Vol. 19 No. 4 Long Island Botanical Society The Quarterly Newsletter Fall 2009 Northern Bayberry - Could it be a Tree? Ralph Tiner Regional Wetland Coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Northeast Region 300 Westgate Center Drive, Hadley, MA01035 A funny thing happened to me on the way to a hockey game on Long Island. What started as a routine hockey trip turned into a botanical outing with unexpected results. One Saturday morning in the fall of 2006, my son and I traveled from Massachusetts to Long Beach, New York for one of his weekend hockey games. We left early, too early in fact, since we arrived in the area a few hours before the game. We soon found ourselves on Lido Boulevard at a nature preserve — Lido Beach M ar ine Conservation Area. Since we had a lot of time to kill, I said to Dillon “Let’s stop and take a look at the salt marshes.” He probably groaned and thought to himself: “Oh another of dad’s nature walks.” At the time, I was working on a book “Field Guide to Tidal Wetland Plants of the Northeastern United States and Neighboring Canada” (University of Massachusetts Press, 2009) and I wanted to see if I should add this site to the “Places to Explore Tidal Wetlands” section of the manuscript. As we walked along the trail, I noticed what appeared to be some fairly tall shrubs with a good number of persistent leaves. Many of the shrubs were above 10 feet tall, and there were a couple of tree-sized specimens ranging to about 20 feet tall. My first thought was that they were wax myrtle ( Morelia cerifera (L.) Small) which can grow as a small tree but I did not think this species occurred this far north. When I examined the leaves, however, I thought the leaves looked more li ke northern bayberry ( Morelia pensylvanica (Mirb.) Kartesz), yet my only experiences with this species were as a low- to medium-height shrub. When I got home I checked some references to confirm wax myrtle’s range and to learn more about distinguishing between these two species as they can be confused with one another where their ranges overlap. They also hybridize which further complicates an already difficult taxonomic situation (Flora of North America, http:/ /www. efloras.org/ florataxon. aspxPflora id = l&taxon id=233500794) . There is no report of wax myrtle in New York according to the national plants database of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (http:/ /plants.usda.gov) and several other sources (including Gray’s Manual of Botany, Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada, and Flora of the Northeast: A Manual of the Vascular Flora of New ( Continued on pg 28) New York State Champion Northern Bayberry, Lido Beach Marine Conservation Area. Page 26 Long Island Botanical Society Vol. 19 No. 4 Long Island Botanical Society Founded: 1986 Incorporated: 1989 The Long Island Botanical Society is dedicated to the promotion of field botany and a greater understanding of the plants that grow wild on Long Island, New York. Visit the Society’s Web site www.libotanical.ora Executive Board President Eric Lamont 631-722-5542 Vice President Andrew Greller 516-364-9377 Treasurer Carol Johnston 516-676-6648 Recording Secretary Barbara Conolly 516-922-5935 Corresponding Secretary John Potente 631-361-6756 Committee Chairpersons Flora Gerry Moore 718-623-7332 Field Trips James Mickley 717-278-9126 Programs Rich Kelly 516-354-6506 Membership Lois Lindberg 516-922-0903 Conservation Bill Titus 516-671-7351 Education Mary Laura Lamont 631-722-5542 Hospitahty Kathleen Gaffney 516-742-4019 Zu Proly 516-676-4023 Dorothy Titus 516-671-7351 Newsletter Editor Margaret Conover 631-357-3065 with special thanks to Skip & Jane Blanchard Webmaster Donald House hbsweb@yahoo.com Society News & Announcements The New York Flora Blog, now available at http: / / nvflora.wordpress. com/ has news of plant sightings, field trips, and other items of interest to Long Island botanists, thanks to the work of Steve Young and others. ♦> ♦> Polly Weigand reports several extensive populations of black swallow- wort ( Cynanchum louiseae) in eastern Suffolk County. ❖ ❖ ❖ An antique seed and bulb cabinet, once belonging to one of Long Island’s early botanists, Elihu Miller, is offered free to an interested party. Contact Margaret Conover for more information. ❖ ❖ ❖ Marilyn Jordan asks that we be alert for two new extremely invasive grass species that have appeared on the east coast. Please check out the photos and information at online sources given below, and keep these species in mind. If you find a possible occurrence of either, please report it immediately to Alex Entrup (aentrup @,tnc. org) and Kathy Schwager (kschwag er @tnc.org ) . Oplismenus hirtellus (L.) P. Beauv. ssp. undulatifolius (Ard.) U. Scholz (wavy leaf basketgrass) Wavy leaf basketgrass is more competitive than Japanese stilt grass, and an ornamental variegated pink, green and white form, sold as 0. hirtellus Variegatus’ for hanging baskets has spontaneously reverted to an all-green, wavy-leafed, very aggressive form under greenhouse conditions. The ssp. is reportedly being sold in Connecticut. Information and photos are available at: http: / / www.dnr. state.md.us /wildlife/ download/ wlbg posterOl 1 108.pdf Brachypodium sylvaticum (Huds.) P. Beauv. (false-brome) Formerly known only from Oregon, the species has just been identified in Bergen Swamp, NY (southwest of Rochester)(S. Young). It appears well-established at Bergen Swamp in woodlands, including wet woods and fens, where it threatens rare plant species. False-brome has a wide ecological amplitude and is spreading rapidly in Oregon, where “it is capable of completely dominating understory and open habitats to the exclusion of most other native species.” The best source of information, photos and ID tips are at http://www.appliedeco.org/invasive-species-resources/FBWG/ brsybrochure.pdf Join LIBS today! Annual Membership is $20 payable to: Long Island Botanical Society Mail your dues to: Lois Lindberg, Membership Chairperson 6170 Northern Blvd. East Norwich, NY 11732-1614 Long Island Botanical Society Vol. 19 No. 4 Page 27 Investigating Impact on Plant Productivity of Ground-level Ozone on Long Island Margaret Tuttle McGrath, Ph.D. Department of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology, Cornell University Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center 3059 Sound Avenue, Riverhead, NY 11901 (mtm3@cornell.edu) Every summer on Long Island ozone reaches high enough concentrations to cause visible foliar injury in sensitive plants. While regulations have resulted in a reduction in vehicular emissions, which are an important source of precursors for the formation of ozone by the action of ultraviolet radiation, there has been an increase in the number of vehicles. Ozone is more toxic to plants than other common air pollutants. Injury includes stippling and bronzing, which can lead to leaf death. Leaves without acute injury may also die prematurely because ozone induces accelerated senescence of leaves that involves many of the genes involved in natural senescence. Presumably injury and senescence induced by ambient ozone affect the productivity of plants; however, determining this impact is challenging. The main method used entails growing plants outdoors in specialized chambers with charcoal-filtered air next to plants grown in similar chambers with non-filtered air. A disadvantage of this system, aside from the cost, is the fact that the environment is different from that outside the chamber and this could have a confounding effect. My colleagues and I have identified an alternative method for investigating ozone impact that entails comparing two lines or clones of a plant that differ in sensitivity to elevated ozone but have similar productivity when ozone levels are low. To date we have developed two systems— one with white clover and another with snap bean. For the clover system, plants are grown outdoors in pots. Impact of ozone on the productivity of the sensitive clover is estimated by cutting leaves off every four weeks and comparing the dry weight of leaves from the sensitive clover to that of the tolerant clover. The beans are grown outdoors in the ground. Both fresh market and mature yield are measured by removing pods from some plants every Figure 1 . Pumpkin leaf affected by ground level ozone. week as they reach size for fresh market consumption and removing pods once they have dried from the other plants. Since beans reach maturity in just 12 weeks, two to three successive planting times are needed to cover the entire summer growing period. Ozone and Native Plants Suffolk County has some of the worst ozone levels in the state according to the American Lung Association. (Nassau County does not monitor ozone.) Many plant species are affected at ozone levels that are too low to cause human health effects. Ozone damage has been re- corded in hundreds of native and naturalized plant species including the following: tulip poplar, white pine, sweet gum, black cherry, winged sumac, sycamore, red maple, black locust. Dr. Gilbert Hanson has organized an ongoing “citizen science” project to monitor the effects of ozone on native plants. More information is available at this web- site: http:/ / www.geo.sunysb.edu /bad-ozone /index.html Ambient ozone on Long Island has been demonstrated to have an impact on plant productivity when analyzed using the clover and bean systems at Cornell University’s research facility in Riverhead. This work has been ongoing for several years. We determined that during growth periods when ozone levels measured at this location were low, which was sometimes in the spring and other years during fall, the ozone-sensitive and tolerant plants did not differ significantly in the amount of leaf tissue or bean pods produced. This documents that these pairs do produce similarly when ozone is low, providing validity to the system. Most years since the first planting in 1997, the clover system has revealed a reduction in growth of 20% to 30% for the sensitive plants during one of the growth periods. These plants have exhibited few foliar symptoms, which have consisted of white stippling. Leaves of the sensitive bean have exhibited bronzing, which often has been sufficiently severe to result in the leaves drying up and dropping off the plant. Impact of episodes of high ozone on productivity of bean has been extremely high. Weight of immature beans harvested for fresh market was reduced as much as 62%. There were up to 56% fewer bean seeds in mature pods. And the average weight of those seeds was up to 42% lower. (Cont.on page 28) Page 28 Long Island Botanical Society Vol. 19 No. 4 (Bayberry, Cont. from page 25) England and Adjacent New York). Southern New Jersey is listed as the northern limit of the species. Interestingly, the U.S. Forest Service reports “atypical” occurrences of wax myrtle in Maine, Massachusetts, and New York (http:/ / www.fs.fed.us / database / feis / plants / shrub / mvrcer / all.html) . According to the national plants database, wax myrde grows as far north as Middlesex County, New Jersey. Since Sandy Hook isn’t far from Lido Beach (just across Raritan Bay), it is possible that the plants I saw were wax myrde, but the sheer abundance of the plant and the long history of botanizing on Long Island would surely have led to its being recorded by many others well before now. I compared my collected material with bayberry and wax myrde specimens from the University of Massachusetts Herbarium and the leaves appeared more like those of northern bayberry than wax myrde. I also sent sample material to Troy Weldy (New York Natural Heritage Program, NYNHP) for his assessment. He examined the materials along with other notable botanists - Les Mehrhoff (University of Connecticut), Steve Young (Chief Botanist, NYNHP), and Tom Rawinski (U.S.D.A. Forest Service botanist) and they concluded that the specimen was indeed Morelia pensylvanica. I then thought that if it is tree-sized, northern bayberry might be on the National Register of Big Trees maintained by American Forests (http: / / www.americanforests.org/) . The register had the species listed (as Myrica pensylvanica ) with the national champion recorded from Jockey Ridge State Park, North Carolina. It had a circumference of 1 1 inches, a canopy spread of 10 feet, and a height of 15 feet for a total (Oyone, Cont. from page 27) We have not found a simple relationship between ozone concentrations that plants were exposed to and the subsequent impact measured. This partiy reflects the fact the dose of ozone that gets inside of plants depends on stomatal conductance and other aspects of flux. If plants are water stressed when ozone is high, stomates will be closed, and thus ozone dose will be lower than for well-watered plants. Sometimes an acute exposure (several days of very high ozone concentrations) can result in severe leaf injury that is more detrimental to plant productivity than ozone levels on all the other days during the growth period. For example, we found that ozone exceeded 80 ppb on 6 of 7 days during 15 — 21 July 2007 with hourly average reaching 120 -128 ppb three times. Very severe ozone injury was observed on 25 July, which was 6 days before the first harvest of fresh market pods in the second planting that year. High ozone events in Riverhead of 29 points (total points = trunk circumference (in inches) + height (rounded to nearest foot) + 14 average crown spread). Given the size of the specimens that I found, I thought a couple of them should have higher scores than the current champion. I made two more trips to Long Island to measure the specimens and confirmed this belief. In May 2008, I nominated the largest tree as a candidate for national champion. According to the registry requirements, a state forester had to validate my findings. Measurements done by Jeff Speich, Supervising Forester (Division of Lands and Forests, Region 2) in December 2008 yielded the official score of 51 (based on height of 21.3 ft, trunk circumference of 24.66 in., average crown spread of 20.55 ft, and 1/4 of crown spread equal to 5.14). This score is well above that of the current national champion and the tree should be announced as the new champion sometime this fall. NYSDEC has listed the specimen as the state champion (http:/ /www.dec.ny.gov/ docs /lands forests pdf/treechamp0809sci.pdf) . The tree is growing in a low-lying upland fringing the salt marsh. Associated species include poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans (L.) Kuntze) and common reed ( Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud.). The champion tree has a number of stems of poison ivy surrounding the trunk. Acknowledgments. Besides the individuals listed in the article, several others assisted in measuring the champion at various times: Don Lewis, Kevin Jennings, Gary Koplun, and Robert Marsh (NYSDEC) and Pamela Swint, Matt Fields, and Nicole Fuhrman (Virginia Tech). Ken Metzler (Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection) provided taxonomic information on the species. have varied from year to year since 1996. The yearly highest 1-hour ozone concentration recorded has ranged from 104 ppb to 168 ppb. The date that this has occurred has varied from 7 June to 9 August. Ozone has been at least 80 ppb for as few as 40 hours on 8 days during a growing season and as many as 184 hours on 31 days. Our research continues to further document the impact of ground level ozone on plant productivity and to elucidate the relationship between ozone exposure and impact. NOTE: Every year there are positions open to assist Dr. McGrath with her research on ozone and diseases affecting vegetable crops, as well as positions with other researchers. These are paid positions that can also earn college intern credit. Contact Dr. McGrath for more information. Long Island Botanical Society Vol. 19 No. 4 Page 29 Rehabilitation of Pinetum Claytonense on the Grounds of the Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn, Long Island, New York By Andrew M. Greller Member, Horticulture Committee, Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn, NY and Jean Henning Director of Education, Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn, NY In the past few years, the Horticulture Committee of the Nassau County Museum of Art (NCMA) has undertaken as a major task to rehabilitate the pinetum created by Childs Frick, former owner of what he called Clayton Estate, Roslyn Harbor. In developing the pinetum, Frick was encouraged and advised by Charles Sprague Sargent, dean of American dendrology. It was Frick’s plan to cultivate as many taxa of northern hemisphere conifers as possible on his estate. This plan included varieties as well as species. Frick also grew Southern Hemisphere- and other frost-intolerant conifers in his greenhouse, which has long since been dismanded. For approximately 35 years, Frick operated his experiment in ornamental horticulture, from 1919 until early 1950’s, when he sickened. After Frick’s death in 1967, the pinetum was abandoned and, by the 1990’s, was engulfed by native and exotic angiospermous trees and vines. Starting about 2005, the Horticulture Committee of NCMA decided to remove the invasive trees and vines. Such a program was then undertaken by the Nassau County Department of Parks, Recreation and Museums, under the leadership of Hon. Thomas Suozzi, County Executive. Bartlett Tree Experts voluntarily removed all dead standing trees. James Caracciolo, representing the county executive, undertook the removal of exotic saplings and vines. Then, John Flynn, a NCMA volunteer physically removed all of the poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) vines from tree trunks and upper branches. Once the pinetum ground was cleared, the author, assisted by Julie Seghrouchni, affixed numbered tags to all of the surviving conifer specimens. Cindy Vonderahe, then chief gardener, and her volunteer group, removed all dead lower branches, further clearing the understory. The pinetum is now at the center of an extensive trail system, initiated by the second author, on the grounds of the NCMA, designated as the William Cullen Bryant Preserve. In the past few years, the section of the pinetum where Frick densely planted specimens of the genus Pinus has been devastated by the loss of most of the pine trees. Consulting Childs Frick’s original list (“A List of the Varieties of Coniferous Plants Growing at Clayton, New York”), we see the following 48 species of the genus Pinus (original nomenclature): (section I Icploxylon) Pinus cembra P. pumila P. koraiensis P. armandii P. flexilis P. pariiflora P. peuce P. [wallichiana] P. strobus P. ayacahuite P. edulis P. monophylla P. bungeana P. aristata (sect. Diploxylon ) Pinus canariensis P. pinea P. densiflora P. massoniana P. taiwanensis P. resinosa P. sylvestris P. [mugo] P. nigra P. kucodermis P. thunbergii P. sinensis (sic) P. ponderosa P. jeffreyi P. palustris P. caribaea (sic) P. taeda P. echinata P. hakpensis P. pinaster P. radiata P. pungens P. lirginiana P. banksiana P. contorta P. muricata P. attenuata P. rigida P. torreyana P. sabiniana P. coulteri Many of these specimens were of large size, the largest being Pinus nigra var. austraiaca, at 38 feet tall. Others were planted as seedlings, still others at less than 5 feet tall. Conifers were planted throughout the estate, not only in the pinetum section. While a few of the species have been identified as surviving despite the neglect of the past 50 years, notably Pinus armandii, P. strobus, P. walJichiana, P. lirginiana, P. bungeana and P. rigida, it is safe to say that most of Frick’s pines have died. There are no plans to re-establish the original collection. A sizable gap in the pinetum has opened due to the death of the pines there. Now, an unsightly shrubland of native and exotic deciduous angiosperms occupies the site. The main components are Rubus allegheniensis, K occidental, 'is, K phoenicolasius, as well as Rosa multiflora and a large number of tall native herbs. Thus, the site of the pine collection has become inaccessible to visitors and devoid of horticultural value to the conifer collection. In anticipation of continued climate warming, which may well have contributed to the demise of the original pine plantings, we propose to replant the pine section with native pines of the mid-Atlantic and Southern Appalachian regions, viz., Pinus taeda, P. lirginiana, P. echinata, P. rigida, P. pungens, and P. serotina. Locating commercial sources of saplings of 10 feet height or greater is our next task. For this information we would welcome correspondence from readers. Page 30 Long Island Botanical Society Vol. 19 No. 4 Plant Sightings Compiled by Eric Lamont Carex reznicekii; Reznicek’s Sedge (Cyperaceae, the Sedge Family). This sedge was described as a species new to science in 2006 by New York botanist David Werier (see Sida 22: 1049-1070) and is named for Dr. Anton Reznicek, a Carex expert from the University of Michigan. This species is at the northeastern limit of its range in southeastern New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Since 2006, only four populations of Carex reznicekii have been located in New York, all from Long Island and the Lower Hudson Valley. Datura wrightir, Sacred Thorn Apple, Indian Apple (Solanaceae, the Nightshade Family). Rich Kelly reported a large, persistent population of D. wrightii at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. The population con- sists of dozens of individuals, some growing 4 feet high and often just as wide. The narcotic and hallucinogenic properties of this species have been known since before recorded his- tory and once figured importantly in religious ceremonies of southwestern Indians. Native of Mexico and southwestern United States. Fallopia baldschuanica \ —Polygonum aubertii\. Silver Lace- vine, Russian Vine (Polygonaceae, the Buckwheat Family) . Rich Kelly reported an established colony of this non-native species from Nassau County just south of Belmont Park Race Track where an intertwining mass of vines hangs over a fence bordering exit 26 on the Cross Island Parkway. In its native habitat in eastern Asia, F. baldschuanica often grows hanging over rock outcrops and cliffs. This species report is a new record for Long Island. Gamochaeta purpurea (L.) Cabrera - spoonleaf purple everlasting Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. Vol. 3: 456. Courtesy of Kentucky Native Plant Society. Scanned by Omnitek Inc. Gamochaeta purpurea \=Gnaphalium purpureum \ ; Purple Everlasting (Asteraceae, the Aster Family). Gamochaeta purpurea is at the northern limit of its range in southeastern New York and southern New England. It is considered extirpated in Connecticut and Rhode Island and is listed as endangered in Massachusetts. New York Natu- ral Heritage Program ranks it as an SI rare plant (“critically imperiled in New York State because of extreme rarity”) . Mike Feder first encountered G. purpurea in 2007 when he saw four individuals in Queens County. In 2008 and 2009, Mike observed it growing in at least 30 separate localities, mostly in the Forest Hills area, but also in Flushing, Sunny- side, and even one individual plant in Central Park. Individu- als usually occur singly in unmowed areas between sidewalks and streets and also in weedy lawns; but larger colonies of at least 10 to 15 individuals also have been observed. In south- eastern states G. purpurea usually occurs in fields, roadsides, pastures, and waste places; similar to the habitat that it is colo- nizing on western Long Island. This apparent rapid northern range expansion has been also observed in other species such as Fupatorium serotinum and Heterotheca subaxillaris. Lespedeza angustifolia (Pursh) Elliot - narrowleaf lespedeza Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. Vol. 2: 407. Courtesy of Kentucky Native Plant Society. Scanned by Omnitek Inc. Lespedeza angustifolia ; Narrow-leaved Bush Clover (Fabaceae, the Bean Family) . This species is listed as rare in New York where it is currently known to occur only on Long Island. Richard Stalter and Eric Lamont located a large population of L. angustifolia at Brookhaven National Lab in Suffolk County. Widely scat- tered individuals occur in dry, sandy soils in successional old fields, under powerlines, and along dirt trails. Long Island Botanical Society Vol. 19 No. 4 Page 31 Liparis loeselii', Loesel’s Twayblade (Orchidaceae, the Orchid Family). This native orchid has been reported only about a dozen times from Long Island during the past 150 years, and it has been recently observed at only two localities (both in Suffolk Coun- ty) during the past 20 years. In 1896, Fannie Mulford collected H loeselii from Rockaway Park in Queens County (specimen at BKL); it has not been reported from near that locality ever since, until 2009, when David Taft found a small population at nearby Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Lotus tenuis, ; Small Bird’s-foot Trefoil (Fabaceae, the Bean Family). Mike Feder reported this rare, non-native species from Alley Pond Park in Queens County and after hearing about the re- port Rich Kelly and Eric Lamont located it at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. The narrower, slender leaves of K tenuis readily distinguish it from the more common L, corniculatus. Penstemon digitalis ; Tall White Beard-tongue (Scrophulariaceae, the Figwort Family). This showy wildflower is not common on Long Island although it is relatively abundant upstate New York. Eric Lamont re- ported a large population of P. digitalis from a successional old field in Riverhead, on the east side of the entrance ramp to the Long Island Expressway (exit 73). Ruppia maritime. Widgeon-grass, Ditch-grass (Ruppiaceae, the Ditchgrass Family). On Long Island, widgeon-grass can be found washed up on shorelines bordering bays and salt marshes. It is not very com- mon and takes a keen eye to find. While delineating a tidal wedand in the Town of Southampton south of Water Mill, Eric Lamont observed that Channel Pond is dominated by a dense growth of R maritima. Channel Pond is brackish and is connected to Mecox Bay which has a regulated flow into the Atiantic Ocean. Channel Pond is an excellent example of a “Northern Adantic Coast Beaked Ditch-grass Bed” communi- ty as defined by the National Vegetation Classification, a subset of the International Classification of Ecological Communities. Schizaea pusilla; Curly Grass Fern (Schizaeaceae, the Curly Grass Family). For the third consecutive year, this diminutive rare fern could not be found at its only known New York locality at Napeague on the South Fork. It is likely that the fern still persists at the site in the rarely seen gametophyte stage, but requires specific environmental conditions before producing the observable sporophyte stage. Because suitable habitat for this rare fern is prevalent, it is likely that additional colonies remain undiscov- ered in the vicinity of Napeague. Liparis loeselii (L.) Rich. - yellow widelip orchid Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. Vol. 1 : 572. Courtesy of Kentucky Native Plant Society. Scanned by Omnitek Inc. Spiranthes vernalis', Spring Lady’s Tresses (Orchidaceae, the Orchid Family) . In an effort to update the current status of S. vernalis, David Taft surveyed the extensive network of wet swales and depressions in the vicinity of Fire Island Lighthouse. After finding a colony of 18 individuals, David found that many of the smaller interdunal hollows had a Spiranthes or two in bloom. Expanding his search into broadening arcs, he ap- proached a large shallow depression which was slightly more open than the others and was rewarded by the sight of four or five hundred blooming spring lady’s tresses. Among them were hundreds of sundews (. Drosera sp.) and several Sabatia stellaris plants in full bloom. Field Trip OCTOBER 24, 2009 (SATURDAY) 10 AM William Cullen Bryant Preserve, Roy In Harbor, Nassau Co., NY (Please see the article on page 29.) Trip leader: Dr. Andy Greller We will look for escaping Chinese conifers from the Pinetum while also doing a little hiking. Bring a lunch and liquids, strong shoes or hiking boots, and a conifer guide. Participants can opt for morning only or both morning and afternoon. (This is a joint trip with the Torrey Botanical Club.) Directions: Take the LIE to Glen Cove Road; go north toward Glen Cove; make a left at 25A (aka Northern Blvd/ North Hempstead Tpke.); go about 1/2 mile and look for signs on right to Nassau County Museum of Art. Turn right at the sign and proceed under the LIRR tracks and past the gate house (there may be a small fee for parking); park in the main par ki ng lot. Meet on the steps of the Frick mansion. Long Island Botanical Society PO Box 507 Aquebogue, NY 11931 Page 32 Long Island Botanical Society Vol. 19 No. 4 Upcoming Programs October 13, 2009* Tuesday, 7:30 PM Mary Beth and Paul Tomko: “The Edgewood Oak-Brush Plains Preserve.” The Edgewood Oak-Brush Plains State Preserve is the second largest remnant of pitch pine/scrub oak in NY and the only such area on Long Island. The past, present, and future of this unique habitat, which lies in western Suffolk County, will be presented. Mary Beth and Paul represent The Friends of the Edgewood Oak-Brush Plains Preserve. Location: Museum of Long Island Natural Sciences, Earth and Space Science Building, Gil Hanson Room (Room 1 23), SU NY at Stony Brook, Stony Brook November 10, 2009* Tuesday, 7:30 PM Tim Wenskus: “The Million Trees Initiative.” Learn the details behind the New York City Parks Department’s project to plant a million trees in the five boroughs. Tim is the Deputy Director of NYC Parks Natural Resources Group, where he has overseen forest restoration and invasive species activities for more than ten years. Location: Bill Paterson Nature Center, Muttontown Preserve, East Norwich December 8, 2009* Tuesday, 7:30 PM Members Night: Members are welcome to bring photos, stories, specimens, and tales of peculiar sightings of favorite plants. A great opportunity to show what you have found while exploring on Long Island or elsewhere. Please call Rich Kelly (516-354- 6506) in advance to advise as to the approximate number of images/slides that you would like to show and preferred medium of presentation. Thanks. Location: Bill Paterson Nature Center, Muttontown Preserve, East Norwich Reminder - no meetings in January or February. Next meeting March 9, 2010. * Refreshments and informal talk begin at 7:30 p.m. Formal meeting starts at 8:00 p.m. Directions to Muttontown or Stony Brook: 516-354-6506