Gorge Park, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio Steve Galehouse
April 27, 2009

ENTS-

Yesterday was the last chance I had to measure trees before the canopy closes over, and with temps in the upper 80's the leaves are emerging fast. I revisited two areas I knew as a youth, about an hour from where I currently live. The first area, the Cuyahoga River gorge, is a steep sided valley filled with sandstone cliffs and ledges. Here is a photo of the typical topography:


http://image74.webshots.com/74/9/71/40/2927971400043069736qPhgPG_ph.jpg

This area has the closest approximation to a mixed mesophytic forest association in this part of the state, as far as I know, with several relatively rare species for the area(butternut, white pine, Canada yew). It also has some very nice size mature trees, especially tuliptrees and oaks--here are a few photos:

Tuliptree, 14'8''x124
'http://image73.webshots.com/173/7/99/69/2111799690043069736ekCgMc_ph.jpg http://image66.webshots.com/766/1/81/23/2656181230043069736DDqwPk_ph.jpg

White oak, 111'10''x05'
http://image66.webshots.com/766/9/5/1/2794905010043069736ECNsqW_ph.jpg

Also in the park is a patch of trailing arbutus, which has been extirpated from most of Ohio:


By far the most unusual encounter in this woods is a sizable stand of naturalized Carolina rhododendron, Rhododendron minus, growing out of a vertical sandstone cliff. This species is native to Tennessee and North Carolina, and regions south---how it got established several hundred miles to the north is really puzzling, since the species was never a common or popular garden plant. I remember this stand from 40 years ago, and it is healthy and increasing.

Carolina rhododendron:
http://image73.webshots.com/173/3/29/39/2894329390043069736Wbqhsu_ph.jpg http://image62.webshots.com/662/2/17/62/2990217620043069736VdyfuL_ph.jpg

Overall it is a very interesting area that I'll report on in more detail in the future



Here is a link to the
album they are in: http://community.webshots.com/album/571482544GQWdYE

Continued at:

http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/7dc3d9b940320496?hl=en