Institute Woods

     In close vicinity of Princeton University stands a tranquil leafy forest. The Institute Woods have long provided a place of sanctuary for humans and animals alike. Two hundred species of birds can be spotted flitting amidst the trees, and mammals such as white-tailed deer and red foxes scamper through the bush. The peaceful atmosphere has been a place of contemplation for generations of Princeton scholars, from Einstein and onward. Truly, the Institute Woods are best described in the words of Professor Emeritus George F. Kennan from the Institute for Advanced Study: "I have lived in the proximity of these Woods for over half a century. They are a friend, a source of inspiration and restoration, and were they to disappear it would be like the disappearance of an old, beloved, and respected friend."

    Philadelphia Fleabane, native

    Korean Mountain Ash, invasive

    Eastern Hemlock

    

    Iris Pseudocorus, also known as Yellow Flag Iris

    The Institute Woods are equally beautiful in the autumn, when the red and yellow leaves flutter in the breeze and gracefully drift down to the slow-moving, sleepy Stony Brook.

    

    Right at the edge of the Institute Woods sits Updike Farmstead and its adjacent fields. When we were there, the area had been sown with soybeans, dainty golden plants that glowed in afternoon sunlight.