20 Monarchs and Milkweeds
Secondary succession is prevented in much of the field on the left by mowing in October. An important plant that is maintained in the open field is milkweed (Asclepias spp.). Larvae of the monarch butterfly feed on its leaves, obtaining a noxious chemical which makes the species distasteful to predators.

The bright orange viceroy butterflies, which mimic the monarch’s color and pattern, have been able to survive because birds avoid them. Monarchs from this area migrate to just a dozen small sites, each about five to ten acres in size, in the Transvolcanic Mountains of Mexico.

It takes several generations to complete the annual migration from Mexico to eastern North America and back. Scientists do not know how an individual that leaves Hoxie Gorge in September can navigate its way to an isolated area in Mexico where it has never been before, but where its great-great grandparents spent the previous winter.


21 Maples
This large tree and the next several younger trees are sugar maples (Acer saccharum). The following small clump of trees contains red maples (Acer rubrum). Both are members of the climax population.

In red maples, the older bark near the base of the tree flakes off in rectangles. The gray bark of sugar maples forms flat ridges, like frosting on a cake, which do not flake off the tree.

Examine the twigs of each species. Notice that the buds of the red maple are blunt, while the buds of the sugar maple are sharply pointed. In both, the branches are positioned opposite on the stem. Do you recall another tree that has opposite branching?

Continue ahead and look for the patches of wild leeks (Allium tricoccum). In the spring the aroma of onions will be noticeable. The edible underground bulbs of wild leeks are used in recipes like onions. The leaves are long and narrow with parallel veins. Flowers appear in early summer in a cluster at the top of a stem. In the winter the flower remnants are still visible.


22 Clubmosses (Lycopodium spp.)
Carefully walk off the trail and look for low-growing, bristly evergreen plants, which resemble miniature pine and cedar trees. These are clubmosses. Like ferns, clubmosses reproduce by dispersing spores. Look for a yellow cone-like tip on some of the clubmosses. This cone is the spore-containing strobilus.

A newly germinated spore may take up to 20 years to develop into a mature spore-producing plant. Therefore, a faster method of reproduction is also necessary. Clubmosses, as well as ferns, send out runners or underground stems that connect several new plants together and allow for rapid growth.

Clubmosses, unfortunately, are collected to make Christmas wreaths. The spores, which are dispersed in yellow clouds in the fall, have been used for flash powder in photography and in fireworks.

If you wish to cut your hike short, turn left here. Follow the edge of the field uphill and continue with #33.


23 Fungi
Fungi, unlike green plants, lack the photosynthetic molecule chlorophyll. Therefore, fungi get food by absorbing organic matter. Many fungi decompose dead plants and animals, returning the nutrients to the soil. Some fungi are parasites on living organisms. Do you recall diseases of trees which are caused by fungal parasites? (See #4 and #12.)

Some fungi form symbiotic associations with tree roots called mycorrhizae. The underground portion of the fungus, the mycelium, transfers the important nutrient phosphorus from the soil to the plant roots. In return, the plant provides food in the form of carbohydrates to the fungus.

Fungi disperse themselves by spreading spores which are produced on the fruiting body, the aboveground portion of the fungus. Look for the fruiting bodies of the following fungi: fly agaric (Amanita muscaria, a highly poisonous mushroom); puffballs (Lycoperdon spp.); and boletes (Boletus spp.).


24 The Stream Ecosystem
This stream is intimately linked to the forest that surrounds it. Its water passes through the soil and is kept cool by the shade. The leaves that fall into the stream provide the food for many aquatic organisms. The leaves are broken into particles by aquatic insects known as shredders. These particles are gathered further downstream by nets and filtering devices of other insects, the collectors. Predatory insects such as the dragonfly nymph, and fish such as the brook trout and spiny sculpin, feed on the shredders and collectors. The entire food web is changed if the forest is removed.

The trail continues on the other side of the creek. Return to the edge of the bridge and turn right. Use care in crossing the creek.


25 Stinging Nettles (Urtica dioica)
Be cautious around this tall, bristle-covered plant that grows on the creek edge. If touched, the bristles of the plant break off and a liquid is released onto your skin, producing an intense itching. The reaction usually subsides within an hour and may be relieved by applying lotion.


26 Iroquois Medicines
Many of the plants along the trail were used by the Iroquois as traditional medicines. The plants with light green leaves growing in the moister areas here are jewelweed (Impatiens spp.). Jewelweeds were used for treating fevers, difficulties in urination, poison ivy and insect bites. Another common name for this plant, touch-me-not, derives from the forceful expulsion of seeds when the ripe pods are touched.

Clintonia or bluebeads (Clintonia borealis), with three long, shiny, parallel-veined leaves at the base of a flower stalk, was boiled and taken for the heart. The clustered flowers are greenish-yellow drooping bells that give rise to blue berries. The name is from New York governor DeWitt Clinton, an avid naturalist of the 1800s.


27 Geology of Hoxie Gorge
The geological events that shaped Hoxie Gorge as we know it today left clues of their activity in the rocks and the landscape. Continental drift theory indicates that the location of the Central New York area when the bedrock was formed about 400 million years ago was approximately the location that India occupies on the globe today.

The rocks are shales, and careful examination of layering patterns and linear grooves indicates that they were deposited as a delta. Fossils commonly found are brachiopods, organisms with a hinged shell, and sea lilies (Crinoids), sessile animals related to starfish that attached to the sediments by a stalk and filtered particulate food materials from the water with radiating arms. Circular fossils of the disk-like parts of the stalk are common.


28 Woodland Flowers
Partridgeberry (Mitchella repens) and wintergreen (Gaulteria procumbens) are low-growing evergreen plants of the forest floor. Both species produce small white flowers that develop into bright red berries. The leaves of wintergreen produce the familiar aroma and may be used to flavor tea.

Violet flowers come in white, yellow, blue and violet, with several possessing a long spur. The green leaves are heart shaped. The lines on the petals of violet flowers are known as nectar guides, for they guide pollinators to the nectar at the center of the flower, facilitating cross pollination in the process.

Violets are the food plant for larvae of the fritillary butterfly.


29 Life of a Dead Tree
Fallen trees are common along the trail. Although these “nurse logs” are dead, they support a life of their own. Fungi are carried into the tree by burrowing bark beetles. Fungi secrete chemicals which dissolve the wood and use the products for food.

Termites and carpenter ants also consume the wood. Snails, slugs, and insect larvae live on the rotten wood and fungi. Microscopic bacteria digest the contents of the cells of the rotting tree. Larger animals, such as frogs or salamanders, find shelter and moisture here.

In the later stages of decay, the log is covered with mosses, small plants and tree seedlings. Eventually, the nutrients of the log will be recycled for use by future living organisms.