Nature Conservancy
Nearwater Lane, Darien, Fairfield County, Connecticut
Directions:
US 95 north to Exit 10; turn right onto Noroton Avenue; right turn onto Boston Post Road (Route 1); left turn onto Nearwater Lane; preserve on the right (west side) by the salt marsh before getting to Weed Beach Park.
The Nature Conservancy of Connecticut owns a total of 2.24 acres in Darien. The parcels are located on the west side of Nearwater Lane, and help preserve a view of Holly Pond.
Trails:
10/29/2005. There are no trails here. Rather there is a narrow embankment along a public road in a residential area by a large salt marsh. The parking is to pull of the road. The view of the salt marsh area is pleasing to the eye, but since it is a small area, there is not much to say about the preserve.
PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick Cooney, Sarah-David Rosenbaum, Rosemary Cooney
* = plant blooming on date of field trip, 10/29/2005
Trees:
Acer platanoides (Norway maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree-of-heaven)
Carya tomentosa (mockernut hickory)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Taxus sp. (yew)
Shrubs:
Baccharis halimifolia (groundsel bush)
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Chimaphila maculata (striped wintergreen)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Ilex crenata (holly)
Iva frutescens (marsh elder)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Vines:
Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (porcelainberry)
Calystegia sepium (hedge bindweed)
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)
Herbs:
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Allium vineale (field garlic)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Atriplex patula (orach)
Eupatorium rugosum (white snakeroot) * waning
Impatiens sp. (jewelweed)
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel)
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed)
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed) *
Polygonum lapathifolium (nodding smartweed) *
Rumex sp. (dock)
Salicornia sp. (glasswort)
Solanum dulcamara (bittersweet nightshade)
Solidago canadensis (Canada goldenrod)
Grasses:
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)
Spartina alterniflora (salt marsh cord grass)
Spartina patens (salt meadow cord grass)
(horticultural grasses)