The Philadelphia Botanical Club’s trip to Croydon Woods Nature Preserve in Bucks County, PA, took place on Saturday, May 17th from 10am to roughly 2pm. There were about thirty participants who joined the trip. The trip was led by Tyler Kovacs, Senior Conservation Biologist at Heritage Conservancy, and Andrew Conboy, PBC member.

This preserve is one of the last remaining coastal plain forests in Pennsylvania. The Atlantic coastal plain biogeographic region in Pennsylvania is limited to the very southeastern portion of the state and is characterized by low elevation, relatively flat terrain, and sandy, usually-acidic soils. Croydon Woods Nature Preserve is an 80-acre forested property in Bristol Township. From the Heritage Conservancy’s website, “This beautiful forest has come back to ecological life after major mediation and then trash cleanup and habitat rebuilding under the care of Heritage Conservancy. Read more about the work that brought these woods back.”

Map of overall iNaturalist observations. Points outside of the preserve are largely due to GPS accuracy errors.

During the trip, we explored the lowland willow oak, red maple, black gum forest and a smaller upland oak forest. Tyler Kovacs led the group through these areas and pointed out several unique plants or populations along the way. These included a nice stand of Chasmanthium laxum, a few Tipularia discolor individuals, a planted cluster of Chamaecyparis thyoides grown from NJ-ecotype seed at Pinelands Nursery, and several hybrid Quercus trees. Some state-listed species including Quercus phellos (S2) and Magnolia virginiana (S2), were relatively abundant throughout. Threats to the preserve include invasive species, fire suppression, illegal off-road ATV use, and lack of resources for land management.