Sweetbay Magnolia Preserve

South Ave. and Graham Ave., btw Teleport Dr. and Fahy Ave.

Sweetbay Magnolia Preserve is a 209.5-acre complex of dry upland oak forest and open marsh which may contain the highest diversity of rare plants in New York City. New York State-listed rare plants found here include the namesake sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) and persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), among others.

The combination of slight elevation and sandy soil supports an oak-barrens plant community that includes white oak (Quercus alba), red oak (Quercus rubra), black oak (Quercus velutina), scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea), chestnut oak (Quercus montana), and post oak (Quercus stellata), which is very uncommon in New York City. There are also several rare hybrid oak trees.

The open marshland contains large stands of buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), water willow (Decodon verticillatus), and many native sedges, rushes, flowering plants, and large colonies of sphagnum moss, an indicator of clean, acidic, low-nutrient wetlands. The Atlantic coast leopard frog (Rana kauffeldi), a New York State endangered species, can be heard calling in the ponds in Sweetbay Magnolia Preserve.