Like savannas, woodland canopies contain primarily oaks, but they also have hickories and sometimes shortleaf pine in the Ozarks. Woodlands can occur in association with prairies, but more frequently they exist surrounding glades. True forests, as opposed to woodlands, have a heavy overstory canopy and a thick understory. Multiple layers of canopy trees and shade-adapted shrubs and saplings occur. Forests contain more fire-sensitive trees and shrubs, such as northern red oak, sugar maple and American hornbeam.
Forests explode in the spring with an emerald carpet of ferns and colorful spring wildflowers.
But by mid-summer the forest floor becomes rather drab. In contrast, savannas and woodlands have a lesser showing in spring, but by mid-summer they come alive with the blooms of asters, blazing stars, coneflowers, goldenrods, sunflowers and milkweeds. Native legumes, a valuable food source for our wildlife, abound in savannas and woodlands. Visitors to one of the Conservation Department's restored savannas or woodlands will witness an astonishing amount of natural diversity. A hundred acres of high-quality woodland can support over 200 native plant species.