High Park contains approximately 110 acres of remnant oak woodland communities which were once common on the sand plains of the Great Lakes. Today less than 0.01 percent of these oak woodland communities remain in southern Ontario.
Cup Plants in Oak Savannah. Photo: Karen Yukich
The large Black Oak trees (Quercus velutina) and many other plants, wildflowers, birds and insects dependent on these communities for their habitat are considered to be provincially rare by the Ministry of Natural Resources. Black Oak, found on dry sandy sites throughout the southern United States, is at the northern limit of its natural distribution in High Park. Extensive development of the Great Lakes region has all but eliminated these rare and endangered oak woodland communities.
About 1/3 of the park’s natural environment consists of nationally rare oak savannah, an open, park-like landscape that contains widely spaced black oaks, scattered low shrubs and a rich variety of prairie grasses and wildflowers.
Oak Savannah. North of labyrinth. Photo: Karen Yukich
Of the over 2 million ha of prairies and savannahs that once covered southern Ontario, less than 2,100ha (0.1%) remain today.
The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources has identified approximately 44 hectares (110 acres) of the park's natural environment as significant oak woodlands.
Experts consider the oak savannah at High Park to be "continentally significant" because it occurs near its northern limits...and because of the size, nature and characteristics of the remnant ecosystem.
High Park shelters 41 rare plant species, 32 of which appear in the savannah. Among these plants are nationally rare woodland fern-leaf, wild lupine and cup-plant.
Savannahs are dependent on periodic fire to maintain their open character and rich variety of plant species.
Some Common Plants of the Black Oak Savannah
TREES
Black Oak
Sassafras
SHRUBS
Bush Honeysuckle
Northern Dewberry
Smooth Rose
New Jersey Tea
Shrubby St. John's Wort
GRASSES
Big Bluestem
Bottlebrush Grass
Canada Wild Rye
Indian Grass
Little Bluestem
Pennsylvania Sedge
Sand Dropseed
Switch Grass
Wood Rush
FORBS/WILDFLOWERS
Blazing Star
Blue Harebell
Brown-eyed Susan
Butterfly Weed
Cup Plant
Early Goldenrod
Gray Goldenrod
Hairy Beardtongue
Hoary Vervain
New England Aster
Showy Tick-Trefoil
Sky Blue Aster
Spreading Dogbane
Upland White Aster
Wild Bergamot
Wild Columbine
Wild Geranium
Wild Lupine
Lupines on the Oak Savannah. Photo: Bob Yukich
A number of exquisite flowers and shrubs adorn these plains which rival any garden of beauty during the spring and summer months.
Catherine Parr Traill, 1836, describing the savannah south of Rice Lake. Catherine was an English-Canadian author and naturalist who wrote about life in Canada, particularly what is now Ontario (then the colony of Upper Canada).
Savannah in High Park. Tony Pus
Sources
See also
Take a Guided Tour of the Black Oak Savannah with Sam Benvie
SEE NEW LINK BELOW! Learn about the Toronto & Region Conservation Authority’s methodology, findings and observations as presented in the final High Park Terrestrial Biological Inventory Report, 2019. There will be an opportunity to ask questions about the report. Urban…
High Park’s cherry trees will not be accessible for viewing in person this year due to COVID-19. Learn more about virtual blossom viewing. The ritual of Sakura (cherry blossom) Hanami (flower viewing) comes to us from Japan where it has…
As Spring approaches, we look forward to a new year of gardening, stewardship, bird watching and protecting the natural habitats we care about. Some things can be accomplished by groups of people and others can be done at home. For…
Now that spring-like weather is here, we gardeners are desperate to “get in the garden” but the insects need us to hold on just a little bit longer. Garden waste pickup begins next week (March 15) but we urge you…
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Urban Forestry will not undertake a prescribed burn in High Park and South Humber Park in 2021. Instead, efforts will be focused on working to complete long term planning, and evaluating progress in habitats…
Featured external resource from Ryerson University
This guided tour of the Black Oak Savana and High Park ecosystem for Ecology and Sustainable Landscapes (CKLA 400), an online course offered at Ryerson University. The tour is led by Sam Benvie, an instructor with The Chang School.
A plant and habitat guide, history of High Park, account of volunteering experiences and catalog of stewardship resources all in one entertaining pocket-sized book.
