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White OakWhite oak leaves, with rounded lobes like all the Leucobalanus oaks (the white oak group).

Chestnut OakThe deeply grooved bark of chestnut oak.

White OakThe flaky, light gray bark of white oak.

Red OakRed oak has smooth vertical strips on upper parts of the trunk.

<<< Hover over the captions, click the snapshots.

Dry Oak Forest
Forest Community

White, chestnut, and red oaks grow slowly in the thin dry soils near the highest point in the town forest. These species grow two or three times taller elsewhere on deeper or wetter soils. Shrubs, herbs, and grasses take advantage of the ample sunlight passing through the sparse canopy. There are lots of seedlings of all three oak species, and if deer don't eat them, this forest type could persist here as the first generation trees mature and die.

Geomorphology

Cheshire quartzite bedrock is very close to the surface on this gentle south-facing slope. The thin, till-derived soil dries quickly and allows very slow growth of the forest trees.

GigaPan

This panorama is made from 377 images taken on August 17, 2009. It covers a field of view of 218 degrees.
History

The similar size of the oaks suggests they are similar in age, and that they colonized the site after the previous vegetation was removed by logging or fire about a century ago.

Important Species
  • Red oak (Quercus rubra)
  • White oak (Q. alba)
  • Chestnut oak (Q. prinus)
  • Red maple (Acer rubrum)
  • Hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana)
  • Shadbush (Amelanchier arborea)

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