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The Flatwoods are ecological communities found on the Southeastern Coastal Plain. The most common flatwoods vegetation include the pine, saw palmetto, wax myrtle, and the wiregrasses. The soil there is poorly drained and remains wet during the rainy season. On well-drained soils of the Coastal Plain, the dominant plant species are long-leaf pine, loblolly pine, and several species of oak. On poorly drained soils, the dominant species are long-leaf pine and slash pine with a dense ground cover of saw palmetto, gallberry, and wire-grass. These plants are adapted to a humid subtropical climate of mild winters, hot summers, high rainfall, and frequent ground fires. Where the soil is poorly drained, pond pines are dominate. The major plant communities on the Barrier Islands are maritime oak forests and pine forests.

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