Phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) foliar resorption during senescence was examined in Cardamine concatenata (a spring ephemeral), Trillium flexipes (a spring herb), and Smilacina racemosa (a summer herb) along contiguous forest topographic gradients in southwestern Ohio. Overall, mean apparent (and proportional) foliar P resorption ranged from -0.13 mg/g (-8.3%) for S. racemosa to 1.79 mg/g (68.1%) for C. concatenata. Mean apparent foliar N resorption ranged from 11.25 mg/g in S. racemosa to 37.71 mg/g in C. concatenata, while mean proportional N resorption ranged from 23.3% in T. flexipes to 62.4% in C. concatenata. Analysis of variance indicated significant differences among species and topographic positions for both P and N resorption. The significant topographic position effect for P resorption reflected greater overall resorption in the bottomland positions while that for N resorption reflected greatest resorption in uplands and bottomlands and lower resorption in slope positions. We suggest that the significant differences among species may reflect their phenological patterns and photosynthetic adaptations while differences among topographic positions primarily reflect soil nutrient availability and moisture status.