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About the Trail

This trail has been designed to teach about some of the fascinatingways that Native Americans (Indians), European settlers, and modernman have used the common plants and animals in this area for medi-cines, food, tools, and various other uses. The trail begins on the floodplain below the Visitor Center building and leads across Barley MillRoad, up into a hillside forest, and back through a freshwater marsh.You will encounter 27 yellow numbered markers denoting points ofinterest along the way.

Please note that the beginning and end of the Nature’s Bounty Trailcoincide with the Treetop Trail so you will need to follow the yellowmarkers carefully. Enjoy your walk!

NATURE’S BOUNTY TRAILTrail Length - .75 miles

Difficulty: Moderate

Approx. Walking Time (w/booklet) - 40 minutes

To the right of the trail is a grove of sassafras trees, aspecies which has proved very useful to people for hundredsof years. Sassafras was a major export during early colonial

times due to the popularity of sassafrastea made from the tender bark of theroots. The tea was taken as a blood-pu-rifying tonic for a variety of ailmentsincluding stomachaches, arthritis,rheumatism, colds, and fever. Oil fromthe bark and roots was used to flavortoothpaste, chewing gum, and root beeruntil the 1960’s, when research showedthat a chemical in the oil can cause can-cer when consumed in high doses. Thewood of sassafras is still very useful,however, because it is very durable incontact with soil and water. The woodis used for fence posts and rails, and in the construction of barrels,buckets, and small boats.

You are now on the floodplain of the Red Clay Creek. Se-vere floods in 2003 and 2004 brought several hundred timesthe average flow of water through this valley – the water

level on the floodplain where you are standing actually rose to morethan 8 feet above ground level! Luckily, the Visitor Center itself wasunharmed because it was built high above the floodplain, on the siteof an old barn. A stone wall from the old barn, built in the mid1800’s, can be seen on this side of the building. The silo (recon-structed in 1942) at the main entrance to the Visitor Center is theonly other remnant of the former barn.

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SassafrasLeaf

Have you noticed part ofan old wire fence hiddenin the brush to the left of

the trail? Decades ago, when therewas an active farm here, pigs andother farm animals were kept onthis floodplain within a fencedarea. Since the farm was abandoned, floods have carried away orburied much of the fencing.

A walk out the boardwalk takes you into the heart of thefreshwater wetland known as “Ashland Marsh”. Wetlandareas like this are well-used by wildlife and they also play

an important role in filtering pollutants out of surface water. NativeAmericans hunted wetlands like this one for geese, ducks, herons,turtles and various frogs, including American Bullfrogs. They alsocollected wetland plants for food, medicines, and other uses. For ex-ample, the bark from black willow trees (abundant near the end ofthe boardwalk) wasbrewed to make afever-reducing tea.

Unfortunately, peopleoften treat wetlands aswaste areas and dump-ing grounds. Duringthe past two centuries,wetlands were fre-quently drained orfilled in to make theland more “useful” topeople (e.g., for farm-ing or development).

Don’t touch! The “hairy” vine climbingup the tree to the left of the path is poison ivy. The three-parted, notched leaves are often red and shiny when they

emerge in the spring, becoming green and somewhat duller beforesummer. All parts of the plant contain skin-irritating oil that cancause an itchy rash upon contact.

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BlackWillow,leavesand bark

During the late spring and summer, jewelweedcan also be found growing near here on thefloodplain. Its hollow, tube-like stems containa watery sap which can be used to relieve theitch of poison ivy or the sting of nettle (seestop #24). Jewelweed has yellow or orangeflowers that bloom in late summer. The plantis also called “touch-me-not” because its ripe,green seed pods “explode” when touched inlate summer or early fall, releasing and dis-persing the seeds.

The Red Clay Creek has been usedby people for thousands of years. The Lenni Lenape (alsocalled Delaware Indians) who used to live in this area had a

deep respect for the creek and were dependent upon it for manyneeds. It was an important source of food and drinking water, ameans of transportation, and a place to bathe, swim, and wash cloth-ing. Early settlers also used the creek for drinking water, fishing,recreation, transportation of goods, and to turn the wheels of theirflour and saw mills.

Today, people do not think about the Red Clay Creek in the sameway as the Native Americans and early settlers did. Modern roadsand railroads have replaced the creek as a means of transportation,and pollution has greatly reduced its usefulness for fishing, swim-ming, bathing, and direct drinking. With the advent of the industrialage, streams like the Red Clay Creek became dumping grounds; aplace to throw trash and pour industrial wastes. Thankfully, the RedClay Creek is now on the road to recovery, due to the developmentand strengthening of environmental regulations in recent decades,and the efforts of the Delaware Nature Society, working with otherorganizations, businesses, and state agencies, to reduce sources ofpollution in the creek. Your membership in the Delaware Nature So-ciety helps support these recovery efforts.

Did you know that many people in New Castle County still dependon the Red Clay Creek for drinking water? United Water Delawarewithdraws water from the Red Clay and White Clay Creeks in Stan-ton, purifies it at a sophisticated treatment facility, and then pipes thepurified water to homes, schools, businesses, and industries for mul-tiple uses, including drinking.

6Jewelweed

Prior to the CivilWar, the need forlinks between rural

areas and urban centers ledto extensive bridge construc-tion. Many bridges werecovered to protect the deckwood from rotting. The Ash-land Bridge, listed on theNational Register of HistoricPlaces, is one of the fewwooden covered bridges remaining in Delaware. It was built be-tween 1850 and 1865 and restored in 1983 and 2008. As part of the2008 restoration, the deck was completely rebuilt using African Bon-gossi timber, a super-strong, fire-resistant wood.

You have no doubt noticed numerous plastic tubes stickingup on the floodplain here! In 2006, thousands of treeseedlings were planted on the floodplain to help establish a

forested buffer, or “riparian buffer”, along the Red Clay Creek. Theplastic tubes allow sunlight to penetrate, while protecting the youngtrees from being browsedby White-tailed Deer, East-ern Cottontails, and otheranimals.

Towering high above theyoung saplings are manytall, mature green ash trees– a tree suited to rich, moistfloodplain soil. Notice thestraight trunks and lack of lower branches. The Lenni Lenape madebows from the heavy, strong wood of the ash and colonial settlersused it in the construction of split rail fences. Today, thegreen ash is still used to make railroad ties, furniture, andboxes.

Looking toward the Red Clay Creek, you can seea large, multi-trunked silver maple with gray,

scaly bark and long, arching branches near the creekedge. Silver maples were formerly planted in great num-bers as shade trees for the yard and along city streets.

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Green Ash

SycamoreSeedpod

This species is no longer plantedmuch as an ornamental tree becauseits very large size, shallow spreadingroots, and relatively brittle branchesmake it poorly suited for yard andsidewalk.

Also along the Red Clay Creek on thisfloodplain are several sycamore trees,distinguished by the mottled, peeling,brown and white bark. The sycamoreis considered to be the most massive tree native to the eastern UnitedStates, and it attained great size in virgin forests of the past. The hardcoarse-grained wood provided dugout canoes for the Native Ameri-cans. Today, sycamores are used in the construction of butcherblocks, cabinets, and furniture.

You have now entered the uplandforest. The dominant trees in this partof the forest are oaks and beeches. To

the left of the path is an American beech, withits distinctive smooth, light-gray bark and el-liptical, coarse-toothed leaves. Beech wood isof moderate quality and is used for inexpen-sive furniture, tool handles, and fuel. Unfortu-nately, some people also find beech barkhandy as a carving surface for their initials,perhaps not realizing that cutting into the barkmakes the tree more susceptible to insects anddisease, not to mention unsightly.

About 10 feet further up the trail (alsoon the left) is a red oak. Note the darkgrayish bark with lighter verticalstripes. Red oak wood is used for fur-niture, railroad ties, general construc-tion, and fuel.

To the right of the trail is a larger blackoak, which has pointy-lobed leavessimilar to the red oak, although theyare usually thicker and glossier. The

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Silver MapleLeaf

American BeechLeaf & Nuts

Red Oak Leaf& Acorn

inner bark of black oak was formerly used asa source of a yellow dye known as quercitron.The wood has similar uses as red oak wood.

Nuts of the beech and oak trees were an im-portant source of food for Native Americansand early settlers, and are eaten by many for-est birds and mammals.

The narrow pond on the far side ofthe Red Clay Creek (difficult to seein the summer) is the remnant of a

tailrace from an old flour mill. A tailrace is that portion of a millracethat is located “downstream” of a mill. The Ashland flour mill,which operated from 1715 to 1943, was located by the stone housenear the big, red barn across the field. A dam on the Red Clay Creeknear Sharpless Road provided a reservoir of water for the millrace,which in turn supplied water for the waterwheel that operated theflour mill.

(Note: Just ahead, Nature’s Bounty Trail turns to the right).

The tall, evergreen shrub with thickwaxy leaves growing near the trailis a mountain laurel. The leaves

are highly toxic, although historicallyherbalists used minute doses to treat fever,jaundice, and various other ailments. Thewood of the mountain laurel has been usedsince colonial times in the manufacture oftobacco pipes.

Two common understory trees, flowering dogwood andironwood, can be compared here. The flowering dogwoodis recognized by its scaly bark and the snowy white, flower-

like bracts which appear in late April or May. Native Americansused the root bark to make both a scarlet dye and a tea to combatfever. Dogwood twigs were once used as “chewing sticks” to cleanteeth, prior to the development of modern toothbrushes. The veryhard, strong, tough wood has been used since colonial times for a va-riety of uses including wheel hubs, rake teeth, loom shuttles, toolhandles, and even the construction of golf clubs. Unfortunately,

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Black Oak Leaf& Acorn

Mountain Laurel

many flowering dogwoodsin our forests are dying dueto a fungal disease calledDogwood Anthracnose.Can you see any dying ordead dogwoods in thesewoods?

Ironwood, or Americanhornbeam, is recognized bythe rippled, sinewy appear-ance of its muscle-like,smooth, gray bark. Tinynuts of the ironwood are asource of food for birds andsquirrels. The dense, tough wood makes an efficient, slow-burningfuel. Charcoal made from ironwood was used in the manufacture ofgunpowder in colonial times.

Black gum, or sourgum, hasdark, blocky bark; branchesthat tend to grow perpendicu-

lar to the trunk; and bright red or bur-gundy leaves in the fall. The wood isextremely tough and cross-grained, making it resistant to splittingbut also difficult to work with. The wood has been used for wheelhubs, tool handles, and wooden shoes.

Can you find an example ofsouthern arrowwood vibur-num? This shrub has toothed,

elliptical to somewhat heart-shapedleaves in opposite arrangement on thetwigs. The straight basal shoots of thesouthern arrowwood were once used byNative Americans as shafts for their ar-rows. In addition, the twigs are a sourceof food for white-tailed deer and thedark blue, autumn berries are eaten bybirds.

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Flowering Dogwood

Ironwood

Black Gum

Arrowood

The shaggy, light-gray bark of theshagbark hickory peels off in roughstrips or plates, making it easily dis-

tinguishable from the other species of hicko-ries you may see along the trail. Shagbarkwood is very hard and shock resistant;colonists used the wood for gun ramrods (arod for ramming the powder into a muzzle-loading firearm) and wagon wheel spokesand also in the preparation of hickory-smoked meats. In recent times the wood hasbeen used for lumber, tool handles, skis, andhunting bows. The thickly husked nuts are edible and are still usedtoday in cakes and candies.

The rocks in this area are metamorphic rocks calledgneisses (pronounced nIses). Notice the swirling lines andfolds that are indicative of metamorphic rocks formed under

high heat and pressure deep within the earth. These gneisses formedin the core of an ancient mountain range that stood here more than400 million years ago. Those mountains were as high then as theRockies are today. Over hundreds of millions of years, the tallmountains have gradually eroded away, exposing these gneisses thatwere once buried miles beneath the mountain peaks.

Looking closely at the rocks, you may see small crystals of severaldifferent minerals, including: shiny black mica; glassy, gray or whitequartz; dull, whitish feldspar; and dark, reddish-brown garnet.Patches of grayish-green lichen growing on the rocks aid in breakingdown the boulders into smaller rocks.

Growing near the markerpost to the right of the trailis a stand of American

hazelnut (also called American fil-bert). This native shrub is most no-ticeable in the spring before theleaves open out, when slender,drooping, yellow-brown catkins ofthe male flowers and bright-red pis-tils of the small, petal-less femaleflowers appear. In the fall the

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Shagbark Hickory

HazelnutLeaf

Fruit Flowers

shrub produces edible nuts encased in leafy,ragged-edged husks.

A large white oak tree can also be seenfrom this location, approximately 20 feetoff the trail, behind the American hazelnuts.The white oak has scaly, light-gray bark androunded lobed leaves. The white oak ishighly valued for its timber and its manyuses include ship building, barrels, woodfloors, and fine furniture.

Nuts of both the American hazelnut and thewhite oak were doubtless gathered and eaten by Native Americans andearly settlers. Today, hazelnuts and hazelnut meal are widely availablefor use in baked goods; whereas white oak acorns, although not bitterlike the acorns of red oaks, are seldom harvested by humans.

What kinds of animals live in the forest? Eastern GraySquirrel, Raccoon, Red Fox,and White-tailed Deer are

among the largest wild animals herenow, although 400 years ago Bobcat,Mountain Lion, Gray Wolf, Black Bear,and Elk were also present. WildTurkeys, now making a come-back in Delaware, have also been seenin nearby areas and their feathers are found occasionally at Ashland.All of these animals were hunted by the Lenni Lenape who used the

meat for food, the fur and hides forclothing, the sinews for sewing, thefeathers for decorations, and the bonesand antlers for fishhooks, needles, andother tools.

Smaller animals, like songbirds, turtles,toads, salamanders, and nonpoisonous snakes live here too, along withthousands of species of insects and other invertebrates. Some of thesesmaller animals were also used by the Lenni Lenapes. For example,bowls and rattles were made from the shells of Eastern Box Turtles.

(Note: The Nature’s Bounty Trail now merges with the Treetop Trail.Please follow the yellow markers carefully).

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White OakLeaf & Acorn

Box Turtle

Deer Antler

Witch-hazel is a shrub or small treewith wavy-toothed leaves that areuneven at the base. It is unusual

because its straggly yellow flowers appearin late fall and its seeds are ejected from theseed capsules, sometimes landing as muchas 25 feet away. The bendable branches ofthe witch-hazel were once a favorite amongdowsers, who would use a forked branch asa divining rod to locate underground water.Native Americans used the bark and leavesin the treatment of many skin afflictions.The plant contains chemicals that counteractpain and improve circulation and is still used externally for treatmentof abrasions, minor bleeding, varicose veins, and hemorrhoid dis-comfort.

SalamanderRun is the namegiven to this

rocky, spring-fed creek.Several species of sala-manders live in thiscreek, including North-ern Dusky, NorthernTwo-lined, and NorthernRed Salamanders. The creek has its source in a groundwater springlocated on the hillside about 500 feet upstream from here, and othersmall springs feed into it along its length. Small spring-fed creekslike Salamander Run were doubtless used by Native Americans andearly settlers as sources of cool, clean drinking water.

The large red maple growing here has been used to demonstrate maple syrup productionas done in New England. Maple trees produce

a thin, watery, colorless sap that can be collected in late winter and boiled down to make syrup or sugar. In New England, maple sugaring is a regular commercial enterprise using the abundant sugar maple, which has a much higher sugar content than our red maple.

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Witch Hazel

Two-lined Salamander

Long before European settlers arrived, the Cree Indians in New Eng-land had discovered the principles of maple sugar making. Theyused maple syrup to season their meat and mixed maple sugar withtheir corn bread.

To tap a tree, a one-half inch diameter hole is drilled into the trunk ofa mature maple and a spout (traditionally made of elderberry) is usedto conduct the sap from the tree into a container. When daytime tem-peratures reach 35 to 45°F and nighttime temperatures remain belowfreezing, the sap will begin to flow. In February and March, demon-strations of maple sugaring can be observed first hand at the AshlandNature Center.

Spicebush is the com-mon shrub growingalong both sides of the

trail in this moist floodplain area.The highly aromatic leaves,berries, bark, and twigs of spice-bush have been used through theages to make medicinal teas pop-ular for colds, fevers, coughs,rheumatism, and other ailments.Settlers also used dried spice-bush berries as a substitute for allspice.

This freshwater marshsupports several speciesof herbaceous (non-

woody) plants, including skunkcabbage, sweet flag, and cattail,that were formerly used for me-dicinal purposes. Dried roots ofthe skunk cabbage (named forthe heavy, unpleasant odor of itslarge leaves) were used by Na-tive Americans and early settlersas a treatment for convulsions,and mashed leaves were appliedto wounds to reduce swelling.Sweet flag roots were nibbled by Native Americans to ease stomachailments and to serve as a stimulant on long journeys. Roots, shoots,

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Spice Bush

Cattail

SkunkCabbage

and flowers of cattail have all served as human food and the rootswere also pounded by the Native Americans and used as a topicaltreatment for wounds, burns, and sores.

Stinging nettle is another herbaceous plantthat grows in this part of the floodplain –one that it is best to learn to avoid. Theleaves and stems of this alien, herbaceousplant are covered with needle-like hairsthat produce an unpleasant stinging sensa-tion when touched. On the positive side,the plant has wonderful medicinal proper-ties. Tea made from the dried leaves hasbeen used traditionally as a “blood puri-fier” and to treat a wide variety of ail-ments. Research indicates that the plantcontains natural antihistamines and anti-inflammatories which helpease arthritis pain and treat asthma, bronchitis, and nasal allergies.

The black cherry is a common tree along the forest edge.The hard, close-grained, reddish wood makes beautiful fur-niture. The small, dark fruit that ripens through the summer

is edible to humans, but has a bitter taste. The inner bark has medici-nal properties and has been used for hundreds of years for the treat-ment of coughs and congestion.

THE TRAIL SOON CROSSES BARLEY MILL ROAD. PLEASECROSS CAREFULLY TO THE BOARDWALK.

It’s time to test your memory! Can you match each natural resourcewith its Native American use?

Black willow & dogwood (bark) a) to make hunting bowsGreen ash (wood) b) to make needles and fishhooksArrowwood viburnum (shoots) c) to make fever-reducing teaSycamore (wood) d) to make bowls and rattles Animal bones e) to make arrow shaftsEastern Box Turtle (shell) f) to make dugout canoes

Now see if you can match the following plants with their NativeAmerican, colonial, and/or modern uses:

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StingingNettle

Sassafras (root bark) g) to relieve itching and stingingBeech, oak and hickory (nuts) h) for medicinal teaMountain laurel (wood) i) for treatment of coughs and

congestionIronwood (wood) j) to prepare smoked meatsJewelweed (stems) k) as a colonial substitute for allspiceShagbark hickory (wood) l) to make charcoal for colonial gun

powderSpicebush (leaves and bark) m) to detect groundwaterSpicebush (berries) n) for foodWitch-hazel (branches) o) to make tobacco pipesBlack cherry (bark) p) for tea and to flavor toothpaste &

rootbeer

Answers: 1-c; 2-a; 3-e; 4-f; 5-b; 6-d; 7-p; 8-n; 9-o; 10-l; 11-g;12-j; 13-h; 14-k; 15-m; 16-i

You have now reached the end of the Nature’s Bounty Trail. Alongthe way, you have been introduced to many of the plants and animalsthat live and grow in northern Delaware. You have seen how NativeAmericans, early settlers, and modern man found numerous uses forthe plants and animals, as well as the waterways and land, in thisarea.

These natural resources also play an important ecological role. Allliving things need food, water, and a place to live and grow. Sinceour natural resources are limited, it is our responsibility to use themwisely.

We hope you have enjoyed this trail and will come back again tovisit the Ashland Nature Center. Please deposit $1.00 in the box ifyou would like to keep this booklet; otherwise, return the booklet toits box.

SCIENTIFIC NAMES OF SPECIES MENTIONED IN TEXT(Common names for plants are not standardized and are therefore not capitalized.)

TREES:Red maple (Acer rubrum)Silver maple (Acer saccharinum)Sugar maple (Acer saccharum)Ironwood (Carpinus caroliniana)Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida)American beech (Fagus grandifolia)White oak (Quercus alba)Red oak (Quercus rubra)Black oak (Quercus velutina)Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata)Sassafras (Sassafras albidum)Black gum (Nyssa sylvatica)Green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica)Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis)Black cherry (Prunus serotina)Black willow (Salix nigra)

SHRUBS and VINES:Poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans)American hazelnut (Corylus americana)Southern arrowwood viburnum (Viburnum dentatum)Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia)Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)Spicebush (Lindera benzoin)

HERBACEOUS PLANTS:Sweet flag (Acorus calamus)Skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus)Jewelweed (Impatiens spp.)Cattail (Typha latifolia)Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica)

AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILESNorthern Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus fuscus)Northern Two-lined Salamander (Eurycea bislineata)Northern Red Salamander (Pseudotriton r. ruber)American Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana)Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene c. carolina)

BIRDS:Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)

MAMMALS:Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)Red Fox (Vulpes fulva)Gray Wolf (Canis lupus)Black Bear (Ursus americanus)Bobcat (Lynx rufus)Mountain Lion (Felis concolor)Raccoon (Procyon lotor)White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginiana)Elk (Cervus canadensis)

ABOUT THE DELAWARE NATURE SOCIETYPeople of all ages learn about nature and the environment through theDelaware Nature Society's programs at Ashland & Abbott's Mill NatureCenters, Coverdale Farm, Cooch-Dayett Mills and the new DuPontEnvironmental Education Center at the Wilmington riverfront. DNShashelped preserve thousands of acres of land and advocates forconservation of our natural resources. We own or manage more than1000acres of wildlife habitat for education and biodiversity and DNSis the Delaware affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation.

Barley Mill and Brackenville Roads, Hockessin, DE 19707 (302) 239 - 2334

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