Environmental Description:  This vegetation occurs in small patches where seepage creates permanent or seasonally saturated soil conditions. Wetness may vary substantially over short distances in response to amounts of seepage, flow, and pooling by topography or the presence of an impermeable substrate. Stands of the group occur over a wide elevational range, from low and moderate elevations northward nearly to the highest peaks of the Southern Appalachians. Landforms are usually concave slopes but may be convex slopes or even (rarely) ridgetop gaps. This vegetation is almost never found on flat valley bottoms, though it may be found on their edges. Soils are usually saturated mineral soils, rather than peats or mucks, and may be residual or colluvial, and shallow to deep.

Climate: This vegetation is favored by a cool-temperate climate, in which cool temperatures and high rainfall make more water available, thereby making seepage flow more reliable. Soil/substrate/hydrology: This vegetation occurs in small patches where seepage creates permanent or seasonal saturated soil conditions. Soils are usually saturated mineral soils, rather than peats or mucks. Soil wetness may limit recruitment of most tree and shrub seedlings to drier microsites, making canopy gaps persist longer than in adjacent forests and creating and sustaining the openings where this vegetation is found. Wetness may vary substantially over short distances in response to amounts of seepage, flow, and pooling by topography or impermeable substrate.