Table Of Content

RHODORA, Vol. 102, No. 912, 529-531, 2000 pp. NEBC MEETING NEWS On June 2000 Field Trip. Friday afternoon, Mt. Tekoa West in Massachusetts, was climbed by 14 members and field, guests to examine the effects of repeated on a rocky outcrop com- fires The munity. mountain a prominent rocky ridge behind the is for- mer Company Stratford Paper and prominent landmark mills, a is viewed from eastbound Massachusetts The the Turnpike. ridge has burned twice in the last six years. The group hiked up through densely re-sprouting oak, hickory, red maple, chestnut, mountain laurel, and witch hazel to the summit, where the oak -pitch pine community was starting to regenerate. Several species of Vaccin- ium were dominant, and promised good berry picking later in the season. Highlights of the walk included the ant-dispersed sedge Carex umbellata, Asclepias purpurascens, and Geranium tick- nellii (or caroliniana). Thirteen species of Carex were observed. downpour Blackflies, thunder, lightning, and a brief added ex- citement to the experience, and presaged the early evening storm Mount toppled sugar maples on Holvoke camous. that the On June 2000* Friday evening, Dr. Elizabeth Farnsworth of Smith College spoke on ^Tresent and future impacts of invasive plant species on wetland systems." She discussed impacts the that invasive species currently have on wetland systems, and what may impacts they have in a future of climatic change. Based on county-level and Massachusetts and floras checklists, Connecticut have number currently the largest of invasive plant species (approximately 60 and and observed 50) invasions, with between number a positive correlation the of invasive species and human the size of the population. Dr Farnsworth described her research on Lythrum salicaria in comparing Connecticut, species diversity and biomass wetlands in dominated by Lythrum wetlands were composed of to that native showed Lythrum species. Studies did not suppress of diversity may other plant species, but did reduce biomass, and Lythrum that more capture resources efficiently than other species, changing the wctland's nutrient and dynamics. Phragmites detrital australis was studied two where had been removed by at sites spraying it gylphosate Removal was herbicide. associated with a dramatic increase in the abundance and diversity of other wetland species, 529 Rhodora 530 102 [Vol. resulting a wetland species composition similar to undisturbed in freshwater marshes. tidal dynam- Dr. Farnsworth looked at the future of invasive species probable scenario of continued increases atmospheric the in ics, in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions, particularly since marshes are currently effective as carbon sinks. She examined the among ways photosynthesis and water use invasive that differ {Phragmites and Typha an gust and non-invasive {Leersia alia) if oryzoides and Spartina altenuftora) species of freshwater and salt marshes, with respect to the seasonal length of effective photo- and Changing synthesis, photosynthetic rates, nutrient balance. species composition wetlands toward dominance of one or two in mvasive species will likely alter carbon cycling in wetlands, may which have feedback in turn a climatic effect. Workshop and On mem- June 2000 Field Trip. Saturday, five workshop, by on bers participated in a offered Lisa Standley, the identification of Carex. Following a lecture and slide presentation, which included discussion of the best keys and references as well Moun- as important diagnostic features, the group hiked up Bare Holyoke Twelve woodland the range. early-llowering spe- tain in C Carex were cies of found, including C. platyphyUa, albursina, C C communis, and C, laxiflora, C. digitalis, albicans, C. hir- The woodland was bulrush, Scirpus verecundus abundant. sutella. A Swamp small group journeyed nearby Lawrence and Elf to Don Creek Conservafion area hunt for Led by the intrepid to ferns. Lubin, the group searched successfully for a nice population of Lj- godium pahnatum at Elf Creek, but failed to find the reported Among Ophioglossum Lawrence Swamp. pusillum highlights of at the natural areas and Caroline Ainold's garden in North Amherst were Dtyopteris clintoniana, Botrychiuniy and Selaginella apoda. 2000 George July Field Trip: In the Footsteps of Fernald^ Newman led a party of 21 Club members and family around the Gaspe Peninsula of Quebec, from Mont Albert in the central moun- Grand on Lyndon tains to Riviere the southeast coast. Merritt Fer- Gaspe from 1902 During nald botanized the to 1934. this period, new named 143 of the 200 taxa that he were based on populations Many named on the Gaspe. of the taxa Fernald are no longer recognized as distinct species or varieties, but are thought to be The disjunct populations of variable western or circumborcal taxa. NEBC News Meeting 531 2000] much "nunatak" area also provided of the support of his theory to explain the presence of western and arctic disjuncts. Fernald was followed on Gaspe by of remarkable Canadian the a series botanists, including Fr Marie- Victorin, Jacques Rousseau, Ernest among Lepage, and A. E. Porsild, others. The group sampled most of the range of habitats of the Gaspe: serpentine barrens, Thuja bogs and valleys, beaches, sea cliffs, scree summits, talus slopes, limestone cliffs, coastal spruce-fir and wide Unusual were abundant: gravel ferns forests, rivers. scopuUnum Polystichum western serpentine endemic), Aspi- (a fragran Mont * 4 fii locations; Cryptogramma stelleri on limestone; and tiny Botry- We difi At on Bonaventure Pare Gaspesie. other locations, particularly we saw Island, Platanthera dilatata, P. hyperborean P. obtusata, Coralorhiza P. orbiculata, Listera cordata, L. convallarioides, C Goodyera and amazingly, Cypripe- maculata, repens, striata, diiim parxnflorum van parviflorum growing on the dry limestone Bon Cap Ami. and cliffs talus at The dry summits and ledges of Devonian sandstone and scree conglomerates yielded a western montane/alpine flora that included Arnica chionopappa, Saxifraga cernua, caespitosa, S. S. Anemone Hedysarum Erigeron compositus, aizoon, multifida, al- pinum, Shepherdia canadensis, Elaeagnus commutata, Senecio The muhiradiata, Oxytropis, and Astragalus scrupulicola. wet, mossy sea along the north coast harbored Pinguicula vul- cliffs Parnassia Malaxis brachy- garis, Saxifraga aizoides, parviflora, Polygonum and Primula Shale and poda, viviparum, laurentiana. cobble sea beaches contained Mertensia maritima, Senecio pseu- Anemone and Zygadenus canadensis, do-arnica, hookeri, Iris Mont glauca. The serpentine barrens of Albert were one of the highlights of the both visually and botanically, with Lychnis trip, alpina, Armeria labradorica, Artemesia borealis, various Salix woodland Eriophorum russeohun chamissonis), and species, (E, caribou. In the group recorded 415 species of vascular total, plants 65 families (including 34 species of Carex), and 47 in and species of ferns fern allies. Lisa Standley, Recording Secretary pro tempore.