NANPS Fall Tour 2013
North American Native Plant Society Fall Tour 2013
Save the date: Sat Sept 21st 2013
Returning to SW Ontario to see more Carolinian forests including
NANPS' own conservation property at SHining Tree Woods, home to
a population of rare Cucumber Magnolia trees
Full day bus tour, details to come.
Reflections in a pnd at Backus Woods
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2012 Tour: CAROLINIAN WOODS OF SW ONTARIO
The unique Carolinian ecosystem of south-western Ontario is extremely rich in plant and animal species. It includes trees and shrubs such as the Kentucky Coffee Tree (Gymnocladus dioicus), Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica), Black Walnut (Juglans nigra), Sassafras (Sassafras albidum), Pawpaw (Asimina triloba), the Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) and Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida), as well as associated plants, birds, butterflies, fish, amphibians and mammals.
On September 22nd 2012 NANPS took a tour of some Carolinian sites in SW Ontario. The stops were: Backus Woods, Canada's largest remaining Carolinian Forest, with tall Tulip Trees, beautiful Flowering Dogwood, Black Gum and Sassafras, along with many ferns and wild flowers. The Arthur Langford Reserve, with its wetlands and rare species such as American Chestnut, Butternut, Black Gum and the Jefferson Salamander. The Jackson-Gunn Old Growth Forest, an American Beech /Sugar Maple community with many trees over 280 years old. Van Den Nest Nursery, a small, unique nursery specializing in native Carolinian trees and shrubs.
TOUR REPORT
Thirty NANPSters arrived at Backus Woods by bus and were joined by several people who had arrived by car. Wendy Cridland and Kevin Kavanagh led a two-hour tour of the southern part of the woods.
Kevin was very knowledgeable and pointed out many interesting things, such as the way Yellow Birches grow on old stumps. When the stump rots, the roots are left in the air like butresses.
We also saw shrubs such as Spice Bush and Maple-leaved Viburnum:
Peter Carson showed us around the Jackson-Gunn Old Growth Forest and the Arthur Langford Nature Reserve.
He showed us some mature beech trees, including this one which has a yelloe dot on it, left over from the 1990s when it was marked for felling. It also shows bullet wounds, from hunters discharging their weapons befofore leaving the forest. He also showed us an eagle's nest:
The final stop on the tour was the Van Der Nest Tree Nursery, where Julie kindly provided coffee and free seedlings for us to take home. She also provided a haywagon ride back up the hill to the bus, a great finish to an interesting and educational day out.
