The Medeola Woods and Area

 This fall’s Walk in the Woods event, held on Sunday September 14th, took us through a city park and various wooded and meadow areas on NCC lands. Our guest speaker, Albert Dugal, guided our nature tour and identified flora as we walked along the various pathways.

The first woodland area encountered was adjacent to Trapper’s Park. Much of this wooded area is a remnant of a wetland forest which has been adversely affected by urban development. The resulting peat loss has exposed the roots of many cedar trees causing many of them to fall over in strong winds. In this woodland, there was an abundance of Mountain Maple, a shrubby maple that usually grows in moist areas. 

Emerging from this wooded area, we encountered a stand of younger trees. This soon gave way to an old open meadow. As we explored the flora in the open meadow, we found a lovely Praying Mantis insect climbing a tall grass. The meadow had many wild flowers and shrubs with berries, a true habitat for birds and wildlife.

To the south of the old meadow was the Medeola Woods which had a border of younger trees. These had grown in after the land was acquired for the Greenbelt and abandoned for agriculture. Among the young trees were Beech, Red Maple and Yellow Birch. Of particular interest was an English Oak, which undoubtedly originated from an acorn carried by a squirrel from someone’s lawn.

The pathway cut through the border of younger trees and entered the old part of the Medeola Woods, the largest stand of old growth trees in Ottawa. A group of Ontario Field Botanists were astonished to see this very rare type of woodland when they visited those woods a few summers ago. It is a Red Maple-Beech-Hemlock forest rather than the usual Sugar Maple-Beech-Hemlock combination.

The extremely high canopy height of the ancient woods revealed majestic 200 year old Red maples and several 150 plus year old Beech trees. We couldn’t help but notice that some of the large Beech trees showed evidence of human carvings on their smooth bark. To help deter vandalism, information signs should be posted. These signs could inform people about what trees have to contend with regularly, such as storms, pests and diseases. Vandalism only adds to the list. Making people aware of the negative impact that carving has on them and how it contributes to a tree’s premature decline would be valuable.

In this area there is not much new growth due to too much shade. The old Beech trees can grow over one hundred feet tall. Beneath these trees, Beech Drops carpeted the forest floor, with their pale peach little branches and flowers. We were told that Beech Drops are parasitic on Beech trees. The wet weather Ottawa has been having this year; has promoted an abundance of fungi in the woods – many interesting fungi were noted on the ground and decaying tree trunks.

In the drier parts of the wetland we encountered large clumps of Partridge Berry, Ground Pine and Indian Cucumber Root. The presence of large amounts of Indian Cucumber Root, the common name for Medeola virginiana, (a cousin of the Trillium), on the canopy floor of the old forest's portion of the woodlot, is the reason Albert refers to this area as the Medeola Woods.

We left the main trail and headed westward to the wetland portion of the woodlot. On the way, we came across another parasitic plant, Indian Pipe and some coral fungi. During the Pre-walk about a month ago, many coral fungi were seen on logs near wetland areas. In the wetland area, we noticed a couple of enormous Red Ash, extensive patches of Wood-sorrel (which look like shamrocks) and many ferns such as Sensitive Fern.

Walking back to the trail we passed a majestic, ancient Hemlock, about 250 years old. As we followed the trail southward, we moved from the deciduous to the coniferous area of the forest and could easily see a “great divide” from the pathway; on one side were the Beech trees and on the other side the Hemlocks. South of these Hemlocks, we could see a much younger woodland, which marked the end of the Medeola Woods proper. Near this boundary we saw a large White Pine between 125-150 years, nestled between a couple of old Hemlocks.

 The woodland south of the Medeola Woods proper, extends from the housing development to the old CPR right-of-way. The youngest part of this woodland is next to the subdivision on previously farmed fields. Albert informed us that the greater part of this woodland is wetland dominated by Red Ash and Red Maple. He also indicated that most of the trees in this area are over 80 years old and many appear to be in the 100 or more year range, indicating very little tree cutting since 1945 (from an aerial photograph).

Although it was very humid for a September day, (as the remnants of Hurricane Ike passed through), we were fortunate that the weather held and the skies did not let the rain clouds pour on us. Everyone indicated that they truly appreciated OFGAC for organizing this guided nature tour and especially for having access to Albert’s invaluable expertise on this Sunday afternoon. Thanks to all twenty nine participants, a very successfully walk indeed. Thank you Albert, we could not have done it without you. The Medeola Woods is a wonderful forested area and should be protected by the City of Ottawa and the National Capital Commission for future generations to enjoy, as we did today.