So if you walk into a woodlot and you find most of the tall white trillium plants are small, merely vegetative plants it is a pretty good indication that they are being browsed regularly. We think of deer as browsers for the most part, but they feed very heavily on herbaceous flora during the spring and summer seasons. Deer eat Canada mayflower here too, a study in the Allegheny National Forest looked at colonies of this plant growing on top of tall boulders and low boulders. Canada mayflower could probably serve as a fairly reliable indicator of deer browse intensity. Herbaceous plants, of course, never out grow the reach of deer.
Shrubs also remain vulnerable throughout their life cycle.
Witch hobble was once very common throughout northern Pennsylvania, but it is another plant that has declined seriously. It persists in some areas in a supressed condition. You rarely see it blooming unless you come across a branch that is extending out from the rocky bank of a creek in a way that makes it inaccessible. The plants that I have discussed are sought out, highly preferred, plants that the deer really like to eat. These highly preferred plants are being eliminated at what I call the first stage of impact of deer browse.