Flora and Fauna of Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary

Flora and Fauna of Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary

By Kristen Geagan

For a relatively small property that is nestled in downtown Edgartown, Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary provides an oasis for plants and wildlife. One feature that allows the property such diversity in flora and fauna is the wide variety of habitats. From dry pitch pine woodlands to shrub swamps, wet meadows to open fields, and salt marshes to oak woodlands, the sanctuary offers a little bit of everything.

Sheriff’s Pond is home to a wide range of creatures from American eels, painted turtles, muskrats, otters that can be found swimming in its waters to green herons that nest in the surrounding shrubbery. In the pitch pine woodlands you can find imperial moth caterpillars feeding on the pitch pine needles. Although widely distributed throughout Eastern North America, the Vineyard is the only place in Massachusetts that a population of these State Threatened moths has survived.

The wide range of habitats also allows for a profusion of plant life. Butterfly-weed, sickled leaved golden aster and little bluestem are some examples of native plants you will find growing in the open field areas. water-willow, a plant with gorgeous fuchsia flowers that grows along the edges of the pond, is the host plant for another rare moth species, the water-willow stem borer.

Wet meadows are a relatively rare habitat on the Vineyard. At Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary, we have been working to restore, enhance and encourage this dwindling landscape feature. To do this, we transplanted and removed shrubbery to give the plants that grow in these habitats the light and space they need. We then seeded these areas with native seed we collected and plugs we purchased from Polly Hill Arboretum. These areas also seeded in naturally with some common—and not so common—wet meadow species quickly becoming the most diverse habitat in the sanctuary. Throughout the summer season you can enjoy the blossoming iris, cardinal flower, blue vervain, Virginia meadow beauty and purple agalinis and many more colorful blooms.