Abstract: This study documented the flora of a Game Land Preserve on an isolated and rugged massif in Ashe County, North Carolina from Spring 2009 – Summer 2011 over the course of 44 field days. Over 317 taxa from 198 genera and 94 families compose the flora at Three Top Mountain Game Land Preserve. Of these 317 taxa, 22 of them are Central and Southern Appalachian endemics, while 27 taxa are listed as imperiled by the US or North Carolina, including Liatris helleri, Geum radiatum, Houstonia montana, Juncus trifidus, Trichophorum caespitosum, and Campanula rotundifolia. This flora is the only documentation of Campanula rotundifolia in the state of North Carolina, and the only documentation of Trichophorum caespitosum and Dendrolycopodium hickeyi in the A.M.M., which substantially adds to the overall significance of this area. In addition to the previously documented communities by Oakley (1999), a Carolina Hemlock Forest community was documented on two finger ridges along the southeast facing slopes of the main ridge. The flora of T.T.M. compares well with the other studies in the A.M.M., sharing similarities and showing variations in floristic composition across the study sites. The flora of T.T.M. compares well with the expected number of taxa based on the generated species area curve from Southern Appalachian floras. This study addressed the challenges faced by botanists vi conducting floristic studies by introducing botanist and ecological effects that should be acknowledged when completing floristic studies and using floristic data. This study provides a cautionary note on the need to gather more data about floristic studies to be able to compare results appropriately, and provides a theoretical model for the completion of a floristic study and the theoretical concept of a complete flora.
