This description is based on a very limited number of stands examined and should be regarded as preliminary. Talus forest develops on a substrate of quartzite, sandstone, dolomite, rhyolite, and possibly other rock types. Canopy cover ranges from sparse to moderately dense. Tree dominance is variable and can include white pine (Pinus strobus), red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), paper birch (Betula papyrifera), northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis), red pine (Pinus resinosa), and others. Among the characteristic understory plants noted to date are shrubs mountain maple (Acer spicatum), red-berried elder (Sambucus pubens), and bristly sarsaparilla (Aralia hispida). Representative herbs include common polypody (Polypodium vulgare), wood fern (Dryopteris marginalis), walking fern (Asplenium rhizophyllum), harebell (Campanula rotundifolia), columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), fumitory (Adlumia fungosa), leaf-cup (Polymnia canadensis), and pale corydalis (Corydalis sempervirens). Crustose lichens and various mosses sometimes reach high cover values.
Talus forest communities often reflect the composition of the forests in the surrounding landscape but include plants and animals that are adapted to take advantage of the rock substrate, microclimatic conditions such as cold air drainage, and groundwater seepage. These habitat specialists, presumably including some of the mosses and lichens, are likely to be the species that are most restricted to such environments and of the greatest conservation concern.
