Rich mesic hardwood forest
John Bartram, visiting the Onondaga village along Onondaga Creek in 1743, wrote:
In the afternoon I went on the western mountain, as I had the day before on the eastern; it was very rich and full of tall timber quite to the top; the trees were linden, elm, sugar maple, white walnut, oak, hickory and chesnut, besides ginseng, and most sort of herbs that grow on our rich limestone land (Bartram 1973).
The early botanist here aptly describes the rich mesophytic hardwood forest, as we call it today, possibly in the area of the current day Rand Tract. “Rich” refers to the availability of minerals such as calcium and magnesium, and to soils having neutral pH. These forests also tend to be species-rich, at least relative to other upland areas. NY Natural Heritage describes them as “hardwood forest that typically occurs on well-drained, moist soils of circumneutral pH” (Edinger et al. 2002). In CNY, these forests are often associated with areas of calcareous bedrock. Maple-basswood rich mesic forest can be distinguished from beech-maple mesic forest by the abundance of herbs in the herbaceous layer and the high species diversity of this layer, which often supports a variety of fern species and a strong component of spring ephemerals.
Compared to many other forest types in the region, the understory is species-rich. The ground flora is especially diverse, especially in forests where the ground was never ploughed. Many of these understory plants have ethnobotanical values and have been used for medicine, food, or fiber. In second growth woods that sprung up from abandoned fields once subject to the plough, or intensive grazing, the forest floor flora is much less diverse or missing altogether.
In the afternoon I went on the western mountain, as I had the day before on the eastern; it was very rich and full of tall timber quite to the top; the trees were linden, elm, sugar maple, white walnut, oak, hickory and chesnut, besides ginseng, and most sort of herbs that grow on our rich limestone land (Bartram 1973).
The early botanist here aptly describes the rich mesophytic hardwood forest, as we call it today, possibly in the area of the current day Rand Tract. “Rich” refers to the availability of minerals such as calcium and magnesium, and to soils having neutral pH. These forests also tend to be species-rich, at least relative to other upland areas. NY Natural Heritage describes them as “hardwood forest that typically occurs on well-drained, moist soils of circumneutral pH” (Edinger et al. 2002). In CNY, these forests are often associated with areas of calcareous bedrock. Maple-basswood rich mesic forest can be distinguished from beech-maple mesic forest by the abundance of herbs in the herbaceous layer and the high species diversity of this layer, which often supports a variety of fern species and a strong component of spring ephemerals.
Compared to many other forest types in the region, the understory is species-rich. The ground flora is especially diverse, especially in forests where the ground was never ploughed. Many of these understory plants have ethnobotanical values and have been used for medicine, food, or fiber. In second growth woods that sprung up from abandoned fields once subject to the plough, or intensive grazing, the forest floor flora is much less diverse or missing altogether.