South Hill Swamp and Woods Walk
When
What
Where
Who
Description
South Hill, Ithaca, has long been considered a botanical “hotspot”. Fortunately, large portions of its extensive acreage have been preserved as natural areas by Ithaca College and Cornell University. South Hill contains a wide range of ecological communities, from drier, hilltop niches to lower elevation swamps. Timed to coincide with the flowering of its abundant ericaceous species, particularly the blueberries and huckleberries, this 3-hour field trip will survey one or more sites of higher diversity.
Hiking conditions will be moderately strenuous. Given that this conservation land is ecologically sensitive, the number of participants is limited to 10. Attendees must register for the walk in advance.
Report
We had a cool walk through lovely woods with many Amelanchier (too late for blooms!), hickories and oaks. Once past the inevitable invasive fringe, the forest floor had many interesting forbs to view, and many blueberry shrubs. Arieh provided a working-copy of a matrix to help identify the local Vaccinium species. The marsh was not very muddy, although clearly it can be wet at times, as there were definite hummucks and Sphagnum moss. Many Vaccinium were in the marsh, too, along with lots of other interesting plants to puzzle over. The rain held off just until we made it back to the cars!
Particularly interesting or visible species are listed to the right. The list below covers all the plants "well identified" on the walk and in what portion of the site they were found. Listings with just a genus, no specific epithet (e.g. Genus sp.) should be taken as indicative of the environment only. We did not take the time to key these plants completely, important features were not visible, etc. but there was general agreement on the Genus.
PLANTS SEEN ON THE SOUTH HILL WALK 21 May 2016
|
Trees & Shrubs |
|
|
|
|
Acer rubrum |
red maple |
in fruit |
marsh and woods |
|
Amelanchier sp. (1) |
shadbush |
|
woods |
|
Aronia melanocarpa |
black chokeberry |
|
marsh |
|
Berberis thunbergii |
Japanese barberry |
flowering |
woods |
|
Betula populifolia |
gray birch |
|
marsh |
|
Carya glabra |
pignut hickory |
|
woods |
|
Carya ovata |
shagbark hickory |
|
woods |
|
Cornus racemosa |
gray dogwood |
|
marsh |
|
Elaeagnus umbellata |
autumn-olive |
in bud |
marsh |
|
Hamamelis virginiana |
witchhazel |
|
woods |
|
Lonicera morrowii |
Morrow's honeysuckle |
flowering |
marsh and woods |
|
Pinus rigida |
pitch pine |
|
marsh and woods |
|
Pinus strobus |
white pine |
|
marsh and woods |
|
Prunus serotina |
wild black cherry |
flowering |
marsh and woods |
|
Prunus susquehanae |
Susquehana cherry |
flowering |
marsh |
|
Quercus alba |
white oak |
|
woods |
|
Quercus montana |
chestnut oak |
|
woods |
|
Quercus rubra |
northern red oak |
|
woods |
|
Rhamnus cathartica |
European buckthorn |
|
woods |
|
Rosa carolina |
Carolina rose |
|
marsh |
|
Rosa multiflora |
multiflora rose |
|
marsh |
|
Vaccinium angustifolium |
low bush blueberry |
flowering |
marsh |
|
Vaccinium corymbosum |
highbush blueberry |
flowering |
marsh |
|
Vaccinium myrtilloides |
velvet-leaved blueberry |
flowering |
marsh |
|
Viburnum dentatum |
arrowwood |
|
marsh and woods |
|
|
|
|
|
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Ferns |
|
|
|
|
Onoclea sensibilis |
sensitive fern, bead fern |
|
marsh and woods |
|
Osmunda claytoniana |
interrupted fern |
|
woods |
|
Dryopteris intermedia |
intermediate wood fern |
|
woods |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Herbs |
|
|
|
|
Achillea millefolium |
yarrow |
|
marsh |
|
Alliaria petiolata |
garlic mustard |
flowering |
woods |
|
Anemone americana |
round-lobed hepatica |
flowering |
woods |
|
Antennaria neglecta |
pussy-toes |
flowering |
marsh |
|
Antennaria plantaginifolia |
plantain-leaved pussy-toes |
flowering |
woods |
|
Anthoxanthum odoratum |
sweet vernal grass |
flowering |
woods |
|
Apios americana |
ground nut |
|
woods |
|
Apocynum androsaemifolium |
spreading dogbane |
|
marsh |
|
Arctium lappa |
greater burdock |
|
marsh |
|
Arisaema triphyllum |
jack-in-the-pulpit |
flowering |
woods |
|
Asclepias incarnata |
swamp milkweed |
|
marsh |
|
Barbarea vulgaris |
yellow rocket |
flowering |
woods |
|
Bidens frondosa |
sticktights |
|
marsh |
|
Cerastium fontanum |
mouse-ear chickweed |
|
marsh |
|
Cirsium pumilum |
pasture thistle |
|
marsh |
|
Daucus carota |
wild carrot, Queen Ann's lace |
|
marsh |
|
Euthamia graminifolia |
flat-topped goldenrod |
|
marsh |
|
Fragaria virginiana |
wild strawberry |
flowering |
marsh and woods |
|
Geranum maculatum |
wild geranium |
|
woods |
|
Geranium robertianum |
herb robert |
|
woods |
|
Geum canadense |
white avens |
|
woods |
|
Geum fragarioides |
barren-strawberry |
flowering |
woods |
|
Geum laciniatum |
rough avens |
|
woods |
|
Holcus lanatus |
velvet grass |
|
marsh |
|
Houstonia caerulea |
azure bluets, Quaker ladies |
flowering |
woods |
|
Hylotelephium telephium |
live-forever |
|
marsh |
|
Juncus effusus |
soft rush |
|
marsh |
|
Luzula multiflora |
common wood rush |
flowering |
woods |
|
Lysimachia nummularia |
moneywort |
|
marsh |
|
Lysimachia quadrifolia |
whorled-loosestrife |
|
marsh |
|
Lythrum salicaria |
purple loosestrife |
|
marsh |
|
Maianthemum canadense |
Canada mayflower |
|
woods |
|
Maianthemum racemosum |
false Solomon's-seal |
|
woods |
|
Panicum virgatum |
switch grass |
|
marsh |
|
Penstemon digitalis |
smooth beardtongue |
|
marsh |
|
Penthorum sedoides |
ditch stonecrop |
|
marsh |
|
Poa annua |
annual blue grass |
|
woods |
|
Podophyllum peltatum |
may-apple |
|
woods |
|
Polygaloides paucifolia |
gay-wings |
flowering |
woods |
|
Polygonatum biflorum |
smooth solomon's seal |
|
woods |
|
Potentilla simplex |
old-field cinquefoil |
flowering |
marsh and woods |
|
Prunella vulgaris |
self-heal, heal-all |
|
marsh |
|
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium |
narrow-leaved mountain-mint |
|
marsh |
|
Ranunculus abortivus |
kidney-leaf buttercup |
flowering |
woods |
|
Ranunculus acris |
tall butter-cup |
flowering |
marsh |
|
Rubus hispidus |
swamp dewberry |
|
marsh |
|
Rubus pubescens |
dwarf raspberry |
flowering |
woods |
|
Scirpus cyperinus |
common wool-grass |
|
marsh |
|
Solidago altissima |
tall goldenrod |
|
marsh |
|
Solidago caesia |
wreath goldenrod |
|
woods |
|
Solidago gigantea |
smooth goldenrod |
|
marsh |
|
Solidago juncea |
early goldenrod |
|
marsh |
|
Solidago rugosa |
wrinkle-leaved goldenrod |
|
marsh and woods |
|
Symphyotrichum pilosum |
frost aster |
|
marsh |
|
Taraxacum officinale |
common dandelion |
|
marsh and woods |
|
Thalictrum thalictroides |
rue anemone |
flowering |
woods |
|
Typha latifolia |
wide-leaved cat-tail |
|
marsh |
|
Uvularia sessilifolia |
sessile bellwort |
flowering |
woods |
|
Veronica officinalis |
common speedwell |
|
woods |
|
Veronica serpyllifolia |
thyme-leaved speedwell |
|
marsh |
|
Viola sagittata var. ovata |
arrowleaf or ovate-leaved violet |
|
marsh |
|
Viola sororia |
common blue violet |
|
woods |
|
Viola subsinuata |
palmate-leaved violet |
flowering |
woods |
1. Several Amelanchier species have been listed here; we did not attempt to fully identify any. In a 1997/1999 study conducted by Ostman and Wesley, four species are mentioned: A. arborea, A. intermedia, A. laevis and A. stolonifera.
