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This woodland contains both upland mesic woods and wooded floodplain terraces along Williams Creek. Large specimens of American beech, sugar maple, black walnut, chinquapin oak, bur oak, tulip tree, and blue ash occur in this rich woodland. The herbaceous layer is replete with spring ephemeral wildflowers including dutchman’s breeches, celandine poppy, fernleaf phacelia, appendaged waterleaf, prairie trillium, bent trillium, and many others.
Volunteers began pulling invasive garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) in the 1990s and have virtually eliminated it. Several other invasive species however, remained problematic, including Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii), wintercreeper (Euonymus fortunei), myrtle (Vinca minor), and English ivy (Hedera helix). Eco Logic has been contracted at this site since 2012, removing most of the Amur honeysuckle several years ago, reducing this species to maintenance conditions. The invasive groundcovers, however, have been more time-consuming to eradicate since they require several years of diligent followup treatment to eliminate the remaining strands. As of 2020, coverage of these groundcovers has been reduced by over 95%. The removal of the thick stands of wintercreeper facilitated a high level of recruitment of several spring wildflowers from the seedbank, including celandine poppy, fernleaf phacelia, and appendaged waterleaf.
Invasive tree saplings including Norway maple, callery pear, Siberian elm, and catalpa have begun to recruit along the edges of this woodlot and will remain a focus of removal due to the abundance of propagules in this urban setting.
