Four forest plots on Bluff Mountain in northwestern North Carolina, U.S.A., with Tsuga caroliniana as a major component of the vegetation were used to study life history traits of T. caroliniana and its role in community dynamics. Growth rate of T. caroliniana was low, showed no difference among plots, and showed a slight relationship with age. Two of the plots contained old populations of T. caroliniana with low and moderate recruitment respectively. Both plots had small, declining populations of oaks (Quercus rubra, Q. alba). The third plot contained a younger population of T. caroliniana with high recruitment; oaks were more abundant but were declining. The fourth plot was dominated by oaks and contained a still younger, expanding T. caroliniana population; oak populations were stable. Tsuga caroliniana appeared to be expanding from a population center near some bluffs to adjacent oak forests. There was indication that recruitment of T. caroliniana is episodic. Tsuga caroliniana had good recruitment under shaded conditions in which other species had low or no recruitment. Once established, it tended to suppress most other species. Many traits of T. caroliniana are compatible with the stress tolerant strategy of Grime. Consistent with Grime’s proposals on life history strategies and plant succession the stress tolerant T. caroliniana is more abundant in more stressful habitats such as bluffs, but also appears as a late successional species in other habitats.