A Mini-Arboretum

The Halibut Point parking lot has developed into one of the Park's more fascinating areas during fall foliage season. Many of the woody plants in the traffic islands are looking particularly handsome right now. It's something of a compensatory grace after the destruction of so many tree and shrub specimens a few years ago during the landscape renovation.

Silver maple

The backbone of these plantings are silver maples, fast-growing trees originally from moist environments that also tolerate urban conditions. They were once regarded as a replacement for the majestic, blighted American elm but fell out of favor because of their brittle wood.

Silver maple

Silver maples and their close relative red maples, which are common  elsewhere at Halibut Point, are the only maple species that produce fruit crops in the spring instead of autumn. Presently they are adorned with brilliant and variable fall foliage.

Fothergilla

Fothergilla shrubs have been used extensively in the renovated traffic islands. Their leaves turn a seemingly rainbow combination of bright yellow, vibrant orange, and wine red. This member of the witch-hazel family also produces showy white bottle-brush shaped flowers in the spring.

Sweet fern

Sweet fern has been liberally planted in such a way as to colonize the traffic islands with lustrous foliage on 2-4' high woody plants with no botanic relation to herbaceous ferns but sharing the name because of the deeply lobed pinnate leaves that give off a sweet fragrance when crushed. This member of the bayberry family is quite tolerant of poor dry soils and successfully occupies parts of the granite landscape elsewhere in the Park.

Tupelo

Tupelo trees thrive indigenously in Park lowlands and along the edge of quarry ponds. The ones pictured here around the parking lot are prospering in moist grassy areas, as distinct from the traffic islands. They are among the most vividly colored of woodland plants in the fall.

Witch-hazel

Native witch-hazels are the last shrubs to flower. They produce exquisite strap-like petals in October and November at the same time that the nut-like fruit from last year's flowers are maturing on the branches.

White oak

White oaks make up one of the preeminent hardwood components of eastern North America. The foliage of this sapling is not as colorful as many others of its type scattered through the Park, but itshighly textured bark makes an interesting feature. Given open space on the outer perimeter of the parking area it should develop into a massive broad-topped specimen.

All these plants originate in East Coast ecologies, although not necessarily in Essex County. They have been well chosen to link the arrival area with its surroundings and provide enduring interest to visitors.