Maple ash hardwood swamp
(“Ash and Soft Maple Swamp” “Soft Maple & Black Ash” “Swamp of Black Ash, Soft Maple, and some Cedar” “Ash Swamp” “Ash and Maple Swamp”)
Near the mouths of tributaries including Ley Creek, Bloody Brook, Ninemile Creek.
These hardwood swamps typically occur in poorly-drained depressions or along the borders of large lakes. Seasonal fluctuations in water levels are minimal, and conditions are uniformly wet. The “soft” maple often noted here historically could be red (Acer rubrum), the species listed by Goodrich (1912) as frequently found on “low, swampy grounds near Onondaga Lake.” On the other hand it could also be the silver maple-red maple hybrid “Freeman’s maple” (Acer x freemanii), a commonly encountered “soft maple” of riparian areas and swamps in the Great Lakes watershed today.
Associate species in these hardwood swamps include green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) and American elm (Ulmus americana). Elm was a codominant prior to the onset of Dutch elm disease and elm yellows (Marks et al. 1992, Rowell 1992), and in some areas remains common today. The Jesuit missionaries who came to Onondaga in the 1650s report living in bark structures (for example, during the construction of the Ste. Marie Mission) and the bark used could have been elm which was widely used for roofing (Anderson 1982).
Other trees occurring in these swamps include black ash (F. nigra), white ash (F. americana), swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor), and possibly silver maple (Acer saccharinum). “Swamp oak,” presumably Q. bicolor, is specifically mentioned near the mouth of Ninemile Creek. Bur oak, Q. macrocarpa (Paine 1865), was reportedly abundant along the borders of Onondaga Lake, west side.
Characteristic shrubs in such swamps include winterberry (Ilex verticillata), spicebush (Lindera benzoin), various dogwoods (Cornus amomum, and C. sericea), viburnums (Viburnum recognitum, V. lentago, and V. cassinoides), speckled alder (Alnus incana ssp. rugosa), gooseberries (Ribes spp.), and sapling canopy trees. Characteristic herbs include sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis), skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), false nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica), wood-nettle (Laportea canadensis), cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea). Of these plants, alder, viburnum, and sensitive fern are mentioned in historical flora for Onondaga Lake, along with buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis).
Near the mouths of tributaries including Ley Creek, Bloody Brook, Ninemile Creek.
These hardwood swamps typically occur in poorly-drained depressions or along the borders of large lakes. Seasonal fluctuations in water levels are minimal, and conditions are uniformly wet. The “soft” maple often noted here historically could be red (Acer rubrum), the species listed by Goodrich (1912) as frequently found on “low, swampy grounds near Onondaga Lake.” On the other hand it could also be the silver maple-red maple hybrid “Freeman’s maple” (Acer x freemanii), a commonly encountered “soft maple” of riparian areas and swamps in the Great Lakes watershed today.
Associate species in these hardwood swamps include green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) and American elm (Ulmus americana). Elm was a codominant prior to the onset of Dutch elm disease and elm yellows (Marks et al. 1992, Rowell 1992), and in some areas remains common today. The Jesuit missionaries who came to Onondaga in the 1650s report living in bark structures (for example, during the construction of the Ste. Marie Mission) and the bark used could have been elm which was widely used for roofing (Anderson 1982).
Other trees occurring in these swamps include black ash (F. nigra), white ash (F. americana), swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor), and possibly silver maple (Acer saccharinum). “Swamp oak,” presumably Q. bicolor, is specifically mentioned near the mouth of Ninemile Creek. Bur oak, Q. macrocarpa (Paine 1865), was reportedly abundant along the borders of Onondaga Lake, west side.
Characteristic shrubs in such swamps include winterberry (Ilex verticillata), spicebush (Lindera benzoin), various dogwoods (Cornus amomum, and C. sericea), viburnums (Viburnum recognitum, V. lentago, and V. cassinoides), speckled alder (Alnus incana ssp. rugosa), gooseberries (Ribes spp.), and sapling canopy trees. Characteristic herbs include sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis), skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), false nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica), wood-nettle (Laportea canadensis), cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea). Of these plants, alder, viburnum, and sensitive fern are mentioned in historical flora for Onondaga Lake, along with buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis).