• This community occurs as island-like stands in the southern Appalachian Mountains of eastern Tennessee, and western North Carolina.
  • It occurs on rocky spurs, steep ridges, and south-facing slopes above 1,830 m (6,000 feet) elevation, often adjacent to montane shrublands.
  • This forest may grade into forests dominated by Picea rubens and Abies fraseri, montane grasslands, high-elevation shrublands, or high-elevation rock outcrop communities.
    
    
• This forest has a canopy strongly dominated by Abies fraseri that are 17-23 cm in diameter and 10-11 m tall, giving these forests a stunted appearance.
  • Other species that may occur with low coverage in the canopy or subcanopy are Picea rubens, Sorbus americana, Betula alleghaniensis, Prunus pensylvanica.
    
    
• The shrub stratum is dominated by evergreen species, typically Rhododendron catawbiense, Rhododendron carolinianum, or Rhododendron maximum.
  
  
• Herbaceous cover is typically sparse.
  
  
• On steep, rocky, northerly slopes, coverage by mosses, liverworts, and lichens can approach 100%.
  • Bryophyte species include Hylocomium splendens, Ptilium crista-castrensis, Sphagnum spp., and Polytrichum ohioense.

• This community is dominated by Abies fraseri with small amounts of Picea rubens, Betula alleghaniensis, and Prunus pensylvanica as well.
  
  
• Rhododendron maximum forms a very tall shrub layer.
  
  
• Some low light herbaceous species such as Oxalis montana, Clintonia borealis, and Dryopteris campyloptera exist.
  
  
• In addition, lichen and moss species cover at least 20% of the ground and tree stumps.

• This community occurs as island-like stands on the highest areas, above 1,830 m (6,000 feet), in the southern Appalachian Mountains of eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, and southwestern Virginia.
  • It is extremely limited in distribution and is restricted to the following mountain areas: Great Smoky Mountains, Black Mountains, Balsam Mountains, Plott Balsams, Grandfather Mountain, and Mount Rogers (Ramseur 1960).

• This community was sampled above 6,000 feet on Spruce Mountain.
  • It may occur in isolated patches elsewhere but is swiftly declining due to the continuing decline of Abies fraseri in the plots.
  • This community may be extinct in the park within the next decade.

• Global Conservation Status Rank: G1 (Last reviewed: 01 04 2000).
  
  
• This community has a naturally restricted distribution, occurring only on the highest elevation peaks of the southern Appalachian Mountains.
  • It exists in only a small portion of its original range due to the impact of early 20th century, post-logging fires and the ongoing outbreak of the Balsam Woolly Adelgid, an exotic pest that infests and kills mature Abies fraseri.
  • Well-developed, undisturbed examples of this community are extremely rare.
  • Most remaining examples of this community exist as patches of dense young trees or dense Rubus thickets beneath forests of dead snags or tangles of fallen logs.

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