The Maryland Native Plant Society

The Maryland Native Plant Society
  • Home
  • Spring in the Potomac Gorge (Saturday)

Spring in the Potomac Gorge (Saturday)

  • 04/16/2016
  • 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM
  • Turkey Run Park, McLean VA

Sponsoring Organization:  The Potowmack Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society

Join VNPS chapter Botany Chair, and MNPS Board member, Cris Fleming for a walk through one of our area’s best spring wildflower displays.  Famous for the spectacular show of Virginia bluebells along the Potomac River, Turkey Run Park also harbors other early spring flowers such as dwarf ginseng, swamp buttercup, wild geranium, sessile trillium, perfoliate bellwort and many others.  Participants need to be able to walk the zig-zag trail down the steep hillside and cross the creek on rocks (there will be helping hands).  Depending on the warmth of previous weeks, we may see the very early bloomers like harbinger of spring.  Large oaks, beech, tuliptree, basswood, sugar maple and other mature trees form an exceptionally fine hardwood forest at Turkey Run.  A well-developed floodplain, rocky bluffs, and deep ravines are habitats of this 200-acre park.

Cris Fleming is a former teacher of Spring Wildflower Identification for the Graduate School USA.  She is the main author of the book Finding Wildflowers in the Washington-Baltimore Area.  Cris has worked as a contract botanist for the Virginia Division of Natural Heritage and the Maryland Natural Heritage Program.  She leads many wildflower, fern and tree programs, and walks for theAudubon Naturalist Society, the Maryland Native Plant Society, and the Potowmack Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society.  Cris was awarded the Bartsch Award for distinguished contributions to natural history from the Audubon Naturalist Society in March, 2016.  This prestigious honor has not been granted since 2002.

Location: Turkey Run Park, McLean VA

RSVP is required through Eventbrite at   https://vnps20160416.eventbrite.com/

FREE

For Further Information:  http://www.vnps.org/potowmack
Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software