The Great Marsh preserve in Elverson is owned by the Great Marsh Institute, a private environmental preservation and education foundation. At its core is a large and largely intact marsh. Highlights in the marsh included Cardamine pensylvanica (Pennsylvania bittercress), Alisma subcordatum (water-plantain), Penthorum sedoides (ditch stonecrop), Rosa palustris (swamp rose), and extensive stands of Acorus calamus (Eurasian sweetflag).

During our trip, at the edge of a pond, an American bittern, usually a shy bird, was bold enough to linger while we photographed it. After lunch, we walked through upland woods owned by the institute and into a bit of the Templin Woods Preserve, enjoying the flowers on Obolaria virginica (pennywort), Viola eriocarpa (recently split off from Viola pubescens; smooth yellow violet), Thalictrum thalictroides (rue anemone), and Anemonoides quinquefolia (syn. Anemone quinquefolia; wood anemone). A highlight was a seep, where we noted Veratrum viride (false hellebore), Chrysosplenium americanum (golden saxifrage), and Osmunda claytoniana (interrupted fern).

The full list of plant species we noted is below. Individual observations can be found on iNaturalist at Great Marsh Field Trip iNaturalist observations

Attendance: 14

Leaders: Billy (Bernard) Brown and Janet Novak. Report by the latter.