NEWTOWN TOWN FOREST
Castle Hill Road, Newtown, Fairfield County, Connecticut
Directions:
Saw Mill River Parkway north to US 684 north to US 84 east; get off at exit 9; turn right onto Hawleyville Road; at the light turn left onto Mt. Pleasant Road (Route 6 and 25) east; drive a short ways and turn right onto Saw Mill Road; proceed to the end at a T-intersection to make a right turn; very shortly turn left onto Grand Hill Road; turn left onto Castle Hill Road; drive for 0.5 of a mile and park by the sign for the forest on the right.
Trails:
9/07/2005. On a beautiful day, Ceferino Santana, dog Sonar and I parked very close to the sign for the Town Forest. We walked under the log gate and then started slightly uphill. The path goes south along the eastern edge of the Town Forest. To our surprise, however, the trail did not take us very far. It just suddenly ended.
Rather than give up, we decided to bush-whack and so we headed west over to a small ridge. Then we turned left to head uphill to a higher ride. On top of the ridge I could see through the trees a possible swampy area. So we walked west and south for a short way to gain access to what turned out to be a shrub swamp. There were just scads of the shrub buttonbush with just a few scattered red maple trees. Cefe and Sonar stayed behind as I ventured into the swampy ground.
I could not really investigate the shrub swamp because the ground was muddy and my feet started sinking fast into that mud. I started walking around the swamp until I saw a No Trespassing sign and had to turn around. (Ahead there were many houses.)
We walked north and east until we came back to the one trail in the area. We then walked back to the car. To get some more species for my meager plant list, before we left I walked along the roadside by the Town Forest. Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.
PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = plants blooming on field trip, 9/07/2005
Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Amelanchier arborea (shadbush)
Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Betula populifolia (gray birch)
Carya tomentosa (mockernut hickory)
Castanea dentata (horse chestnut)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus sp. (ash)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Nyssa sylvatica (tupelo)
Ostrya virginiana (American hop hornbeam)
Picea abies (Norway spruce)
Picea pungens (spruce)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)
Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Cephalanthus occidentalis (buttonbush)
Chimaphila maculata (spotted wintergreen)
Clethra alnifolia (sweet pepperbush)
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Gaylussacia baccata (black huckleberry)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Ilex verticillata (winterberry holly)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Sambucus canadensis (common elderberry)
Spiraea alba var. latifolia (meadowsweet)
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaf viburnum)
Vines:
Apios americana (groundnut)
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Humulus japonicus (Japanese hops)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Polygonum scandens (climbing false bindweed)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)
Herbs:
Achillea millefolium (common yarrow)
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed)
Amphicarpaea bracteata (white baneberry)
Aralia nudicaulis (wild sarsaparilla)
Arctium minus (common burdock)
Arisaema triphyllum (Jack in the pulpit)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Aster divaricatus (white wood aster) *
Bidens frondosa (beggar tick) *
Bidens sp. (beggar tick)
Commelina communis (Asiatic dayflower) *
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace) *
Euthamia graminifolia (grass-leaved goldenrod) *
Galium mollugo (wild madder) *
Galium sp. (bedstraw)
Geum canadense (white avens)
Hieracium paniculatum (panicled St. Johnswort)
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed) *
Iris sp. (blue or yellow flag)
:Lycopus sp. (bugleweed) *
Lysimachia nummularia (moneywort)
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife) *
Maianthemum canadense (Canada mayflower)
Monotropa uniflora (Indian pipe)
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel) *
Pilea pumila (clearweed)
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonatum biflorum (smooth true Solomon's seal)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed) *
Polygonum sp. (smartweed) *
Prunella vulgaris (self-heal) *
Rumex crispus (curled dock)
Solidago rugosa (rough-leaved goldenrod)
Stellaria pubera (star chickweed) *
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion)
Tridens pratense (red clover) *
Tussilago farfara (coltsfoot)
Viola spp. (violet)
Rushes:
Juncus sp. (rush)
Sedges:
Carex laxiflora type (loose-flowered type sedge)
Carex pensylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge)
Grasses:
Digitaria sp. (crab grass)
Leersia virginica (white grass)
Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stilt grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)
Setaria faberi (nodding foxtail grass)
Setaria glauca (yellow foxtail grass)
Ferns:
Lycopodium clavatum (running pine)
Lycopodium obscurum (ground pine)
Dennstaedtia punctilobula (hay-scented fern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)
Polypodium sp. (rock cap fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Thelypteris noveboracensis (New York fern)
Back to the w. Connecticut Page
Back to the Main Page