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The FF-4 subunit occurs on the southeast side of the property along the Mississippi River. <br />The northern portion of the unit contains a two-track that runs from the corner of the farm <br />field northeast toward the confluence, and the remainder of the unit runs alongside the <br />Mississippi on the southern side of the property. This subunit is replete with large green <br />ash (17.2-75.1 cm dbh), and silver maple (55.6-113.8 cm dbh) (Photo 9). A good portion of <br />this forest is relatively open in the understory, with groundcover that includes abundant <br />wood nettle and clearweed, with scattered white snakeroot and woody seedlings. However, <br />there are some areas of dense buckthorn as well, including to the east of the two-track, <br />along stretches of the riverbank, and along the field edge. Further south, s the unit runs <br />along the Mississippi River channel, the floodplain area is terraced, wi pper level <br />along the farm field edge, sloping quickly down to a lower level alo a river's edge. The <br />upper portions contain more large ash, which the lower areas ar silver maple <br />dominated. Some box elder (:530.1 cm dbh) and hackberry (:55 cm are present, <br />especially closer to the field edge, and the subunit contains c )nal c oods (88.7 <br />cm dbh) and willows (106.9 cm dbh) as well. The unders s ightly mo a here, <br />with some gooseberry and blackberry species. The to terrace is relatively of <br />buckthorn, with only scattered individuals present. a of t nit, especial on the <br />southern edge of the property, is again mostly bar g le vegetation due to <br />frequent flooding. Further west, the unit gets very narr d the slope from the field <br />edge to the river becomes steeper, eventu I reaching an where the river bank is <br />roughly 15-20 ft. above the water level. rstory vege s still a mix of ash, <br />boxelder and large hackberry, though less is pres The unit ends as the tree <br />cover diminishes and reaches an eroding b ve by brome and other <br />undesirable species. <br />Photo 9. Open area of FF -4 dominated by large silver maples. <br />Friends of the Mississippi <br />40 <br />W.H. Houlton Conservation Area NRMP <br />