Tour - Rines Preserve in Unity, Maine (Unity College)

Rines Preserve in Unity, Maine (Unity College)

Unity, Maine 04988, United States

Created By: Unity College

Tour Information

Walk-through of the wetland area at Rines Preserve in Unity, Maine. Points of interest are both at the trail edge and off the trail into the wetland areas. This area would be categorized as a wetland, and the trail was made by an esker which is defined as a long ridge of gravel and other sediment, typically having a winding course, deposited by meltwater from a retreating glacier or ice sheet. Visitors should be prepared with appropriate hiking attire, waterproof boots or shoes, bugspray, sunscreen, and be aware of possible poison ivy or related species that may irritate or cause a reaction.

Tour Map

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What You'll See on the Tour

Old field Area

At the entrance of the preserve, there is a small grassland full of different grasses, sedges, rushes and other herbaceous and/or flowering species. These species include but are not limited to; red clover, black-eyed susan, rabbit-foot clo... Read more

Light at Rines Preserve

One thing to be aware of while walking along this trail is the light! When you start in the old field you notice there are no tall trees creating a canopy, only open skies. This increased light allows these herbacous and grassy species to t... Read more

Rabbit-foot clover (Trifolium arvense)

Flowers are dense and fuzzy and come from leaf axils at the tips of branching stems. White to pale-pink in color. Leaves are compound and in threes, mostly toothless and tapered at the base. The leaf surface has fine hairs all around the ed... Read more

Northern red oak (Quercus rubra)

There is a Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra) sapling at the start of the trail. Note the large, simple leaves that are arranged alternately on the branches. Leaves have 7-11 waxy lobes, and turn red in the fall. Northern red oak is found ... Read more

Vegetation Structure

While walking through Rines Preserve, we can identify different layers of a forest. These layers include forest floor (root and moss layers), herb, shrub, understory, and canopy layers. The canopy layers at Rines were mostly made up of dif... Read more

Common winterberry (Ilex verticillata)

Going off the trail into the wetland, we came across a shrubby species with red berries on it. This species is known as common winterberry or winterberry holly. The leaves on this plant are usually wide and dull with distinct coarse teeth.... Read more

Cherry birch (Betula lenta)

Also known as sweet birch, cherry birch grows best in moist, acidic, sandy, or rocky, well-drained areas in full sun to partial shade. It is native to eastern North America and is commonly found in forests of both low and high elevations.... Read more

Small water-plantain (Alisma subcordatum)

Going off the trail into the wetland area we noticed numerous aquatic species. Water-plantain species grow in water, swamps, on muddy banks, or occasionally in wet sand. Leaves are long-petioled and in a clump with a long flowering stem ri... Read more

Wetland area

Going slightly off the trail, you can come across some wetland areas with different vegetation. Some vegetation found here includes bracken fern, small water plantain, and different mosses. We also came across a small frog in the water as w... Read more

Sensitive Fern (Onoclea sensibilis)

Sensitive fern varies in height from a few inches to more than 3 ft. Its sterile fronds, which wither early, are light to brown-mottled green and deeply cut into long lobes which almost reach the stem. Twice-pinnate fertile fronds appear in... Read more

Eastern spicy-wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens)

Along the trail's edge in the beginning we found some wintergreen. We identified this plant by its short plant height, waxy type leaves, and leaf shape. The leaves are dark green which turn reddish in winter and there are three to a plant... Read more

Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides)

A little off the trail there is a young Quaking aspen sapling. Leaves are rounded and triangular with small teeth on the margins. They are arranged alternately on the branches. When older the bark is mostly smooth to chalk-white or yellow-g... Read more

White goldenrod (Solidago bicolor)

On the left side of the trail, we spotted a long plant that looked like common goldenrod, but its flowers were shaped differently and were white rather than yellow. White goldenrod has an elongated spike of short-stalked flower heads with w... Read more

Wildlife at Rines

At this point in the trail, we found some scat, a field mouse, and some tracks which hint towards the variety of wildlife that can be found in this preserve. Due to the various tree, shrub, and herbaceous species found we can conclude that ... Read more

Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus)

Near an access point of a wetland area, which was also near the paper birch noted previously, we found a young eastern white pine. It was about 2-3 feet in height and slightly narrower than it was tall. The needles on an eastern white pine... Read more

Common hair moss (Polytrichum commune)

This evergreen species was found throughout this study site both on the side of the trail and near trees and shrubs. It grouws to about 1inch in height with yellow-green colors. The base of this plant is often darker than its top. American... Read more

Paper birch (Betula papyrifera)

Next to one of the wetland areas, there was a paper birch tree that was growing at a tilted angle. This tree overlooked water plantains and reeds. Paper birches can be identified by their characteristic white peeling bark and heart-shaped t... Read more

Broadleaf cattail (Typha latifolia)

Going further into the wetland area, there are several species of tall grasses, sedges, and rushes. The broadleaf cattail is a grass perennial that is often found in dense clumps. Its defining characteristic is the dense, brown, cylindric... Read more

Common reed (Phragmites spp.)

Common reed, also known as Phragmites, is a perennial reed. There are two main species of common reed - Phragmites australis which is an invasive species and Phragmites australis americanus which is native. The invasive species is an ... Read more

Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense)

The Canada mayflower is a short plant with small, dense clusters of tiny white star-shaped flowers and 1-3 ovate leaves. This plant is native to deciduous and mixed woods, floodplains, and bog margins. This plant does not have noteworthy im... Read more