Vascular flora of the Fernow Experimental Forest and adjacent portions of the Otter Creek Wilderness Area

The vascular flora of the region we considered include 94 families representing at least 461 species. Fifty-four of these or nearly 12 percent are species known to have been introduced. Asteraceae (46 species) is the single largest family; Cyperaceae (31), Liliaceae (29), Poaceae and Rosaceae (20 each) also are important families in the general study area. The 461 species of vascular plants recorded constitute only 17.2 percent of the total species (2,683) known from the State of West Virginia but account for a larger proportion (31.5 percent) of all species known from Tucker County or Randolph County.