Data from 300 forest stands, scattered over 29 states within the eastern North American deciduous forest, were subjected to detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) and two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) in an effort to identify classifiable units. Most species are widespread which provide a great deal of continuity in the vegetation. The deciduous forest can be divided into three forest regions: (1) northern, (2) central and (3) southern. The northern region corresponds to the hemlock-white pine-northern hardwood forest of Braun (1950). The central region includes the beech-maple and oak-hickory forests. The beech-maple as identified here includes the mixed mesophytic, beech-maple, maple-basswood and about half of the western mesophytic forests of Braun (1950). The oak-hickory includes Braun's oak-hickory, oak-chestnut and about half of the western mesophytic forests. The southern region coincides with the southern mixed hardwood forests.