Montane cedar-hardwood woodlands are unusual eastern red cedar- (Juniperus virginiana var. virginiana) dominated plant communities occurring on steep south-facing rock outcrops in the Piedmont and southern Appalachian Blue Ridge Provinces. Permanent 0.1 ha plots were established in woodland and adjacent communities in North Carolina to characterize quantitatively the vegetation, dynamics, and environment of the woodland community type. Vascular plant species were inventoried using a nested quadrat sampling method. Three hundred eighteen vascular plant taxa (75 families) were identified in permanent plots. Juniperus virginiana var. virginiana dominated the woodland canopy, and Carya glabra var. glabra, C. alba, and Quercus prinus were common associates. The species rich herbaceous layer was dominated by Carex spp., Dichanthelium spp., Andropogon spp., Schizachyrium scoparium ssp. scoparium, Sorghastrum nutans, and Solidago spp. Basophilic species such as Dodecatheon meadia ssp. meadia, Amelanchier sanguinea, Lonicera flava, and Sedum glaucophyllum were also common. Cedar-hardwood woodlands appear to be relatively stable plant communities, with vegetative composition seeming to respond to a suite of environmental factors such as aspect, exposure, soil depth, and parent material. Patterns of compositional similarity were explored among stands using cluster analysis to segregate stands most typifying the cedar hardwood woodlands and to identify those species and site conditions most effective in characterizing the community type. Gradient analytical techniques were used to explore environmental relationships and to better understand the relative position of cedar-hardwood woodlands along regional compositional and environmental gradients. The woodlands were placed in an extreme position along regional gradients, in association with low fertility sites of the Blue Ridge Escarpment.