Field trip leaders can download instructions for trip reports.

March 15 (Saturday)
Mission: Mistletoe. Camden County, NJ
Joint trip with the Flora of New Jersey Project. Joe Arsenault will lead a botany field trip to see mistletoe and other winter botany sights. We will explore the Winslow Wildlife Management Area and the surrounding area. The field trip will probably go until about 2 or 3 pm, so bring a lunch. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to Bill Olson, e.mail
Directions: Meet at 10 am at the diner at the intersection of Route 54 and Hwy. 73 in Folsom. If you want to join the group for breakfast, meet there at 9 am.
Leader: Joe Arsenault

May 3 (Saturday), 10 AM to 5 PM
Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve in New Hope, Bucks County, PA
You are invited to attend the first "Phyto-diversity Blitz" at Bowman's Hill. Please join in the fun to find as many plant species as possible in the first full Plant Stewardship Index survey of this preserve that includes both large natural areas, restored meadows and woodland plantings spanning over 70 years. We will be dividing the Preserve into areas, and are hoping to send teams of surveyors throughout the Preserve in this initial survey. Along with data collected later in the season, these assessments will help guide the preserve's management plans. Your help is greatly appreciated. We will have a morning survey session and an afternoon session , each of about 3 hours, with a lunch break from 1-2 which will include discussion of the plant lists from the morning survey. A catered dinner will be provided for all full-day participants, with a fire cracking in our pavilion fireplace. Please RSVP by email or call the Preserve at 215-862-2924. The event will be held at Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve, rain or shine. For more information, call Jeannine Vannais, PSI Coordinator @ 215-862-2924 or vannais@bhwp.org

May 2-4 (Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday until noon)
Pocono Environmental Education Center and the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
Join Bill Olson at the Pocono Environmental Education Center to learn spring wildflowers of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Bill, a field botanist and biologist, will teach you how to identify the spring flora such as violets, trilliums, meadow rues and many more. We will travel by van to various locations in the Park and hike into hemlock ravines and stream corridors. Trip includes two nights stay at PEEC and meals from dinner on Friday through lunch on Sunday. Days will be spent exploring various locations in the Park and around PEEC. We will look at specimens in the evenings. If you have a Newcomb's Wildflower Guide and hand lens, bring them along with you. If you have some plants that you would like to have identified, bring them along also. Contact Bill Olson at (732) 961-1946 (evenings) or at if you have questions about the weekend. Contact PEEC for reservations (570) 828-2319. There is a fee for the weekend which depends on whether you are a member of PEEC and on whether you are staying at PEEC.

May 10 (Saturday)
Flora of Ker-Feal (country estate of Albert Barnes), Chester County, PA
We will survey the spring flora of Dr. Barnes' 138 acre estate. This includes native, introduced, invasive, and cultivated plants.
Directions: Take route 401 (Conestoga Road) west from Lancaster Avenue or Route 202. Right after you go under the Pennsylvania Turnpike, turn right (northeast) on Seven Oaks Road until it ends at Bodine Road. Turn left on Bodine Road. Where Bodine Road turns sharply to the right, turn left into the driveway of Ker-Feal. Park in driveway in front of house. Meet at 10 a.m.
Leaders: Dr. Ernie Schuyler , Jack Holt (610-459-0585)

June 1-5 (Sunday to Thursday)
Joint Field Meeting (BotSoc)
The New Jersey Pine Barrens: a Biosphere Preserve
The Joint Field Meeting of the Botanical Society of America, the Torrey Botanical Society, and the Philadelphia Botanical Club will be held at the Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education on Barnegat Bay in Waretown, Ocean County, NJ. The Center is located on on 194 acres of woodland and diverse coastal habitat (including brackish and salt marsh).
Field Trips: There will be three all-day field trips by vans to such communities as Atlantic white cedar swamps, wet savannahs, quaking bogs, spungs, upland forests, cranberry bogs, and the globally rare Pygmy Pine Plains. Focus, in part, will be on members of the Ericaceae (heath family), fire ecology, and early flowering orchids.
Evening Programs: Beginning on Sunday, there will be four evening programs of botanical, ecological, and geological interest.
Housing, Meals, and Registration Fee: For details, download the Joint Field Meeting invitation. Registration deadline is April 21. Registration is closed to all but Day Trippers, who must mail in their $60 check by the April 21 deadline. For further information, contact Ted Gordon, or 31 Burrs Mill Rd., Southampton, NJ 08088.

June 22 (Sunday)
Haycock Mountain, Bucks County, PA
Haycock Mountain, in northern Bucks County, is a ridge of volcanic diabase. Most of the walk will be rocky woods, with plants such as Obolaria virginica, Hepatica, and abundant Cornus alternifolia. In a field of large boulders we will see Adlumia fungosa and Sambucus racemosa. The trail is not especially steep, but parts are quite rocky, so hiking boots or other sturdy footwear is recommended. Time permitting we will botanize other interesting sites nearby.
Directions: From Doylestown, take PA Route 611 north. At 1.2 miles north of Ottsville, the road forks; take the left branch to get onto Durham Rd/PA-412. Follow this road for 0.5 miles, then turn left onto Mountain View Dr/PA-563. After 1.2 miles, turn right onto Top Rock Trail. After 0.6 miles, where the road bends to the right, pull into the parking lot on the left. The lot has no sign visible from the road, but once you are in the lot, you will see a sign saying "Welcome, Hunt Safely." To get directions from Mapquest or other on-line service, use the address 200 Top Rock Trail, Kintnersville, PA.
Leader: Janet Novak cell (215) 534-6700; e-mail

July 12 (Saturday)
Ramapo Mountains, Bergen County, NJ
Joint trip with the Torrey Botanical Society. Meet at 10:00 AM. Botanize some of the most remote areas in northeastern New Jersey in the Ramapo Mountains. Numerous habitats will be visited including some unusual forested wetland communities. This trip will involve extensive walking, some of it on steep terrain. Bring plenty of beverage, lunch, insect repellant, and sturdy footwear.
Directions: Accessible by car only. Contact the leader to register for the field trip and receive meeting place information.
Leader: Gerry Moore, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 1000 Washington Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11225-1008; 718-623-7332, 609-432-8012; Email: .

July 19 (Saturday)
Burden Hill Forest, Salem County, NJ
In quest of the elusive pine barrens outlier. Last year we increased our plant list of this site to 391 species, including 10 rare taxa. To date, we have only explored limited, scattered segments within the northern portion of this nearly 14,000 acre forested tract on the Outer Coastal Plain. We will visit an impressive mature remnant of American Beech forest. We will then focus on the southern half of the forest west of Jericho and Stow Creek. In this vicinity, we will attempt to relocate a site that the late forester, Silas Little, referred to as the "Salem Barrens." There is potential for us to extend the range of Eupatorium capillifolium.
Directions: Meet at the intersection of Pecks Corner-Cohansey Road (County Route #667) and Route #49 about 4.3 miles southeast of Quinton. Please contact one of the leaders.
Leaders: Ted Gordon (609-859-3566; and Joe Arsenault (856-697-6044; )

July 26 (Saturday) 9:30 AM
Stafford Forge Wildlife Management Area, Warren Grove Vicinity, Ocean and Burlington Counties, NJ
Most known Knieskern's Beaked Rush populations occupy sites of anthropogenic disturbance. We will see natural occurrences of this globally rare sedge (and its rare associates) in peculiar kettle hole spungs. We will also visit a controversial Pinelands Commission-approved transplant operation of Rhynchospora knieskernii and Spiranthes tuberosa conducted by the leader in November 2006. At a quaking bog we should see the endangered Xyris fimbriata.
Directions: Important - Meet at 9:30 AM at Lucille's Restaurant on Route #539 in Warren Grove, Ocean County, about 4 miles south of Route #72.
Leader: Ted Gordon (609-859-3566; )

August 9 (Saturday)
Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve, Bucks County, PA
We will be looking at late summer plants of a meadow, including grasses, goldenrods, and asters and other composites; and we will also walk some of the trails within the preserve. We should see some interesting ferns as well as flowering plants. If the weather is warm, butterflies should be abundant in the meadow. There will be an admission fee of $5.00 ($3.00 for seniors). Bring lunch, beverage and insect repellent.
Directions: Meet at 10:00 AM. As you enter preserve, bear left; meet in the parking lot which will then be on your left, between Route 32 and the entrance road. By car only: The preserve is located on the west side of Pennsylvania Route 32 (River Road) about 2.5 miles south of New Hope. The entrance is marked with a large brown sign. For detailed directions from various points of the compass, see www.bhwp.org.
Leaders: Linda Kelly, 732-363-1266, email: and Karl Anderson, 856-845-7075, email: . Cell phone numbers, for use on the day of the trip only, are 609-410-9485 (Karl) and 732-986-4682 (Linda).

September 27 (Saturday)
Delaware Bayshore, Cumberland County, NJ
Joint trip with the Torrey Botanical Society. Meet at 10:00 AM. The focus of this trip will be the goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceae). Several genera should be noted, including Atriplex, Bassia, Chenopodium, Cycloma, Dysphania, Kochia, Salicornia, Salsola, Sarcocornia, and Suaeda. Fresh flowering and fruiting material will be studied to better understand this difficult family (be sure to bring a hand lens). We should also be able to see an excellent diversity of Pinus, including, P. echinata, P. rigida, Pinus strobus (not native), Pinus thunbergii (not native), P. virginiana, P. serotina, and P. taeda, the latter two rare in New Jersey and intergrading with each other and P. rigida. Other rare species we should see include Euthamia minor, Quercus michauxii, Q. nigra, and Setaria magna. If our timing is right, we may also be able to catch the monarch butterflies passing through during their migration.
Directions: Meet in Dividing Creek at the intersection of County Rts. 555 (Dividing Creek-Millville Rd.) and 553 (Dividing Creek-Port Norris Road). Accessible by car only. Contact one of the leaders for directions.
Leaders: Renee Brecht, Citizens United to Protect the Maurice River and Its Tributaries, P.O. Box 474, Millville, NJ 08332; Email: ; Gerry Moore, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 1000 Washington Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11225-1008; 718-623-7332, 609-432-8012; Email:

Big trees in the old-growth forest of Bear Swamp, Cumberland County, New Jersey. Photo taken on a Philadelphia Botanical Club field trip in 2003.