Mariton: Some Inspiration

by Tim Burris, Preserve Manager

There is an area along the Woods Trail that has captured my attention since I started working at Mariton. It is a section of forest that is almost entirely Tulip trees (Lireodendron tulipifera).  I have watched how the light moves through it at in all seasons, and at all times of the day.  I commented to someone once that it reminds me of a cathedral, and he informed me that indeed the designers of European cathedrals took inspiration from similar forests.  Whether that is true or not doesn’t matter.  Other visitors have told me that they get the same impression.  There are tall narrow windows letting shafts of light in amongst the columns.