Maryland Native Plant Society

Join this remarkable series of walks and participate in the plant survey of these Civil War sites.

Civil War Fort trips and plant surveys are sponsored by the Washington DC Chapter.

Come see some late spring wildflowers on the Gunpowder in Hereford Md. We should see Nodding Trillium, Miterwort, Greek Valerian, and Whorled Pogonia along with other spring wildflowers.

Due to popular demand by participants in the 2007 MNPS Fall Conference, we are returning to Maryland's western mountains for a weekend of late spring field trips. We will visit some of the same places as we did in the fall, such as Finzel Swamp, North Cherry Creek Bog, The Glades, and New Germany State Park and we'll also explore some new sites in Garrett County. Among the species we hope to see are Fringed Polygala, Painted Trillium, Wild Calla, Yellow Clintonia, Starflower, Goldthread, and many bog species. These field trips will be informal and exploratory with a goal to produce species lists both for our own and The Nature Conservancy's records. We will probably visit at least two sites each day. Participants are welcome for one or both days.

Learn about common and some less than common ferns along the Gunpowder River between Kingsville and Perry Hall. We should see more than twenty species. We will explore two different paths, each about one mile long. Both paths will be flat easy walking.

Please join us as we celebrate the summer solstice on a joint field trip with our friends from the VNPS Potowmack Chapter and Prince William Wildflower Society at the Elklick Natural Area in Fairfax County, Virginia. The Triassic Basin comprises a significant portion of the northern Virginia piedmont, including extensive diabase communities.  Elklick Natural Area is one of the region's largest and most diverse natural areas.  This recently preserved area includes large expanses of high quality forest, old field communities, diabase outcrop barrens, scenic streams, and wetlands.  We will see a diversity of native oaks, including Shumard Oak, Hickories, White Ash, Dwarf Hackberry, and other hardwoods; the state-rare Prickly Ash; expanses of native grass meadows with an abundance of wildflowers, many uncommon to rare, like Heath Aster, Torrey's Mountain Mint, Hoary Mountain Mint, Purple Milkweed, and many others; outcrop barrens with Fameflower, Slim Knotweed, False Pennyroyal, Blue Curls, Hairy Forked Nailwort, and others; and wetlands with Quillwort, Veined Skullcap, and others.

Oaks and hickories abound in the forests of the Delmarva and are a critical food source for many animals.  Join botanist Chris Frye on a walk to learn about these wonderful trees    Participants will learn how to identify many of the oak and hickory species, and why their biology makes them so difficult to tell apart sometimes.  Chris Frye is Maryland’s State Botanist with the Department of Natural Resources Wildlife and Heritage. This program is co-sponsored by Adkins Arboretum.