Bench Q at Kuse Nature Preserve
At Bench Q, you can see a clump of Basswood tree trunks. Click on the basswood site to learn about the importance of that tree to animals, Native Americans, early settlers and to local building and industry. How did the basswood tree affect the history of this area? How has the tree been used in art?
What is the relationship between the European Linden tree and the American Basswood trees?
Other plants are also located at or near this bench. Watch them as they grow and change. In spring, yellow violets bloom near the tree. Nearby, milkweed grows and attracts butterflies and other insects.
Bracken ferns come out in May, unfurl their fiddleheads and spread under the tree. Click on Bracken Fern to learn about the questions and very different viewpoints people have about this common plant.
What animals are attracted to this habitat? Look for bees on the basswood blossoms in spring? In autumn look for small mammals that come to feed on the round basswood nutlets.
How do people know where the boundaries of their land are located? Look for survey posts near Bench Q.
At Bench Q, you can also see a pile of stones. Farmers often placed rocks picked from their fields along the fence lines or borders of their land. To find out more about them click on "Rocks and Minerals."
Look at the nearby fields. Hay, corn and oats have been grown there to feed animals. The land had to be cleared before crops could be planted. Think about the people who worked there for the past 150 years. Many years ago the farm work was done with hand tools. Later oxen, horses, tractors and large modern machines prepared the land and harvested crops.
Use the links on the grid below to help you observe.
Location Information |
Plants |
Animals |
Sit Beneath the Basswood Tree |
Basswood Tree |
Bees |
Meditation -- Bench Q |
Bracken Ferns |
Chipmunks |
Uses of Rocks and Minerals |
Yellow Violets |
|
Land Uses as Seen From Bench Q |
Milkweed |
|
Mindfulness Walk Introduction |
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Mindfulness Bench Q |
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