Editing Eastern Prickly Pear (section)

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My second field exploration at Westwoods revealed a very large colony of ''O. humifusa'' living upon a long, narrow rocky bald that sits atop an otherwise forested hill.  I have named these cacti the '''Westwoods Colony''' in acknowledgement of fine efforts of preservation and trailblazing that have produced the Westwoods Trails.
[[File:Opuntia-westwoods.jpg|thumb|In late June, Guilford's '''Westwoods Colony''' can be seen in full bloom with large, yellow flowers.]]
The Westwoods Colony habitat is a long, narrow, exposed bald of solid rock, running on a roughly east-west axis, on top of a hill in the northern portion of Westwoods.  The colony itself is rather linear in its distribution, forming a thick, patchy row of plants that spans roughly 320 feet along the outcrop.  Walking the entire area, I was able to count roughly 25 distinct or semi-distinct clonal clusters ranging from small clusters of only a few square feet to larger clusters upwards of 20 square feet.  In addition, countless individual "satellite" plants could found scattered around the clonal clusters, some even growing with little more than 1/4" of dried lichen as substrate.  The bio-mass of cacti in this colony is impressive, to say the least, especially considering that the rocky outcrop is nearly devoid of trees such that one that can fully survey the extent of these plants from a single vantage point at the highest elevation of the ledge.

The exposed ledge was tightly bordered by dense broadleaf forest, but the ledge itself was rather bare.  The only associated tree life living directly upon the cacti habitat consisted of three or four ''Juniperus virginiana'' (Eastern Red Cedar).  The presence of these trees further cements ''J. virginiana'' as the most significant indicator species of inland ''O. humifusa'', being found at every inland colony/complex location thus far documented.

Perhaps the most unique characteristic of the Westwoods Colony is the degree to which it has claimed such a large portion of habitat on the rocky ledge where it is found.  Most inland colonies of ''O. humifusa'' are subject to very restrictive swaths of habitat, such as a tiny forest glade or a small rocky outcrop, where the plant has limited opportunities for expanding its claim.  Westwoods Colony, on the other hand, is situated upon a rather large rocky bald and it is interesting to observe that ''O. humifusa'' has taken advantage of nearly every square foot of suitable terrain available.  This aggressive expansion demonstrates just how effectively an ''O. humifusa'' colony can expand provided that has ample space on conducive habitat.

Also of note is the elevation at which the Westwoods Colony can be found.  The Westwoods Colony is one of the few colonies that can be found at an intermediate elevation, significantly higher than coastal colonies and significantly lower than colonies growing upon ridge tops further inland.  The Ingham Hill Colony in Old Saybrook, the first colony to be discovered at such a mid-level elevation and the only other of this type besides the Westwoods Colony, possesses a similar elevation in the range of ~140 feet AMSL.

The composition of the soil upon which the Westwoods Colony is growing is congruent with most inland colonies, being primarily a rocky outcrop of basalt and other typical associated minerals.  According to the Soil Survey of the Connecticut, the Westwoods Colony is growing upon '''Rock Outcrop-Holyoke Complex''' (Soil Type 79) which is sub-classified as "3 to 45 percent slopes" (Soil Type 79E).  This soil type is listed as primarily consisting of bare, surficial rock outcrops (which is consistent with my observations), with soils derived from Holyoke basalt providing the bulk of the loose substrate.  The colony area is tightly framed by areas designated as Soil Type 78C to the east and Soil Type 78E to the west, both of which are essentially identical to Soil Type 79E with the exception that Holyoke-derived soils dominate over bare rocky outcrops.  Directly to the the southwest of the colony area, within the corridor of the powerline cut, the soil type is designated as '''Wilbraham and Menlo Soils, Extremely Stony''' (Soil Type 6).  This soil type, too, is primarily derived from basalt, but also shale and sandstone.  The exceptionally poor drainage offered by this substrate is probably why the land was chosen for use as a powerline cut, being essentially useless for any other type of development.