Flora
In terms of biodiversity, the only comparable temperate deciduous forest region in the world is that of central China. Both the Appalachians (along with the neighbouring Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests ecoregion) and central China contain relict habitats of an ancient forest that was once widespread over the Northern Hemisphere. There are species, genera, and families of plants that occur only in these two locations. The Great Smoky Mountains are particularly rich in biodiversity.
The Appalachians are home to 158 different species of tree, more than anywhere else in North America. There are two main types of forest; deciduous oak forest at low elevations (between 250m and 1350m), and coniferous spruce-fir forest above that. Until 1890 the oaks were mixed with American chestnut but these were largely wiped out by the Chestnut blight fungus in the early 1900s.
Read more about this topic: Appalachian-Blue Ridge Forests
Famous quotes containing the word flora:
“A man’s interest in a single bluebird is worth more than a complete but dry list of the fauna and flora of a town.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)