Woodlands can be divided up into woods and forests. These are dominated and defined by leafy hardwoods and their attendant communities. Silver Maple, Willow, and Elm dominate wet woodlands where common understory plants include Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) and Green Dragon (Arisaema dracontium). Medium (or Mesic) woodlands are dominated by Sugar Maple and Basswood. Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), Harbinger of spring (Erigenia bulbosa), Squirrel corn (Dicentra canadensis), and False Rue Anemone (Isopyrum biternatum) are among the earliest spring flowers in these communities. Oak, Hickory, and Cherry dominate dry woodlands and here one finds Feathery False Solomon's Seal (Smilacina racemosa), Sweet Cicely (Osmorhiza claytoni), and Violet Wood Sorrel (Oxalis viola).

Many of the species that we examine are not confined to one of these subdivisions, but occur in more than one community, e.g., Yellow Violet (Viola pubescens), Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides), Wild geranium (Geranium maculatum), Wood sandwort (Arenaria laterifolia), Bishop's cap (Mitella diphylla), One-flowered broom rape (Orobanche uniflora), Running strawberry bush (Euonymus obovatus), and Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium reptans).

Some species even occur in both woodlands and grasslands, e.g., New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americanus) occurs in open woods to mesic prairies; Shooting star (Dodecatheon meadii) is found in mesic to dry woods and prairies; Violet wood sorrel (Oxalis violacea), like Yellow pimpernel (Taenidia integerrima) and Bird's foot violet (Viola pedata var. lineariloba), occurs in dry open woods and in dry to mesic prairies

Others are more common in prairies like Prairie smoke (Geum triflorum), which prefers dry to wet prairies but is also found in sandy, open woods. Cow parsnip (Heracleum maximum) is a common plant in moist disturbed ground and along stream banks. The Ragged fringed orchid (Habenaria lacera) prefers a wetter habitat and is found in swamps, marshes, bogs, glades and thickets.