Cover and density of ground-layer species were measured in belt transects in three central Maine forests to (i) analyze pattern of the community and individual species, and (ii) determine if a relationship exists between tree canopy type and ground-layer species distributions. Although the ground-layer vegetation in each of the three forest stands contained about the same number of species, only three common species occurred at all sites: Maianthemum canadensis, Trientalis borealis, and seedlings of Acer rubrum. Most species were clumped, although in one stand several species were regularly distributed. Some species such as M. canadensis were clumped in one forest and regularly distributed in another. Based on an analysis of community pattern, vegetation in the understory of the two forests occupying south-facing slopes was spatially heterogeneous, whereas the ground-layer on the north facing slope appeared homogeneous. In each stand, community pattern varied due to the occurrence of species such as Viburnum alnifolium which had low frequency but high coverage values. The amount of cover of several ground-layer species was related to canopy type in two of the three forests. Patch sizes of the two common herbs M. canadensis and T. borealis were related to canopy type and possibly asexual propagation.