A large population of the globally rare shrub Buckleya distichophylla occurs on Poor Mountain, Roanoke County, Virginia in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Plot data were taken to characterize the forests associated with this rare shrub. Cluster analysis identified three forest types based on overstory composition: mixed hardwoods, Quercus prinus and Pinus pungens. Ordination and discriminant analyses showed that B. distichophylla was associated with xeric sites dominated by P. pungens with a thick layer of ericaceous shrubs. The evidence of past fires and the abundance of fire-intolerant trees, e.g., Nyssa sylvatica, in the understory suggest that the forests are slowly succeeding in the absence of periodic fires. Advance regeneration of P. pungens may not be adequate to perpetuate its current dominance on xeric sites. Buckleya distichophylla is an integral component of the pine-oak/heath woodland natural community on Poor Mountain and may be more of a fire-adapted species than previously thought.