With 24 different habitats and more than 5,200 species, we strive to preserve these sites and their ecosystems intact for the surrounding communities to enjoy in their natural states. Through sustainable management, sensitive lands and research sites are protected while the public can enjoy over 14 kilometres of trails, community gardens and interpretive events.
The Confluence of the Grand and Speed Rivers has been described by walkers along the Linear Trail in Preston-Cambridge as an un-paralleled vista of the Grand River Valley. The Cliffs and Alvars are a unique geologic formation in Waterloo Region both in size and in the biodiversity that this limestone substrate supports. Viewed from a distance, wind swept white pines tower above the dense canopy of lowland forest rooted in cold-water seeps that feed Cruickston Creek as it trickles then flows between sand ridges of upland woods in the Hogsback. A stroll along the Grand Alleé trail separating Ancient Woods from neighbouring forests reveals a cathedral grove of oak, maple, beech and ash that sprouted as seedlings in pre-settlement times of the latter half of the 1700s. These core natural areas will be monitored to provide a baseline of information for both interpretive and research programs at rare. The long-term protection of these natural areas within rare makes possible long-term research to build an understanding of how ecological systems function within the natural landscapes of southern Ontario. Understanding how these natural systems function will provide both a knowledge base and confidence for our efforts in ecological restoration.
See full list of Fauna including amphibians, reptiles, birds, butterflies, and mammals.
See full list of Flora:
Plant Life Species List
Fungi Species List
Mosses and Liverworts
This plant list is based upon bio-inventories conducted by Larry Lamb, manager of Environmental Studies Ecology Lab and adjunct lecturer, University of Waterloo, with the assistance of members of Cruickston Park Ecological Advisory Team (CPEAT): Ken Dance, Dr. Doug Larson and Bill Wilson; the Plant Study Group of the Kitchener-Waterloo Field Naturalists co-ordinated by Graham Buck; University of Waterloo students conducting wetland evaluation, Larry Lamb supervisor; and, Friends of Cruickston participating in botany outings on the property led by Larry Lamb.Thank you to Dr. J. K. Morton, Professor Emeritus, University of Waterloo, for verifying the identification of several plant species. Specimens of plant species, new or significant for Waterloo Region, are deposited with the Herbarium, University of Waterloo.More than one-third of the plant species of Waterloo Region are found at rare with over 800 species. Of these, 48 species are on the significant species list of native vascular plants for the Regional Municipality of Waterloo.In 2002, two species not previously known in Waterloo Region and presumed to be candidates for the list of Regionally Significant plants, were found. One plant species found, Harbinger-of-Spring (Erigenia bulbosa), is nationally rare.The significant species list not only serves to protect these plants but also to recognize and assess the quality of habitats in Waterloo Region.
Agrimony
Alder-leaved Buckthorn
Alfalfa
Alsike Clover
Alternate-leaved Dogwood
American Beech
American Brooklime
American Grass-of- Parnassus
American Stinging Nettle
American Water-horehound
Angelica
Annual Fleabane
Annual sow-thistle
Apple
Arrow-leaved Aster
Arrow-leaved Smartweed
Autumn Willow
Awned Sedge
Balsam Poplar
Barnyard Grass
Barren Strawberry
Basket Willow
Basswood
Beaked hazel
Beaked Willow
Bebb’s Sedge
Beech-drops
Bellwort
Bentgrass
Bigseed Smartweed
Bird-foot Trefoil
Bishop’s Cap
Bitternut Hickory
Bittersweet
Bittersweet Nightshade
Black Alder
Black Ash
Black Bindweed
Black Bullrush
Black Cherry
Black Elderberry
Black Locust
Black Maple
Black Medic
Black Oak
Black Raspberry
Black Walnut
Black Willow
Black-eyed Susan
Bladder Campion
Bladder Sedge
Bladdernut
Bloodroot
BlueBeech
Blue Cohosh
Blue Flag Iris
Blue-joint
Blue Vervain
Bluebead Lily
Blue-stem Goldenrod
Bog willow
Boneset
Bottle-brush Grass
Bottlebrush Sedge
Brassica Juncea var. juncea
Bristle-leaved Sedge
Bristly Black Currant
Bristly Greenbrier
Bristly Sedge
Broadleaf Panic Grass
Broad-leavedArrowhead
Broad-leaved Cattail
Broad-leaved Plantain
Broad-leaved Sedge
Brome-like Sedge
Bulbet Bladder Fern
Bulbous Water Hemlock
Bull Thistle
Bunchberry
Bur Oak
Burning Bush
Bur-reed Sedge
Bush Honeysuckle
Bushy Naiad
Butter-and-eggs
Butterfly Milkweed
Butternut
Calico Aster
Canada Anemone
Canada Blue Grass
Canada Blue-joint
Canada Goldenrod
Canada Gooseberry
Canada Lettuce
Canada Lily
Canada Mayflower
Canada Thistle
Canada Violet
Canada Waterleaf
Carpenter’s-square
Carrion-flower
Catnip
Celandine
Charlock
Chicory
Chokecherry
Christmas Fern
Cinnamon Fern
Clearweed
Cleavers
Climbing False Buckweed
Climbing Poison Ivy
Clinging Bedstraw
Closed Gentian
Cocklebur
Coltsfoot
Common Barberry
Common Beggar-ticks
Common Blackberry
Common Blue Violet
Common Buckthorn
Common Burdock
Common Cattail
Common Comfrey
Common Duckweed
Common Evening-primrose
Common Foxglove
Common Lilac
Common Milkweed
Common Mint
Common Mullein
Common Ragweed
Common Reed
Common Rush
Common Skullcap
Common Speedwell
Common St. John’s- wort
Common Strawberry
Common Sunflower
Common Trillium
Common Water-plantain
Common Wood Rush
Common Wood-sorrel
Cottonwood
Cow Vetch
Crack Willow
Creeping Bent Grass
Creeping Sedge
Creeping Wood-sorrel
Crested Sedge
Crested Wood Fern
Curled Dock
Cursed Crowfoot
Cut-grass
Cut-leaf Toothwort
Cypress Spurge
Cypress-like Sedge
Dame’s-rocket
Dandelion
Dark Green Bulrush
Deptford Pink
Dog Violet
Dotted Hawthorn
Dotted Smartweed
Downy Arrow-wood
Downy Serviceberry
Downy Willow-herb
Downy Yellow Violet
Drooping Wood Sedge
Dudley’s Rush
Dwarf Dewberry
Dwarf Enchanter’s Nightshade
Dwarf Raspberry
Dwarf Scouring-rush
Dwarf St. John’s- wort
Early Goldenrod
Early Meadow Rue
Eastern Bracken-fern
Eastern Bur-reed
Eastern Cottonwood
Eastern Hemlock
Eastern Red Cedar
Eastern White Cedar
Eastern White Pine
Elderberry
Enchanter’s Nightshade
English Plantain
European Highbush Cranberry
European Larch
European Mountain Ash
European Stinging nettle
European White Birch
Evergreen Wood Fern
False Loosestrife
False Nettle
False Solomon’s-seal
Fen Orchid
Field Bindweed
Field (or Shade) Horsetail
Field Mustard
Field Pussytoes
Fire Cherry
Flowering Rush
Fly Honeysuckle
Foam Flower
Fowl Manna Grass
Fowl-meadow Grass
Fox Sedge
Fringed Brome Grass
Fringed Loosestrife
Fringed polygala
Fringed Sedge
Frost Aster
Garden Asparagus
Garlic Mustard
Giant Bur-reed
Giant Ragweed
Glossy Buckthorn
Goat’s-beard
Golden Alexanders
Golden Ragwort
Gold-thread
Goose Grass
Graceful Sedge
Grass-leaved Goldenrod
Gray Dogwood
Gray Goldenrod
Great Blue Lobelia
Great Burdock
Great Hairy Willow-herb
Great Water Dock
Green Foxtail
Green-headed Coneflower
Grey Dogwood
Ground-ivy
Groundnut
Ground-pine
Guelder-rose
Hairy Beard-tongue
Hairy Sweet Cicely
Hairy Willow-herb
Harbinger-of-spring
Harebell
Hawthorn
Heart-leaved Aster
Heart-leaved Willow
Heath Aster
Helleborine
Hemlock-parsley
Herb-robert
Highbush Cranberry
Hill’s Oak
Himalayan Balsam
Hoary Alyssum
Hoary Willow
Hog-peanut
Hooked Buttercup
Hop HornbeamHop Sedge
Horse Chestnut
Horseweed
Hybrid Poplar
Interrupted Fern
Ironwood
Jack-in-the-pulpit
Jack Pine
Japanese Barberry
Jerusalem Artichoke
Jointed Rush
Kentucky Blue Grass
Kidney-leaved Violet
King Devil Hawkweed
Knottsheath Sedge
Knotted Rush
Lady’s Thumb
Lake Bank Sedge
Lamb’s-quarters Pigweed
Lance-leaved Figwort
Large Yellow Lady-slipper
Large-leaved Aster
Large-toothed Aspen
Late Goldenrod
Lawn Prunella
Leafy Spurge
Leatherwood
Lily-of-the-valley
Lizard’s-tail
Lombardy Poplar
Long-awned Wood Grass
Long-beaked Willow
Long-fruited Anemone
Long-spurred Violet
Lopseed
Losel’s Twayblade
Low Juneberry
Lowbush Blueberry
Mad-dog Skullcap
Manitoba Maple
Maple-leaved Viburnum
Marginal Wood Fern
Marsh Bedstraw
Marsh Blue Violet
Marsh Fern
Marsh Hedge-nettle
Marsh Marigold
Marsh Pennywort
Marsh yellow Cress
May-apple
Meadow Goat’s-beard
Meadow Horsetail
Meadow Sedge
Meadow Spike-moss
Meadowsweet
Medeola Virginiana
Mexican Muhly Grass
Mild Waterpepper
Moneywort
Moonseed
Moth Mullein
Motherwort
Mountain Maple
Mountain-rice
Mouse-eared Hawkweed
Mugwort
Multiflora Rose
Musk Mallow
Naked Mitrewort
Nannyberry
Narrow-leaf Blue-eyed Grass
Narrow-leaved Cattail
Narrow-leaved Spring Beauty
New England Aster
Ninebark
Nipplewort
Nodding Bur Marigold
Nodding Thistle
Northern Bog Club-moss
Northern Green-orchis
Northern Lady Fern
Northern Maidenhair Fern
Northern Prickly Ash
Norway Maple
Norway Spruce
Oak Fern
Obedient Plant
Old Field Cinquefoil
One-sided Aster
Orange Day-lily
Orange Hawkweed
Orange Jewelweed
Orchard Grass
Ostrich Fern
Ox-eye Daisy
Pale Touch-me-not
Panicled Aster
Partridgeberry
Path Rush
Peach-leaved Willow
Pear
Pennsylvania Sedge
Penny Grass
Peppermint
Perennial Rye Grass
Philadelphia Fleabane
Pineapple Weed
Plantain-leaved Sedge
Poison Ivy
Poke Milkweed
Porcupine Sedge
Poverty Oat Grass
Prickly Gooseberry
Privet
Prostrate Knotweed
Purple Loosestrife
Purple Trillium
Purple-leaved Willow-herb
Purple-stemmed Aster
Pussy Willow
Quack Grass
Rattlesnake Fern
Rattlesnake Manna Grass
Red Ash
Red Baneberry
Red CloverRed Current
Red Elm
Red Fescue
Red Maple
Red Oak
Red Pine
Red Raspberry
Red Swamp Currant
Red-berried Elder
Red-foot Pigweed
Red-osier Dogwood
Red-stemmed Plantain
Redtop Grass
Reed Canary Grass
Retrorse Sedge
Rhode Island Bent Grass
Rice Cut Grass
River Bank Wild Rye
Riverbank Grape
Robin’s Plantain
Rock Polypody Fern
Rose Twisted Stalk
Rough Bedstraw
Rough Cinquefoil
Rough Fleabane
Rough Goldenrod
Rough Hedge-nettle
Rough Sedge
Rough-fruited Cinquefoil
Rough-leaved Goldenrod
Rough-leaved Mountain-rice
Rough-seeded Sedge
Round-leaved Dogwood
Round-lobed Hepatica
Royal Fern
Rugosa Rose
Running Strawberry-bush
Rush
Russian Olive
Sandbar Willow
Schweinitz’s Sedge
Scotch Pine
Scouring-rush
Sedge
Sensitive Fern
Shagbark Hickory
Sharp-lobed Hepatica
Sheppard’s-purse
Shining Nut Grass
Shining Willow
Shinleaf
Short-awned Foxtail
Short-fruited Rush
Showy Orchis
Shrubby Cinquefoil
Silky Dogwood
Silver Maple
Silverweed
Silvery Cinquefoil
Silvery Glade Fern
Skunk Cabbage
Sky-blue Aster
Slender Willow
Small Bedstraw
Small Enchanter’s Nightshade
Small Jack-in-the-pulpit
Smaller Fringed Gentian
Small-flowered Buttercup
Smooth Aster
Smooth Brome Grass
Smooth Cliff-brake
Smooth Serviceberry
Smooth Sow-thistle
Smooth Wild Rose
Snowberry
Soapwort
Softstem Bulrush
Solomon’s-seal
Spicebush
Spikenard
Spinulose Wood Fern
Spiny Annual Sow-thistle
Spotted Jewelweed
Spotted Joe-Pye Weed
Spotted Knapweed
Spreading Dogbane
Spring Cress
Squawroot
Staghorn Sumac
Star-flower
Starry False
Solomon’s-seal
Stemless Blue Violet
Stiff Clubmoss
Stout Wood Grass
Streambank Wild Rye
Sugar Maple
Swamp Buttercup
Swamp Dock
Swamp Milkweed
Swamp Rose
Swamp Thistle
Swamp Violet
Sweet Cherry
Sweet Crabapple
Sweet Reed Grass
Sweet-scented Bedstraw
Sycamore
Tall Beggar-ticks
Tall Brome Grass
Tall Buttercup
Tall Goldenrod
Tall Hairy Agrimony
Tall Meadow Rue
Tall White Aster
Tall White Lettuce
Tamarack
Tansy
Tartarian Honeysuckle
Teasel
Thimbleweed
Thin-leaved Sunflower
Three-way Sedge
Thyme-leaved Sandwort
Timothy
Toad Rush
Trembling Aspen
True Forget-me-not
Tufted Loosestrife
Tumble Mustard
Tumbling Pigweed
Turtlehead
Tussock Sedge
Twinflower
Twistwood
Two-leaf Toothwort
Variegated Scouring-rush
Velvet-Leaf
Velvet-leaved Blueberry
Viper’s-bugloss
Virgin’s-bower
Virginia Anemone
Virginia Creeper
Virginia Waterleaf
Virginia Wild Rye
Water Avens
Water Cress
Water Hemlock
Water Horehound
Water Parsnip
Water-pennywort
Water Sedge
Water Smartweed
Water Speedwell
Waterpepper
White Ash
White Avens
White Baneberry
White Bedstraw
White Birch
White Clover
White Elm
White Lettuce
White Mulberry
White Oak
White Snakeroot
White Spruce
White Sweet-clover
White Trout-lily
White Vervain
White Wild Licorice
White Willow
Wild Basil
Wild Bergamot
Wild Black Currant
Wild Calla
Wild Carrot
Wild Coffee
Wild Columbine
Wild Crab
Wild Cucumber
Wild Geranium
Wild Ginger
Wild Honeysuckle
Wild Leek
Wild Madder
Wild Red Raspberry
Wild Sarsaparilla
Wild Yellow Plum
Willow-herb
Willow-weed (Large European)
Winterberry
Wintergreen
Witch-hazel
Wood Anemone
Wood Germander
Wood Millet
Wood Nettle
Wood-betony
Woodland Sedge
Woodland Strawberry
Wooly Bullrush
Wool-grass
Yarrow
Yellow Avens
Yellow Birch
Yellow Cress
Yellow Flag
Yellow Hawkweed
Yellow Jewelweed
Yellow Rocket
Yellow Sweet-clover
Yellow Trout-lily
Zig-zag Goldenrod
Blue-Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma laterale)
Blue-Spotted/Jefferson Complex (Ambystoma laterale/Ambystoma jeffersonianum)
Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum)
Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus)
Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum)
American Toad (Bufo americanus)
Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana)
Gray Tree Frog (Hyla versicolor)
Green Frog (Rana clamitans)
Northern Leopard Frog (Rana pipiens)
Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer)
Striped Chorus Frog (Pseudacris triseriata)
Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica)
Blue-Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma laterale)
Blue-Spotted/Jefferson Complex (Ambystoma laterale/Ambystoma jeffersonianum)
Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum)Common Snapping Turtle (Cheldyra serpentine)
Smooth Green Snake. Photo by Mike Weissmann
Smooth Green Snake. Photo by Mike Weissmann.
Midland Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta)
Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi)
Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis)
Eastern Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum)
Smooth Green Snake (Opheodrys vernalis)
Red Belly Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata)
Northern Watersnake (Nerodia sipedon sipedon)
Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus)
Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum)
American Toad (Bufo americanus)
Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana)
Gray Tree Frog (Hyla versicolor)
Green Frog (Rana clamitans)
Northern Leopard Frog (Rana pipiens)
Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer)
Striped Chorus Frog (Pseudacris triseriata)
Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica)
Greater White-fronted Goose
Snow Goose
Cackling Goose
Brant
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Trumpeter Swan
Tundra Swan
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
(Ring-necked Pheasant)
Ruffed Grouse
Wild Turkey
(Northern Bobwhite)
(Ring-necked Pheasant)
Ruffed Grouse
Wild Turkey
(Northern Bobwhite)
(Ring-necked Pheasant)
Ruffed Grouse
Wild Turkey
(Northern Bobwhite)
(Ring-necked Pheasant)
Ruffed Grouse
Wild Turkey
(Northern Bobwhite)
(Ring-necked Pheasant)
Ruffed Grouse
Wild Turkey
(Northern Bobwhite)
(Ring-necked Pheasant)
Ruffed Grouse
Wild Turkey
(Northern Bobwhite)
(Ring-necked Pheasant)
Ruffed Grouse
Wild Turkey
(Northern Bobwhite)
(Ring-necked Pheasant)
Ruffed Grouse
Wild Turkey
(Northern Bobwhite)
(Ring-necked Pheasant)
Ruffed Grouse
Wild Turkey
(Northern Bobwhite)
(Ring-necked Pheasant)
Ruffed Grouse
Wild Turkey
(Northern Bobwhite)
(Ring-necked Pheasant)
Ruffed Grouse
Wild Turkey
(Northern Bobwhite)
(Ring-necked Pheasant)
Ruffed Grouse
Wild Turkey
(Northern Bobwhite)
(Ring-necked Pheasant)
Ruffed Grouse
Wild Turkey
(Northern Bobwhite)
(Ring-necked Pheasant)
Ruffed Grouse
Wild Turkey
(Northern Bobwhite)
(Ring-necked Pheasant)
Ruffed Grouse
Wild Turkey
(Northern Bobwhite)
(Ring-necked Pheasant)
Ruffed Grouse
Wild Turkey
(Northern Bobwhite)
(Ring-necked Pheasant)
Ruffed Grouse
Wild Turkey
(Northern Bobwhite)
(Ring-necked Pheasant)
Ruffed Grouse
Wild Turkey
(Northern Bobwhite)