Hayden Woods: http://www.noodletools.com/noodlebib/citeone_s.

php A Self-guided Nature Walk

Created by Carolyn Plourde and Barbara Tarrh

The following is a self-guided walk of Hayden Woods in Lexington, Massachusetts. Our intention is to provide the general public with an educational tool and reference. We hope that it will enhance the users experience of this valuable property, and encourage the conservation of open land in towns like Lexington. Please read through the guide and refer to the map on the last page as a resource if you are unfamiliar with Hayden Woods. Each station corresponds to the numbered area indicated on the map.

Introduction
Hayden Woods Conservation Area displays an appealing variety of habitats collected in nearly 80 acres that border Hayden Avenue and Waltham Street. Although accessed from neighborhood streets, the area feels isolated from the surrounding heavily trafficked roads. It is a reforested pasture and farm with a red maple swamp, oak-hickory-white pine woods, old apple trees, large wolf trees, and an impressive array of wildflowers in the spring.

History
The land comprising this parcel was farmed and pastured for over 300 years. Portions of the property have seen use as woodlot, apple orchard, dairy, rifle range and turkey farm. An old produce road connecting to Salem, Massachusetts cuts across the southern portion of the land. This was also the original intended site of the Burlington Mall. Fortunately, in the 1960s and 1970s the Lexington Conservation Commission was able to purchase various lots that make up the property that exists today. The many trails that crisscross the land are managed by the Lexington Conservation Stewards, a volunteer group that works in conjunction with the Town of Lexington Conservation Commission. For more information, please visit the Commissions webpage at:
http://www.lexingtonma.org/conservation/

Suggestions for Use

This nature walk begins at the end of Valleyfield Drive. Parking here is limited and the property is surrounded by homes to the north and west and commercial buildings to the south. Note driveways and mailbox locations when deciding where to park your vehicle. The trail begins in a lower wet area, and insect repellant is advisable as needed. In addition, during the summer months the Valleyfield entrance becomes overgrown and somewhat impenetrable. You may want to proceed to the Cutler Farm Road entrance in this case. Be aware that there are trails other than those identified in this guide. Orient yourself to the suggested route by looking at the trail map found at the end of the guide. The particular focus of this walk is the diverse flora to be found in Hayden Woods; field guides and books on native natural history, like those mentioned on the last page, may be helpful for anyone looking for more information about plants and plant identification.

June, 2007

Hayden Woods
Station 1 Playground area
As you proceed through the old playground and field, take a moment to note the plants surrounding the open area. Here as in many suburban edge habitats youll notice a large number of invasive, nonnative species, including multiflora rose, bittersweet vine, buckthorn and garlic mustard. These plants generally find their origins in places other than New England, particularly Asia and Europe. They out-compete our native flora as they are generalists that are able to complete their lifecycles rapidly. As a result, they push out our native plants, disrupting

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the complex ecosystems that have developed in the area. For more information on what invasive plants to avoid in your own gardens (the source of many of these wild populations), and what efforts are being made to deal with these vigorous competitors to our native flora, check out Invasive Plants: A Guide to Identification and the Impacts and Control of Common North American Species by Kaufman, or log onto the Invasive Plant Atlas of New England website at www.ipane.org.

Invasive smooth buckthorn

Station 2 Valleyfield St. extension

The wetlands along the Valleyfield Rd. extension are nurseries for many amphibian and insect species.
Across from the Valleyfield St. entrance to the property, notice the path proceeding through the low and wet red maple swamp. Youll be able to see parallel track marks indicating an old road. This road was used as recently as 100 years ago by the Cutler family, who farmed, timbered and pastured cows on this land. Today it forms the broad beginning to your walk in Hayden Woods. In early spring, the wet habitat here is home to a number of interesting herbaceous plants, including skunk cabbage, sensitive fern and cattail. Skunk cabbage is one of the earliest flowering plants; in fact, during late winter the emerging plant can be warm enough to melt snow! Look for the odd, rolled up sheath to the flower parts, whose rank smell attracts early insect pollinators. Sensitive fern (so-called because its fronds are among the first to wither during fall frosts) can be seen in almost any season due to its persistent dried stalks of dark spore capsules that look similar to winding rows of brown beads. Cattial, perhaps our most significant native wetland plant, can be found in the marshy area to the right. Although its growth is challenged by human development and botanical invasives, cattails many potential uses rival those of rice and corn. Various parts are edible in every season, while wildlife uses the plant for nesting as well as various insect associates for food. During winter and early spring months, you can find the tiny round yellow buds of the spicebush in the dense shrub layer here. Early in April, look for the beautiful tiny yellow flowers, possibly massed in a faint lemony haze in the distance. At any season, gently scrape a bit of bark from the edge of a twig to inhale this plants wonderful spicy fragrance. Colonists used spicebush as a substitute for allspice fruit, and it is also a host plant for the swallowtail butterfly. The canopy of this part of the woods is made up of slippery elm, red maple and bigtoothed aspen. Find the distinctive leaves of each in summer and fall as you walk along the boardwalks. The doubletoothed leaves of the slippery elm are sandpapery to the touch great for kids on a sensory search. Also, notice that there is something red about the red maple regardless of season. In the spring, the beautiful red flowers and samara-shaped seed keys are spectacular. During the summer, the leaf stems are distinctly red, and in the fall the small scarlet maple-shaped leaves are unmistakable. Finally, triangular bigtoothed aspen leaves can be distinguished not only by their large coarse teeth, but also by the flattened leaf stalks, which cause the leaves to flutter in the breeze. Proceed along this path as it rises toward the upland part of the property. Just before the crest of the hill, you will notice an inconspicuous path leading both right and left. Follow the left-hand path into the woods. Youve gone too far if you reach a main T-shaped intersection.

Flowering skunk cabbage

Spicebush in bloom

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Hayden Woods

Station 3 Old apple orchard

As you move along this oak-forested section, note the understory layer of plants. The path winds among ridges of glacial debris. Notice the abundant remnants of an old apple orchard, planted in the mid-1800s. In early spring youll find beautiful pinkish white, 5-petaled fragrant flowers. Come back in late summer to observe many small sour fruits, an excellent source of food for wildlife. In addition to the invasive winged euonymous, you can find many species of native shrubs. At the beginning of the path, look for maple-leaved viburnum, most noticeable in late spring with its umbrella-shaped cluster of creamy white flowers, and foliage shaped like maple leaves. In fall, these fuzzy leaves turn a delightful pink tint. Highbush blueberry in flower Both lowbush and highbush blueberry appear scattered throughout these woods as well as along this path. Look for the small dangling urn-shaped flowers early in May. These flowers host many insects seeking nectar, including bees that sometimes shake their pollen prize loose by vibrating the flowers! Unfortunately, birds such as titmice and catbirds as well as chipmunks, mice and skunks will find the ripe fruits before you do. This particular area of Hayden Woods is also home to many spring ephemeral flowers, such as nodding trillium, wood anemone, and ladys slipper. Early in the spring, before the tree canopy has leafed out, these flowers bloom and complete their reproductive cycle, taking advantage of unfiltered sunshine and early pollinators. By midsummer the aboveground portion of the plants have either diminished or disappeared altogether. Without exception, they are fragile plants, best enjoyed at a distance. Our native spring ephemerals should never be collected; attempts at transplanting are rarely successful. Wood anemone
look around the base of trees for small colonies of tiny 5petaled white flowers flowers open and close in response to the amount of light

Ladys slipper
beautiful native pink orchid complex relationship with underground fungus takes years for dust-like seeds to germinate and grow to maturity

Trillium
3-petaled white nodding flower petals curve back at tips takes up to 6 years to bloom

Station 4 Old Carriage Trail

As you loop back to the main path, the plant mix changes again. The path widens youre back to an old carriage trail and the dominant tree is clearly oak, whose leaves are distinctly lobed. Stop and pick up a few leaves from the ground and notice whether the lobes are rounded or have small pointed tips. If tips are present, the leaf is from a red/ black oak group think of the horns of the devil. If rounded, the lobes indicate a white oak like the White oak leaf wings of an angel. On the left, note the small evergreen ground cover of clubmosses, which might be mistaken for some miniature evergreen trees. Instead, they are mature plants whose relatives in prehistoric time grew to be tree-sized. As you proceed along, the shrub layer becomes a bit more noticeably evergreen as the leathery leaves of the sheep laurel become apparent. This relative of horticultural mountain laurel produces pretty pink flowers during the spring. If you come upon a flowering plant, look closely at the ingenious flower design, with the stamens arranged around flowers center, but with their pollen-loaded tips tucked into little depressions at the flowers edge. The stamens will spring out of the depressions when touched in order to fling pollen on a pollinator!

The petite club moss is a mature plant whose prehistoric relatives grew to be tree-sized.

Hayden Woods
Old Carriage Trail, cont.
During the spring, look for more spring ephemerals -- starflower and Indian cucumber root -- on this trail. Both are common New England native wildflowers with unusual features. Starflowers visible plant parts are grouped in 7s 7 leaves, petals and sepals. Indian cucumber has an interesting 2-tiered growth pattern, with one whorl of leaves arranged high above another. Yellow flowers hang from the upper whorl of leaves and are spidery in appearance. In winter, youll notice 2 of the highest points in these woods, visible as twin hummocks off to the right. Along this section of the path youll find the occasional hazelnut, a wild cousin of the filbert. Its tiny red flowers, resembling something from a Dr. Seuss book, emerge early in March before the shrub leafs out. The hard shelled nut provides excellent food for wildlife, and was considered to be good luck by the Irish.

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Starflower

Wild geranium As the path intersects with your original route into the woods, proceed to the left where you will eventually pass an old artillery blind, left over from this sites use as a rifle practice range. Alongside, notice a number of woodland flowers, including whorled loosestrife, and wild geranium. These pretty 5-petaled purple flowers are not related to the potted geraniums youll find at the garden center. Wild geraniums common name cranesbill refers to the female flower part, which lengthens and resembles a cranes bill when ripe with seed. Bear to the right after the blind youll head west and downhill. About 50 yards down the path, you will find a large tree trunk blocking your way. Proceed past this felled tree (look for animal scat on top!) toward the swampy area at the bottom.

Indian cucumber root

Developing hazelnut fruit

Station 5 Red Maple Swamp

As you transition toward the seasonal swamp below, look for sweet pepper bush along each side of the path. This shrub is easily identified year round by means of its distinctive fruits, which persist throughout the winter and resemble peppercorns. The creamy white flowers which bloom later in the summer exude a perfume so strong that the scent supposedly told early sea captains they were close to land, and thus earned the plant the common name sailors delight. While walking across this wet area on the boardwalk, stop to appreciate the alien quality of this part of Hayden Woods. Despite the hum of traffic from Route 2 to your left, there is a sense of solitude and mystery, magnified by the mossy tilted trunks of red maples growing profusely here. Halfway across the boardwalk, look for the red stems of dogwood happily thriving in the wet and muck. During the summer look for sparse umbels of small white flowers on these shrubs. This wet area teems with birds, including the occasional mallard.

Sweet pepper bush can be identified year round by its persistent fruits, which resemble peppercorns.

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Hayden Woods
seed covering, youll be amazed at the beautiful robins egg blue color inside. Cross the low stone wall, a prime spot for rodents and their predator, the garter snake, and proceed to the right. This cart road is Old Shade St. In previous centuries it was known as a Native American trade route called the Virginia Path, which led through Lexington and on to the Shawsheen River. You are treading a route that has been in use for literally hundreds of years.

Red Maple Swamp, cont.

As you leave the swampy area, the path becomes more overgrown and close. Keep a close eye out for the 3-leaved poison ivy (photo pg 6). Then, amid the invasive garlic mustard and buckthorn which threaten to overwhelm this section of the trail, look for jack-in-the-pulpit and the intricate flowers and explosive seed pods of jewelweed. The pulpit of jack-in-the-pulpit refers to the striped flower part called the spathe, which acts as a hood over the other major flower part or spadix (Jack). If conditions are favorable, this three-leaved plant will produce bright red berries on the spadix in the fall. Jewelweed (or touch-me-not) is a relative of our common garden plant the impatiens. The pretty and unusually shaped orange flowers bloom all summer long and resemble jewels, as do the leaves that shimmer silver when held under water. The juices of this plant can be used to relieve the itch of poison ivy. When jewelweed pods are ripe with seeds, its fun to touch them and watch them explode! If you carefully remove the ripe

The hooded appearance of the pulpit is a reminder of the roofed design that preachers would use to project their sermons.

Station 6 Upland trail (Burns Rd. ext.)

A hundred yards along Old Shade St., follow the trail to the right again. (During the late winter and early spring, you may notice the sound of flowing water. A charming troll bridge on the left leads to one of several neighborhood access points.) Bear instead to the right, where you will notice many young pignut hickory saplings concentrated in small groves. By observing the many intersecting stone walls in this area, it becomes clear that former field and pasture are reverting to oak and hickory forest, a process known as succession. The buds of hickory are huge, and fascinating to watch unfold in early spring. Pignut hickory gets its name from the bitter-tasting nuts that farmers would use only as mast for feeding pigs and hogs. However, these days, nuts produced by this tree provide an excellent Emerging hickory food source for wildlife such as leaf squirrels, chipmunks and birds. A smaller tree with equally interesting qualities is the sassafras, which you will find interspersed here and there along the path. Notice the varying leaf shapes frequently there will be as many as 3 on one sapling. A gentle scratch of one of the distinctly green twigs reveals the scent of root beer. Native Americans used this tree as a panacea for many ills, although there is little evidence today of medicinal value. As the path gently climbs toward the north, you may notice that the forest floor is covered with leaf litter and rotting tree trunks. However, if you look carefully youll find wood violets in the spring and spotted pipsissewa year-round. Native Americans used the leaves of this tiny plant as tobacco. Also observe many low raspberry and dewberry shrubs, especially on your left, as well as the higher branches of high-bush blueberry on either side. And about 2/3 of your way along this section of your walk, notice a tall, sparsely needled evergreen with rough, plate-like bark on your right. This is not the white pine so ubiquitous in these woods, but is instead a pitch pine. If you can find a fallen group of needles, see that the bundles are in 3s like a pitchfork -- an identifying feature of this tree. This species was formerly tapped for its sticky resin to make turpentine.

Sassafras leaves

Oval-leaved violet

Pitch pine bark

Hayden Woods
Station 7 Glacial Boulder
As you follow the gentle incline up to the top portion of this trial, you will notice a large glacial erratic boulder on the trail to your right. During summer and fall note the 5leaved vine draped over the stones in this area. This is Virginia creeper, sometimes confused with poison ivy -- especially in the autumn when the leaves turn a brilliant red color while the fruit turns blue. But there are 5 leaves radiating out from a central point, not 3, and if you look carefully youll also notice the little circular pads that attach the vine to its support. The berries are a favorite food of the red-bellied woodpecker, among the many bird species youll find in these woods. Before continuing, take a moment to explore the trees behind and below this boulder. If you are careful, youll spot the green striped bark and large (dinner-plate sized!) leaves of the striped maple. An understory tree and a more northern species of maple, the seed for this tree may perhaps have been brought White birch

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Virginia creeper is sometimes confused with poison ivy.

here by a migratory bird, or may have escaped someones garden. Striped maple is also known as moosewood or goosefoot maple, the former because moose love to Striped maple browse on the bark of this tree, in bloom and the latter due to its goosefoot shaped leaf. In addition to red and white oaks, there are white birches with their peeling, white bark, an adaptation by the tree to deal with temperature variations. Also known as paper birch, this tree species provided Native Americans with bark for writing, as well as for waterproofing their canoes. You may find an occasional white ash tucked away here too. The durable hard wood of this tree is still used today to make baseball bats.

Station 8 Loose boulders/lowland

Take the right fork, and as you work your way eastward and down the path, notice many examples of both forms of poison ivy. Do not handle this plant. In spring, some of the sparse, shrubby versions of this plant will have spikes of greenish white flowers. By winter, these have developed into a collection of white berries at the tips of the twigs. You will find a second form of the plant climbing many tree trunks with obvious hairy rootlets. On the positive side, the plants berries provide food for birds, and poison ivy can actually help diminish erosion. spring. Also look for interrupted fern, whose spores are borne midstalk, thereby interrupting the green fronds. Sessile bellwort is another spring ephemeral found here. An interesting fact: These solitary, drooping Sessile yellow flowers are bellwort members of the species Uvularia, so named for the flowers supposed resemblance to the uvula, the soft dangling tissue that hangs above the throat. During the warm summer months, you may find some mature skunk cabbage among the rampant poison ivy. The large leaves are particularly rank when crushed. Another wildflower also growing in this spot is easily confused with skunk cabbage. False hellebores emerging leaves look cabbage-like but on closer examination appear vertically pleated. Later in the season the leaves give rise to a dramatic spike of yellow flowers. All parts of this plant are poisonous.

Poison ivy

The path bottoms out among many strewn boulders. During months when leaves are absent from the trees, you can see these remains of glacial debris. Stop here and be reminded that 10,000 years ago Lexington was covered by a glacier more than a mile thick. The long-ago melting of ice has left a trail of evidence in many places, including this little swale. Ferns are common here, including the cinnamon fern. This fern is easily identified by the intensely cinnamon-colored fruiting bodies that appear in the center of the vaseshaped fronds in June. The curled, unopened fiddleheads of this plant can be cooked as a delicate green early in the

Cinnamon fern

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Hayden Woods

Station 9 Stone bench and woods behind

After passing through the boulder field, cross a stone wall and bear to the right. You will soon see a marble bench, from which you can take a moment to simply enjoy the quiet of the white pine woods around you. One reason that this particular spot feels so quiet is the dense layer of pine needles on the ground. They are in bundles of 5; you can spell W-H-I-T-E to remember theyre from white pine. This species of tree was of enormous importance to early colonists, for both trade and shipbuilding. From the bench, retrace your steps for a few feet and resume your walk on the path to your right. After crossing another low stone wall, you will find yourself in an upland area dominated by oak and pine. A search in the woods to your right may reveal the remnants of some of the most magnificent trees to have inhabited our New England woods. The American chestnut will appear as 6-foot tall snags alongside sprouts with elongated oval leaves with deep hook-like teeth. A hundred years ago, the tree would have reached heights in excess of 80 feet, but an imported chestnut blight decimated the population from the 1930s to the 1950s. These few straggling sprouts are all that remain in what ecologists have termed the greatest botanical disaster in history. The shrub layer in this part of the woods includes huckleberry and blackberry. On the forest floor, look for wintergreen. If you see the small round evergreen leaves of this plant in enough abundance, you can pick a leaf and bruise it to smell the wintergreen fragrance. Native Americans and early colonists used this plant as a tea and headache remedy. Also plentiful here are Indian pipes, also known as corpse plant, which gets its nourishment from underground fungi. It will turn black if touched. Continuing along this path will bring you to your entry point into the woods proper (Station 3). From here, you can proceed to the left and down the old cart track back to the open field and Valleyfield St.

These sparse sprouts [of American Chestnut] are the remnants of some of the most magnificent trees to have inhabited our New England woods.

Indian pipes

Closing
We hope youve enjoyed a small taste of the botanical treats to be found at Hayden Woods. As you might guess, there are many additional species of both plants and wildlife to be discovered here. Exploring the woods at different seasons will give you an idea of the ferns, mushrooms and other fungus in the various habitats. Come during the winter to see tracks of fox and perhaps fisher, in addition to those of numerous squirrels and rabbits. During the warmer months, if youre quiet and observant, youll see American toads and garter snakes. Bird species abound, especially near the wet areas that provide so many of their food sources, both plant- and insect- based. The Hayden Woods conservation area is a remarkable and varied oasis of natural beauty in a busy suburb. Its trails are used daily for a variety of purposes for solitude or

education, for exercise and for dog walking. It is wise to keep those many uses in mind when you come. Take nothing with you when you leave, and be sure that your careful footprints the only remainder of your visit. "Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children." Ancient Native American Proverb Shelf fungus

American toad

Partial Species List

A publication of CLC Citizens for Lexington Conservation http://www.lexingtonma. org/clc/HomePage.htm
! Alternate leaved

dogwood
! American beech ! American chestnut ! American hazelnut ! American toad ! American yew ! Arrowood ! Aster spp ! Bedstraw ! Big tooth aspen ! Bittersweet ! Black birch ! Blackberry ! Bloodroot ! Blue-stemmed

This publication was created by the authors as a final project for certificates in native plant studies from the New England Wildflower Society. NEWFS is the premiere organization for advocacy and conservation of native plants in our area. For an extensive list of educational and horticultural opportunities see their website at: www.newfs.org

goldenrod
! Bracken fern ! Bush honeysuckle ! Butternut ! Buttonbush ! Canada mayflower ! Catbrier ! Cattail ! Celandine ! Choke cherry ! Cinnamon fern ! Club mosses ! Common blue violet ! Common juniper ! Crab apple ! Dame's rocket ! Dwarf cinquefoil ! Elderberry ! Enchanter's

! Ground nut ! Hay-scented fern ! Heart-leaved aster ! High bush cranberry ! High bush blueberry ! Hooked crowfoot ! Huckleberry ! Indian cucumber root ! Indian pipe ! Interrupted fern ! Jack-in-the-pulpit ! Lady slipper ! Low bush blueberry ! Maple-leaf viburnum ! Money plant (garden

escape)
! Motherwort ! Mountain ash ! Multiflora rose ! Nodding trillium ! Northern bugleweed ! Northern white violet ! Ovate-leaved violet ! Pignut hickory ! Pink lady's slipper ! Pitch pine ! Poison ivy ! Prince's pine

! Purple chokeberry ! Red cedar ! Red osier dogwood ! Round-leaved pyrola ! Sassafras ! Sensitive fern ! Sessile bellwort ! Shagbark hickory ! Slippery elm ! Smartweeds ! Solomon seal ! Spotted pipsissewa ! Star flower ! Striped maple ! Swamp dewberry ! Viburnum (garden

escape)
! Virginia creeper ! White birch ! White oak ! Whorled loosestrife ! Wild geranium/

nightshade
! False Solomon seal ! Flowering dogwood ! Fox grape ! Glossy (smooth)

cranesbill
! Wild sarsaparilla ! Willow ! Winged euonymus ! Wood anemone ! Yarrow

Buckthorn
! Goldenrod spp ! Gooseberry ! Grape ! Ground ivy

Additional Resources
Eastman, John. Book of Forest and Thicket (Trees, Shrubs and Wildflowers of Eastern North America). Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1992. Sanders, Jack. The Secrets of Wildflowers, A Delightful Feast of Little-known Facts. Guilford, CT: The Lyons Press, 2005. Theriet, John W. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, Eastern Region. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001.