Water Willow (Decodon verticillatus)
Photo courtesy of Donald J. House

Saturday, August 29, 2009, 10:00 A.M.
Floyd Bennett Field, Kings County, NY
Trip Leader: Rich Kelly (516-509-1094).

This site has a wide variety of interesting escaped weed species, combined with local native coastal species. A hat, water, suntan lotion, and insect repellent are all recommended. We will never be very far from the cars, so you will not need to carry your lunch.

Directions: Meet at 10:00 AM at the parking lot on the right, immediately past the entrance booth. From the Belt Parkway, take Flatbush Avenue south. Turn left to enter at the traffic light which is just in front of the bridge toll booths.

Saturday, September 12, 2009, 9:30 A.M.– 4:30 P.M.
Napeague Area Parks, Napeague, Suffolk Co., NY
Trip leader:  Steve Young

We will explore the beautiful beaches, dunes and swales of Napeague Beach State Park in the morning and continue with the dunes and salt marsh of Napeague Meadows State Park. We will look for the beach genera of Ammophila, Cakile, and Salsola and the dune and swale genera of Hudsonia, Arctostaphylos, Polygonella, Rhexia, Pityopsis, Schizaea and Pseudolycopodiella among others. In the marsh, we should see the uncommon Fimbristylis, Salicornia, Suaeda, and Sabatia.

Preparations: Bring comfortable shoes for walking on sand that may get wet. Pack a lunch for eating at Hither Hills and long pants and insect spray for the mosquitoes and ticks. Bring plenty of water and sunscreen if it's hot. See you on the island!

Directions: For the first stop, take Montauk Highway east from Beach Hampton and go just under 1 mile from Cranberry Hole Road and park along the south side of Montauk Highway just after Whalers Lane. Our next stop will be Napeague Beach State Park where we will park on the south side of Montauk Highway 0.7 miles east of Shipwreck Lane at the park entrance sign and walk to the beach. After lunch at Hither Hills State Park Campground, our third stop will be the salt marsh at Napeague Meadows State Park where we will park along Napeague Meadow Road just south of Cranberry Hole Road.

Saturday, October 24, 2009 10:00 AM
William Cullen Bryant Preserve, Rosyln Harbor, Nassau Co., NY
Trip leader: Dr. Andy Greller (Co-listed with the Torrey Botanical Society)

We will look for escaping Chinese conifers from the Pinetum genus while also doing a little hiking.  Bring a lunch and liquids, strong shoes or hiking boots, and a conifer guide.  Participants can opt for morning only or both morning and afternoon. 

Directions: Take the LIE to Glen Cove Road; go north toward Glen Cove; make a left at 25A (aka Northern Blvd/North Hempstead Tpke.); go about 1/2 mile and look for signs on right to Nassau County Museum of Art.  Turn right at the sign and proceed under the LIRR tracks and past the gate house (there may be a small fee for parking); park in the main parking lot.  Meet on the steps of the Frick mansion.