Arverne by the Sea, Queens

I had heard a lot of hoopla about Arverne by the Sea, we got there and it was a pretty big letdown. The neighborhood itself is really depressing, very impoverished. I've been all over the city, but I've never seen anything like it. It was like being in a desolate Rust Belt town.

A view down the boardwalk. Bayberry in foreground, lots of shore little bluestem in background.


Northern bayberry (Myrica (Morella) pensylvanica) holds onto some of it's leaves through winter, although you can see quite a few on the ground. Lovely russet color. The fruits are harder to see but they are there. They have a high lipid content - excellent nourishment for migrating birds. Arverne, Queens.

A view towards the A train tracks


Golden hues of shore little bluestem (Schizachyrium littorale)


Northern bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica) leaves blanket the ground, shading out grass seedlings. The shrubs are also colonial, meaning they reproduce vegetatively. These strategies enable bayberry to succeed switchgrass, little bluestem et al in maritime/coastal grassland communities. It's also a great wintry color palette: gold, russet, gray.

Urban Blight Botanizing at Dubos Point

Salt marsh cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) culms with sea lavender stems (Limonium carolinianum).

Poor Dubos Point. I found a reference to it as a site for "Urban Blight Birding" . This is too bad, since the 33-acre site is named in honor of Dr. Rene Dubos, he of the great phrase, “Think globally, act locally.” And while the spirit of this sentiment seems to have been lost on the NYC parks dept, that is probably a good thing. Their neglect often leads to more natural area. Parks targeted for "improvements" get excessive amounts of the built - boardwalk, trail, birdblinds while simultaneously diminishing the natural - incursion of invasive plants from disturbance and construction vehicles, loss of rare plants due to uninformed site design.

I should do more yoga - this frustration has to seep out somehow.


Just across from JFK...

Back to my site visit. Dubos Point was a saltwater marsh until 1912, at which point it was filled with dredged materials for real estate development. The project failed to materialize. Today, it is the largest salt marsh on the north shore of the Rockaway peninsula east of Rockaway Point.


High tide line with felled Spartina alterniflora, groundsel bush (Baccharis halimfolia) and marsh-elder (Iva fructescens). And, of course, detritus. This is urban blight botanizing, after all.


More floatsam. The most interesting thing is the coconut. I wonder if that came from nearby garbage, or instead from some tropical paradise. It's not unheard of, those suckers travel far. They've been found off the coast of Ireland. Today I counted 5 coconuts!

Some of the plants seen in the salt marsh areas:

Graminoids - salt grass (Distichlis spicata), blackgrass (Juncus gerardii), common reed (Phragmites australis), salt marsh cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora), salt meadow cordgrass (Spartina patens).
Shrubs - groundsel bush (Baccharis halimfolia) and marsh-elder (Iva fructescens).
Forbs - sea rocket (Cakile edentula), sea lavender (Limonium carolinianum), glasswort (Salicornia europaea), seaside goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens).

In addition to salt marsh, we also saw maritime grasslands. Both of these vegetative communities are rare in NYC.

Frozen toes in PBP

Today I visited The Meadow in Pelham Bay Park. I dressed so warmly, but instead of wearing my insulated boots I wore my summer field shoes - aka my old running sneakers. With only one pair of socks, I was dancing up and down to keep my toes limber. Hard to do when the high is only 25 F.

Anyway, this area became a meadow when the area was scraped for fill soil to create Orchard Beach - another of Robert Moses' handiworks. This time, though, the results aren't all that bad. It created a wet depression that is home to quite a nice assortment of plants, especially those that are rare in the city and the state. The clusters of staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) are such a treat in the winter.
I found several of the hard empty shells before I saw the walnut tree (Juglans nigra). It is pretty easy to id in winter. It has big, stout, sparse branches and dark deeply furrowed bark. Hundreds of Canada goldenrod (Solidago canadensis) stems surrounded its base.

This little bluestem (Schizachyrium sp.) turned out to be the coastal species (littorale) - shore little bluestem. Pelham is outer coastal plain. The "interior" species (S. scoparium) is found across the borough in western Bronx in Van Cortlandt Park.

Lots of pasture rose (Rosa carolina) where we entered (see first photo) but this is multiflora rose (R. multiflora), one of the worst invasive plants in the state. Looks pretty here though, no?

Soundview Park, BX

Today I visited Soundview Park, targeting specific sections to see if there was any vegetation of interest. Most of the sections I looked at were fill soils with mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) as the dominant species - exotic, invasive, nada.

The area that had the most interesting vegetation was the jetty. My presumption is that the jetty is similar to high quality (clean) sandy fill - no nutrients, no weeds.
Soundview Park is in the south Bronx, where the Bronx River opens into the East River. This sections is estuarine, meaning the water is brackish. The salinity levels of the Bronx River diminish (becomes freshwater) a little further north, near the Bronx Zoo. So, as expected, much of the vegetation I saw was typical of salt marsh/maritime areas. The grounsel bush (Baccharis halimifolia) and marsh elder (Iva fructens) seen above are testament to the presence of saltwater. It was a rather nice saltmarsh, small, and no botanical surprises.
Seaside goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens)


The park has been derelict for so long the the locals feel comfortable squatting on city land, whether for boats...


Or the dead. Dead what? I don't know. I don't think I want to know. After we passed the memorial, there was a wretched smell - a giant, rotting dead dog. People, I don't make this stuff up.

A gorgeous fall day

These pictures will make office workers everywhere weep with envy at how sweet it is to be a field biologist. Today I was working along Staten Island's South Shore.
Fall foliage isn't limited to the trees. Here bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) glows a golden hue. {Most people think of ferns as dew-covered fronds growing lushly on the rich forest soils in the umbrage of canopy trees. Bracken fern laughs in the face of convention. It is a sunshine-embracing, sandy soil inhabiting fern. It is adapted to fire, with its root stock (rhizomes) nestled deep in the earth to avoid the flames. It's also quite common - keep an eye out for it the next time you are in the pine barrens or on Staten Island in Conference House Park or Clay Pit State Park Preserve.}

Here you can see clearly the glacial till sandy soils. The vegetation - trees - gray birch (Betula populifolia) and sassafras (Sassafras albidum) and that's a scrub oak to the right. The pine is short-leaf pine (Pinus echinatus). The shrubs are black chokeberry (Photinia melanocarpa) or if you are old school (Aronia melanocarpa) and the gorgeous reds in the background are highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum). The cloud-like white puffs are narrow-leaved boneset (Eupatorium hyssopifolium var. laciniatum), a New York State rare plant.

Thank you sir, may I have another?

It has happened yet again - *sigh*. Wild potato vine (Ipomoea pandurata) has once again been cut to the ground.

Here's the problem, this plant, an herbaceous vine, (related to that chartreuse green windowbox favorite) existed in an area that was made into a recreational park. Despite all thoughts to the contrary, the plant came back a few years after it had been hacked to the ground to create said park. However, the plant doesn't know that things have changed. This (unnamed) park is now manicured and all things not trees get weed whacked. (This seems to be true of all NYC Parks - unskilled labor + pruning equipment = death to all plants not 50 ft tall. I'm not exaggerating). Imagine, a vine growing up a fence in a highly managed park. How unseemly! thwack

Why care? Well, wild potato vine is a New York State rare plant. And this site is its only occurrence in New York City. I am meeting with the park manager next week to discuss long term solutions to protect this plant. Which I've done every year around this time. My suggestion for 2007 is going to be a security guard.

The rarest in the land

Poor Torrey's mountainmint (Pycnanthemum torrei). There has been so much hooey over this population (then scroll 4/5 down) of the globally rare plant. It used to be part of the gorgeous! pristine (in some sections)! rare plant inhabited! 130 acres Kreischer Hill parcel, which was owned by the NYC EDC.

But conservation was not to be. Instead of thousands of years old glacial till sandy soils with their concomitant NYS rare communities and species, we have - what we've always needed! - Target, Home Depot, Bed/Bath/Beyond and a Christmas tree store. Hooray! That was certainly worth destroying the uncommonly occuring, sexually reproducing population of American chestnut. But that's just imho.

*Sigh*

Presently we are trying to conserve the population in situ (stop snickering!). This summer, we did a census of the mountainmint population. A transect was set up parallel to Veterans’ Road West. Every meter was marked off. Perpendicular to transect, 1m squared plots were set up. Within each plot the following data was collected – number of plants, number of individual stems, number of shoots, length of all stems, and the presence and number of flower heads. Casual observation suggests that the plants are grouped in clusters along this transect. This data will confirm whether or not this is the case. If so, further environmental factors will be examined to determine causal factors.

Plants 0, Recreation 1

This is a charming little change in Parks' policy from allowing only passive recreation to now installing mountainbike trails in natural areas throughout the city. These pictures are from Cunningham Parks in Queens. I have a couple of issues, aside from how devastating this will be to ferns and wildflowers of the forest floor.

The propaganda (which, please note, was written by the mountainbike person doing this work), speaks of erosion:

"There's a common misconception that bicycles cause erosion damage to the trails. In response, a group of local mountain bicyclists decided to band together and educate themselves on the science of trail erosion and how bicycles could be ridden with minimal impact. Fueled with information provided by the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) and the US Forest Service, a management plan began to take shape."

First, I would like to see the literature that supports the contention that mountainbikes don't erode trails. But that will never happen. You know why? It doesn't exist. You can, I imagine, minimize erosion, but there will always be erosion associated with mountainbiking.

Second, you want to see their answer to erosion? Look below...













That ditch off to the side? THAT is the result of their managment plan. These are placed every so often along the trails where there are slopes to encourage water (and thus water borne entities, such as soil) to pool. There is still plenty of erosion happening. What is no longer happening is the soils ending up on sidewalks and roadways when it rains. Now the soil settles into these little pools. So it keeps civic infrastructure tidy, but does nothing to retain the uppper soil layers. aka the seed nursery aka the bed of all future trees.


This is utterly awful. Acres and acres of destruction caused by all terrain vehicles - those off road motorized contraptions. Cops tell the drivers to go in the parks - these things are illegal on city streets. But see what happens when cops send these guys into the woods? This is a living graveyard. Once those trees die, nothing will take their place. Shameful. Why doesn't the Parks Department put in perimeter protection to keep these vehicles out? It's a cheap and easy solution, but there is obviously no will.

Scary Seton Falls Park

A little early for Halloween - scary but true story...

While monitoring vegetation in Seton Falls Park in the Bronx along Rattlesnake Creek approximately 100 yds from the falls area, I noticed 3 boys, about 13 years old, congregating nearby. When I asked if they needed some help, they responded with lewd and threatening comments, and then ran off. I was a little rattled, after all I was in a ravine, unseen (and probably unheard) from the street. About 10 minutes later, they returned to throw rocks at my head. Charming. At this point I ditched the field work and called the police as I promptly left the park. Once the two officers arrived, they drove around a bit to look for the kids, but no luck.

In the midst of the melee, I did come across new plant finds for the park: large-toothed aspen (Populus grandidentata) and the forb ditch stonecrop (Penthorum sedoides). Both are native, the latter is NYC-rare.

Orchids Found in SI

Today I went out with my pal Ray to root around along Staten Island's south shore...won't say exactly where...and we found two orchid species new to City records – large coralroot (Corallorhiza maculata) and bog twayblade (Liparis loeselii). Large coralroot lacks greenery - it has tawny brown stems and no leaves. This is because it does not photosynthesize. It is saprophytic, meaning it feeds off organic matter, like fungi. It is added in its nutrient intake by a short, stubby, branched root that resembles coral. Small white, purple spotted flowers appear in late summer.

As the name suggests, bog twayblade is found in wetland, open habitats. It has unremarkable yellowish-green flowers that are only 1/4” long that bloom in late summer.

Rare Plant Hunting

Today I romped around Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx. I located NYS-listed rare plants Eastern gama grass (Tripsacum dactyloides) and common persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) on an upland copse in Goose Creek Marsh. I noted something interesting – that the Eastern gama grass only appears ringing the upland perimeter of Phragmites, which is highly invasive. Where Phragmites was not observed, gama grass was also absent. T. dactyloides was noted as bearing seeds, but it was too early for the persimmon’s fruits.

Also found a patch of Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense). This patch was very small in both size and number of leaves (ramets). Given the undisturbed nature of the site and the seemingly high habitat quality, one would expect to find the plant extensively clonal here - aka a much larger patch. This population will be incorporated into my study of habitat quality using mayflower as an indicator species for forest quality.

New plant listings found and identified from this trip include: climbing hempweed (Mikania scandens), water plantain (Alisma subcordata), three-nerved joe-pye weed (Eupatorium dubium); these are all NYC rare and new finds for the borough. I also found the NYC willow herb (Epilobium coloratum) and the not rare but still cool tussock sedge (Carex stricta).

New shrub in Fort Tryon

Today I was in Fort Tryon Forest, northern Manhattan. Most people know the garden, but there is also a woodland that hangs over the Henry Hudson Expressway, just south of Inwood Hill Park.

This is one of those sites where there weren't a lot of existing records, because on a casual walk through I got 52 new listings. The most exciting was yellowroot (Xanthorrhiza simplicissima), because this species is new to City records. The shrub has deep green, pinnately divided leaves, that sprout in a tuft. It flowers in early spring, with many tiny purple flowers in drooping racemes. (And yes, it does indeed have yellow roots). The plant is not native to New York City, its range is south and east, from Pennsylvania to Florida.

Will the real Aralia elata please stand up?

Japanese angelica tree (Aralia elata)??? Nice fall color, which I have never seen on (& reported doesn't exist for) the ubiquitous other Aralia.

Japanese angelica tree (Aralia elata)??? with infructescence

Devil's walking stick (Aralia spinosa)???

Welcome to the world of botanical taxonomy. For your entre, I thought we would go right for the jugular. Devil's walking stick (Aralia spinosa) is native to the U.S. Most literature cites its range as Delaware & south (e.g., Gleason & Cronquist). One (Mitchell & Tucker) says it's native to New York State. So I called our state botanist who assured me that G&C was right, it is not native to NY. In fact, field work has shown that there is no A. spinosa in the state at all. Everything we have been seeing is actually Aralia elata, an exotic invasive. There is a population of Aralia spinosa out on Long Island, but that was shown to have piggybacked in on nursery stock from North Carolina.

So when a colleague of mine called me to say he had found an interesting Aralia, I was excited. To compare, we began with the familiar.

We went to Highbridge Park in northern Manhattan. There was a small cluster of less than 10 shrubs in an opening in the forest canopy, not far off a trail. This is the Aralia shrub that I see all over NYC. It had dark green leaves held at almost a 90 degree angle to the main stem. We were calling this "spinosa" based on the leaves - veination (joined before margin) & finely toothed, no obvious pubescence. The fruit panicles no longer held berries & had already whithered, so we didn't take a sample.

Now, the fun part. Next we went to Fort Washington Park, a subset of Riverside Park in northern Manhattan (around 158 St.). There were maybe 5 shrubs scattered along a stretch between a trail & fencing for the Metro North train line (so not obviously colonial like above). These plants were new to me - I had never seen this species before. We were calling this "elata" based on the leaves - veination (run to margin), broadly toothed & obvious pubescence. Additionally, these leaves were lighter green & held at a more acute angle to the midstem.

So we sent the samples to Brooklyn Botanic Garden - I could barely get to sleep that night, I was so excited to hear back what the new-to-me plant was. Apparently they think they are both the same species...Aralia elata. They said what they really need is the point at which the inflorescence attaches to the main stem - that is the critical piece distinguishing one from the other. Oh. We didn't get that. But still, sometimes I think taxonomists are too by the book. Can't you just tell which is which? If I can ID species with just basal leaves, I expect a little more info when I provide such bounty.

And so the mystery continues..........
OK, OK, I know. Don't go by leaves. Flowers/fruits are more stable, & so the basis of taxonomic determinations. But c'mon - these have to be two different species. (And additionally, if you aren't supposed to look at leaves, then why the difference between Smilax herbacea & S. pulverulenta (NYS rare) - the former has no hair on it's leaves, the latter has hair. Be consistent, people!)

Guess what I found!

Somewhere in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx...

Schreber's aster (Eurybia schreberi {formerly Aster s.})

This native species has adapted to life on forest floors by being colonial. That is, it reproduces vegetatively, producing a leafy carpet. When it's happy, it will put up flowers, which are white. Easily confused with large-leaved aster (E. macrophylla), which has light blue blooms. But let's say you missed the boat on the flowers, as I did...what to do? Examine the basal leaves closely. Both species have heart-shaped bases. However, in E. schreberi, if you spread the bases, there is a rectangular shape between the lobes. Large-leaved is simply heart shaped. Obscure? You bet. That's why we botanists make the big bucks. It's important to differentiate between the two, since Schreber's aster is rare in New York State. Both species are uncommon in NYC.

Rough-leaved goldenrod (Solidago patula)

But that was just a teaser. I knew that plant was there. The "guess what I found" is this goldenrod. "They are a dime a dozen," you are thinking. Friend, you would be wrong.

Sure, Canada, early, gray, and rough-stemmed are common along roadsides and in old fields. Even seaside goldenrod isn't limited to its namesake habitat. But S. patula is one of the fabled "wetland goldenrods", which makes it unusual & rare in NYC. I had never seen it.

I found it quite by accident, as is the case with the best botanical finds. I knew it was a special goldenrod, and so marked the spot to return the next day. I came back armed with my Gleason & Cronquist and Britton & Brown. When it keyed out to S. patula, it felt as though I had just won a prize - a new find for the city!

White Island Plant Walk

This is the chronicle of the rest of my day in Marine Park, where I was to lead a Torrey Botanical Society plant walk.

White Island is a 73-acre former sand bar in the middle of Marine Park Creek. From the 1940s to 1960s, the site was built up through the addition of household garbage and sand. Areas with little sand cover and thus high levels of nutrients support Phragmites and mugwort. Note the sand bags in the photo below - these were put in place to keep the household garbage, the structural foundation of the island - from washing away.



The sections of the island harboring stockpiled sand today support a diverse array of grassland plants. But to get there, you have to hack your way through what seems like miles of Phragmites. It seemed like miles because I am sure it was miles...but only because my sense of direction was off. It took me quite a while to relocate the open grassland.

But finally I did. And it was like discovering a wonderland.

Eragrostis spectabilis, purple love grass

Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium, sweet everlasting

Solidago juncea, early goldenrod

Plants of White Island in Marine Park, Brooklyn (partial flora)
Torrey Plant Walk August 28, 2005

Typical Native Grassland Species

HERBS – Flat-topped goldenrod (Euthamia tenuifolia), sweet everlasting (Gnaphalium obtusifolium), pinweed (Lechea maritima), jointweed (Polygonella articulata), saltwort (Salsola kali), early goldenrod (Solidago juncea), seaside goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens);

VINES - northern dewberry (Rubus flagellaris);

GRASSES – beach-grass (Ammophila breviligulata), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), 3-awn grass (Aristida tuberculosa), purple love grass (Erigrostis spectabilis), panic grass (Panicum villosissimum), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium);

SHRUBS – false heather (Hudsonia tomentosa), northern bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica), winged sumac (Rhus copallinum), poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans).

OTHER SPECIES FOUND (* = exotic, ! = invasive)

HERBS – common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia), Indian hemp (Apocynum cannabinum), mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris)*!, common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), spotted knapweed (Centaurea maculosa)*, horseweed (Conyza canadensis), winged pigweed (Cycloloma atriplicifolium)*, white snakeroot (Eupatorium rugosum), bedstraw (Galium mollugo)*, camphorweed (Heterotheca subaxillaris)*, yellow wood sorrel (Oxalis stricta), pokeweed (Phytolacca americana), lady's thumb (Polygonum persicaria)*, sheep sorrel (Rumex acetosella)*, horse-nettle (Solanum carolinense)*, black nightshade (Solanum nigrum)*, sand spurrey (Spergularia rubra)*, common mullein (Verbascum thapsus)*;

VINES – hedge bindweed (Calystegia sepium), Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculata)*!, Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia);

GRASSES – silver hairgrass (Corynephorus canescens)*, common reed (Phragmites australis)*!;

SHRUBS – Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii)*!, autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata)*!, wrinkled rose (Rosa rugosa)*;

TREES – tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima)*!, white mulberry (Morus alba)*!, black cherry (Prunus serotina), green ash (Fraxinus pensylvanica).

Unprepared

I always do this. I talk myself out of bringing along some obviously essential item because my field pack is too heavy. That is how I ended up this morning at the salt marsh of Marine Park without my boots.

To be fair, I had planned to stay out of the marsh itself, checking out the flora that rimmed the wet areas. I have seen Spartina alterniflora often enough that I could go without an up-close-&-personal viewing. What I didn't plan on was a poacher.

In the midst of my vegetative reverie, a middle-aged Asian man with a hand cart filled with tools & bags walked confidently by me. Suspicious. Sure enough, he proceeded to walk into the muck, pull out a tool & rake the marsh for mollusks. As you may have suspected, removal of anything from a park is illegal, especially the very animal life we are trying to conserve.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but you can't do that."
Nothing
"Excuse me, sir, you can't do that!"
Now he looks at me & smiles.
"Sir, you will have to stop that! You aren't allowed to do that!"
He shrugs his shoulders & gives me this look like he doesn't know what I'm talking about. So then I was reduced to repeating "No!" & "Stop!" while I walked out after him. I tried to stay dry, hopping from tussock to tussock, but that became futile after 5 minutes, when I slipped & went in to my knee. That's the thing with muck, you never know how deep it is.

By the time I reached him, he had out what I swear was a harpoon & was jabbing the water vigorously. He seemed to finally get it, & proceeded to leave without more protestation from me. As I climbed out of the low marsh, I watched him leave, cart in tow. I was so satisfied in having put an end to a poacher. I felt good.

Ten minutes later, I was in the nature center. This is a nice building which takes full advantage of the superb views with its large windows. As I was admiring the marsh, in the distance I saw a blue speck moving purposefully along the edge of the Spartina grasses.

BBQ

Today, I was in Bronx River Park, monitoring a recently completed restoration project where much native wetland vegetation had been planted in place of Japanese knotweed. We were taking a lunch break, & relunctantly decided that we also needed to use the restrooms (which are horrifying on so many levels). As we approached the building, I smelled smoke. The source of the billowing gray plumes? A clean cut sixteen year old kid. He had an interesting little set up, as you can see from the photo.

"Put it out!" I yelled. He responded as if underwater, all movement slow & deliberate. He did make some attempts to squelch the raging fire, none of them very impressive. Meanwhile I was fuming. It hasn't rained in weeks! What if this had gotten out of control? Fortunately it was rather far from the forest. Unfortunately it was right next to the playground & adjacent to the Metro-North train line. Obviously, I was not dealing with the sharpest knife in the drawer.

He finally climbed up, out of the pit, to speak to me. He had an innocent face & indescipherable language skills.

"Da ya wa sa ra?"
"What?!?"
"Da ya wa sa ra?"
"Again, what?"
"Da ya wa sa ra?"
"I have no idea what you are trying to say."
"Ra! Ra! Ra!"
At which point, he holds out his hands to offer me - not "ra", but "ribs".

"They're good. I make good bar-be-cue"
"Well, there are facilities in other parts of the park where you can cook out to your heart's content. But you cannot do it here. We don't allow make-shift grilling."
"Oh. But they're gooooooood."
"No doubt, but you'll have to find yourself another place to hone your culinary skills."

During the course of our little tete-a-tete, he began to walk closer & closer to me. Finally, I told him he was welcome to stay & wait with me for the police to arrive.

After an "oh, man!", he hoped on his bike, pre-packed with his cooking gear & rode away. It was then I noticed the goulish Halloween mask attached to his milkcrate full of tools.

Why didn't I think of this?

Yes of course! The forest is full of birds! And to think, all these years, I had been assuming that their appetites were sated by the abundant fruits, seeds, & insects that forests naturally provide them. Oh, what a fool I have been!

As seen in Bronx River Park

Catskills 3

Painted trillium (Trillium undulatum)



Balsam fir (Abies balsamea)



Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis)



Hobblebush (Viburnum alnifolium) a very lovely and very common shrub in these parts



Marsh violet (Viola cucullata)


MAY 30, 2005
SLIDE MOUNTAIN

TREES
Balsam fir (Abies balsamea)
Moosewood (Acer pensylvanicum)
Red maple (A. rubrum)
Sugar maple (A. saccharum)
Mountain maple (A. spicatum)
Yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis)
Mountain paper birch (Betula papyrifera var. cordifolia)
Beech (Fagus grandifolia)
Red spruce (Picea rubens)
White pine (Pinus strobus)
Pin cherry (Prunus pensylvanica var. pensylvanica)
Choke cherry (P. virginiana)
Black cherry (P. serotina)
Red oak (Quercus rubra)
Mountain ash (Sorbus americanus)
Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)

SHRUBS
Large leaf holly (Ilex montana)
Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia)
Partridgeberry (Mitchella repens)
Skunk currant (Ribes glandulosum)
Appalachian gooseberry (Ribes rotundifolium)
Northern blackberry (Rubus allegheniensis)
Red raspberry (Rubus idaeus)
Red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa var. racemosa)
Early lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium)
Hobblebush (Viburnum lantanoides)

FORBS
Mountain aster (Aster acuminatus) (syn. Oclemena acuminata)
Wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis)
American golden saxifrage (Chrysosplenium americanum)
Spring beauty (Claytonia caroliniana)
Bluebead (Clintonia borealis)
Threeleaf goldthread (Coptis trifolia)
Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis)
Trout lily (Erythronium americanum)
Largeleaf avens (Geum macrophyllum var. macrophyllum)
Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadensis)
Whorled wood aster (Oclemena acuminata) – Aster
Common wood sorrel (Oxalis montana)
Large-leaved goldenrod (Solidago macrophylla)
Claspleaf twistedstalk (Streptopus amplexifolius var. amplexifolius)
Twisted-stalk (S. roseus)
Starflower (Trientalis borealis)
Wake robin (Trillium erectum)
Painted trillium (T. undulatum)
Wild oats (Uvularia sessilifolia)
Sweet white violet (Viola blanda)

FERNS & ALLIES
Intermediate fern (Dryopteris intermedia) Evergreen fronds old & newly emerging
Shining clubmoss (Huperzia lucidula)
Running clubmoss (Lycopodium clavatum)
Ground pine (Lycopodium obscurum)

GRAMINIODS
Northern long sedge (Carex folliculata)
Greater bladder sedge (Carex intumescens)
Common hairgrass (Deschampsia flexuosa)
Small-flowered woodrush (Luzula parviflora)

Catskills 2

The most massive beaver dam ever! Beavers are...(wait for it)...extirpated (gone, dead, locally extinct) in NYC.

Today we walked out to a bog that had been "lost" for over 100 years. Since this site has a number of rare species, I will limit site location to "Ulster County".

The walk out there was enchanting - an abundance of Eastern hemlocks (Tsuga canadensis), young and old co-mingling - these were, amazingly, free of the hemlock woolly adelgid, (Adelges tsugae), the trees in our neck of the woods are usually older (i.e, no regeneration) and dying (i.e., infested with aphids). The hemlocks cast a deep, dark shade. A thick layer of sphagnum moss carpeted the forest floor, punctuated by drifts of ferns and common wood sorrel (Oxalis montana). I half expected to see leprachauns darting between tree trunks. This wood sorrel is not the same plant as the ubiquitous sidewalk weed we have here. If only O. montana were common in the five boroughs, but that's what you get for being sans mountains.

Long beechfern (Phegopteris connectilis), with wood sorrel & sphagnum moss peaking out from underneath. More plants native to New York State that are absent in the five boroughs. sniff.

The bog itself was amazing, with more heath shrubs than you could shake a stick at. There were blueberries and cranberries (Vaccinium spp.) and laurels (Rhododendron spp.) and winterberries (Ilex verticillata). I was in heaven. I love the heaths! (Maybe because it reminds me of the romantic moors in Scotland...)

Another native heath shrub, bog laurel (Kalmia polifolia). I wish this were in the city.

Another highlight was tussock cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum var. spissum). This bog is the plant's only appearance in Ulster County.

Despite it's common name, tussock cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum var. spissum) is actually a sedge. Ah, botanical linguistics.

One of the saddest sights was the discovery of plastic pots strewn around the bog. This was an indication that people steal plants from this place to sell on the cheap. This is especially true for plants that are popular/unusual and slow growing, such as trilliums, orchids, heath shrubs, pitcher plants, and sundews. Once these plants are taken from there ecological context, their chances of survival are slim. Your backyard in Brooklyn sure as hell ain't a bog. Plant poaching is far too prevalent. Be mindful of plants offered for cheap, potted in soils that look "natural" (as opposed to a greenhouse mixture).


False hellebore (Veratrum viride). This beautiful native forb is extirpated (locally extinct) in NYC. That's a sad thing.

The day ended with a scramble to see the Adoxa before sundown. This tiny plant is typical of circumboreal regions. This population is a disjunct, with other populations found in the western U.S. Muskroot (Adoxa moschatellina) is rare in NY. We found the strikingly drab forb along a shale road cut. It was neat to see the muskroot, but what really caught my eye was the purple clematis (Clematis occidentalis var. occidentalis). Look below, can you blame me?


Purple clematis (Clematis occidentalis var. occidentalis)


Plant List - These are just the species I jotted down...

5/29
WALK TO BOG

TREES
Yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis)
Red spruce (Picea rubens)
Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)

SHRUBS
Creeping snowberry (Gaultheria hispidula)
Eastern teaberry (G. procumbens)
Bog laurel (Kalmia polifolia)
Large cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon)
Small cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccos)

FORBS
Threeleaf goldthread (Coptis trifolia)
Early coralroot (Corallorhiza trifida)
Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis)
Common wood sorrel (Oxalis montana)
Northern pitcher-plant (Sarracenia purpurea)
Heartleaf foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia var. cordifolia)
Purple trillium (Trillium erectum)
False hellebore (Veratrum viride)

GRAMINOIDS
Tussock cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum var. spissum)

FERNS
Long beechfern (Phegopteris connectilis)
Eastern marsh fern (Thelypteris palustris)

Sphagnum sp.

MESIC FOREST

FORBS
Red baneberry (Actaea rubra)
Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)
Ramps (Allium tricoccum)
Crinkleroot (Cardamine diphylla)
Blue cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides)
Horsebalm (Collinsonia canadensis)
Squirrelcorn (Dicentra canadensis)
Trout lily (Erythronium americanum)
Fragrant bedstraw (Galium triflorum)
Virginia waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum)
Twisted-stalk (Streptopus roseus)
Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia)
Purple trillium (Trillium erectum)
Painted trillium (T. undulatum)
False hellebore (Veratrum viride)
Canada violet (Viola canadensis)
Marsh violet (V. cucullata)
Yellow forest violet (V. pubescens)
White violet (V. renifolia)
Roundleaf yellow violet (V. rotundifolia)
Common blue violet (V. sororia)

FERNS
Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris)
Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides)


SHALE SLOPES

SHRUBS
American black currant (Ribes americanum)
Red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa var. racemosa)

FORBS
Red baneberry (Actaea rubra)
Muskroot (Adoxa moschatellina)
Pussytoes (Antennaria canadensis)
Wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)
Early saxifrage (Saxifraga virginiensis var. virginiensis)

FERNS
Western oakfern (Gymnocarpium dryopteris)

VINES
Purple clematis (Clematis occidentalis var. occidentalis)