DAVIDSON'S MILL POND PARK
Riva Avenue, South Brunswick Township, Middlesex County, NJ
395 acres

Directions:

Route 1 heading north ; turn right (east) onto Dean's Lane; go 1.4 miles to George's Road and turn left; turn right onto Davidson's Mill Road (across from Deer Brook Village); drive down .4 miles to Riva Avenue and turn right; and drive .3 mile to the entrance (on the right -- east).

Description:

Looks pretty manicured. Horticultural species planted and lawns kept mowed and hence lots of Canada geese and their output. Dr. Charles Leck of The Birds of New Jersey fame says that four of these geese are equal to one cow in their consumption of grasses. There is a boat launch here and fishermen. You can cross the road and go into the woods and down the embankment to the river.

Habitats:

pond, dammed lake, river, woods, fields.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney

Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharinum (silver maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree of heaven)
Betula nigra (river birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Carya tomentosa (mockernut hickory)
Catalpa sp. (catalpa)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fagus sylvaticus (copper beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Liquidambar styraciflua (sweetgum) -- quite a few
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Nyssa sylvatica (tupelo)
Pinus sylvestris (scotch pine)
Pinus strobus (white pine) (planted)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus palustris (pin oak)
Quercus prinus (chestnut oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Salix sp. (corkscrew willow)
Salix spp. (willows)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)

Shrubs:
Cephalanthus occidentalis (buttonbush) 8/02/98
Clethra alnifolia (sweet pepperbush) 8/02/98
Decodon verticillatus (swamp loosestrife) 8/02/98
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rosa palustris (swamp rose) 8/02/98 one in bloom
Sambucus canadensis (elderberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple leaf viburnum)

Vines:
Amphicarpaea bracteata (hog peanut)
Apios americana (groundnut) 8/02/98
Cuscuta sp. (dodder) -- all over the patches of swamp loosestrife; never seen it so bad
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)

Herbs:
Achillea millefolium (yarrow) 8/02/98 waning
Actaea alba (doll's eyes)
Alisma subcordatum (water plantain) 8/02/98
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed) 8/02/98
Aster sp. (white aster) 8/02/98
Bidens connate (beggar ticks)
Boehmeria cylindrica (false nettle) 8/02/98
Chenopodium alba (pigweed)
Cichorium intybus (chicory) 8/02/98
Cirsium arvensis (Canada thistle) 8/02/98
Collinsonia canadensis (horsebalm) 8/02/98
Commelina communis (Asiatic dayflower) 8/02/98
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace) 8/02/98
Eupatorium perfoliatum (boneset)
Euthamia graminifolia (grass-leaved goldenrod) 8/02/98
Hypericum mutilum (dwarf saint johnswort) 8/02/98
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed) 8/02/98
Lemna sp. (duckweed)
Lobelia cardinalis (cardinal flower) 8/02/98
Lobelia inflata (Indian tobacco lobelia) 8/02/98
Ludwigia palustris (marsh purslane)
Lysimachia alterniflora (seedbox) 8/02/98
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife) 8/02/98
Mentha arvensis (wild mint) 8/02/98
Mollugo verticillata (carpetweed) 8/02/98
Nuphar variegata (spatterdock) 8/02/98
Nymphaea odorata (white water lily) 8/02/98
Oenothera biennis (common evening primrose)
Oxalis stricta (yellow wood sorrel) 8/02/98
Peltandra virginica (arrow arum)
Physalis heterophylla (clammy ground cherry) 8/02/98 & in fruit
Pilea pumila (clearweed)
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain) 8/02/98
Plantago virginica (Virginia plantain) 8/02/98
Polygonum spp. (knotweeds) 8/02/98
Pontederia cordata (pickerelweed) 8/02/98
Prunella vulgaris (self heal) 8/02/98
Scutellaria sp. (skullcap) 8/02/98
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Typha latifolia (broad-leaved cattails)

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

Sedges:
Carex laxiflora type
Cyperus sp. (nut or umbrella sedge)
Scirpus cyperinus (woolly grass bulrush)

Grasses:
Digitaria sp. (crabgrass)
Ferns:
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Thelypteris noveboracensis (New York fern)

Others:
Riccia sp.