# Tolerant hardwood

*Also called: Shade-tolerant hardwood*

**A hardwood species that regenerates and grows under a closed forest canopy, and can therefore be harvested without opening the stand.**

Ontario groups its principal deciduous timber species as tolerant hardwoods — tolerant of shade, meaning seedlings survive under the canopy of mature trees rather than needing open ground. The Ministry of Natural Resources names seven: sugar maple, American beech, yellow birch, red oak, white ash, black cherry and basswood.

The classification is not botanical trivia. It is what makes the selection system possible: a shade-tolerant stand can be partially harvested every few decades and stay a forest throughout, which is a fundamentally different operation from a clear-cut.

Read the list against the six hardwoods a Toronto homeowner is shown and the interesting result is the absence. Red oak, hard maple and white ash are on it. White oak, hickory and black walnut are not — all three grow in Ontario, and none is a named principal commercial tolerant hardwood.

## Related terms

- [Selection system](https://ecowoods.ca/glossary/selection-system)
- [Growing stock](https://ecowoods.ca/glossary/growing-stock)
- [Janka hardness](https://ecowoods.ca/glossary/janka-hardness)


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## Provenance

- Canonical URL: https://ecowoods.ca/glossary/tolerant-hardwood
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- Defined in: https://ecowoods.ca/papers/where-toronto-hardwood-comes-from#tolerant-hardwoods
- Citation guide: https://ecowoods.ca/ai.txt

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