Forest Communities - A forest is an assemblage of plants and animals coexisting and interacting. Taken together, these plants and animals constitute an ecological community. No two forests are identical, but it is possible to recognize a forest type by identifying the indicator species or by noting which forest community reveals in the area that you are observing.

The Morgenthau Preserve is comprised of 4 different communities: Oak-Hickory Forest, Red Maple Swamps, Sugar Maple Forest, and White Pine plantations.

Sugar- Maples (Acer saccharum) - Sugar maples are the predominant tree in the preserve. The sugar maple is the source of much lumber, particularly for furniture, and is found in mature upland forests. With American beech (Fagus grandifolia) this tree forms one of the predominant types of climax forest of the Eastern Deciduous Forest. It is also the source of most maple syrup. Trees tapped for maple syrup are known collectively as a sugar bush. Sugar content of the sap ranges from two to three percent in a good year.  At least thirty gallons of sap are needed to make one gallon of maple syrup.

The sugar maple has five lobed leaves and paired, winged seeds. These seeds are eaten extensively by  wildlife, particularly songbirds such as nuthatches, finches and grosbeaks.  Its bark has dark, vertical grooves and ridges, and the trunk grows tall and straight. Unlike the red maple, sugar maple is very shade-tolerant and long-lived. It is also the state tree of New York.  In the fall its foliage is a beautiful fiery yellow-orange.

Eastern Red Cedar juniperus viginiana)  - If you look around the preserve, you will see several thin evergreens. These are Eastern red cedar trees, a conical evergreen tree, that, as sun-lovers, are indicators of a secondary
growth woodland. The leaves are sharply 3-sided and needle-like; the twigs, 4-sided. The heartwood is reddish and aromatic. Fruits are consumed by numerous birds which help disperse the seeds by passing them through their digestive tracts undamaged, dropping them particularly along fences.  Its wood is used' for furniture, pencils, and fence posts. When dried, the outer bark provides excellent tinder. Oil from the leaves is used in perfumes while flavoring is derived from berries.

White Oak (Quercus alba) - This large tree is an example of the best known oak.  White oaks have ash gray flaking bark and light green, evenly round-lobed leaves.  Young opening leaves are pinkish or red, as are the leaves in autumn. In open places it develops a broad, symmetrical crown and majestic appearance. The large, pointed acorns were eaten by Indians. It is an outstanding lumber tree, used for furniture, boats, and barrels.

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This large oak is over 100 years old. It spent its earlier years growing in open conditions, which permitted its branches to attain massive proportions. This tree was most likely preserved to provide shade for livestock when the forest was originally cleared for pasture or cropland.

Black Oak (Quercus velutina) - On the right side of the trail is another species of oak found at the preserve. Pointed, shallow-cut leaves and dark block-like bark distinguish black oaks from the white oak (Q. alba). Black oaks may cross-pollinate with red oaks (Q. rubra), giving rise to hybrids possessing characteristics of both. An extensive root system and dense wood allow black oaks to withstand winds and heavy snow-that topple less hardy species. These tall trees sometimes grow to 75 feet in favorable conditions. Black Oaks do well in dry soil but may be found in moister conditions as well.

Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata) - The trees on each side of the trail with the flaking, shaggy bark are shagbark hickories. This is a shade-tolerant tree whose bark scales off in long thin plates that curve outward at the fop and bottom and are attached at the middle. The compound leaves are set alternately upon the twig. A crop of sweet, egg shaped nuts with 4-parted husks is produced in September and eaten by squirrels, turkey and deer. This tree is often found with oaks in open woods.

White Pine (Pinus strobus) - This native species likes open, sunny habitats and is among the most long-lived of trees, sometimes reaching ages of 200 years. Its bluish-green needles are grouped in bundles of five, one of the features which help to identify it as a white pine.

The bark of young white pines is smooth, whereas older trees have broad, flat, and scaly ridges. All conifers, or cone-bearing trees, typically have a central stem (trunk) from which branches come off in whirls. The very tip of this central stem is called the leader, because it leads the upward growth of the tree. White pines are one of the most important and tallest of timber trees; straight-grained and easily worked, its food is valuable in house construction and whole trunks were once used for ship masts.

So extensively was if lumbered that few virgin trees remain. If you look closely at the pines along the trail, you will see that all of the larger ones are growing in a straight line. This is because they were planted here in the early 1940s. As you continue along this trail, you will see several more white pines along the lake shore; these are growing in a more random pattern, and are probably offsprirtg of the Planted pines.