Below is a list of ninety-one kinds of plants I found along the 300 yards or so on both sides of the Sawyer Kill between the two bridges between Sept 5 and Sept 15. Three more have been added on October 1. The list is grouped by natives vs not, with Smoothcap moss (genus Atrichum) unclassified. Seventeen of the sixty natives had been planted by me from a nursery, most in 2023. Two species, denoted as t23, had been transplanted in 2023 from elsewhere on the farm. Forty-one of the natives, then, had been there without my interference/intervention.
As other plants are found I will add them, but note after the name of each when it was added.
The inventory here follows the same method as the other journal entry posted earlier about the ruderal habitat, but the habitat described here developed in a different way. When we moved to this farm thirty years ago the long-ungrazed cattle pasture on the left bank of the Sawyer Kill came almost to the lip of the steep bank. We decided to set electric fencing fifteen feet from the lip and not mow outside it, to let whatever volunteered grow into into a "streambank buffer" that would slow bank erosion, give cover to wildlife and keep sheep manure runoff out of the (un-pristine) stream.
Through my carelessness, the big trees (native and non-native) along the stream gradually found themselves standing in a dense tangle of invasive non-native plants. Chief contributors/offenders are Japanese barberry, Privet (species uncertain), Japanese honeysuckle, Multiflora rose, Winged euonymus, Oriental bittersweet and Autumn olive (which I confess to have transplanted a couple of decades ago). Sad to say, I did not realize the harm of this situation until hearing a webinar in spring 2023 about native plants and then reading Douglas Tallamy. Since then I've set about to take out non-natives and replace them with natives. In the process a number of native species already resident but often overwhelmed came to light. Some native ground covers and ramblers (Riparian grape, Virginia Creeper and Poison Ivy) were holding their own amidst Japanese honeysuckle, Bittersweet and Ground ivy.
The list is a snapshot of what we'll be working with and against to get natives on a stronger footing over the next few years.
I am most grateful to i Nat and the i Nat community of teachers and identifiers.
This journal page is dedicated to Don Wilkin, Ph.D., a mentor in ecology.
Common name Scientific name native? planted?
Golden groundsel Packera aurea y 23
New Jersey Tea Ceanothus americanus y 23
Bitternut hickory Carya cordiformis y
Trumpet vine Campsis radicans y t23
Buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis y
Shellbark hickory Carya laciniosa y 23
American sycamore Platanus occidentalis y 21
American beech Fagus grandifolia y t23
Northern red oak Quercus rubra y
Nothern spicebush Lindera benzoin y
White ash Fraxinus americana y
Persicaria virginiana Persicaria virginiana y
Big bluestem Andropogon gerardi y 23
Poison ivy Toxicodendron radicans y
Virginia creeper Parthenocissus quinquefolia y
Witch hazel Hamamelis viginiana y 23
Blackhaw Viburnum prunifolium y 23
Tall hairy agrimony Agrimonia gryposepala y
Slippery elm Ulmus rubra y
Honey locust Gleditsia triacanthos y
Wild basil Clinopodium vulgare y
Chestnut oak Quercus montana y
Guelder rose Viburnum opulum y 23
Riparian grape Vitis riparia y
Eastern red cedar Juniperus virginiana y
Sensitive fern Onoclea sensibilis y
White wood aster Eurybia divaricata y
Ninebark Physocarpus opulifolius y 23
Deciduous holly Ilex decidua y 23
Blueberry Vaccinium y 23
Blackberry Rhubus y 23
Jewelweed Impatiens capensis y
Blue beech Carpinus caroliniana y
White snakeroot Ageratina altissima y
American hop hornbeam Ostrya virginiana y
Basswood Tilia americana y
River birch Betula nigra y 23
Hackberry Celtis occidentalis y
American bladdernut Staphylea trifolia y
Tall meadow rue Thalictrum y
Northern catalpa Catalpa speciosa y
Giant stinging nettles Urtica dioica y
Black walnut Juglans nigra y
Pokeweed Phytolacca americana y
Straw-colored flatsedge Cyperus strigosus y
White vervain Verbena urticifolia y
White pine Pinus strobus y t23
Broadleaf enchanter's nightshade Circaea canadensis y
Black chokeberry Aronia melanocarpa y 23
Upright wood sorrel 9/15 Oxalis stricta y
Gray's sedge Carex grayi y
Bottlebrush buckeye Aesculus parviflora y
Carolina rose Rosa carolina y
Snowberry Symphoricarpus albus y
Smooth witchgrass Panicum dichotomitflorium y
Virginia sticktight Hackelia virginiana y
Smoothcap moss 9/26/2023 Genus Atrichum ?
Common jewelweed 10/1 Impatiens capensis y
Canada clearweed 10/1 Pilea pumila y
Toringo crabapple 10/1 Malus toringo
Japanese stiltgrass 9/15 Microstegium vinimeum
Field chickweed 9/15 Cerastium arvense
Japanese Barberry Berberis thunbergii
Autumn olive Elaeagnus umbellata
Winged Euonymus Euonymous alatus
Oriental bittersweet Celastrus orbiculatus
Privet Ligustrum spp
Japanese honeysuckle Lonicera japonica
Moneywort Lysimachia nummularia
Multiflora rose Rosa multiflora
Weeping willow Salix babylonica 92
Horse chestnut Aesculus hippocastanum t23
Mock strawberry Potentilla indica
Norway maple Acer platanoides
Wrinkle-leaved g'rod Solidago rugosa
Ground ivy Glechoma hederacea
Buckthorn Rhamnus cathartica
Queen Anne's lace Daucus carota
St John's wort Genus Hypericum
Wild cherry Prunus avium
Wineberry Rhubus phoenicolasius
Black jetbead Rhodotypus scandens
Mullein Verbascum thapsis
Motherwort sept 11 Leonurus cardiaca
Creeping thistle Cirsium arvense
Yellow foxtail Setaria pumila
White mulberry Morus alba
Greater plantain (broadleaf) Plantago major
Calico aster Symphyotrichum laterifolium
Yellow sweet clover Melilotus oficinalis
Chicory Cichorium intybus
Siberian cranesbill not sure Geranium sibiricum
Low smartweed Persicaria longiseta
On left bank of kill
In vinca minor patch lower garden under hemlocks. The suggestion by Computer Vision is a delightful surprise. I have found this species growing in the woods of the farm, but never anything this tall.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/167244237 or https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/159271759
Top of path to lower garden
On right bank of kill by double maple
Upper side slightly rough lower smooth
On right bank of the kill near hydrant. I've uploaded three trees with this taxo very recently, having been told that M. alba hybridizes easily across varieties. The leaves on this very young one are different in shape and much less glossy than those of a mature tree posted yesterday in https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/235922901.
This could be related to age; or perhaps these are two distinct varieties. The last photo shows the base, with a stub where I cut this probably months ago. The will to live persists!
Comments
Add a Comment