[Illustration: Each animal and plant drops out at a different limit as you gain altitude, but more than half of your journey will be through deciduous forest, of the cove hardwood type or oak woodland. Smokies forests are rich: there are more tree species here than in all of Northern Europe.] [Illustration: As you travel the lower forests you will probably hear the songs of the ovenbird, wood thrush, and pileated woodpecker, birds you would hear in mature timber throughout the eastern United States. The gray squirrel and the box turtle, both familiar creatures, will be occasional trailside companions in these broad-leaved woodlands.] [Illustration: The basswood tree is considered an “indicator” of the cove hardwood forest type. The magnolias, with their oversize leaves, catch the eye of most people traveling south from, say, Pennsylvania, when they hit the Smokies. Almost a natural “cultural shock,” these trees announce that you have arrived in a different place. Magnificent magnolias appear along the trail, thinning in number and decreasing in size as soon as you leave the cove.] Along streams and on the shaded slopes below 1,220 meters (4,000 feet), look for rosebay rhododendron, yellow buckeye, basswood, yellow-poplar, and other cove hardwood “indicator” species. They signal that you still have a ways to go in your day’s climb. [Illustration: Rosebay rhododendron] [Illustration: Yellow buckeye] [Illustration: On the cove forest floor in spring you may be lucky enough to spot the great white trillium. It was popular after the Civil War for decorating graves and so has become, in many places, a scarce plant because of this practice. It is protected here in the national park, as are all plants, animals, historic structures, and archeological artifacts. Please respect these—and the right of others who follow you to enjoy them in their natural or historical setting.] [Illustration: The red squirrel’s raucous chatter—you can’t believe such a small creature makes such a big racket—tells you that you are leaving the cove forest. The “boomer,” as it is known locally, will likely announce your presence periodically to the whole forest from here clear to the top of the mountain. Farther north these red squirrels may be called pine squirrels; out west, chickarees. Some would argue over the species involved, but not over the noise they make!]