Hey everyone! I chose a spot in Centennial Woods that I find to be particularly beautiful. I was walking down there to work on a seperate assignment for my Urban Ecology (NR095) class, and when my friend and I walked by, I noticed just how beautiful it was to see the light streaming through the canopy. I decided this would be the best place of any, and that’s why I chose it! All you have to do is reach the spot is go to the enterance of Centennial Woods and follow the paths left until you reach the coordinates (the coordinates will be on the trail).
Vegetation
The overstory vegitation consisted primarily of norway and sugar maples as well as eastern white pine, though there were assorted individuals of red maple, white oak, black cherry, and a single dead paper birch. The trees were at assorted stages of turning into the brilliant fall colors this time of year. Some maples had already turned completely and started to drop leaves, while others were still the bright green reminiscent of late summer. The eastern white pine appears to be the most mature of the species, however the others still grow to good height. Except for the black cherry and paper birch, the trees seem to be healthy, even with the norway maples being afflicted by the tar spots on the leaves.
Understory Woody Plants
At first, the woody plants around the site appeared to only consist of young sugar and norway maples, as well as many intermediate wood ferns, but I was able to identify many species on closer inspection. While not as numerous as the aforementioned species, these included winged euonymous, japanese barberry, common buckthorn, fly honeysuckle, and poison ivy. The wood ferns in particular were a wonderful dark shade of green and growing strong, while the poision ivy was a brilliant yellow.
Pictures/Location
These pictures show the clearing of ferns right next to my site, which I consider to the be the centerpiece of my phenology location! Also attached is the google maps pin of my location (the red pin). I highly recommend checking this place out! It’s awesome!
