Hubbard-Delacorte Nature Preserve
Greenwich, Fairfield County, Connecticut
11 acres
Source: Cooley, #32
Directions:
Get off at Exit 2 of US 95; turn left and get onto Delavan Street which head to Route 1; at the T-intersection turn right onto Route 1; turn left onto East Weaver Street; drive 0.4 of a mile; the preserve is on the right just north of Moshier Street (on the left); park at the southern end of a large pull-off area, just south of house #104 on the left.
Geology:
Two north-south ridges separate a low-lying wetland and brook.
History:
Virginia Drake Horne and George and Valerie Delacorte donated land for the preserve.
1894 -- George Delacorte born. He, of NYC, became a philanthropist/publisher (Dell Books).
The Nature Conservancy sign has been covered up by poison ivy vines, but the Greenwich Land Trust signs are still visible.
Trails:
10/17/2005. On a cool but otherwise nice morning, Ceferino Santana, dog Sonar and I parked on the right at the large pull-off on Weaver Street. We walked a little ways south toward Moshier Street and at the telephone pole with the number 69841 we ducked into the woods and headed downhill toward the swampy area. It is not much of a trail here because the place is used partly as the local dump and because invasive species have blocked out most of the remnants of the trail. There is a big problem here with Asiatic bittersweet. As I walked I took the time to cut and/or saw some of these huge vines which can kill the trees. By the swamp, we turned left to walk north. (A private house is on the right.) We reached a fording place where I could cross. Cefe stayed behind with the dog because the crossing was just too wet and I was the only one with boots.
This part of the park is upland. I went uphill a short ways and then downhill between ridges and then uphill again. Reaching the top of the ridge I could see an ephemeral pond. I turned right to head along the ridge to the southern end of the vernal pond. At the end of the pond I headed down towards it. It is then that I noticed that a connecting ditch ran from this pond to the swampy area.
I was surprised to find a nice little plank bridge over the small ditch. And it looked relatively new. What a contrast between the newness of the bridge and the terrible state of the trail. With a short walk I reached the fence that separates the preserve from the private houses. So I had to turn left and walk back to the ephemeral pond (this time on the opposite side). Came to a stream that drains the pond and found another nice little plank bridge. Kept walking until I discovered that I could not pass on the north side of the pond because the water went right up to the private property border fence. I decided to chance it and walked through the water. I was doing o.k. until the ground got soft and I fell. landing on a bunch of poison ivy on a tree. U quickly jumped up and got out of there, with dry socks but wet pants.
Retraced my steps back to Cefe and the car. Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.
PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick Cooney
* = plant blooming on date of field trip, 10/17/2005
Trees:
Acer platanoides (Norway maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Amelanchier arborea (shadbush)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Carya cordiformis (bitternut hickory)?
Carya tomentosa (mockernut hickory)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Ilex opaca (American holly)
Juglans nigra (black walnut)
Liquidambar styraciflua (sweetgum) -- lots
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Picea abies (Norway spruce)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Pyrus sp. (crab apple)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus palustris (pin oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Tilia americana (American basswood)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)
Ulmus americana (American elm)
Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus flagellaris northern dewberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Viburnum dentatum (arrowwood viburnum)
Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)
Herbs:
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Alisma sp. (water plantain)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Bidens sp. (beggar tick)
Boehmeria cylindrica (false nettle)
Iris sp. (blue or yellow flag)
Pilea pumila (clearweed)
Polygonum aviculare (doorweed) *
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed) *
Polygonum virginianum (jumpseed)
Sedum sp. (stonecrop)
Solidago canadensis var. scabra (tall goldenrod) *
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion)
Trifolium pratense (red clover)
(water meal)
Rushes:
Juncus effusus (soft rush)
Sedges:
Carex laxiflora type (loose-flowered sedge type)
Carex lurida (sallow sedge)
Carex pensylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge)
Grasses:
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Digitaria sp. (crab grass)
Glyceria sp. (mannagrass)
Ferns and Fern Allies:
Dryopteris carthusiana (toothed woodfern)
Dryopteris marginalis (marginal woodfern))
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Thelypteris noveboracensis (New York fern)
Thelypteris palustris (marsh fern)
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