Mildred Strauss Reserve

dead end of Edmonds Road, Sherman, Fairfield County, Connecticut

50 acres


Directions:

US 84 east to exit 5; turn left onto Route 39; drive 20.6 miles following Route 39 north; turn right onto Edmonds Road; drive a little less than a mile to the end of the road and turn right into a parking area. The trail starts about 100 feet or so past the north end of the private drive.    


Facilities:

Fields for picnic and recreational use

Trails for Hiking/Walking/Jogging Permitted

On the property there is a Pine Woods, Dogwoods hedge, Evergreen Specimens and Mountain Ponds. 


Wildlife:

deer, rabbit, wild turkey, birds, aquatic life in and around Mountain Ponds


Trail:

The Abazaid Connector in New Milford (9 acres) connects the Strauss Reserve with the Giddings Preserve.  The Strauss Reserve borders the Morrissy Nature Center in New Milford.

 

7/25/2005.  On an overcast day, dog Sonar and I parked at the end of Edmonds Road.  I walked up the private drive and then past the hanging chain in front of the path.  At first it was difficult to see the plants because it was so dark.  As the day went on it got lighter.  I followed the green blazed trail north (3 green arrowheads and part of an arrow shaft).  The path was nice and wide.  It went through a bit of woods but it also went through a great many fields in the process of succession.

Nearing the woods, the trail marker indicated to turn right (east).  I was thinking the path would go both ways since the map showed the trail going north, so I looked for another arrow indicating to go straight.  I could not see any arrow heading straight, so I turned right.  (I should have went straight -- there is another trail marker down the road but just could not be seen from the troublesome arrows indicating a right turn.) 

Heading into the woods the trail became a blue trail.  And the trail became very roughed up by ATVs.  The trail kept descending and descending until it came out of the woods and onto a gas pipe line power-cut.  I looked around for a continuation of the blue trail, but I was unsuccessful.  I started to walk north on the power-cut, but it started to rain and I decided to head back and try another day. 

The climb up-hill was pretty strenuous.  It took me awhile to get up to the top.  Back on top of the hill, I decided to head over to that troublesome fork in the path and try that path heading north.  I found the trail blaze down the path a ways and kept going.  Once I could see it was going to be a long walk, I decided just to go back to the car and try another day.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.   


Pick up a map of many of the Naromi Trust lands on the second floor of the Old Store Museum and Gift Shop at the intersection of Route 37 and Saw Mill Road in Sherman Center.


PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney

* = plants blooming on date of field trip, 7/25/2005.  


Trees:
Acer pensylvanicum (striped maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Betula populifolia (gray birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Carya tomentosa (mockernut hickory)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Picea abies (Norway spruce)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Populus deltoides (cottonwood)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus alba (white oak) 
Quercus prinus (chestnut oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)  
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Tilia americana (America basswood)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)
Ulmus americana (American elm)

Shrubs and sub-shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Chimaphila maculata (striped wintergreen)   
Gaylussacia baccata (black huckleberry)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Ilex verticillata (winterberry holly)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Rhamnus cathartica (common buckthorn)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus flagellaris (northern dewberry)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Salix sp. (willow)
Spiraea alba var. latifolia (meadowsweet)    *
Spiraea tomentosa (steeplebush)     *
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Vaccinium pallidum (hillside blueberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaf viburnum)

Vines:
Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (porcelain berry)
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis riparia (riverbank grape)

Herbs:
Achillea millefolium (common yarrow)     *
Agrimonia gryposepala (common agrimony)    
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)     *
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed)
Amphicarpaea bracteata (hog peanut)
Apocynum cannabinum (Indian hemp)
Arctium sp. (burdock)
Arisaema triphyllum (Jack in the pulpit)  
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed)    
Aster spp. (asters)
Cardamine impatiens (narrow-leaved bittercress)
Chelidonium majus (celandine)     *
Chenopodium album (pigweed)
Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (ox-eye daisy)     *
Circaea lutetiana (enchanter's nightshade)     *
Cirsium pumilum (pasture thistle)     *
Commelina communis (Asiatic dayflower)     *
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace)     *
Dianthus armeria (Deptford pink)     *
Desmodium glutinosum (pointed-leaved tick trefoil)   
Dianthus armeria (Deptford pink)     *
Epipactis helleborine (helleborine orchid)
Erigeron annuus (daisy fleabane)     *
Euthamia graminifolia (grass-leaved goldenrod)
Galium aparine (cleavers)
Geranium maculatum (wild geranium)
Geum canadense (white avens)     *
Hackelia virginiana (Virginia stickseed)
Hemerocallis fulva (tawny day lily)
Hesperis matronalis (dame's rocket)    
Hypericum sp. (St. Johnswort)    *
Hypoxis hirsuta (yellow star grass)    *
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed)     *
Leonurus cardiaca (motherwort)     *
Linaria vulgaris (butter and eggs)     *
Lotus corniculatus (birdfoot trefoil)     *
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife)   
Melilotus alba (white sweet clover)     *
Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot)     *
Monarda punctata (horsemint)
Monotropa uniflora (Indian pipe)
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel)     *
Pastinaca sativa (wild parsnip)
Pilea pumila (clearweed)
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain)
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonatum sp. (true Solomon's seal)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed)     *
Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil)    
Prunella vulgaris (self-heal)     *
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium (narrow-leaved mountain mint)    *
Rumex obtusifolius (broad dock)
Satureja vulgaris (wild basil)       *
Silene latifolia (white campion)     *
Solidago caesia (blue-stemmed goldenrod)    
Solidago juncea (early goldenrod)     *
Solidago rugosa (rough-leaved goldenrod)
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion)
Trifolium aureum (yellow clover)     *
Trifolium pratense (red clover)     *     
Trifolium repens (white clover)     *
Veronica officinalis (common speedwell)
Vicia cracca (cow vetch)     *
Viola spp. (violet)

Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

Sedges:
Carex laxiflora type (loose-flowered type sedge)
Carex pensylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge)
Carex stricta (tussock sedge)
Scirpus atrovirens (dark-green bulrush)

Grasses:
Anthoxanthum odoratum (sweet vernal grass)
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Phleum pratense (Timothy grass)
Poa annua (annual bluegrass)

Ferns and Fern Allies:
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Dryopteris marginalis (marginal woodfern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Osmunda claytoniana (interrupted fern) 
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Thelypteris noveboracensis (New York fern)

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