brought to you by
Hampton Conservation Commission &

Austin W. Bashline
Eagle Scout Candidate
Troop 176, Hampton, NH

Trail Completed Summer 2002

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How To Get to White’s Lane

Follow Route 1 / Lafayette Road turning east at the Hampton McDonald's onto Ann’s Lane. Drive 3/10 mile. Turn left onto Mill Road to head north. Follow Mill Road 4/10 mile. At the end of the white fence turn right onto dirt lane. Brass White’s Lane street marker posted with small American flag is along roadside at end of dirt lane. Park at yellow metal gate. Here you will see the White’s Lane Nature Trail sign. Thank you for not blocking private driveways or other cars.

SOME HELPFUL INFO:

What you might need to walk the trail

• A good outdoors attitude, which respects nature and others.
• A camera –take only pictures. Leave only footprints.
• Sun Lotion
• Sunglasses
• A sketchpad for drawing the wonderful things you see
• Bug Spray

Be aware that there are poison ivy, mosquitoes, bees, and ticks.

• If you stay on the trail, clear of areas where there is tall grass or dense foliage, you can avoid ticks.

• If you use bug spray with DEET, ticks and insects will stay away. It is advised to only put DEET on clothing since it is harmful to skin in a high concentration.
• Poison ivy grows in a vine form up trees and along branches, as well as a bush form, and a creeping weed form. The key thing to remember is that if you aren’t sure what the plant is STAY AWAY FROM IT AND DON’T TOUCH IT!

Click on the map if you want to print it out separately:

Trail Tree Identification: White square pieces of wood are attached to trees along the trail. Each piece of wood has a number on it. Each number is found on a different type of tree. The name next to the number on this sheet corresponds with the number on the tree.

1. Common Name: Norway Maple

(Latin name Acer platanoides)

Leaves: Opposite, simple, dark green above, lustrous beneath often with hairs, milky sap.

Buds: 1/4 - 3/8" long, rounded scales, plump, fleshy 6-8 scaled, 2 accessory buds 1/3 – 1/2" in size.

General Info: Bark is grayish black with ridges and shallow furrows. Rate of Growth: medium 10 – 12’ in 5-8 years, 30’ in 20 years.

2. American Elm (Ulmus americana)

Leaves: Alternate, simple, 3 – 6" long and 1 – 3" wide, dark green.

Buds: Pointed, 1/4" long, light reddish brown in color.

General Info: Bark is gray, has deep ridges. Growth rate: 10 – 12’ in 5 years. Flowers: greenish red color in March.

3. Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum)

Leaves: Opposite, simple, 3 – 6" across.

Buds: Cone shaped, long and very pointed, 3/16 – 1/4" long, gray brown in color.

General Info: Bark: Young trees have a smooth gray-brown bark, but with age that bark becomes very furrowed, can be scaly, Growth Rate: slow sometimes medium.

4. Common Apple (Malus species)

Leaves: Alternate, simple.

Buds: Usually reddish brown with hairs on underside of bud scales.

General Info: Bark: can be shiny gray on old trees. Look for apples in the late summer and fall.

5. White Oak (Quercus alba)

Leaves: Alternate, simple, 4- 8" long, half as wide as tall, dark green – almost dark blue on top of leaf, a bit pale on the bottom of the leaf.

Buds: Blunt, reddish brown – brown, 1/8 –1/4" long, can be slightly hairy.

General Info: Bark: is ashy-gray on old trees, can vary in its appearance, often it is broken into small vertically arranged blocks, can be scaly on surface. Growth Rate: slow to medium 12-15’ over a 10 –12 year time period. Very strong wood.

Uses: used in shipbuilding. The cannon balls were reported to have bounced off the ships with white oak wood for hulls. Used to make USS Constitution and old wooden barrels.

6. Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobes)

Leaves: Groups of five needles, thin needles, greenish – bluish in color.

Buds: With a point, about 1/4" long, ovoid.

General Info: Bark: is thin, smooth, grayish green when it is young, it gets darker as it gets older, color is dark grayish brown when it is an old tree. Growth Rate: Fast, can grow 50 - 75’ tall in 25 – 40 years. Has longer cones than other pines in New England.

7. Red Pine (Pinus resinosa)

Leaves: Two needles together, thin, they snap when bent, medium to dark green in color, can be 5 - 6" long.

Buds: Narrow conical, 1/2" long.

General Info: Bark: when young has scaly bark, orange-red in color, as it gets older becomes broken up and flat with a reddish brown color. Growth Rate: medium, 50’ after 25 – 30 years.

Uses: telephone poles, was a cash crop in the 1940’s –1950s, the US Government encouraged farmers to plant red pine for telephone poles.

8. White Ash (Fraxinus Americana)

Leaves: Opposite, compound, 8 – 15" long 5 – 9 leaflets, dark green on top of leaf.

Buds: Terminal present, 2 – 3 pairs of scales, slightly downy, rusty to dark brown in color and sometimes almost black.

General Info: Bark: ashy-gray to gray-brown, furrowed in diamond shaped areas, very old trees are more slightly scaled along ridges. Growth Rate: medium 1 – 2’ per year over a 10 – 15 year period. Strong wood doesn’t splinter.

Uses: Baseball bats, hockey sticks, hammer and ax handles, wooden ice cream spoons.

9. Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis)

Leaves: Alternate, simple, can be ovate or oblong-ovate, 3 – 5" long and half as wide as it is tall, 9 – 11 pairs of veins.

Buds: Imbricate, often hairy.

General Info: Bark: yellowish gray white color with black splotches here and there, a dalmation coloring compared to normal tree bark. Bark smells like birch beer (a mint like smell).

10. Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides)

Leaves: Alternate, simple, thin, ovate, 1 1/2 to 3" both long and wide.

Buds: Conical, sharp pointed, can be very resinous, 6 – 7 scaled, reddish brown.

General Info: Bark: smooth, greenish white – cream colored, bark becomes furrowed in old age. Growth Rate: fast growing. Leaves always shaking even in the slightest breeze.

11. Pagoda Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia)

Leaves: Alternate, simple, 2 – 5" long and 1 – 2 ½ " wide, medium to dark green in color, 5 –6 pairs of veins.

Buds: Flower – 1/4" long, purplish in color, has some hair.

General Info: Growth Rate: slow at first but once it has established itself it will grow at a medium pace.

12. Red Maple (Acer rubrum)

Leaves: Opposite, simple, 2- 4 or 5" long and wide, 3 or even 5 lobed, triangular lobes, medium to dark green on top of leaf and grayish with hairs on bottom of leaf.

Buds: Imbricate, red to green, blunt and several scaled, 1/16 – 1/8" long.

General Info: Bark: smooth when young and light gray, when old it is a dark gray and rough, has scales, ridges and or furrows. Growth Rate: medium to fast, 10 – 12’ in 5 – 7 years.

13. Red Oak (Quercus rubra)

Leaves: Alternate, simple, 4 ½" – 8 ½" long, 4 – 6" wide, dark green on top of leaf and grayish, whitish, or even pale yellow-green under leaf.

Buds: 1/4 – 1/3" long, chestnut to reddish brown, have a sharp point.

General Info: Bark: on old trees bark is nearly black and broken into wide flat-topped gray ridges, the older it gets the more ridges and furrows it gets. Growth Rate: fast.

14. Gray Birch (Betula populifolia)

Leaves: Alternate, simple, 2 – 3 1/2" long and 1 1/2" - 1/4" wide, triangular, 6 – 9 vein pairs, dark green on top of leaf.

Buds: Imbricate, can be 1/4" or less in length, brownish, smooth, somewhat resinous, ovate, pointed.

General Info: Bark: dull chalky-white on older branches, bark tight to the tree and doesn’t peel. Growth Rate: medium to fast averaging 2’ per year over a 10 – 15 year period.

15. Black Cherry (Prunus serotina)

Leaves: Alternate, simple, 2 – 5" long, can be 1 – 3/4" wide, medium to dark green above, light green beneath.

General Info: Commonly grows to 50 – 60’ tall but sometimes can reach 100’ tall.

What does this word mean in tree lingo?

Opposite: side-by-side on a node, or stem.

Node: a joint on a stem, represented by point of origin of a leaf or bud; sometimes represented by a swollen or constricted ring, or by a distinct leaf scar.

Lobes: a projecting part or segment

Vein: when leaf is held up in the light you can see darker lines in the leaf. These lines are veins.

Alternate: when the stems or leaves coming from the branch are not side-by-side, but in an alternating pattern along the branch.

Imbricate: overlapping, as shingles on a roof

Simple: when unbranched, on leaf blade

Compound: More than one leaf blade or leaflet on a leaf

Conical: cone shaped

Resinous: secreting a sticky substance that shines in sunlight

Ovate: egg-shaped in outline, like an oval.

Terminal: at the tip or end.

Lustrous: having a slight metallic gloss, less reflective than glossy.

All definitions and photos from Manual of Woody Landscape Plants By Michael A. Dirr

Also known as "Twelve Shares"

This parcel and the adjacent woodlands are known as Twelve Shares. Hampton’s original English settlers received 12 parcels, or shares, of woodland and salt marsh from the original land grant from the King of England.

The land along the seacoast was divided into 12 shares and deeded to 12 families by the King of England. This area has been divided many times but some has actually been handed down through family lines for generations.

The town of Hampton accumulated several small properties in this area over the years. In the early 1990’s the Perkins property became available. It had been an abandoned chicken farm and was reverting to woodland. The Conservation Commission purchased this property for conservation land.

In 1998 the adjacent property along White’s Lane became available. The Conservation Commission saw an opportunity to bring all of these properties together and conserve for the future a good portion of open space. Many thanks to the farsighted residents of Hampton who voted at Town Meeting to purchase this land that you are about to explore.

Reference

Manual of Woody Landscape Plants by Michael A. Dirr; Stipes Publishing Company, 1990

A Special Thank You To:

• My parents for all their support
• The Hampton Conservation Commission
• The Hampton Public Works Department
• The leaders, scouts, and families of Hampton Boy Scout Troop 176 for volunteering their time to help with the project
• Mr. David Webber for sharing his knowledge of birds, assistance with bird boxes, and donation of owl boxes
• Mr. Dick Parker, Mr. Henry Boyd, Mr. Bill Edwards, from Parker Survey, Exeter, NH, for helping me develop White’s Lane Conservation Land survey map
• Mr. A.J. Dupere, Community Forester, Urban Forestry Center, Portsmouth, NH for his wealth of knowledge of forestry and assistance in the creation of this trail
• Mr. Norman Daroska, Urban Forestry Center, Portsmouth, NH, for donating his time to build the signs for the nature trail
• Mr. Leonard Purington of Deerfield, NH, for sawing and donating lumber for birdhouses, tree ID markers and signs
• Home Depot, North Hampton, NH, for the donation of materials for the sign installation
• Wicked Awesome Wallpaper & Paint Store, Hampton, NH, for donation of paint

Technical assistance provided by New Hampshire Division of Forests and Lands - Urban Forestry Center