MANITOU POINT PRESERVE
Route 9D, Philipstown, Putnam County
136 acre peninsula jutting into the Hudson River
Directions:
just north of the Bear Mountain Bridge
NY 9D; to Bear Mountain Bridge; drive 1.8 miles north of the bridge; turn left into the entrance parking lot through stone pillars with a white gate.
History:
Used to be known as Mystery Point.
This was a portion of the estate of Edward Livingston, a descendent of Philip Livingston, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
1894 -- Edward Livingston purchases the property. He constructs stables and kennels for his horses and champion Irish wolfhounds. He also builds a 50 foot arched stone bridge over the railroad tracks and a dam on Copper Mine Brook that created a reservoir.
1897 -- has George Frederick Pelham design a country home for him and his family. The mansion was in brick colonial revival style.
1937 -- Livingston's daughter, Clarice, sells the property.
1984 -- Lee Pomeroy, a New York architect, forms the Mystery Point Associates to acquire the property.
1990 -- the Associates sell the property to Open Space Institute, Inc. and Scenic Hudson, Inc. The mansion is now headquarters to Outward Bound, Inc.
Trails:
point trail -- a loop trail just over a mile long. One third of the trail is on a narrow ledge with views of the Hudson River.
upland trails -- in the hemlock forest.
This area has a number of parallel trails heading southeast and south and each one of the 6 gets closer to the Hudson River on the west in ascending order. The highest trail is rather dry (with the #6 trail being a chestnut oak ridge/ericaceous shrubs ridge along the Hudson River coast). The lowest trail, #5, is rich woods.
PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
dates indicate when plants found in bloom
Trees:
Acer negundo (boxelder maple)
Acer pensylvanicum (striped maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree of heaven)
Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Betula populifolia (gray birch)
Celtis occidentalis (American hackberry)
Fagus grandifolia (beech tree)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Nyssa sylvatica (tupelo)
Paulownia tomentosa (empress tree)
Pinus rigida (pitch pine)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)
Populus deltoides (cottonwood)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus prinus (chestnut oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Thuja occidentalis (arbor-vitae)
Tilia americana (American basswood)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)
Ulmus americana (American elm)
Shrubs:
Alnus serrulata (smooth alder)
Amorpha fruticosa (false indigo bush)
Aralia spinosa (Hercules' club)
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Comptonia peregrina (sweet fern)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Gaultheria procumbens (wintergreen) 7/20/03
Gaylussacia baccata (black huckleberry)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Kalmia latifolia (mountain laurel)
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Philadelphus sp. (mock orange)
Rhamnus cathartica (common barberry)
Rhododendron maximum (rosebay rhododendron) planted
Rhus typhina (staghorn sumac)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus laciniatus (cut-leaved blackberry) lots
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Sambucus canadensis (common elderberry) 7/16/01
Vaccinium pallidum (hillside blueberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaved viburnum)
Vines:
Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (porcelain berry)
Amphicarpaea bracteata (hog peanut)
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Cuscuta sp. (dodder) 7/16/01
Hedera helix (English ivy)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Solanum dulcamara (bittersweet nightshade) 7/16/01
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vinca minor (periwinkle)
Vincetoxicum nigrum (black swallowwort) lots 7/16/01 7/20/03
Vitis aestivalis (summer grape)
Vitis labrusca (fox grape)
Wisteria sp. (wisteria)
(kudzu vine by the bridge over the creek along the gravel road)
Herbs:
Achillea millefolium (common yarrow) 7/20/03
Actaea alba (doll's eyes)
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) 7/20/03
Antennaria sp. (pussytoes)
Apocynum cannabinum (Indian hemp dogbane) 7/16/01
Aquilegia canadensis (columbine)
Aralia nudicaulis (wild sarsaparilla)
Arctium minus (lesser burdock)
Arisaema triphyllum (jack in the pulpit)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed)
Aster divaricatus (white wood aster)
Bidens sp. (trifoliate one)
Boehmeria cylindrica (false nettle)
Centaurea jacea (brown knapweed) 7/16/01 7/20/03
Chenopodium album (pigweed)
Chenopodium botrys (Jerusalem oak goosefoot)
Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (ox-eye daisy) 7/16/01 7/20/03
Chrysanthemum parthenium (feverfew) 7/16/01
Cichorium intybus (chicory) 7/20/03
Circaea lutetiana (enchanter's nightshade) 7/16/01 7/20/03
Cirsium arvense (Canada thistle) 7/20/03
Cirsium vulgare (bull thistle)
Commelina communis (Asiatic dayflower) 7/20/03
Convallaria majalis (lily of the valley)
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace) 7/16/01 7/20/03
Dianthus armeria (Deptford pink) 7/16/01 7/20/03
Epipactis helleborine (helleborine) 7/16/01
Erigeron annuus (daisy fleabane) 7/16/01 7/20/03
Galium mollugo (wild madder) 7/16/01 7/20/03
Geranium maculatum (wild geranium) 7/20/03
Geum canadense (white avens) 7/20/03
Hedeoma pulegioides (American pennyroyal) 7/20/03
Hieracium sp. (hawkweed) 7/16/01 7/20/03
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed) 7/20/03
Iris sp. (iris)
Lapsana communis (nipplewort) 7/16/01 7/20/03
Lespedeza sp. (bushclover)
Linaria vulgaris (butter-and-eggs)
Lobelia sp. (lobelia) 7/20/03
Lotus corniculatus (birdfoot trefoil) 7/20/03
Lycopus sp. (bugleweed)
Maianthemum canadense (Canada mayflower)
Medicago lupulina (black medick) 7/20/03
Melilotus alba (white sweet clover) 7/16/01 7/20/03
Melilotus officinalis (yellow sweet clover) 7/20/03
Mimulus ringens (monkey flower) 7/16/01 7/20/03
Mitchella repens (partridge berry)
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel) 7/16/01 7/20/03
Paronychia canadensis (forked chickweed)
Peltandra virginica (arrow arum)
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed) 7/16/01 7/20/03
Pilea pumila (clearweed)
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain) 7/20/03
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonum arifolium (halberd-leaved tearthumb)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed) 7/16/01 7/20/03
Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed)
Polygonum lapathifolium (nodding smartweed) 7/20/03
Polygonum sagittatum (arrow-leaved tearthumb)
Polygonum virginianum (jumpseed)
Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil)
Prunella vulgaris (self-heal) 7/16/01 7/20/03
Rumex crispus (curled dock)
Rumex obtusifolius (broad-leaved dock)
Sanicula trifoliata (long-fruited sanicle)
Senecio vulgaris (common groundsel) 7/20/03
Silene latifolia (white campion) 7/16/01
Silene vulgaris (bladder campion) 7/16/01 7/20/03
Sisyrinchium angustifolium (stout blue-eyed grass) 7/16/01
Smilacina racemosa (false Solomon's seal)
Solanum nigrum (black nightshade) 7/20/03
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion) 7/20/03
Thalictrum dioicum (early meadow rue)
Thalictrum pubescens (tall meadow rue) 7/20/03
Trifolium pratense (red clover) 7/16/01 7/20/03
Trifolium repens (white clover) 7/20/03
Tussilago farfara (colts foot)
Typha angustifolia (narrow-leaved cattail)
Verbascum blattaria (moth mullein)
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein) 7/16/01 7/20/03
Verbena urticifolia (white vervain) 7/16/01 7/20/03
Veronica officinalis (common speedwell) 7/16/01 only 1 in bloom
(Virginia stickleaf) 7/20/03
Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)
Sedges:
Carex gynandra (sedge)
Carex lurida (sedge)
Carex vulpinoidea (fox sedge)
Grasses:
Calamagrostis epigejos (feathertop grass/steppe reed grass)
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Deschampsia flexuosa (hair grass)
Glyceria canadensis (mannagrass)
Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stilt grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer tongue grass)
Phleum pratense (timothy grass)
Poa compressa (Canada bluegrass)
Setaria sp. (foxtail grass)
Ferns:
Asplenium platyneuron (ebony spleenwort)
Dennstaedtia punctilobula (hay-scented fern)
Dryopteris marginalis (marginal woodfern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)
Polypodium sp. (rockcap fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Thelypteris noveboracensis (New York fern)