Remnant Natural Areas in Parks, Waterways ... - City of Alexandria

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Fig. 2. Exposed flumes of saprolite (left foreground) of the Indian Run Formation at Brookvalley Park represent the easternmost extent of exposed bedrock in Alexandria. Extensive, sand and gravel point bars (right) form in the modern Holmes Run channel, supporting uncommon to rare, seasonally-vegetated communities. Photo by R.H. Simmons. Brookvalley Park, All Veterans Park, and Holmes Run Park: This large, 62.67 acre suite of contiguous parks (property class 731) spans the broad floodplain and bottomlands along both sides of Holmes Run from N. Van Dorn Street southeastward to Duke Street. It is composed of seven contiguous parcels: the 22.03 acre Brookvalley Park parcel at 5599 Holmes Run Parkway, which extends along both sides of Holmes Run from N. Van Dorn Street to the Charles Beatley Bridge (“pedestrian bridge”); the 8.74 acre parcel at 301 N. Pickett Street; the 1.15 acre parcel at 299 N. Pickett Street (open field); the 3.14 acre parcel at 311 N. Pickett Street; the 3.61 acre parcel at 4725 Duke Street; the 8.5 acre parcel at 4801 Duke Street; and the 15.5 acre parcel at 201 N. Latham Street. The RPCA Park Planning Division database lists Brookvalley and All Veterans parks as 64.34 acres. (Holmes Run Park formerly occupied the area on the north side of Holmes Run, more or less east of the pedestrian bridge to Duke Street, but is now included within All Veterans Park.) Together these parks contain numerous stands of old-age, remnant bottomland trees, including Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), River Birch (Betula nigra), Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra), Willow Oak (Quercus phellos), Bitternut Hickory (Carya cordiformis), and Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua). 3
Some of the largest and oldest River Birch in the region occur at Brookvalley Park on both sides of Holmes Run. The City champion Willow Oak – one of Alexandria’s “Bicentennial Trees” – grows midslope above the stream bank on the north side of Holmes Run downstream of the Charles Beatley Bridge. Unfortunately, much of the stream banks and forest floor are overrun throughout with a variety of pervasive, difficult to eradicate non-native invasive plants and Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), all of which are indicative of major soil disturbance in the past. Nonetheless, the only known population in Alexandria of naturally-occurring Maryland Goldenaster (Chrysopsis mariana) occurs on a sandy slope just west of the Bicentennial Willow Oak, with Virginia Pine (Pinus virginiana) and other native flora of fields and woodland edges. Regionally uncommon to rare flora that grow on open stream banks along Holmes Run throughout these parks include Riverbank Wild Rye (Elymus riparius), Biennial Beeblossom (Oenothera gaura), Northern Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana ssp. virginiana), and New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae). Along the shallow waters of Holmes Run, mainly at Brookvalley Park, are found good examples of sand and gravel depositional bar communities (Fig. 2). This natural community type is classified as Piedmont / Central Appalachian Sand Bar / River Shore (Low Herbs Type): Eragrostis hypnoides - Lindernia dubia - Ludwigia palustris - Cyperus squarrosus Herbaceous Vegetation (USNVC: CEGL006483), with few good remaining examples remaining in the City. Natural resource management at these parks is varied and consists of routine control of non-native invasive plants, litter and debris removal from the stream and wooded areas, ecological restoration plantings, and floristic inventories. 5325 Polk Avenue: This 2.38 acre, designated natural area park (property class 731) occupies a steep, forested hillside and narrow ridge overlooking Shirley Highway (395) and the Eisenhower Valley and is floristically diverse for its size. Its recent acquisition preserves an important remnant of mature forest canopy in the City, as well as native plant diversity, essential wildlife habitat, and water resources. Most of this section of Alexandria was heavily forested and largely unpopulated throughout much of the settlement of the region until the mid-20 th century when Shirley Highway was constructed and housing developments were built (Wrenn 1972). This park was still mostly forested in the 1940s when a sawmill operated at the site (pers. comm., Laura Durham). A single home was later constructed mid-slope at the center of the property, though it burned down in 2012 with few remaining traces. The sole access to the interior of the park is an old gravel road that once led to the house from Polk Avenue. Today, the site remains almost completely canopied by mature forest, with at least half the property in largely undisturbed condition. However, extensive carpets of English Ivy (Hedera sp.), Periwinkle (Vinca minor), and other troublesome non-native invasive plants, as well as native Poison Ivy 4
Page 1 and 2: Remnant Natural Areas in Parks, Wat
Page 3: Lane from Arlington County in 1930;
Page 7 and 8: Fig. 4. Purple Sneezeweed (Helenium
Page 9 and 10: Similar to most of the high elevati
Page 11 and 12: the City for Rudkin Oak (Quercus x
Page 13 and 14: Fig. 8. Old-age Oak-Heath Forest wi
Page 15 and 16: Fig. 10. Long-stalk Coreopsis (Core
Page 17 and 18: Fig. 11. Groves of old-age Tulip Tr
Page 19 and 20: Fig. 12. Oak-Heath Forest at the mi
Page 21 and 22: Fig. 13. Westward view of Shuter’
Page 23 and 24: Fig. 14. Important remaining forest
Page 25 and 26: Rhododendron viscosum - Toxicodendr
Page 27 and 28: Fig. 16. Giant, “ice-rafted” qu
Page 29 and 30: emaining examples of Low-Elevation
Page 31 and 32: Over long periods of time, the outf
Page 33 and 34: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Appreciation is ext

Remnant Natural Areas in Parks, Waterways ... - City of Alexandria

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