Weantinoge Heritage Land
Chester Road, Warren, Litchfield County, Connecticut
60 acres

Directions:

From the intersection of Routes 7 and 341 in  Kent Village, drive east on Route 341 for 6.2 miles to make a left turn onto Brick School Road; drive 2.8 miles to the intersection of Brick School Road and Chester Road; turn left on Chester Road; drive about 0.2 of a mile and park at the pull-off by the pond on the right. 

History:

James and Faye Preston of Kent gave the land as a gift.

Habitats:

five-acre pond and marsh along Chester Road and fifty-five acres of pristine woodlands and streams.

Wildlife:

beaver, amphibian, birds-of-prey

Trails:

8/20/2005.  There are no trails here.  The pond and marsh are right there on the right side of Chester Road.  I walked along the perimeter on the right for a short ways.  Private property on the right prevented me from going very far.

I walked back to the car and then started up the road.  I walked to the end of the pond and then turned right into the woods.  I walked along the perimeter of the marsh until I reached a point where I thought I might be able to get into the heart of the marsh.  But that is no easy task. 

They say that tussock sedge can be walked on, but in big marshes the tufts are way too high to be stable. I was trying to go from one sedge tuft to another but it was wobbly the entire way and when I tried to reach out to a red maple tree a little too far away the wobbly  tussock sedge caused me to lose my footing and I fell to the  side and onto my back.  Boy, was I a mess.  But I don't let these types of situations get me down.  I just picked myself up and went back to the car to get a little cleaner. 

I took off my shirt to wash it off in the pond.  It was absolutely drenched in mud.  The seat of my pants were all muddy too, but I wasn't going to take those off.  So I just used the dog's towel to sit on and drove to the other locations I wanted to check on in the town of Warren.  (It's all in one's attitude to the task at hand!!)  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney. 

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = blooming on 8/19/2005

Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch)
Pinus sp. (pine)
Quercus rubra (red oak)

Shrubs:
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive)
Ilex verticillata (winterberry holly)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus hispidus (swamp dewberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Salix sp. (willow)
Spiraea alba var. latifolia (meadowsweet)     *
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Viburnum dentatum (smooth arrowwood viburnum)
Viburnum lentago (nannyberry viburnum)

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Clematisvirginiana (virgin's bower)     *
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)

Herbs:
Achillea millefolium (common yarrow)   
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed)      *
Amphicarpaea bracteata (hog peanut)   
Aralia nudicaulis (wild sarsaparilla)
Arisaema triphyllum (Jack in the pulpit)
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace)     *
Eupatorium fistulosum (trumpetweed)     *
Eupatorium perfoliatum (boneset)     *
Euthamia grandifolia (grass-leaved goldenrod)     *
Galium mollugo (wild madder)     *
Hypericum mutilum (dwarf St. Johnswort)     *
Hypericum punctatum (spotted Joe-Pye weed)     *
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed)     *
Ludwigia palustris (water purslane)
Lychnis flos-cuculi (ragged robin)     *
Lycopus sp. (bugleweed)     *
Maianthemum canadense (Canada mayflower)
Melilotus alba (white sweet clover)     *waning
Mimulus ringens (monkey flower)     *
Nuphar variegata (white water lily)     *
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel)     *
Penthorum sedoides (ditch stonecrop)     *
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain)   
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonum arifolium (halberd-leaved tearthumb)     *
Polygonum hydropiperoides (false water pepper)     *
Polygonum lapathifolium (nodding smartweed)     *
Polygonum sagittatum (arrow-leaved tearthumb)     *
Polygonum spp. (smartweed)     *
Rumex crispus (curled dock)
Scutellaria lateriflora (mad-dog skullcap)     *
Solidago canadensis var. scabra (tall goldenrod)     *soon
Solidago gigantea (late goldenrod)     *
Sparganium sp. (burreed)
Stellaria pubera (star chickweed)     *
Thalictrum pubescens (tall meadowrue)
Tragopogon pratensis (showy goatsbeard)     *
Triadenum virginicum (marsh St. Johnswort)
Trifolium aureum (yellow clover)     *
Trifolium pratense (red clover)     *
Typha latifolia (broad-leaved cattail)
Verbena hastata (blue vervain)     *

Rushes:
Juncus canadensis (Canada rush)
Juncus effusus (soft rush)
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

Sedges:
Carex crinita (fringed sedge)
Carex lurida (sallow sedge)
Carex stricta (tussock sedge)
Cyperus strigosus (umbrella sedge)
Eleocharis ovata (spikerush)
Scirpus atrovirens (dark-green bulrush)
Scirpus cyperinus (woolly grass bulrush)
Scirpus validus (soft-stem bulrush)

Grasses:
Brachyelytrum erectum (long awn grass)
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Glyceria canadensis (rattlesnake mannagrass)
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)

Ferns and Fern Allies:
Equisetum arvense (field horsetail)
Equisetum hyemale (scouring rush)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Osmunda claytoniana (interrupted fern)
Thelypteris noveboracensis (New York fern)
Thelypteris palustris (marsh fern)

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