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Native Vascular Plant Inventory of Eagle Heights Woods, Wally Bauman Woods and North Shore Woods (now Tent Colony Woods)

Joshua Sulman July 25, 1998

  This plant inventory includes the species seen during the period from late April to late July, 1998, on walks at weekly intervals through the western three sections of the Preserve.  Also included are some species seen other years and some not yet blooming at the end of July, but observed in a vegetative state.

            The three areas observed were Eagle Heights Woods, Wally Bauman Woods, and the western part of Tent Colony Woods.  Each section has a unique topography and microclimate resulting in different sets of plant communities and species for each area. Eagle Heights has a steep north-facing hillside and a shallower slope to the south, and is entirely wooded.  The north-facing side is so steep in some areas that there are exposed rock ledges, with characteristic cliff plants on them.  The cooler microclimate allows for plant species not found on the south face of the hill.  The woods is a characteristic Southern Dry-Mesic Forest, with a tall canopy dominated by red oak.  The top of Eagle Heights is drier with a canopy of mainly white oak, and a groundlayer characteristic of a Southern Dry Forest.  The other sides of the hill grade between these two forest types, with some species found on some sides and not others.  In the spring, plants of the same species bloom about a week earlier on the south slope than on the north slope of Eagle Heights.

            Wally Bauman Woods continues in the Dry-Mesic Forest of the north side of Eagle Heights down toward the lake.  The slope is not quite as steep as in Eagle Heights, but is still a good climb.  Lake Mendota is about 150 feet lower than the top of Eagle Heights.  There are some cliff-like areas of erosion along the shore with associated cliff species. 

            To the east into Tent Colony Woods, the forest grades into a Mesic Forest of mostly sugar maple.  In the interior, the groundlayer is sparse except for a few spring ephemerals.  Along the shore, there are hints that the area was once more open, with some open-grown oaks and savanna wildflowers.  Near the parking lot, around the small beach and cliff are a number of interesting plant species not found in the rest of the three sections observed.  The situations are associated with Shaded Cliff and Exposed Cliff communities.  Along Lake Mendota Drive on the south side of Tent Colony Woods, there are plants that arrived there and had an advantage growing in the disturbance of the road embankment that are not found elsewhere in the areas observed.

 

In the table below, numbers following native species and lower-case letters following non-native species correspond to the map for local species.

 

           W = Wally Bauman Woods

            E = Eagle Heights Woods

            N = North Shore (Tent Colony) Woods, the part west of the parking lot

 

Letters follow names of plants with a wide distribution in the specified areas.
(These distributions may not be completely accurate!)

 

Native Species

Acer negundo (box elder)  W, E, N  

Acer rubrum (red maple)  1 

Acer saccharum (sugar maple) W, N 

Actaea rubra (red baneberry) W,E,N 

Adiantum pedatum (maidenhair fern) W,E 

Agrimonia gryposepala (agrimony)  W,E,N

Amelanchier spicata (serviceberry)  2

Amphicarpa bracteata (hog peanut) W,E

Anemone virginiana (thimbleweed) W,E,N

Anemone quinquefolia (wood anemone) E

Apocynum sp. (dogbane) E  

Aquilegia canadensis (columbine) W,E,N

Arabis hirsuta  (hairy rock cress) 3  needs verification

Aralia nudicaulis (wild sarsaparilla) W,E,N

Aralia racemosa (spikenard) 4

Arisaema triphyllum (jack-in-the-pulpit) W,E,N

Asclepias exaltata (poke milkweed) 5

Aster spp. W,E,N 

Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern) W,E

Betula papyrifera (white birch) 6

Carex cephalophora E

Carex convoluta W,E,N

Carex pennsylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge) E

Carex sprengelii 7 Carex needs verification

Carya ovata (shagbark hickory) W,E,N

Caulophyllum thalictroides (blue cohosh) E

Celastrus scandens (bittersweet) W,E

Celtis occidentalis (hackberry) W,E,N

Circaea quadrisulcata (enchanter’s nightshade)  W,E,N

Clematis virginiana  (virgin’s bower)  8  needs verification

Cornus alternifolia (alternate-leaved dogwood)  W,E,N

Cornus racemosa (gray dogwood) W,E,N

Cornus rugosa (round-leaved dogwood) E

Corylus americana (hazelnut) E

Cystopteris fragilis (fragile fern) 9

Desmodium glutinosum (tick trefoil) W,E,N

Dicentra cucullaria (Dutchman’s breeches) W,E,N

Diervilla lonicera (bush honeysuckle)  10  needs verification

Dioscorea villosa (wild yam) W,E

Dodecatheon meadia (shooting star) 11

Elymus canadensis (wild rye) 12

Elymus villosus (wild rye also) 13

Epilobium coloratum (willow-herb) 14

Erechtites hieracifolia (burnweed) E

Erigeron annuus (fleabane) W,E,N

Eupatorium purpureum (sweet joe-pye-weed) E

Eupatorium rugosum (white snakeroot) W,E,N

Fraxinus americana (white ash) W,E,N

Galium aparine (cleavers) E

Galium concinnum (bedstraw) E

Geranium maculatum (wild geranium) W,E,N

Geum canadense (white avens) W,E,N

Hackelia virginiana (stickseed) E

Helianthus strumosus (woodland sunflower) W
Hepatica acutiloba (sharp-lobed hepatica) W,E

Heuchuera richardsonii (alum root) E,N

Hydrophyllum virginiana (virginia waterleaf)  W,E,N

Impatiens pallida (pale touch-me-not) 15

Juglans spp. (walnut, butternut) W,E 

Juncus tenuis (trail rush)  W,E,N

Juniperus virginiana (red cedar) W,N

Lonicera prolifera (wild honeysuckle) E

Menispermum canadense (moonseed) E

Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot) W,E,N

Monotropa uniflora (Indian pipe) W

Osmorhiza longistylis (sweet cicely) 17

Ostrya virginiana (ironwood) W,E,N

Oxalis stricta (yellow wood-sorrel) W,E,N

Parietaria pennsylvanica (pellitory) W,E,N

Parthenocissus vitacea (Virginia creeper) W,E,N

Pellaea atropurpurea (purple-stemmed cliffbrake) 18

Phytolacca americana (pokeweed) 19

Phryma leptostachya (lopseed) W,E,N

Pilea pumila (clearweed) E

Podophyllum peltatum (mayapple) W,E,N

Polygonatum biflorum (Solomon’s seal) W,E,N

Polygonum virginianum (jumpseed) E

Populus grandidentata (bigtooth aspen) N

Populus deltoides (cottonwood) 20

Potentilla simplex (old-field cinquefoil) W

Prenanthes sp. (white lettuce) W,E,N  Prunus pennsylvanica (pin cherry) 21

Prunus serotina (black cherry) W,E,N

Prunus virginiana (choke cherry) W,E,N

Quercus alba (white oak) W,E,N

Quercus borealis (red oak) W,E,N

Quercus macrocarpa (bur oak) 22

Ranunculus abortivus (small-flowered buttercup)  W,E,N

Ranunculus fascicularis (early buttercup) 23

Rhus radicans (poison ivy) W,E,N

Rhus typhina (staghorn sumac) 24

Ribes cynobasti (prickly gooseberry) W,E,N

Rosa blanda (meadow rose) 25

Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry) W,E

Sambucus pubens (red-berried elderberry) E

Sanguinaria canadensis (bloodroot) W,E,N

Sanicula gregaria (black snakeroot) 26

Scrophularia lanceolata (figwort) E,N

Smilacina racemosa  (false Solomon’s seal) W,E,N

Smilax lasioneura (carrion flower) E

Solidago flexicaulis (zig-zag goldenrod) W,E,N

Thalictrum dioicum (early meadow rue) W,E,N

Tilia americana (basswood) W,E,N

Triosteum perfoliatum (tinker’s weed) 27

Ulmus rubra (slippery elm) W,E,N

Uvularia grandiflora (bellwort) W,E,N

Verbena urtricifolia (white vervain) W,E,N

Veronica sp.   (speedwell) 28  needs verification

Veronicastrum virginicum (Culver’s root) W,E

Viburnum lentago (nannyberry) E

Viburnum rafinesquianum (downy arrowwood) E

Viola papilionacea (common blue violet) W,E,N

Viola pubescens (downy yellow violet) W,E,N

Viola sororia (woolly blue violet) E

Vitis riparia (wild grape) W,E,N

Xanthoxylum americanum (prickly ash) 29

 

Non-Native or Other Species

Acer platanoides (Norway maple) E

Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) W,E,N

Asparagus officinalis  E,N

Catalpa speciosa E

Echinochloa crusgalli (barnyard grass)  a

Epipactis helliborine b

Glecoma hederacea (creeping Charlie) E

Homo sapiens (human)

Leonurus cardiaca (motherwort)  E

Lonicera tatarica (Tartarian honeysuckle)  W,E,N

Morus alba (white mulberry) E

Nepeta cataria (catnip)

Pinus strobus (white pine) E

Prunella vulgaris (heal-all) W,E,N

Rhamnus cathartica (European buckthorn)  W,E,N

Rhamnus frangula  c

Ribes sativum (garden currant)  d

Solanum dulcamara (deadly nightshade) W

Urtica dioica (stinging nettle)   e

Viburnum lantana (wayfaring tree)  f

Viburnum opulus W,E,N

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