Sept. 2004

FALL PROGRAMS

October 3, Sunday, 2:00pm Our first fall program will feature Eating for Life. Jim Corcoran, president of “Veggies in Motion” will increase our awareness of the health, ecological and ethical consequences of our food choices.

October 9. State MBC Annual Fall Meeting at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids. See fall issue of Arisaema for details.

November 7 Sunday, 2:00pm. Dr. Russell Taichman will present a program entitled “Wildflowers and Wildlife of the Arctic.” Dr. Taichman will show us images from the trips he has conducted to the Arctic for the Sierra Club during the past five years.

December 5, Sunday, 2:00pm. SEC members and nature photographers, Ray and Pat Coleman will show us their program about Orchids. Included will be both wild and cultivated orchids from their many travels around North and South America. This is sure to brighten a winter day!

NEW MEETING LOCATION

Our fall programs will all be held at our new meeting location the St. John/Oakland Hospital Educational Center. This facility is located on the west side of Dequindre between 11 and 12 Mile Roads. This is just north of the I-696 exit for Dequindre. The address is 27351 Dequindre in Madison Heights. The hospital complex is located across the street from Universal Mall. Once you have arrived at the main entrance drive to the hospital, the Education Center is a separate single-story building across the drive from the hospital entrance. We are in Rooms 1 & 2. There is a large free parking lot behind the Education Center.

FIELD TRIP TO OJIBWAY PRAIRIE

About 10 people from HVC and another 10 from the Southeast Chapter met field trip leader Paul DesJardins at the Ojibway Nature center in Windsor on August 14. Paul has lived in the area since his boyhood and started out telling us about the economic history of the area that preserved it from development. The soil is very sandy but is underlain by a layer of clay at a depth of 8 to 12 feet. This leads to a situation where the land is very wet in the spring but becomes dry later in the summer so you see an unusual mix of wet adapted and dry adapted plants in the same area. After the introduction we took a short walk into the prairie enjoying a very fine morning with plenty of sun but cool temperatures and low humidity. Bev Walters promptly found the first unusual plant of the day, Vernonia gigantea (a southern Ironweed). The area was quite flat and open with only slight undulations giving rise to slightly wetter or dryer patches. There were tall forbs and grasses in the wetter areas and scattered Black Oaks and shorter vegetation in the dryer areas. Different parts of the prairie are burned on a rotating schedule but this has not stopped an invasive Black Locust clone from becoming established and expanding. Other plants of special interest seen were Baptisia tinctoria (Indigo Plant), Ratibida pinnata (Grey-headed Coneflower), Aureolaria flava (Smooth Yellow False Foxglove), Lechea villosa (Hairy Pinweed) and Asclepias hirtella (Tall Green Milkweed, the only known locality in Canada for this species!). Paul knows many insects and so we were also introduced to several dragonflies and the beautiful, iridescent Dogbane Beetle. This area is well worth visiting several times during the course of the year. If you weren't able to participate in this field trip, you can find out about the Ojibway Prairie at their web site, http://www.ojibway.ca/, which includes directional and trail maps of the preserve and pictures and species lists for plants, insects and birds. William Luitje-HVC

SPONSORED STUDENT’S FORAY REPORT

To the members of the Michigan Botanical Club, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude for giving me the chance to experience a wonderful exposure to Michigan’s natural surroundings. I appreciate the accommodations the Club sponsored on my behalf. The experience was a most pleasant one indeed. In my all day trip I had the chance to interact with some of Michigan’s finest, which included the Botanical Club members and the field trip leaders. During the field trip, I had the chance to study some of the geological outcroppings located in the Upper Peninsula. Also, I had the chance to view some of the nicest forest woodlands that Michigan has to offer. To top off all of the earlier experiences of the day I also had the unique experience of going in a bog. This is something I have never done before and will remember for all the years to come. Some of things my group had a chance to study included rare tree species that only occur in the Upper Peninsula like the Striped Maple. Since I have had a class entailing similar excursions like the Spring Foray, I was able to have a closer look at the specimens we encountered. After the day field trip, I was enlightened by the presentation on Butterflies in the evening. In all, I feel the trip has left me more educated about the great state that we live in. Also, I feel more in tune with the surroundings I encounter in the natural settings. Again, if it weren’t for the Michigan Botanical Club sponsoring my trip I would have never had these unique experiences to add to my repertoire. I am very much appreciative of the opportunity the Botanical Club has given me and am most positive that the future sponsored student will enjoy the experience as much as I did. Thank you again for making the trip possible for me.

Sincerely, Matthew Corbitt, senior, U of Michigan-Dearborn

MBC 2005 SPRING FORAY

Save the dates of May 27-30, 2005 for the Memorial Day weekend MBC Foray. Our chapter will be hosting this event which will be held in Oakland County, with headquarters at the Holiday Inn in Troy. One of our members, Nina Misuraca, from the Oakland County Environmental Stewardship Program is helping us select sites to visit and providing us with some trip leaders and program speakers. We are really looking forward to showing off some of our favorite sites to our outstate members. We hope to have a great turnout from our chapter. If you can help in any way with the planning of this weekend, call Emily Nietering at 313-278-9269 or Kathleen Thomson at 248-435-2070.

LAKE ERIE METROPARK FIELD TRIP

On the morning of Saturday, July 31, a small group of SEC members and several HVC members gathered outside the Nature Center at Lake Erie Metropark in Brownstown. Our quest was the beautiful American Lotus, Nelumbo lutea. Before we set out, Patty Mogk presented us with a short quiz on coastal wetlands, from the MUCC publication “Tracks.” We learned the answers to such questions as “How many different types of wetlands do we have in Michigan?” and “How much of our original wetlands has Michigan lost?”

Then we headed straight for the Cherry Island Marsh Trail and the lotus beds. They we just beginning to bloom, and what a sight to see. They were present on both sides of the causeway trail through the marsh giving us some great photo shots. Overhead two ospreys called to us. Further on down the trail we also saw other wetland favorites such as Blue Vervain, Flowering Rush, Spotted Jewelweed, and the lovely Rose Mallow. We even met some old friends from the Sierra Club hiking the same trail. It was a most enjoyable morning.

By the way, the answers to the above questions are 5 types of wetlands: swamps, bogs, marshes, fens and vernal ponds; and 50%. Emily Nietering

The Lake Erie Metropark field trip group taking a well deserved rest!

ADDITIONAL PROGRAMS OF INTEREST

Royal Oak Nature Society Meetings at the Royal Oak Senior/Community Center, 3500 Marais, 7:30 pm. Call 248-246-3380 for more information.

Oct. 6 “Scientific Illustration.” Emily S. Damstra is an extremely talented freelance science illustrator, who will briefly cover the history of illustrating nature and then show many modern illustrations of the natural world.

Nov. 3 “The Wildlife of Royal Oak 350 Million Years Ago.” John Topor will discuss Devonian life when Royal Oak was a salt-water sea. There will be many local fossils on display as well.

Wild Ones, Oakland County Chapter Field Trips. Call 248-858-2470 for more information.

Oct. 21 “A Harvest Celebration: Asters, Goldenrods, and Nature Writing.” Join Wild Ones for a celebration of the harvest season. They will begin with a foray into Bear Creek Park in Oakland Twp. to look at asters and goldenrods. Then they will wind up at the Old Oakland Township Hall for a pot-luck harvest dinner (dishes made from locally grown produce encouraged)! If you would like, also bring 20 copies of a passage from your favorite nature writer to share. Meet at the Old Oakland Township Hall at 6:30 pm.

Nov. 6 “Cranbrook Herbarium.” Cranbrook Botanist and Herbarium Curator, Barbara Madsen, will lead them on a tour of the Cranbrook Herbarium. Meet at the Cranbrook Institute of Science at 10 am. An admission fee of $7 to the museum is required.