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

Saturday, April 30, 2011 10:00 AM
Alley Pond Park, Queens Co., NY
Trip leader: Dr. Andy Greller (agreller2@optonline.net)

This site has a wide variety of beautiful spring wildflowers, interesting weed species, combined with ponds, and the local fauna. Bring lunch, a hat, water, suntan lotion, and insect repellent. Carrying your lunch is optional. (This is a joint trip with the Torrey Botanical Club.) 

Grand Central Parkway(From Manhattan and Western Queens)
Take Long Island Expressway to Exit 30 (toward E. Hampton Blvd/Douglaston Parkway.  Merge onto the service road of the LIE (Horace Harding Blvd). Turn right on W Alley Road.  Make a right under Grand Central Parkway overpass into the park. Follow this entry road into the parking lot.

Grand Central Parkway (From Long Island)
Take Grand Central Parkway to Exit 23. Follow signs for Union Turnpike. Make a left on Union Turnpike at the traffic light. Proceed until you reach Winchester Boulevard and make a left at the light. Pass the large hospital building on your right. Immediately make the next left under the highway into the park. Follow this entry road into the parking lot.

Sunday, May 15, 2011 10:00 AM
Forest Park, Queens Co., NY
Trip leader: Michael Feder (mdfeder2001@yahoo.com)

Designed by Frederick Olmsted in the 1890s, Forest Park is the third largest park in Queens. We will get a last look at some fading spring ephemerals, visit some oddball plant populations, see a restoration site that was formerly a norway maple stand and find good representation from the Apiaceae family. If you'd like to do some bird watching before or after the walk, bring binoculars. Forest Park is an excellent place to view migrating warblers.

Directions: We will meet at 10AM at Wallenberg Square which is located at the southwest corner of Park Lane South and Metropolitan Avenue in Kew Gardens. Take the Grand Central Parkway or Van Wyck Expressway to the Jackie Robinson Parkway. Get off at exit 6, Metropolitan Avenue. Make a left onto Metropolitan Avenue. Wallenberg Square will be about ¼ mile down the road on your right at the intersection with Park Lane South.

Saturday, June 4, 2011 10:00 AM–12:30PM
Tiffany Creek Preserve, Oyster Bay Cove, Nassau Co., NY
Trip Leaders: Al and Lois Lindberg

The 200-acre Tiffany Creek Preserve is comprised of several former estates, offering a variety of ecological communities within a North Shore oak forest. The trip begins at the 45-acre parcel west of Sandy Hill Rd, where upland species include oaks, hickory, flowering dogwood, American beech, and black birch. We will then cross the street to an upland meadow and woods, where glacially-formed ravines descend to a wetland community. Highlights should include hillsides dominated by mountain laurel in full bloom, and a unique opportunity to see three species of magnolia that occur within the forest – M. tripetala, M. acuminata, and M. macrophylla.

Directions: From the intersection of Route 106 and Northern Blvd (Rte 25A): Go east on Rte. 25A for 1½ miles. At 2nd traffic light, turn sharp left onto Berry Hill Rd. Continue ¾ mile. Where Berry Hill Rd. curves to the left, bear slight right onto Sandy Hill Rd. Entrance is the first driveway on the left. Do not search MapQuest, etc.—they all lead you to the opposite end of the road!

Saturday, June 18, 2011 10AM
Roosevelt Preserve, Nassau Co., NY
Trip leader: Dr. Andrew Greller (agreller2@optonline.net)

Wildflower walk. LIBS members only, limited registration. Please call Michael Feder at (917) 714-4461 to register.

Saturday, July 23, 2011 10AM
Christie Estate South (Muttontown South), Nassau Co., NY
Trip leader: Rich Kelly (vze2dxmi1@verizon.net) cell: (516) 509-1094

This is a former Winthrop estate, and the habitats include mixed upland woods, successional fields, and kettle hole ponds. There will be a wide variety of summer wildflowers. Bring plenty of water, suntan lotion, and insect repellent. This will be a long but easy walk. The trails may be muddy, but you would have to make a special effort to walk in standing water on this trip. It would be best if you could carry your lunch. Please contact the leader prior to the trip.This is a joint trip with the Torrey Botanical Club.

Directions: Meet at 10:00 AM at the parking area for Nassau Hall at 1864 Muttontown Road, Syosset.  By car only: From either the Long Island Expressway or Northern State Parkway, go north on North Broadway (Rtes. 106/107) in Jericho.  Very soon after passing under Jericho Tpke., bear right onto Rte. 106 which is Jericho - Oyster Bay Road.  Continue north for 2.2 miles and turn left onto Muttontown Road/Eastwoods Road.  Go west 0.4 mile and turn left at Nassau Hall.  If the gate is locked, backtrack a few feet and take the driveway that goes through the building. 

Saturday, September 10, 2011 9:30AM
Hubbard Creek Marsh & vicinity, Suffolk Co., NY
Trip Leader: Eric Lamont (elamont@optonline.net)

We will visit tidal marshlands, a tidal creek, seepy roadsides and, if time permits, an Atlantic white cedar swamp. We should see several rare plant species and ecological communities, including Agalinis maritima, Bartonia paniculata, Carex collinsii, Carex hormathodes, Chamaecyparis thyoides, Cuscuta obtusiflora var. glandulosa, Oclemena (Aster) nemoralis, Plantago maritima var. juncoides, Solidago sempervirens var. mexicana, Viburnum nudum, and the northernmost populations in eastern North America of Fimbristylis castanea and Lythrum lineare. Not long ago, Helianthus angustifolius and Lilaeopsis chinensis occurred here, but have not been recently seen. We will see very common coastal plants (e.g., Ilex glabra) that, in New York, do not occur north of Long Island. Dress for possibly wet (ankle deep) marshes. Bring water, lunch, and insect repellent. (Co-listed with the New York Flora Association)

Directions: We will meet at 9:30am at the McDonald’s on Route 24, just east of the Riverhead traffic circle. NOTE: there are two traffic circles in Riverhead; you don’t want the one on Route 58 at the hospital. You want the traffic circle just south of Peconic River, in the Township of Southampton. Travelling from the west, take the LIE to exit 71 (Route 24) and proceed east to the traffic circle.

Saturday, October 1, 2011 10AM
Hempstead Plains, Nassau Co., NY
Trip Leader: Betsy Gullota 

Over 200 species of native and non-native flowering plants have been identified at the 19-acre Hempstead Plains at Nassau Community College. The native grasses characterizing the tall grass prairie are particularly beautiful this time of year. The walk takes about an hour. Bring water and sturdy shoes.

Directions: From either Meadowbrook Parkway Exit M4 or Merrick Ave. north of Rt. 24 Hempstead Turnpike, take Charles Lindbergh Blvd. west. Turn at first Right into East Parking of NCC. Go to first intersection. See parking along fence and sign for Hempstead Plains. 

Saturday, October 15, 2011 10 AM
Caumsett State Historical Park, Suffolk Co., NY
Trip Leader: Dr. Andrew Greller (agreller2@optonline.net)

This is an all-day trip.We will explore for fall flora and identify oaks and hickories. Bring plenty of beverage, lunch, insect repellant, and sturdy footwear. Camera, binoculars and hand-lens are optional but recommended. This is a joint trip with the Torrey Botanical Club.

Directions: Meet at the parking area after the entrance booth (NYS Park fee may be applicable).

By car only:

From New York City take the Long Island Expressway to exit 36 toward Searingtown Rd/Port Washington; merge onto Nassau Blvd/S Service Rd; turn left at Searingtown Rd; continue north about 1 mile (to the end), and turn right at 25A E/Northern Blvd/North Hempstead Tpke; continue east on 25A for 14.5 miles and turn left at West Neck Rd, Huntington; continue north on the winding West Neck Road for 4.4 miles until you find yourself bearing sharply right onto Lloyd Harbor Road; continue on Lloyd Harbor Road until you see the sign for Caumsett State Park (on your right); turn left at the sign for the park and continue up a hill after which the road will veer to the right. Go past the guard house and you'll see a parking lot on your right.

From eastern Long Island take LIE to Route 110 Huntington; go north until you reach Main Street in Huntington - make a left; on the third block from your turn (about 400 yards distance), make a right turn onto West Neck Road. Follow directions as above. 

For links to field trips conducted by other botanical societies in the mid-Atlantic states and southern New England see Botanic Field Trips.