Geographical features:
Peabody park has an ancient foundational bedrock that is approximately 500 million years old. This bedrock was formed when the geological ancestors of Africa and North America collided and formed Pangaea. the force of this collision formed a complex rock made up of light granites and dark gabbros mixed with metamorphic schists. You can see this bedrock exposed in several places in the park, most obviously in several of the streams. Rumor has it that this same bedrock kept our own Sullivan Building from having a basement that ran the entire length of the building.
The Streams
Several streams, all branches of Buffalo Creek, originate south of our campus and flow northward toward Lake Daniel. Buffalo Creek is located in the Cape Fear River Basin which eventually empties into the Atlantic Ocean.
All of Greensboro is located in these headwaters and UNCG, shares some of the responsibility to keep the water clean and healthy. Alot of plants and wildlife, permanent or just passing through, rely on this water for their survival. Keeping the streams clean and clear of human debris is a challenge, but just knowing that the streams are there is a first step.
The Forest
The wooded areas of Peabody Park are a fine exmple of mature Piedmont forestMade up of White Oak,Southern Red Oak, Tulip Poplar, Shagbark Hickory, American Beech and many other species. In the spring you can see that there is a well developed understory of flowering Dogwoods and Redbuds. There is quite a community of native Piedmont wildflowers that can be found on the forest floor as well, like Mayapple, Red Trillium, Ebony Spleenwort, and Spotted Wintergreen. However, these are threatened by the invasive English Ivy and Japanese Honeysuckle that was planted in the past and threatens to over run the less aggressive natives.
The Fields
The fields are not "natural" but as mentioned on the history page have been pasture, a lake, an ampitheater, and today a golf course. Several native and introduced plants can be found here that like more sunlight. Daisy Fleabane,clover, etc.
Ruins??
If you wander around the park long enough, and deep enough you will see things that were obviously built by humans that are all but covered up now. Foundations of bridges that are no longer there, stairs built into hillsides that lead to a fence, there has even been a civil war bullet found in the park back inthe 70's. Humans have a way of leaving their mark on nature, but nature has its way of taking what is not used back to itself.