastern India (Assam), and twelve ...

'' spp.) are abundant in this ecoregion. Additionally, some 3,635 species of native herbaceous and shrub species have been recorded here. American chestnut ('' Castanea dentata'') was formerly an important tree in this ecoregion, but its population was destroyed by the

chestnut blight The pathogenic fungus ''Cryphonectria parasitica'' (formerly ''Endothia parasitica'') is a member of the Ascomycota (sac fungi). This necrotrophic fungus is native to East Asia and South East Asia and was introduced into Europe and North America ...

in the early 20th century. It still persists as an understory tree, but is often killed by the blight before it matures.

Oak-hickory forests

The most common oaks (''

'' spp.) of this ecoregion are white oak (''

Quercus alba ''Quercus alba'', the white oak, is one of the preeminent hardwoods of eastern and central North America. It is a long-lived oak, native to eastern and central North America and found from Minnesota, Ontario, Quebec, and southern Maine south as ...

''), northern red oak (''

Quercus rubra ''Quercus rubra'', the northern red oak, is an oak tree in the red oak group (''Quercus'' section ''Lobatae''). It is a native of North America, in the eastern and central United States and southeast and south-central Canada. It has been intro ...

''), black oak (''

Quercus velutina ''Quercus velutina'' (Latin 'velutina', "velvety") , the black oak, is a species of oak in the red oak group (''Quercus'' sect. ''Lobatae''), native and widespread in eastern and central North America. It is sometimes called the eastern black oak ...

''), and scarlet oak ('' Quercus coccinea''). Black and scarlet grow in open forests. Black oak grows in nearly single-species stands on dry, exposed sites. Scarlet oak grows in various habitats. Chestnut oak ('' Quercus prinus'') is found on ridgetops. The hickories (''

'' spp.) of this ecoregion are identifiable by their pinnately compound leaves. They include pignut ('' Carya glabra'') and mockernut hickory (''

Carya tomentosa ''Carya tomentosa'', commonly known as mockernut hickory, mockernut, white hickory, whiteheart hickory, hognut, bullnut, is a species of tree in the walnut family Juglandaceae. The most abundant of the Carya, hickories, and common in the eastern ...

''), both of which grow on a variety of sites from dry ridges to

mesic habitat In ecology, a mesic habitat is a type of habitat with a well-balanced or moderate supply of moisture throughout the growing season (e.g., a mesic forest, temperate hardwood forest, or dry-mesic prairie). The term derives from the Greek ''mesos'' ...

Understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the Canopy (biology), forest ca ...

trees include sassafras ('' Sassafras albidum''), hophornbeam ('' Ostrya virginiana''), and green hawthorn (''

Crataegus viridis ''Crataegus viridis'', the green hawthorn or southern thorn, is a species of hawthorn that is native to the southeastern United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country pr ...

''). Flowering dogwood (''

Cornus florida ''Cornus florida'', the flowering dogwood, is a species of flowering plant, flowering tree in the family Cornaceae native to eastern North America and northern Mexico. An endemic population once spanned from southernmost coastal Maine south to n ...

'') blooms in early spring. Shrubs include highbush blueberry (''

Vaccinium corymbosum ''Vaccinium corymbosum'', the northern highbush blueberry, is a North American species of blueberry. Other common names include blue huckleberry, tall huckleberry, swamp huckleberry, high blueberry, and swamp blueberry. Description ''Vaccinium ...

''), lowbush blueberry (''

Vaccinium angustifolium ''Vaccinium angustifolium'', commonly known as the wild lowbush blueberry, is a species of blueberry native to eastern and central Canada and the northeastern United States. It is the most common commercially used wild blueberry and is consider ...

''), mapleleaf viburnum (''

Viburnum acerifolium ''Viburnum acerifolium'', the mapleleaf viburnum, maple-leaved arrowwood or dockmackie, is a species of ''Viburnum'' native to eastern North America. Description It is a shrub growing to tall. The leaves are in opposite pairs, long and broad, ...

''), huckleberry (''

Gaylussacia baccata ''Gaylussacia baccata'', the black huckleberry, is a common huckleberry found throughout a wide area of eastern North America. Description ''Gaylussacia baccata'' is a shrub up to 150 cm (5 feet) tall, forming extensive colonies. Flowers ...

''), mountain laurel (''

Kalmia latifolia ''Kalmia latifolia'', the mountain laurel, calico-bush, or spoonwood, is a flowering plant and one of the 10 species in the genus of Kalmia belonging to the heath(er) family Ericaceae. It is native to the eastern United States. Its range stretch ...

''). Common pine (''

Pinus A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as c ...

'' spp.) species are shortleaf pine (''

Pinus echinata The shortleaf pine or ''Pinus echinata'' is a species of coniferous tree endemic to the United States. The shortleaf pine is sometimes referred to as the "old field", "spruce", "rosemary", "yellow", "two-leaf" and "heart" pine. The common name " ...

'') and loblolly pine (''

Pinus taeda ''Pinus taeda'', commonly known as loblolly pine, is one of several pines native to the Southeastern United States, from East Texas to Florida, and north to southern New Jersey. The wood industry classifies the species as a southern yellow pine. ...

''). The pine forests are regenerated by fire. Without fire,

hardwood Hardwood is wood from Flowering plant, angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostl ...

species grow in below the pines. Sugar maple (''

Acer saccharum ''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and the eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the p ...

''), a shade tolerant tree, grows amid the oaks and hickories in the northern part of this ecoregion. Small stands of these forests extend into North Florida BeltWoods2

Mesic forests

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 Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted species i ...

''), tulip tree (''

Liriodendron tulipifera ''Liriodendron tulipifera''—known as the tulip tree, American tulip tree, tulipwood, tuliptree, tulip poplar, whitewood, fiddletree, lynn-tree, hickory-poplar, and yellow-poplar—is the North American representative of the two-species genus ...

''), northern red oak, white ash ('' Fraxinus americana''), black maple ('' Acer nigrum''), sugar maple (''

''), basswood (''

Tilia americana ''Tilia americana'' is a species of tree in the family Malvaceae, native to eastern North America, from southeast Manitoba east to New Brunswick, southwest to northeast Oklahoma, southeast to South Carolina, and west along the Niobrara River to ...

''), and bitternut hickory ('' Carya cordiformis''). Understory trees include pawpaw ('' Asimina triloba'') and painted buckeye (''

Aesculus sylvatica ''Aesculus sylvatica'', the painted buckeye, is a species of shrub. The species has five leaflet (botany), leaflets that are long and wide. The flowers are yellow and occasionally have red also. The species have Capsule (fruit), dry fruit and b ...

''). Small stands of these forests extend into North Florida.

Mesic mixed hardwood forests

Mesic mixed hardwood forests grow on mesic uplands, ravines, lower slopes, and well-drained flatwoods. Typical trees are American beech, tulip tree, various oaks and hickories, and several other hardwoods. Understory trees include American hornbeam ('' Carpinus caroliniana''), flowering dogwood (''

''), and American strawberry-bush ('' Euonymus americanus''). Small stands of Mesic mixed hardwood forest extend into North Florida.

Successional forests

Successional forests include eastern juniper (''

Juniperus virginiana ''Juniperus virginiana'', also known as eastern redcedar, red cedar, Virginian juniper, eastern juniper, red juniper, and other local names, is a species of juniper native to eastern North America from southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico an ...

'') and black locust (''

Robinia pseudoacacia ''Robinia pseudoacacia'', commonly known as black locust, is a medium-sized hardwood deciduous tree, belonging to the tribe Robinieae of the legume family Fabaceae. It is native to a few small areas of the United States, but it has been widely pl ...

'').

Remaining intact habitat

* Sumter National Forest * Uwharrie National Forest * Bienville National Forest *

Talladega National Forest The Talladega National Forest is located in the U.S. state of Alabama and covers 392,567 acres (613.39 sq mi, or 1,588.66 km2) at the southern edge of the Appalachian Mountains. Before it was bought by the federal government in the 1930s, ...

SW unit * Oconee National Forest * Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge * Sauratown Mountains *

Brushy Mountains (North Carolina) The Brushy Mountains are a mountain range located in northwestern North Carolina. They are an isolated "spur" of the much larger Blue Ridge Mountains, separated from them by the Yadkin River valley.''North Carolina: The History of a Southern State ...

* South Mountains (North Carolina)
Tunica Hills
in southwestern Mississippi and eastern

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

* Arlington Woods, Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Duke Forest Duke Forest is a forest managed by Duke University for research, teaching, and recreation. It is located in the edge of the Piedmont (United States) in Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County, Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County, a ...

* William B. Umstead State Park * Eno River State Park * Guilford College * Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge * Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge in the Great Pee Dee River basin of piedmont North Carolina * Belt Woods,

Prince George's County, Maryland Prince George's County (often shortened to PG County or PG) is located in the U.S. state of Maryland bordering the eastern portion of Washington, D.C. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the population was 967,201, making it ...

References

{{Reflist Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests in the United States Ecoregions of the United States Forests of the United States Nearctic ecoregions