Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available

Floristics: The vegetation is dominated by ferns and grasses. Pteridium aquilinum may form an almost continuous canopy of fronds. Grass dominants include Elymus trachycaulus (= Agropyron trachycaulum), Bromus kalmii, Danthonia spicata, Oryzopsis asperifolia, and Poa compressa. Forbs of high constancy include Anaphalis margaritacea, Symphyotrichum ciliolatum (= Aster ciliolatus), Fragaria virginiana, and Solidago nemoralis. Dwarf-shrubs include Comptonia peregrina and Vaccinium angustifolium. A high number of exotic or weedy species are present, including Hieracium aurantiacum, Lactuca serriola (= Lactuca scariola), Phleum pratense, Poa compressa, Poa pratensis, Rumex acetosella, and Verbascum thapsus (Curtis 1959).

Dynamics:  These grasslands probably originated primarily through fire, but some stands occur in frost pockets on pitted outwash plains. Many areas of bracken grassland have scattered pine stumps. These stumps are remnants of logging, followed by severe slash fires that destroyed or reduced the humus in the soil. In some cases the degraded sites were invaded by members of nearby bracken grassland stands, and in other cases, the site may originally have had a pine barrens understory that persisted to some degree. Bracken grasslands appear to be fairly stable communities. They are slowly invaded by Populus tremuloides and Abies balsamea. Frost may inhibit invasion by trees into depressions in the stand. Pteridium aquilinum and Hieracium aurantiacum may both inhibit establishment of other species through toxins in their rhizomes and roots (Curtis 1959).