Bisceglie-Scribner Park
Newtown Turnpike, Fairfield County, Connecticut
53 acres

Directions:

Exit 42 off of the Merritt Parkway.  Heading east on the Parkway, turn right onto Weston Road (Route 57); drive 3.5 miles to the Junction of Route 53 and 57; keep going straight (Route 53); the park is on the left a little ways up from the intersection.   

Geology/Topography:

The West Branch of the Saugatuck River heads through Scribner Park.  (The West Branch starts up near the Devil Den Nature Conservancy, heading through its southwestern part of Devils Den. It heads through Scribner Park, crosses southwest over into Wilton and then south through the northeastern part of Westport, through the southwestern point of Weston and from there into the Saugatuck River in north central Westport. The Saugatuck River then empties into Long Island Sound)

History:

Operated through Weston Parks and Recreation.

Facilities:

playground, swimming pond, picnic area and a two-mile fitness trail 

Trails:

9/20/2005.  On a day that only threatened rain, dog Sonar and I parked in the parking lot behind the Little League baseball fields.  We ignored the baseball fields and walked down an asphalt path that leads from the parking lot to the children's parking lot. Before reaching the playground, we went off left on to what looked like a trail. 

The trail must be informal because it is not well-maintained and there are no trail markers.  We walked through what normally would be a wet area to the West Branch of the Saugatuck River.  We crossed over a boulder bridge, which is somewhat dangerous as there are loose boulders in this bridge.

In a short walk we came to a T-intersection.  The trail heading right looks very rough and informal indeed and so we turned left.  Japanese barberry is a problem here and is trying to take over these informal trails. 

Reached a stone wall beyond which it did not look as if there is any trail, formal or informal.  I probably should go back some other time and explore beyond the stone wall, but who knows if I'll get the time. Turned around and came back.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney. 

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney

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

Trees:
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Betula populifolia (gray birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Ulmus americana (American elm)

Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Chimaphila maculata (striped wintergreen)
Clethra alnifolia (sweet pepperbush)
Corylus sp. (hazel)
Decodon verticillatus (yellow loosestrife)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Ilex verticillata (winterberry holly)
Ligustrum sp. (privet) 
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Salix sp (willow)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaf viburnum)
Viburnum lentago (nannyberry viburnum) 

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)

Herbs:
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Amphicarpaea bracteata (hog peanut)
Aster divaricatus (white wood aster)     *
Aster spp. (aster)     *
Bidens frondosa (beggar ticks)     *
Boehmeria cylindrica (false nettle)
Callitriche sp. (water starwort)
Chelone glabra (white turtlehead)     *
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace)     *
Mimulus ringens (monkey flower)
Pilea pumila (clearweed)
Polygonatum sp. (true Solomon's seal)
Polygonum arifolium (halberd-leaved tearthumb)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed)     *
Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed)
Polygonum sagittatum (arrow-leaved tearthumb)     *
Polygonum virginianum (jumpseed)
Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil)
Smilax herbacea (carrion flower)
Solidago caesia (blue-stem goldenrod)     *
Thalictrum pubescens (tall meadowrue)
Trifolium pratense (red clover)
Typha latifolia (broad-leaved cattail)
Urtica dioica var. dioica (stinging nettle)

Sedges:
Carex laxiflora type (loose-flowered type sedge)
Carex pensylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge)
Carex stricta (tussock sedge)

Grasses:
Cinna arundinacea (wood reedgrass)
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:
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)
Osmunda regalis (royal fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Thelypteris noveboracensis (New York fern)

Other:
Sphagnum sp. (sphagnum moss)

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