This field trip to document plants and fungi in Morris Park was organized jointly by the Philadelphia Botanical Club and the Philadelphia Mycology Club.

Morris Park is a section of Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park.  The park includes the wooded valley along the East Branch of Indian Creek, which is a tributary of Cobbs Creek. The park borders the Philadelphia neighborhoods of Overbrook Park and Overbrook Farms.

Mycology Club members led the identification of various fungi, including Tremella mesenterica (witch’s butter), Galerina marginata (funeral bell), Auricularia sp. (wood ear fungi). Many of the vascular plants observed were introduced species, including those present on the forest floor (e.g. Ficaria verna, lesser celandine) and in the shrub layer (e.g., Berberis thunbergii, Japanese barberry).  Native woody plants included Acer rubrum (red maple) and Fagus grandifolia (American beech).

Trip Leaders and species list compilers: Sam Bucciarelli, Janet Novak.  Report text by Steve Jones.

Attendance: approximately 20