Virginia’s varied climate, topography and geology give rise to an interesting flora. The State is a “no-man’s-land” in the flora of the eastern States. In the mountain province some ‘typically northern species reach their southern limit. In the Coastal Plain and Southeastern Piedmont some southern species occur in their northern range. The varied geology, hence soil types, is an ecological challenge. The sandstone-capped ridges of the Alleghanies, their shale and limestone foothills and valleys, with their characteristic floristics, is challenging to one for studies in plant ecology and plant indicators. The igneous rocks of the Blue Ridge give rise to a soil more fertile than soil of the Alleghany sandstone, hence a richer vegetation of hardwood forest shrubs and herbaceous species. Mountain laurel, Rhododendrons and others of the Heath family are prevalent.