Pootatuck State Forest southeast

Woods Road, New Fairfield, Fairfield County, Connecticut

Directions:

US 84 east to exit 5; turn left onto Route 39; keep following Route 39 north to its junction with Route 37 north; turn left onto Route 37 north; drive 1.7 miles to make a right turn onto Beaver Bog Road; drive 1.3 miles to make a right turn onto Woods Road;  drive 0.1 of a mile to make a left turn into the parking area.

Trails:

7/21/2005.  On a hot day, dog Sonar and I followed the wide main woods road into the forest.  The trail just kept going and going.  It started going out east; reached a side trail on the left (northeast) while it turned right going southeast; started heading uphill going south;  passed a wet area on the right (that I explored on the way back) and a couple of small fields.  I reached a point where I did not want to go on and could not see the trail heading in a loop;  so I turned around and went back to the car.   It seems they are "managing"  the forest and have a couple of signs about selective cuts and wildlife habit.  Nothing special about the part I covered.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney. 

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney

* = plants blooming on date of field trip, 7/21/2005.  

Trees:
Acer pensylvanicum (striped maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Amelanchier arborea (shadbush)
Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Betula populifolia (gray birch)
Carya cordiformis (bitternut hickory)
Carya glabra (pignut hickory)
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Carya tomentosa (mockernut hickory)
Castanea dentata (American chestnut)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Ostrya virginiana (American hop hornbeam)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Quercus alba (white oak) 
Quercus prinus (chestnut oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)  
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)

Shrubs and sub-shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Clethra alnifolia (sweet pepperbush)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Gaylussacia baccata (black huckleberry)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Kalmia latifolia (mountain laurel)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus flagellaris (northern dewberry)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Vaccinium pallidum (hillside blueberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaf viburnum)

Vines:
Apios americana (groundnut)
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)

Herbs:
Achillea millefolium (common yarrow)     *
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)     *
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed)
Amphicarpaea bracteata (hog peanut)
Apocynum androsaemifolium (spreading dogbane)
Aralia nudicaulis (wild sarsaparilla)    
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Aster spp. (asters)
Chenopodium album (pigweed)
Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (ox-eye daisy)     *
Cichorium intybus (chicory)     *
Circaea lutetiana (enchanter's nightshade)
Cirsium jacea (brown knapweed)     *
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace)     *
Dianthus armeria (Deptford pink)     *
Epipactis helleborine (helleborine orchid)     *
Erechtites hieraciifolia (pileweed)
Erigeron annuus (daisy fleabane)     *
Erysimum cheiranthoides (worm mustard)     *
Eupatorium rugosum (white snakeroot)    
Euthamia graminifolia (grass-leaved goldenrod)
Geranium maculatum (wild geranium)
Geum canadense (white avens)     *
Hieracium paniculatum (panicled hawkweed)     *
Hypericum perforatum (common St. Johnswort)     *
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed)     *
Impatiens pallidum (yellow jewelweed)     *
Linaria canadensis (blue toadflax)     *
Lotus corniculatus (birdfoot trefoil)     *
Lycopus sp. (bugleweed)
Lysimachia ciliata (fringed loosestrife)     *
Medeola virginiana (Indian cucumberroot) 
Medicago lupulina (black medick)     *
Melilotus alba (white sweet clover)     *
Monarda punctata (horsemint)     *
Oxalis sp. (yellow sweet clover)     *
Pilea pumila (clearweed)     *
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonatum sp. (true Solomon's seal)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed)     *
Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed)
Polygonum sagittatum (arrow-leaved tearthumb)
Potentilla norvegica (rough cinquefoil)     *
Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil)    
Prunella vulgaris (self-heal)     *
Satureja vulgaris (wild basil)    
Scrophularia sp. (figwort)     *
Silene vulgaris (bladder campion)     *
Smilacina racemosa (false Solomon's seal)  
Solanum nigrum (black nightshade)     *
Solidago canadensis var. scabra (tall goldenrod)
Stellaria pubera (giant chickweed)     * 
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion)
Trifolium pratense (red clover)     *     
Trifolium repens (white clover)     *
Tussilago farfara (coltsfoot) 
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein)      *
Verbena urticifolia (white vervain)     *
Viola spp. (violet)

Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

Sedges:
Carex stricta (tussock sedge)
Carex vulpinoidea (fox sedge)
Scirpus atrovirens (dark green bulrush)

Grasses:
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Lolium perenne (perennial rye grass) 
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)
Phleum pratense (Timothy grass)
Poa annua (annual bluegrass)

Ferns and Fern Allies:
Equisetum arvense (field horsetail)
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Dennstaedtia punctilobula (hay-scented fern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)
Osmunda claytoniana (interrupted fern) 
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Pteridium aquilinum (bracken fern)
Thelypteris noveboracensis (New York fern)

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