Hi Esh, Hmmm... maybe it could be, but I found it growing as a weed in a library parking lot, at a section of dirt near an electrical box where it seemed clear that nothing else had been planted. It was small and scraggly, and not positioned intentionally. I will watch it during the spring and compare it to pictures of ligustrum (which I have never heard of). It is possible, but if ligustrum is a southern plant, it seems a bit unlikely, unless there is some nearby that I didn't notice, that is spreading. It is very kind of you to help me identify these!

I'm pretty sure it's in the saxifrage family...and I have a hard enough time with a few of them when they're in my hand! So here's a site to help you key it out...now you just need a magnifying glass! Oh, and a computer on hand to look up the botanical terms! Here is a link that might be useful: Saxifrage family

Based on what appears to be a rosette of smaller leaves at the base I think it is a Dichanthelium sp. (which used to be in the genus Panicum). AFAIK all of the Dichantheliums are native.

John Diekelmann's Natural Landscaping with Native Plant Communities has great lists organized by type of forest. The presence of a few oaks could give you a justification to go with the oak-hickory forest community, which is a fascinating group of plants (since the oak-hickory forest covered such a large area, the species that grew/grow in it change from place to place, but certain plants are widespread throughout -- Maianthemum canadense comes to mind). A Sierra Club field guide I have goes even further to divide oak-hickory forest into upper slope (drier, sunnier), mid-slope, and low slope (wetter, shadier) communities. The wild black cherry (Prunus serotina) is identified in one of my books as a common pioneer of post-agricultural land. I don't think it is a major component of any of the mature forests, but it plays a crucial role in the transition from plowed fields (which most of non-Pine Barrens New Jersey was at one time or another) back to forest. The maples, especially red maple, may be indicators of a maple-beech forest, which tends to be moister than an oak-hickory forest. (Of course these designations are generalities -- there are maples in oak-hickory forests and oaks in maple-beech forests, etc., as Elaine was saying -- the scientists need to simplify reality to do their work, but reality is always much more complicated.) Make sure the maples are natives. Acer plantanoides (Norway maple) is an invasive non-native that sends thousands of seeds out every year, and will soon turn a lovely wooded area into a densely shaded monoculture where nothing will grow in the parched soil (from which the zillions of surface feeder roots have extracted every bit of moisture). If your 50% maples are Norway maples, I would ignore them in deciding what kind of forest community to use as your guide. One last thought before I overstay my welcome: one of the best ways to find out what natives are appropriate for your woodland is to find woodlands in your area (state parks, bird sanctuaries, preservation land, bike trails) that have similar characteristics to your property -- how dry/wet is it, how much sun does it get, etc. Bring a field guide or two (make sure the guides identify natives vs. non-natives, or 'aliens') and start figuring out what natives are growing there. This will not only give you ideas about what to plant, but also where to plant (this one likes being on the edge of the trail -- it needs some sun; this one only appears when the trail dips into a lower area -- it like wet legs; this one always seems to cluster around the base of trees; etc.) and what plants look good (i.e., natural) together. It may get you thinking about types of plants and other garden features you hadn't thought about, like club mosses, fallen logs or the look of a vine climbing a tree trunk. Perhaps most importantly, these walks will help you acquire 'forest think', which Elaine described and most of the landscaping books discuss: upper canopy, lower canopy, shrub layer, herbaceous layer. (Rick Darke's The Woodland Garden has some excellent discussion of the 'big picture' aesthetics of woodland gardens, although he doesn't fully take the approach of picking a forest type and planting within that community.) ok, I'll stop (can you tell I love talking about this stuff?) Best of luck, -- wd