Koehler Preserve
River Road, Cornwall, Connecticut
11.7 acres

Directions:

located north a ways from #240 River Road, on western side of the road

History:

Known in the old deeds as Russell Pratt Meadows.  According to the informational sheet on a tree, in the remaining non-treed spots there is a meadow species found only in one other place in New England.

The preserve is named for Warren Koehler, the first land manager of the Weantinoge Heritage, Inc.

Trails:

There are no formal trails, but fishermen have used what is left of a former driveway created by the previous owner when he thought he might do something with the property. 

6/19/2006.  Walked toward the back of the property in order to get to the Housatonic River. Railroad tracks have to be crossed to get there.  A sign says it is a private railroad crossing and you have to have the owner's permission to cross.  Just ignore that.  Walk over the asphalt crossing and head straight through some planted white pines and you will see the remains of an old driveway. Followed this to near the water and then bushwhacked a short ways to the river bank. 

This place is being overrun with invasive species.  The worst culprit is the Asiatic bittersweet vine.  It is even taking over former open spaces.  These plants in this open space seem desperate to find a shrub or a tree up which they can climb.  Lacking that, this species will intertwine with other plants of its own species making stronger intertwinings in search of a climbing structure.

Another bad species here is Morrow's honeysuckle. That is all too frequent here.  Japanese barberry is also here, but it far from the worst of the invasive species in this preserve. 

Did not stay long.  It was just too hot for my wife.   Dr. Patrick L. Cooney

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney, 6/19/06 = plant in bloom on date of field trip.

Trees:
Acer pensylvanicum (striped maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Carya sp. (hickory)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Tilia americana (American basswood)
 

Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Cornus alternifolia (alternate-leaved dogwood)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow’s honeysuckle)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry) *
Viburnum dentatum (hairy arrowwood viburnum)

Vines:
Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (porcelain vine)
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)

Herbs:
Achillea millefolium (yarrow)  *
Actaea rubra (red baneberry)
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Amphicarpaea bracteata (hog peanut)
Anemone sp. (anemone)  *
Arisaema triphyllum (Jack -in-the-pulpit)
Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (ox-eye daisy)  *
Eupatorium rugosum (white snakeroot)
Galium aparine (cleavers)
Galium sp. (bedstraw)
Geum sp. (avens)
Maianthemum canadense (Canada mayflower)
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel) *
Smilacina odoratum (false Solomon’s seal)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion)  *
Trifolium pratense (red clover) *
Trillium sp. (trillium)
Urtica dioica var. dioica (stinging nettle) 

Ferns:
Equisetum hyemale (scouring rush horsetail)
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Dryopteris marginalis (marginal woodfern)
Matteuccia struthiopteris (ostrich fern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)