Cottonwoods, still the only trees in evidence, are clumped on the tops of the secondary dunes. Here they grow together in large, tangled, bushy patches two to five feet high. Chokecherry, a shrub with clusters of bitter, deep purple berries, is abundant in this community. Another common plant is the European buckthorn, a shrub with deep green, glossy leaves and poisonous black berries. On the ground, beachgrass has given way to gray and Canada goldenrod, spotted knapweed, and a variety of grasses and grasslike plants.
Baltic rush is one grasslike plant that is characteristic of Great Lakes dunes.
These plants form dense stands in damp swales. The high dunes support a red oak-red maple dune forest. The red oaks and red maples are joined by American beech, sugar maple, and black cherry to form an open-canopied overstory. Thriving understory trees include striped maple, shadbush and chokecherry. Dune grape and poison ivy are still present, but in lower proportions.