Sterling Forest (Spruce Swamp Area)
Parking area on left side of the road at intersection of Southgate Road and Buttonwood Road.

Trails:

There is an old wood road that heads upwards and north from the parking area.  There are traces of old iron mines all over the area, especially on the right.  There is a huge boulder (see the picture) along the path.

The northeast corner of Spruce Swamp is located at the intersection of the main woods road and a connecting road (heading west) to another woods road running parallel to the main woods road.  On the map the parallel road heads north and south, but the road south is virtually blocked off by overgrowing vegetation.  This second woods road is set in a shallow valley. I walked up it a short ways and then turned around.

PLANT LIST

Dr. Patrick L. Cooney

* = date in bloom 6/13/02

Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree of heaven)
Amelanchier arborea (shadbush)
Aralia spinosa (Hercules' club)
Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus prinus (chestnut oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Sambucus canadensis (common elderberry) 6/13/02
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)
Ulmus americana (American elm)

Shrubs:
Clethra alnifolia (sweet pepperbush)
Eubotrys racemosa (fetterbush)
Gaylussacia baccata (black huckleberry)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Ilex verticillata (winterberry) 6/13/02 soon
Kalmia latifolia (mountain laurel) 6/13/02
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Rhododendron viscosum (swamp azalea)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Vaccinium pallidum (hillside blueberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaf viburnum)
Viburnum dentatum (arrowwood viburnum)

Vines:
Amphicarpaea bracteata (hog peanut)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)



Herbs:
Achillea millefolium (yarrow) 6/13/02 soon
Actaea alba (white baneberry)
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed)
Apocynum cannabinum (Indian hemp)
Aralia nudicaulis (wild sarsaparilla)
Arisaema triphyllum (Jack in the pulpit)
Aster divaricatus (white wood aster)
Aureolaria flava (smooth false foxglove)
Baptisia tinctoria (yellow wild indigo)
Cerastium vulgatum (mouse-ear chickweed) 6/13/02
Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (ox-eye daisy)
Circaea lutetiana (enchanter's nightshade)
Desmodium rotundifolium (round-leaved tick trefoil)
Dianthus armeria (Deptford pink) 6/13/02
Epipactis helleborine (helleborine orchid)
Erigeron annuus (daisy fleabane) 6/13/02
Eupatorium rugosum (white snakeroot)
Galium circaezens (wild licorice)
Galium mollugo (wild madder) 6/13/02
Geranium maculatum (wild geranium)
Geum canadense (white avens)
Hieracium venosum (rattlesnake hawkweed) 6/13/02
Hydrocotyle umbellata (water pennywort)
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed)
Krigia biflora (two-flowered Cynthia) 6/13/02
Lactuca canadensis (wild lettuce)
Lotus corniculatus (birdfoot trefoil) 6/13/02
Lycopus virginicus (Virginia bugleweed)
Lysimachia quadrifolia (whorled loosestrife)
Maianthemum canadense (Canada mayflower)
Medicago lupulina (black medick) 6/13/02
Melampyrum lineare (cowwheat) 6/13/02
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel) 6/13/02
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonatum pubescens (hairy true Solomon's sea)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed)6/13/02
Polygonum sagittatum (arrow-leaved tearthumb)
Potentilla canadensis (dwarf cinquefoil)
Prenanthes altissima (tall white lettuce)
Pyrola elliptica (round-leaved pyrola)
Smilacina racemosa (false Solomon's seal)
Solidago caesia (blue-stem goldenrod)
Trifolium pratense (red clover) 6/13/02
Trifolium repens (white clover) 6/13/02
Triodanis perfoliata (Venus' looking glass)
Uvularia sessilifolia (sessile-leaved bellwort)
Veratrum viride (swamp hellebore) 6/13/02
Viola palmata (arrow-leaved violet)

Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)
Luzula multiflora (wood rush)

Sedges:
Carex crinita (sedge)
Carex laxiflora type (sedge)
Carex lurida (sedge)
Carex pensylvanica (sedge)
Carex sp. (fat garlic sedge)
Carex vulpinoidea (sedge)
Scirpus atrovirens (dark-green bulrush)

Grasses:
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stilt grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)
Poa compressa (Canada bluegrass)

Ferns:
Dennstaedtia punctilobula (hay-scented fern)
Dryopteris marginalis (marginal woodfern)
Equisetum arvense (field horsetail)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)
Osmunda regalis (royal fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Pteridium aquilinum (bracken fern)
Thelypteris noveboracensis (New York fern)

Others:
Sphagnum sp. (sphagnum moss)