Category: Trees

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/19/19 Observation Time: 3:45 p.m. Observation Location: Billings Loop Botanical Trail Common Name: Pignut Hickory Tree Scientific Name: Carya glabya Comments: This tree is one of many plants identified along a botanical trail established by Kurt Buermann, President of the Sharon Friends of Conservation. More Information: Wikipedia

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/19/19 Observation Time: 3:25 p.m. Observation Location: Billings Loop Botanical Trail Common Name: American Witchhazel Scientific Name: Hamamelis virginiana Comments: This specimen was observed in a shady, wooded area near the Sharon Friends of Conservation botanical trail. More Information: Carolina Nature

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/19/19 Observation Time: 3:10 p.m. Observation Location: Billings Loop Botanical Trail Common Name: American Beech Tree Scientific Name: Fagus grandifolia Comments: These specimens were observed in a shady, wooded area. The American Beech is a shade-tolerant species, favoring shade more than other trees, commonly found in forests in the final stage of succession. Ecological succession is essentially the process of forests changing their […]

Observer: Deborah Radovsky   Observation Date: 12/20/18 Observation Time: early morning Observation Location: Conservation trail near the lake (dog park trail) Common Name: White Pine Scientific Name: Pinus strobus Comments: White pines can live over 500 years and grow to more than 150 feet tall. More Information: Wikipedia O

Observer: Kathy Farrell Observation Date: 10/31/18 Observation Location: Mountain Street area Common Name: Witchhazel Scientific Name: Hamamelis virginiana Comments: Small tree, very common in some areas off Mountain Street. Known for reducing skin inflammations such as acne. Used by Native Americans for dousing sticks to find water. Small yellow blossoms in October. Leaves turn yellow in autumn. More Information: https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/hamamelis_virginiana.shtml

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 7/7/18 Observation Time: 3:15 p.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Farm (TTOR) Common Name: Butternut (White Walnut) Scientific Name: Juglans cinerea Comments: Butternut is a deciduous tree growing to 20 m (66 ft) tall, rarely 40 m (130 ft). Butternut is a slow-growing species, and rarely lives longer than 75 years. It has a 40–80 cm (16–31 in) stem diameter, with light gray bark. More Information: Wikipedia and Arbor Day Foundation

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/22/18 Observation Time: 9:35 a.m. Observation Location: banks of Beaver Brook (upstream of the tennis courts) Common Name: Atlantic White Cedar tree Scientific Name: Chamaecyparis thyoides Comments: Atlantic White Cedars live almost exclusively in freshwater wetlands and are considered an obligate wetland species. They prefer habitats where the soil is saturated with water at least during the majority of the growing season. Though this tree […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/22/18 Observation Time: 10:55 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Carolina Silverbell tree Scientific Name: Halesia carolina Comments: Carolina silverbell is a vigorous, fast-growing deciduous shrub or tree growing to 8 m (26 ft) tall by 10 m (33 ft) broad, bearing masses of pendent, bell-shaped white flowers which appear in spring. The flowers are followed by green, four-winged fruit. The leaves […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/22/18 Observation Time: 10:45 a.m. Observation Location: Town-owned conservation land near Sandy Ridge Circle Common Name: American Beech tree Scientific Name: Fagus grandifolia Comments: The American Beech is a shade-tolerant species, favoring shade more than other trees, commonly found in forests in the final stage of succession. Ecological succession is essentially the process of forests changing their composition through time; it is a pattern […]

Observer: Deborah  Radovsky Observation Date: 11/10/17 Observation time:  unknown Observation Location: Moose Hill, Vernal Pool Trail Common Name: White Pine Scientific Name: Pinus strobus Comments: White pines are very common in Sharon. More Information: Wikipedia

Observer: Deborah Radovsky Observation Date: 5/11/17 Observation Time: early morning Observation Location: Moose Hill, Billings Loop Common Name: Sugar Maple Tree Scientific Name: Acer saccharum Comments: The two huge sugar maples near the barn on the Billings Loop are called George and Martha because they began life at around the same time as George Washington and his wife Martha. The Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 6/25/16 Observation Time: 1:40 p.m. Observation Location: Maskwonicut Street near Beaver Brook Common name: Catalpa tree Scientific Name: Catalpa speciosa Comments: Large, bell-shaped 2″ white flowers are borne in 4″-8″ long panicles in late spring. The very large, 6″-12″ slightly heart-shaped, leaves turn yellow-greenish or brown in fall. Bean-like seed capsules, 8″-20″ long are green in color changing to brown and […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/30/15 Observation Time: 3:30 p.m. Observation Location: near Gavins Pond Common Name: Black Locust tree Scientific Name: Robinia pseudocacia Comments: The blossoms of black locust trees are good to eat, but beware of the thorns. More Information: The Foraged Foodie 

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 4/19/15 Observation Time: 2:35 p.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: American Chestnut Scientific Name: Castanea dentata Comments: American chestnut was once very common in New England, but it has been practically wiped out by the chestnut blight, a pathogenic fungus. The fungus does not kill the roots, which continue to send up shoots for years. However, the fungus usually prevents […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 6/26/10 Observation Time: 3:25 p.m. Observation Location: headwaters of Beaver Brook Common Name: Sassafras Scientific Name: Sassafras albidum Comments: Sassafras albidum is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 15–20 m (49–66 ft) tall, with a canopy up to 12 m (39 ft) wide, with a trunk up to 60 cm (24 in) in diameter, and a crown with many slender sympodial branches. The bark on trunk […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/2/11 Observation Time: 4:45 p.m. Observation Location: Gavins Pond Common Name: Crab Apple Scientific Name: Pyrus baccata Comments: Red-tinged hairless leaves indicate this is may be a Siberian crab apple. More Information: Wikipedia