William Squires Morton Preserve
Bradley Road, Weston, Fairfield County, Connecticut
4 acres

Located south of the Trout Brook Valley. 

Directions:

I-287 to Merritt Parkway North, exit 42, left turn onto Weston Road; left turn onto Route 136; left turn onto Redding Road; drive 3.3 miles and turn right onto Valley Forge Road; turn right onto Bradley Road.   The Preserve in on the right a short ways up the road. 

History:

1991  --  Anson Morton donated the land.

Trails:

9/20/2005.  On a day that threatened rain, but little came, dog Sonar and I parked by the wooden gate for the Nature Preserve.  The area is mostly field, but with a small pond and some swampy area.  The trail is like the figure "6".  One can circle the lower field, but not the upper field. 

In the upper part of the figure 6, there is a sign that indicates the way to link to the Freeborn Walk Trail heading to Trout Brook Valley.

This Preserve reminds me of the fields at Keeler Ridge Meadows in Wilton, Connecticut.  Grasses play a more prominent role in the Wilton meadows which a a wetter area.  The yellow of the goldenrods dominate in both Preserves.

The walk is a short one, but there are a lot of beautiful plants that make a stop worthwhile.    Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney

*  =  plants blooming on field trip, 9/20/2005

Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Carya tomentosa (mockernut hickory)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar))
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Salix alba var. (weeping willow)
Salix sp. (willow)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)

Shrubs:
Alnus serrulata (smooth alder)
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Cornus racemosa (gray dogwood)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lyonia ligustrina (maleberry)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Salix discolor (pussy willow)
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Viburnum dentatum (arrowwood viburnum)
Viburnum lentago (nannyberry viburnum)

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)    
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Polygonum scandens (climbing false bindweed)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis labrusca (fox grape)
Wisteria sp. (wisteria)

Herbs:
Achillea millefolium (common yarrow)  
Agrimonia sp. (agrimony)
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Apocynum sp. (dog bane)
Arisaema triphyllum (Jack in the pupil)
Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed)
Aster noveboracensis (New York aster)     *
Acer lanceolatus (panicled aster)     *
Aster paniculatum (panicled aster)     *
Aster sp. (small white aster)     *
Aster spp. (aster)     *
Bidens frondosa (beggar ticks)     *
Chelone glabra (white turtlehead)     *
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace)     *
Eupatorium fistulosum (trumpetweed)    
Euthamia graminifolia (grass-leaved goldenrod)     *
Fragaria virginiana (wild strawberry)
Gallium mollugo (wild madder)     *
Geranium sp. (geranium)
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed)     *
Iris sp. (blue or yellow flag)
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel)     *
Pilea pumila (clearweed)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed)     *
Polygonum sagittatum (arrow-leaved tear thumb)     *
Polygonum virginianum (jumpseed)  
Pycnanthemum sp. (mountain mint)
Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum (water cress)
Rudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima (black-eyed Susan)    
Rumex obtusifolius (broad dock)    
Satureja vulgaris (wild basil)
Solanum carolinense (horse nettle)
Solidago juncea (early goldenrod)     *
Solidago rugosa (rough-leaved goldenrod)     *
Trifolium pratense (red clover)     *
Urtica dioica var. procera (tall nettle) 
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein)
Vernonia noveboracensis (New York ironweed)    *
Veronica officinalis (common speedwell)

Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

Sedges:
Carex sp. (sedge)
Carex stricta (tussock sedge)

Grasses:
Bromus inermis (smooth brome grass)
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Leersia oryzoides (cut rice grass)
Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stilt grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)
Phalaris arundinaceum (reed canary grass)
Phleum pratense (Timothy grass)
Schizachyrium scoparium (little blue stem grass)
Setaria faberi (nodding foxtail grass)
Setaria glauca (yellow foxtail grass)

Ferns:
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)

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