Volume 15 No.

1
wrv.info@rhd.org
215.951.0330 ex. 2101
Winter/Spring 2011

The Volunteer
President’s Corner | WRV Goes to College | 2010 Restoration Wrap Up
Native Canopy and Understory Trees of the Wissahickon: Part II
Evergreen or Cutleaf Blackberry | WRV and 2011

President’s Corner
by Rich Kurowski, President
WRV’s latest major natural restoration
project is on the Roxborough side of
the Wissahickon, between Wigard
Ave. and Wise’s Mill Road, near
the Boy Scout House. This project
presents an interesting challenge in
that we are fighting invasives on two
fronts: we are removing large stands
of vines and other invasives on the
edge of the forest, and at the same
time we are planting natives more
intensively in relatively undisturbed
areas nearby.

This project represents a good

example of a basic restoration
strategy that WRV is now following.
We have decided to move away Participants in WRV’s Eco-Restoration Leadership Program
from a main focus on forest areas
under severe stress from invasives, and to make sure that we also include significant emphasis on
defending more intact areas from the beginning stages of invasion.

This fall at the “Wise’s Mill woods site” we usually broke our work groups into two parts, sending
some of the volunteers to go after the extremely degraded areas along the forest edge, and bringing
others closer to the forest interior, where we could remove invasives thoroughly enough to allow
planting of a more complete complement of trees and shrubs.

This process seems to be bringing results: where there was a dense cover of vines and other invasive
plants along a forest edge, we now have a more open view into woodlands with new native plantings.

One of unexpected the side benefits of the work near the Boy Scout House was the discovery of an
unusual native tree along the edge of our project. One morning this fall our Field Director, Susannah
Beckett, called me over to look at an odd looking thorny tree to verify whether it was native or an
outsider. The tree had a bumpy, thorny trunk and compound leaves. It looked similar to a black
locust, but was clearly a species I had never seen. Of course, following our general rule of leaving a
plant alone when in doubt about its identity, we let it stand until we could get a positive ID.
On an ensuing work day, our resident expert on plant ID, Jerry Fagliano, took a look at our newly
discovered tree. After an intense investigation Jerry identified the tree as a prickly ash (also called
angelica tree or toothache tree), a distant relative of citrus trees. Known scientifically as Zanthoxylum
americanum, it is a member of the family Rutaceae (the rue family), and its bark contains an aromatic
oil. It was a satisfying find an unusual native tree as a surprise side benefit to our normal, planned,
restoration work. (We later discovered that it had been introduced as part of a restoration project
many years ago).

Ideally, our forest would regenerate itself, but human activity, and pressure from deer and non-
native invasives, make this difficult. We have taken it upon ourselves to help nature recover from this
pressure through our restoration program. The unexpected appearance of an unusual native plant is
a positive reminder that over time, we can support a greater bio-diversity in our urban forest.

Every volunteer work day is an opportunity to discover how our forest is struggling to recover from
human pressure. Consider this a personal invitation to join us as a volunteer, and experience
unexpected encounters with nature.

I started thinking that if the devil’s walking stick is removed quickly from this comparatively new area
of invasion, the forest can be improved; I also thought about time and energy WRV would have to
apply in coming years to hold the ground for the native plants.

An informal Steering Committee meeting took place later in the winter along the same trail, to
consider our near-term restoration plans. At our chilly trail-side meeting, we discussed the idea that
in a relative healthy forest area, the possibility exists to get an early start on pockets of invasives that
we can attack without feeling overwhelmed. When these spots are planted, our volunteers will have a
better sense of accomplishment on seeing a restored area where native plants predominate.

Based on observations from our winter tours, and our decision to focus on areas where we can
defend existing diversity, WRV will be focusing on the Wise’s Mill Woods area this year. And here is
where readers of The Volunteer come in: whether it is through a membership or donation, or through
your physical help with volunteer work crews, we need your help to make our restoration plans a
reality. Visit our calendar at wissahickonrestorationvolunteers.org/calendar/ to see opportunities join our
work, or visit wissahickonrestorationvolunteers.org/join_us1 to find out about supporting us financially.

Hope to see you in the woods! ◊

Volunteers at this year’s MLK Day

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WRV Goes to College
by Steve Jones

In 2010 WRV set a goal to strengthen

its ties to environmental programs at
local colleges and universities. One
reason is that we intend to base our
conservation plans on good science,
and we hope that collaborations with
local environmental scientists will aid us
in that effort.

Another practical reason for the focus

on relationships with colleges and
universities is that they are a great
source of volunteers. Increasingly,
colleges offer environmental studies
courses with a fieldwork component.
Our restoration program is a natural
match for these courses: students are
able to fulfill a course requirement and
get hands-on experience related to
environmental concepts. WRV gets Community College of Philadelphia environmental
enthusiastic volunteers who might conservation students this fall
carry a commitment to urban ecology
into the future.

It all started at the Classic. This summer we met Prof. Bess Wellborn Yates from Temple University’s
School of Environmental Design at the Wissahickon Trail Classic. Along with several graduate students,
she joined the walking part of the event, which wound through wooded sections of the Valley. The small
Temple crowd got my attention as soon as we entered the woods, as I heard knowledgeable murmurings
from them about plant ID as I talked about WRV’s restoration program. At the end of the event, we
discussed ideas about collaborating.

This fall, Bess included work with WRV as a field experience option in the new Temple course,
Environment and Society. She brought several undergraduate students to our work days on Wigard Ave.
during the Fall semester. I took the occasion, as we sawed, lopped and dug, to ask how work with WRV fit
with the goals of her course.

According to Prof. Yates, one aspect of the field experience is that it addresses a weak spot in
environmental studies textbooks: the texts give a necessary global perspective on environmental
concepts, but can’t give much information about how those concepts connect to a student’s local setting.
Examples of concepts in Bess’ course are principles of urban ecosystems and environmental stewardship,
both of which are an obvious fit with WRV’s field program.

Bess reports that fieldwork with WRV also helps reinforce very broad environmental science concepts
such as nutrient, energy, and carbon systems. Installing native woody plants and trees, which lock
up carbon as they breathe and grow in the Wissahickon, give a concrete experience to students who
otherwise encounter these concepts through charts and graphs. Also, working with other Philadelphia
residents and students to restore and manage our urban ecosystems helps to complete the course’s
requirement that students participate in community-based learning.

A college in a park. Prof. Rosa Guedes is very familiar with WRV’s connection to environmental studies,
since she has been bringing undergraduate environmental studies students from Philadelphia University
to WRV field projects for about five years. Many of Prof. Guedes’ graduate and undergraduate students
are working on environmental degrees, but an even larger number are enrolled in her undergraduate
environmental science course for non-majors. The course includes objectives related to invasive species,
biodiversity, habitat restoration, and land use, all of which can be studied up close in the Wissahickon.

Prof. Guedes’ undergraduate course includes a required service learning project, and this has provided
WRV with a steady supply of high-quality Philadelphia University volunteers. Prof. Guedes believes
that one of the benefits of environmental field experience is the chance to meet and compare notes with
students and professors from other colleges, and WRV’s work groups make this possible.
Also, Rosa emphasizes the link between organizations and the environment. A required component of
student presentations on their fieldwork is a review of the history of the organizations they work with.

My colleague at Community College of Philadelphia, Prof. Margaret Stephens, is another important

WRV ally in higher education. Her environmental conservation course also includes a service learning
requirement, and many of her students choose to work with WRV on restoration projects.

Virtually all C.C.P. students are residents of the city, and many of them express amazement about the
natural beauty the Wissahickon provides within the city limits. Some C.C.P. students have had limited
outdoor experience, and it is obvious that our work groups can be eye-opening to say the least.

Margaret’s conservation course includes the concepts of biodiversity, invasive species, and ecosystems,
and applying these concepts in a field project seems to make them “stick” in a way that classroom study
alone cannot. Also, since C.C.P. grants associate’s, rather than bachelor’s degrees, many students are
looking forward to attending a local university when they finish their work at C.C.P. WRV’s field work
provides community college students a chance to literally rub shoulders with students and professors from
local universities where they might continue their studies.

(Of course, these academically-oriented college partnerships are in addition to good relationships that
WRV has with other colleges, including Drexel and Penn, who join WRV work groups as a community
service.)

So far, our academic relationships with Temple, Philadelphia U., and C.C.P. have created an informal, two-
way communication link with local environmental experts. On the one side, academics respect WRV’s
work as an example of a careful, community-based application of restoration concepts, and seem happy
to have us share our practical knowledge with their students. On the other side, our conversations in the
field about restoration theory and practice have been important to us as a way to check our assumptions
about the science behind our work.

In the next step in our academic relationships with local colleges, we look forward to more focused
work on specific questions about natural restoration. Restoration ecology is a fairly young, and growing,
science, and we look forward to developing a research program, with the help of our partners, which will
improve our ability to restore our favorite neck of the woods. ◊

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2010 Restoration Wrap Up Some of the key plant species we re-introduced
by Steve Jones
in the Wissahickon in 2010 include:
In 2010, WRV continued the natural restoration
work that is at the core of our efforts. We organized Acer saccharum, sugar maple
over 500 individual volunteers on 44 work days at Amelanchier canadensis, serviceberry
our sites in the Wissahickon, removed untold vol- Betula nigra, river birch
umes of invasive exotic plants, and installed over Betula lenta, black birch
three hundred native plants and shrubs in our proj- Carpinus caroliniana, hornbeam
ect areas. Celtis occidentalis, hackberry
Cercis canadensis, red bud
This was not our field program’s busiest year, but Magnolia virginiana, sweetbay magnolia
considering that we are keeping our program hum- Nyssa sylvatica, black gum
ming in the midst of a severe economic crisis, and Platanus occidentalis, American sycamore
considering the weather challenges we faced in the Quercus alba, white oak
beginning of the year, we count 2010 as a success. Rhododendron maximum, rosebay rhododendron
The quality of all of our restoration work was in- Viburnum dentatum, arrowwood
creased because of the training provided by WRV’s
Ecological Restoration Leadership (ERL) program Background on all of these plants can be found
organized by our Field Director Susannah Beckett at: plants.usda.gov
and former staffer Amanda Hymansmith.

WRV’s program included an expansion of our work at Wise’s Mill Woods near the Boy Scout House along
Henry Ave. (See the article on p. 1). We also worked to maintain the investment of previous volunteers at
our sites at Pachella Field, and Daisy Field. We also carried projects near Valley Green Rd. and Bell’s Mill
Rd. Work at these sites included many hours of invasive removal and strategic installation of native trees
and shrubs. At Kitchen’s Lane we initiated an aggressive invasive removal program near the stream that
leads to the main creek. We also continued our program of rescuing native seedlings at Emlen Meadow
for later use in our restoration sites. ◊

Students, parents, and teachers from Mishkan Shalom’s religious school at Daisy Field

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Native Canopy and Understory Trees of the Wissahickon: Part II
by Jerry Fagliano

One of the goals of Wissahickon Restoration Volunteers is to enhance our members’ knowledge and
understanding of the native trees in the park. WRV is presenting a series of articles featuring the native
canopy and understory trees that make up the forest in the Wissahickon. Each newsletter, we will
present profiles of one or more tree species, focusing on identification and ecological characteristics.
Next time you visit the woods, we encourage you to look for these trees, and to stop and think about the
roles they play in the ecosystem.

American Beech (Fagus Grandifolia)

In all seasons of the year, the attractive smooth bark and graceful
branching of the American beech (Fagus grandifolia) is on display in
the Wissahickon forest. American beech frequently forms stands of
clones, or genetically identical trees, since it sends up shoots from the
extensive, shallow root system. In the Wissahickon, what look like
groves of American beeches are often a single plant.

Identification. The smooth, light gray bark of the American beech

resembles an elephant’s skin, complete with wrinkles around
branching points. (Unfortunately, the smooth surfaces of many large
beech trees in urban areas have been permanently defaced by people
carving initials and other messages.) American beech leaves are
three to six inches long with wavy, toothed edges. Lateral leaf veins
extend from the central vein to each tooth.

In the winter, American beech twigs are easily recognized by the very American Beech Leaves
long, sharply pointed buds. In the fall, beech leaves turn a bronzy
brown. In the winter, some beeches, particularly younger ones, retain
their leaves, which fade to a pale champagne color.

Flowers and Fruit. Like the related oaks, American beech has
separate male and female flowers on the same tree. Flowers emerge
with the leaves in the spring. Male flowers hang prominently in
rounded clusters, while female flowers are inconspicuous.

Beech nuts, encased in pairs in a spiny bur, ripen in the fall. A few
weeks after heavy frosts, burs open and fall to the ground, where
hikers on the Wissahickon trails often see them. Like the oaks,
American beech produces heavy nut crops at irregular intervals.
Rodents and blue jays play a role in seed dispersal.

Ecology. The nuts of American beech are an important food source

for deer, squirrels, chipmunks, mice, raccoons, foxes, wild turkeys,
blue jays and wood ducks, all of which live in the Wissahickon Valley. American Beech Bark
Caterpillars of several types of butterflies and moths rely on the leaves
of American beech, including the luna moth and cecropia moth.

An interesting feature of American beech is that its roots are

parasitized by the plant known as beech drops (Epifagus virginiana).
Look for these brown, twig-like plants growing near the base of
beeches in all seasons.

The American beech grows in mature forests in association with

maples, birches and oaks. American beech saplings are capable of
growing as understory trees in relatively deep shade, and are not
susceptible to deer browsing. This is one reason that beeches are still Sycamore Leaves: palmate and toothed
common in the Wissahickon.

The American Chestnut
(Castanea dentata)
The American chestnut
was once one of the
dominant canopy trees in the
Wissahickon forest and much
of eastern North America.
Chestnuts were perhaps the
most important food source
for birds, and forest mammals
such as bears and deer.
However, this magnificent
tree was virtually wiped out in
the first decades of the 20th
century by the imported fungal
disease known as chestnut
blight. American chestnut
leaves resemble those of
the American beech, but are
much longer (five to nine
inches). Today, there are just
a few remnant specimens of
American Chestnut scattered
in the Wissahickon Forest,
surviving as sprouts from the
persistent roots of old trees.
Once sprouts reach a diameter
of a couple of inches, however,
they succumb to the blight
and die back. The American
Chestnut Foundation (www.
acf.org) is leading an effort
to develop a blight-resistant
American Chestnut that can be
restored to eastern forests.
Sycamore Bark:
lighter and darker peeling patches
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Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis)
The distinctive sycamore is easily recognized in all seasons by its
whitish bark on younger branches and unique pattern of peeling
green and brown plates on trunks and older branches. In the Wissa-
hickon, sycamores are among the largest trees, tending to grow close
to the creek or in other moist areas.
Identification The large sycamore leaf has three to five broadly
toothed lobes, resembling leaves of certain maples or grapes. The
leaf is palmately veined, meaning that the principal veins of each lobe
originate from a common point at the base of the leaf blade. The bark
is the most distinctive feature of the Sycamore. Younger branches
are bright white, while the bark of older branches and the trunk have
greenish or brownish peeling plates that resemble jigsaw-puzzle
pieces. On the oldest parts of the tree, the bark consists of scaly,
light brown plates.
Flowers and Fruit The inconspicuous flowers of Sycamore appear
early in the spring. Trees bear separate male and female flower clus-
ters. The fruit is a long-stalked globe of dry seed bodies that often
persists on the tree over the winter. Seed dispersal by wind and wa-
ter occurs as the globes break up in the late winter and early spring.
Ecology Sycamore is a pioneer tree on river banks, islands, and
abandoned farm fields. There are some very stately examples along
the Wissahickon and in the upland forests in the Park. The seeds of
sycamore provide food for squirrels and seed-eating birds such as
finches, juncos and chickadees. Old sycamores develop trunk cavities
that are used as shelter by mammals. ◊
References
Ann Fowler Rhoads and Timothy A. Block. Trees of Pennsylvania: A Complete
Reference Guide. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 2005.
Ann Fowler Rhoads and Timothy A. Block. The Plants of Pennsylvania: An Illus-
trated Manual, 2nd Ed. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 2007.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. Silvics of North America, Vol. 2,
Hardwoods: American Beech. Accessed online at: www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/
silvics_manual/Volume_2/fagus/grandifolia.htm.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. Silvics of North America, Vol. 2,
Hardwoods: Sycamore. Accessed online at: www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silv-
ics_manual/Volume_2/platanus/occidentalis.htm.
Virginia Tech Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation.
VT Tree ID: American Beech. Accessed online at: www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/den-
drology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=47.
Virginia Tech Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation.
VT Tree ID: American Chestnut. Accessed online at: www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/
dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=21.
Virginia Tech Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation.
VT Tree ID: American Sycamore. Accessed online at: www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/
dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=36.
 Rubus laciniatus - Evergreen or Cutleaf Blackberry

A New Invasive in the Wissahickon?

A sprawling blackberry, native to Eurasia and becoming naturalized in

parts of the U.S., has recently been encountered on the edge of the
Wissahickon. WRV found this potentially invasive bramble at several
locations along its Wigard Avenue work site this past fall. Identification
was tentatively confirmed by Morris Arboretum.

Volunteers should keep an eye out for this vine as we develop a

plan to limit its impact. Cutleaf Blackberry has deeply incised leaves,
typically in a palmate cluster of five or sometimes three. The stems
are covered in strong, curved prickles which extend right up through
Rubus laciniatus; Lindsey
the petioles of the leaves. This plant is very difficult to handle even with
Koepke @ USDA-NRCS
gloves. PLANTS Database

References indicate that R. lacinatus has shiny black fruit (reportedly

very sweet) from July through October, and has thorns which are red
at the base and yellow at the tip. White to pinkish flowers, 1” across,
occur in June and July. Botanical synonyms include Rubus vulgaris
and Rubus fruiticosus laciniatus.

This fall we found this blackberry arching three to four feet high,
through and over other shrubs; it can supposedly climb to nine feet.
Like the exotic invasive Wineberry (Rubus phoenicolasius), it re-roots
where its tips touch back down to the ground. It can also spread by
root suckers and by seed.

Cutleaf Blackberry has perennial woody roots with biennial stems, or

canes. No removal strategy has been addressed yet, but it will likely
involve digging out the roots. ◊

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WRV and 2011
On January 19th WRV held its annual membership meeting at our headquarters at 3721 Midvale
Ave. As recommended by the Steering Committee, the meeting re-elected officers for two-year terms:
Rich Kurowski, President; Ron Ayres, Treasurer, and Jerry Fagliano, Secretary. Many thanks and
congratulations to these dedicated officers.

At the annual meeting we also began developing our restoration plan for 2011. We agreed that this year
we will focus on our main project at Wise’s Mill Woods, our expansion of the work at Kitchen’s Lane,
and continued invasive removal at Pachella Field.

WRV also plans to expand its project at Daisy Field, where some of our earliest plantings have now
created a shady canopy. This area connects to a foot trail that is (theoretically) closed to mountain bike
riding, and is of special interest to walkers and visitors who focus on the enjoyment or study of nature.

We also plan a new project near the Northwestern Stables, the starting point of our annual Wissahickon
Trail Classic. We plan to use the site as a demonstration of natural restoration work for the hundreds of
runners and volunteers who attend the race in June. ◊

Volunteers battling invasives and planting at Wise’s Mill Woods this fall

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