Northern Allegheny Plateau

The Northern Allegheny Plateau covers the dissected uplands of southern New York and northern Pennsylvania, including Binghamton, Elmira, Corning, Jamestown, and Olean. Steep wooded valleys, cool summers, and acidic soils give it more in common with the mountains to the east than with the lake plains to the north. Natives like striped maple, American ginseng, and Oswego-tea are woodland species suited to the shade and the cool damp slopes that define most yards here.

Conditions: Acidic soils on steep dissected slopes, 36–44 inches of precipitation, cool short summers and cold snowy winters.

Cities and areas: Binghamton, Elmira, Corning, Jamestown, Olean, Bradford.