Gordon Smith
Natural History of the Berkshires
9/22/09

Field Journal #1: Mapping and Placement

First in this entry, I will attempt to annotate the map I have created and further explain how the plant life is situated, as well as how the site itself is situated in the world around it. Then, I will supply some corrections and updates on my previous journal concerning for the most part plant species and land usage.

Below this entry are two maps: a detailed map of the site and a map of surrounding landmarks (in this case the Mission Park Dormitory and Mission Park Road) as well as the key for both maps. As the attached map will show, my field site is laid out in a more or less wedge shape, with the tip pointing towards the Mission dormitory (more or less north) and the wider, opposite side pointing towards Route 2 and south. The northerly point of the wedge is at a lower elevation from the south side, and though I do not possess adequate equipment to measure the height of the hill that is climbed as one follows the site north to south, I would estimate it at somewhere between 20 and 25 feet. There is also elevation gained when moving from the southeastern corner towards the southwestern, which I would estimate at about 10 feet.

The south edge of the site is split, with a mowed indentation that bulges around the Haystack Monument and a few benches. The largest trees are bunched around the center of the site, but the outlying trees are also of a reasonable size. As the map shows, there are more coniferous trees than there are deciduous trees: 29 to 14 to be exact. Furthermore, the deciduous trees seem to be for the most part along the western edge of the site, while the conifers occupy the center and eastern sides of the site. It is unclear whether or not this is due to a natural reason, or whether it is simply the planting pattern that was decided on for the area. This second possibility is more likely: a picture of the Haystack Memorial in 1906 does not contain a single tree. For this reason, it would be easier to assume that all of the plants had been placed for decoration reasonably recently.

In my first entry, there were many plants that I simply described due to the fact that I did not know their species names. Here I will identify a few of the species I did not know.

The pale green ferns with interconnected fronds are sensitive ferns. As can be seen on the map, they are concentrated in a patch on the west edge of the site. The purple flowers with tube-shaped petals are red clover. The small white flowers with the yellow centers are white wood asters, and are mainly found in the spaces indicated as showing dirt. As for the dandelion-like flowers, I cannot be sure, as they seem to have disappeared. It is likely, however, that they were a species of autumn dandelion that is late blooming. The most common leafy plant (with three branches of three leaves) is goutweed. Another correction is that the birch I called gray is in fact a white, or paper birch.

For some reason, I also neglected to investigate the animal life of the site. The area is in fact home to many squirrels, which are evident both in the trees and on the ground, eating and storing acorns and pinecones. I have also seen since the last time I wrote a family of deer running through the stand of trees, though I do not believe they stayed long to eat. These occasional visitors may, however, be the reason that there are no moderately sized bushes in the area, though it is more likely the result of the college groundskeepers.

The history of the site was also not taken into consideration; I was previously unsure how old the grove was, and was not aware of the fact that the Haystack monument celebrated the “Birthplace of American Foreign Missions” (-Haystack Monument).

It is obvious at this point that the site will soon change drastically from summer vegetation to fall vegetation, and further updates will track this change.