Walter D. Allen Salt Marsh
 Grove Point Road-Hills Point Road, Westport, Fairfield County, Connecticut
 6.6 acres

Aspetuck Land Trust

Directions:

Now here's the thing.  Does a Private Road or a Private Lane mean you can't use the road?  We discussed the matter and decided that if you can't use the road there would be a "No Trespassing" sign.  So we used the private road.  (Otherwise there is no getting to this salt marsh.)

Take I-95 North to Exit 18; turn left onto the Sherwood Island Connector; cross over US 95 and make a left turn onto Greens Farms Road; turn left onto Hillspoint Road; pass over US 95; turn left onto Meadow Lane and follow to Grove Point Road; the salt marsh is on the right by the side of the road. 

Trails:

11/05/2005.  On a warm, beautiful day (very much above the usual seasonal temperature), Rosemary Cooney, Sarah-David Rosenbaum, dog Sonar and I toured this small park.  The main part of the park is green lawn with scattered trees along the road.  There is more Phragmites (giant reed grass) than Spartina (cord grass) here.  It did not take us long to get the plant list and leave.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney. 

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick Cooney, Sarah-David Rosenbaum, Rosemary Cooney

*  = plant blooming on date of field trip, 11/05/2005

Trees:
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Prunus sp. (cherry)
Pyrus sp. (crab apple)    
Quercus palustris (pin oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Salix sp. (willow)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)

Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)  planted
Iva frutescens (marsh elder)
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)

Vines:
Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (porcelainberry)
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet) 
Hedera helix (English ivy)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)

Herbs:
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Allium vineale (field garlic)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Aster spp. (aster)     *
Chelidonium majus (celandine)
Duchesnea indica (Indian strawberry)
Eupatorium perfoliatum (boneset)
Euthamia graminifolia (grass-leaved goldenrod)
Oenothera biennis (common evening primrose)     *
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel)     *
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed)
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed)     *
Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed)     *
Rumex obtusifolius (broad dock)
Solanum dulcamara (bittersweet nightshade)
Taraxacum sp. (dandelion)     *
Trifolium pratense (red clover)
Trifolium repens (white clover)

Sedges:
Carex laxiflora type (loose-flowered sedge type)

Grasses:
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)
Spartina alterniflora (salt marsh cord grass)
Spartina patens (salt meadow cord grass)