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SCIENTIFIC FIELD TRIPS

To register, check the appropriate box on the Registration Form and include the cost of the trip(s) with your other fees. Trips are open to anyone over the age of 18. All trips have a minimum and a maximum number of participants. Refunds will be granted after the Congress in the event that the Field Trip: 1) already has reached the maximum enrollment, 2) is cancelled for any reason, or 3) if a written request for cancellation is received in the Secretariat Office no later than July 1, 1999.

Please note: Sturdy walking shoes, insect repellent, sunblock, sunglasses and a hat are highly recommended for ALL Field Trips. Raingear is optional. See individual descriptions for special conditions.

Sunday, July 25, 1999

Wednesday, July 28, 1999

Saturday, July 31, 1999

Saturday, August 7, 1999

Sunday, August 8, 1999

SCIENTIFIC FIELD TRIPS (FT)

To register, complete the Field Trip portion of the Registration Form and add the fee to your registration fee. All local trips depart from America's Center, Washington Street entrance. Cost given is per person. Transportation to and from off-site field trips is NOT included in the Field Trip fee. Trips are open to all Societies. Sturdy walking shoes or hiking boots, a hat, sunscreen and insect repellent is highly recommended for all trip participants.


FT 1 Trees of California, USA - Sponsored by American Fern Society

Trip departs Sunday, July 25, 1999 from University of California, Berkeley at 7:00 a.m. and returns to UCB on Thursday, July 29, 1999

Limited to 22 participants Cost $720. double; $900 single; includes ground transportation, boxed lunch on five days and overnight accommodations on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

California's natural vegetation, reflecting the climatic and topographic diversity of the state, includes a varied assortment of trees. There are around 100 taxa of trees growing within the state; some are very rare with only a few individuals and some cover millions of acres. Twenty-one species are found only in California. From the giant sequoia to the bristle-cone pine, during the five days of this field trip, we will see almost 80 of the species and sub-species that grow in California., We will depart from Berkeley and travel to the Monterey area (Monterey pines, Monterey cypress, Santa Lucia fir), Sierra Nevada foothills (oak woodlands, yellow pine and mixed conifer forests), Yosemite, Tioga Pass (red fir, sub-alpine forests), White Mountains (bristle-cone pines), Carson Pass (juniper woodlands), Calavares Big Trees (Sequoiadendron), Sacramento Valley (riparian habitats), and North coast areas (redwoods, firs, pines, pygmy forest).

Trip leaders: Professor Joe McBride, Forestry, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA; Professor Steve Barnhart, Santa Rosa Junior College, California, USA. Contact: Betsy Ringrose, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA; Ph: 510/643-7008; Fx: 510/643-5390; e-mail: ringrose@uclink4.berkeley.edu


FT 2 Fern Foray to Vermont, USA - Co-sponsored by the American Fern Society

Trip departs Wednesday, July 28, 1999 from Burlington, Vermont at 8:00 a.m. and returns to Burlington on Friday, July 30, 1999 at 5:00 p.m.

Limited to 33 participants Cost $325. double, $400 single;includes ground transportation, boxed lunch and beverage on three days, overnight accommodations on Wednesday and Thursday and handouts. (Accommodations on the night previous to departure and the night of return must be made individually)

A three-day excursion into the verdant hills of Vermont in search of pteridophytes common and rare. The trip will first visit the limy shore of Lake Champlain to locate Pellaea and Asplenium species. Following the lakeshore site, we will visit a series of rich glades for Male Fern, Goldie's fern, many Dryopteris hybrids, and other taxa of interest, including a tetrapoid Phegopteris population. On the northern leg of the trip, we'll see Diphasiastrum sabinifolium together with other Diphasiastrum species and hybrids. The excursion will conclude with a visit to Brown's Ledges to see the tetraploid Vermont Maidenhair Fern and diploid Asplenium trichomanes. All sites are within a short walk of the highway and have been chosen to maximize diversity and minimize time spent in the bus.

Trip leaders: David Conant, Dept. of Natural Sciences, Lyndon State College, Lyndonville, VT 05851 USA; Ph: 802/626-6845; Fx: 802/626-9770; e-mail: conant@queen.lsc.vsc.edu & Arthur Gilman, P.O. Box 82, Marshfield, VT 05658 USA


FT 3 Eastern Deciduous Forests of Kentucky, USA

Trip departs Wednesday, July 28, 1999 at 2:30 p.m. from America's Center, Washington Street entrance and returns to America's Center on Sunday, August 1, 1999 at 1:00 p.m.

Limited to 35 participants Cost $460. double; $580 single; includes ground transportation, lunch and beverage on three days, barbeque cookout on Saturday, overnight accommodations on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, admission fee to Mammoth Cave, and handouts.

This field trip will illustrate enormous variety of all levels of vegetation in the temperate deciduous forests of North America. Several stops in different physiographic parts of the state will emphasize the complexity of physical environments and native flora and vegetation; the numerous causal mechanisms promoting diversity, and the threats to sustaining these ecosystems in a largely rural, but rapidly developing region of the southeastern United States. Principal field trip leaders all have extensive plant ecology experience in the region. The principal areas to be included are: Boone County Cliffs and Dinsmore's Woods on the Ohio River, Blue Grass Savanna in the Lexington Horse Country; Red River Gorge Geological Area in the Daniel Boone National Forest, Lilley Cornett Woods in southeastern Kentucky near the Virginia border, Rock Creek Gorge Clear Cut in the southern region of the Daniel Boone National Forest, Big Woods in Mammoth Cave National Park in central Kentucky. Light hiking.

Trip leader: Joe Winstead, Dept. of Biology and Environmental Science, Morehead State University, Morehead, KY 40351 USA; Ph: 606/783-2944; Fx: 606/783-5002; e-mail: j.winstead@morehead-st.edu


FT 4 Pere Marquette State Park, Jersey County, Illinois, USA

Trip departs Saturday, July 31, 1999 from America's Center, Washington Street entrance, at 8:30 a.m., returns 6:00 p.m.

Limited to 37 participants Cost $65. includes ground transportaion, lunch at Pere Marquette Lodge and beverages.

Pere Marquette State Park, at 8,000 acres, is Illinois' largest state park and has outstanding examples of Mississippi Border Province vegetation. On the way, we will travel the scenic Great River Road which runs between the Mississippi River and tall limestone bluffs. In the morning, a 1.5 - 2.0 mile walk along west-facing limestone bluffs will lead through mature deciduous forest to the top of McAdams Peak. In several locations, outstanding examples of bluff prairie vegetation can be seen. Fraxinus quadrangulata and many tall-grass prairie plants grow on top of a deep loess cap. Views from the top (732 ft. elev.) are of the Illinois River valley, the spine of Calhoun County, and the Gateway Arch in downtown St. Louis (if the air is clear). Lunch will be in the beautiful stone Pere Marquette Lodge, one of the many park features built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930's. In the afternoon, we would decend into the trailless, east-facing valley called "Little Giant City" where a mature mixed hardwood forest grows on deep alluvium. Near huge dolomitic blocks grow Osmunda claytoniana and Asplenium rhizophyllum.

Trip leader: Richard Keating, Monsanto Research Center, Missouri Botanical Garden, P. O. Box 299, St. Louis, Missouri 63166-0299 USA; Ph: 314/577-9826


FT 5 Shaw Arboretum

Trip departs Saturday, July 31, 1999 from America's Center, Washington Street entrance, at 8:00 a.m., returns 5:00 p.m.

Limited to 38 participants Cost $45. includes ground transportation, lunch and handouts.

The Missouri Botanical Garden's 2,600 acre Shaw Arboretum is located at Gray Summitt, in Franklin County, Missouri. The property, which formerly consisted of farms, was purchased during the 1920's when air pollution problems in the city forced the Garden to consider moving many of its living collections to cleaner air. Much of the site is a mosaic of native vegetation types ranging from gravel bars and aquatic habitats along the Meramec River to various bottomland forests, upland forests, woodlands and glades. There are also old fields and a variety of other disturbed habitats. The glades and adjacent woodlands were once badly overgrown and are a showcase for regional methods of habitat restoration for uplandsites. In addition to the natural communities at the Arboretum, there are a large constructed wetland and a prairie. The Whitmire Wildflower Garden provides opportunities to observe cultivated examples of numerous regionally native species and an adjacent interpretive center provides natural history information on the area. Other highlights include a propagation area for the Garden's Center for Plant Conservation species and a large deer exclosure area. Join us for an informative and fun tour led by Arboretum staff focusing on habitat restoration and creation, naturescaping, and local history.

Trip leader: James Trager, Shaw Arboretum, Gray Summitt, Missouri USA Ph: 314/451-3512 & TBD


FT 6 Sandstone Ravines and Pine/Oak Forests of Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri, USA - Co-sponsored

by the Missouri Native Plant Society

Trip departs Saturday, July 31, 1999 from America's Center, Washington Street entrance, at 8:00 a.m., returns 5:00 p.m.

Limited to 39 participants Cost $45. includes ground transportation, boxed lunch and beverage.

Portions of eastern Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri, contain extensive outcrops of Lamotte sandstone (Cambrian Age) that for deep drainages in the Ozark Border Natural Division. The Missouri Department of Conservation's 256 acre Pickle Springs Natural Area is one of the best such examples in public ownership. The steep topography and deeply entrenched Pickle Creek result in a diversity of different plant communities ranging from dry glades, cliffs, and woodlands to densely shaded overhangs and mesic forests. The site is rich in acidophilic species, particularly pteridophytes and bryophytes, and contains a number of regionally rare taxa. The upland forests are dominated by Pinus echinata and various Quercus species, and Rhododendron, Vaccinium, and Amelanchier are common in the understory. A two-mile long dirt trail makes a loop through the area, allowing good access to many scenic views and most of the major plant communities present. Walking is easy to moderate, but open areas are usually quite hot during the summer.

Contact: George Yatskievych, Missouri Botanical Garden, P. O. Box 299, St. Louis, Missouri 63166-0299 USA; Ph: 314/577-9522; e-mail: george.yatskievych@mobot.org


FT 7 Glades of Missouri, USA - Co-sponsored by the Missouri Native Plant Society and The Nature

Conservancy

Trip departs Saturday, July 31, 1999 from America's Center, Washington Street entrance, at 8:00 a.m., returns at 4:00 p.m.

Limited to 39 participants Cost $45. includes ground transportation, lunch and beverage, and handouts.

Missouri has among the greatest abundance and diversity of glades in the United States. Glades, also sometimes known as barrens, are areas of thin soil with relatively large amounts of exposed bedrock occurring on moderate to steep, south- to west-facing slopes and are dominated by herbaceous vegetation. Plants growing in these communities must be able to endure extreme drought and heat during the summer months, but at other times of year also must withstand large amounts of frost upheavel and periods of inundation when rain and melting snows cannot percolate quickly through the substrate. Limestone is the most common substrate on which glades are found in in the state (more than 430,000 acres), with the overwhelmingly majority situated on dolomite. In Jefferson County occurs a massive complex of dolomite glades that are rapidly disappearing as the St. Louis metropolitan region continues to expand. Victoria Glades consists of two adjacent areas (about 350 total acres) owned respectively by the Missouri Department of Conservation and The Nature Conservancy. It contains typical dolomite glade vegetation, including the nearly endemic Clematis fremontii, and an associated fauna that includes Plains scorpions and collared lizards. Areas of open glade are surrounded by dry woodlands. The area has long been the subject of habitat restoration efforts and vegetational monitoring studies. Moderately difficult walking over steep, uneven terrain.

Contact: George Yatskievych, Missouri Botanical Garden, P. O. Box 299, St. Louis, Missouri 63166-0299 USA; Ph: 314/577-9522; e-mail: george.yatskievych@mobot.org


FT 8 Kampsville/Cahokia, Illinois, USA

Trip departs Saturday, July 31, 1999 from America's Center, Washington Street entrance, at 8:30 a.m. and returns 5:30 p.m.

Limited to 13 participants Cost $85. includes ground transportation, boxed lunch and beverage, handouts, admission to museums and prep work of specimens by archaeologist.

Pre-Columbian archaeology and archaeobotany of the St. Louis area. The St. Louis area is notable for its very long archaeological record, stretching back some 11,000 years, and encompassing a wide variety of different cultures, from the sophisticated hunting-gathering cultures of the Archaic period, through the development of an indigenous agriculture based on several species of native annuals, and finally the transformation of the local economy by the introduction of maize from the Southwest. Recent archaeobotanical studies have yielded detailed data about changes in human land-management strategies and the use of plants by different cultures over this period. Local researchers will show particpants several archaeological sites and museums that document the various states in regional culture change, ending with Cahokia Mounds, the largest pre-Columbian city in temperate North America.

Trip leaders: Alan Whittemore, Missouri Botanical Garden, P. O. Box 299, St. Louis, Missouri 63166-0299 USA; Phone: 314/577-9565; Fx: 314/577-9558; e-mail: whittemo@mobot.mobot.org & David L. Asch, Research and Collections Center, Illinois State Museum, 1011 East Ash, Springfield, Illinois 62703 USA; Ph: 217/524-5481; e-mail: dasch@museum.state.il.us


FT 9 Mycology Foray - Castlewood State Park, Missouri, USA

Trip departs Saturday, July 31, 1999 from America's Center, Washington Street entrance, at 8:00 a.m. and returns 5:00 p.m.

Limited to 133 participants Cost $50. includes ground transportation, boxed lunch and beverage, user fee for the park and use of post-foray room at America's Center for display of collected specimens.

Participants will collect in Castlewood State Park (CSP), located 25 miles SW of St. Louis in the Ozark Plateau. The area has several creeks and springs, an upland oak-hickory forest, bottomland forests of sycamore, elms and other hardwoods, and a limestone bluff overlooking the Meramec River. There are approximately 15.5 miles of trails rated from easy to difficult walking. Park personnel will present an introduction of the geography of the area. Additional information will be provided in Inoculum.

Trip leaders: Don Ruch, Department of Biology, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana 47306 USA; Ph: 765/285-8829; Fx: 765/285-8804; e-mail: druch@bsu.edu & Jeanne Mihail, Ph: 573/882-1471; e-mail: mihailj@missouri.edu & Johan Bruhn, Ph: 573/882-1471; e-mail: bruhnj@missouri.edu


FT 10 Fults Hill Prairie, Illinois, USA

Trip departs Saturday, July 31, 1999 from America's Center, Washington Street entrance, at 8:00 a.m. and returns 5:00 p.m.

Limited to 39 participants Cost $45. includes ground transportation, lunch and beverage and handouts.

Loess deposited as a result of Pleistocene glaciation covers large portions of the often steep eastern margin of the Mississippi River floodplain in central Illinois. In some areas prairie vegetation occurs in clearings of the forest on these steep, well-drained slopes. Fults Hill Prairie, in Monroe County, Illinois, is a state Nature Preserve and national Natural Landmark. It contains one of the finest examples of hill prairie vegetation. About half of the 530-acre preserve is on steeply dissected uplands and contains a variety of habitats, including cliffs, glades, forests, and hill prairie openings. The remainder of the property is in the Mississippi River floodplain and contains portions of a large marsh with diverse aquatic vegetation.

Contact: George Yatskievych, Missouri Botanical Garden, P. O. Box 299, St. Louis, Missouri 63166-0299 USA; Ph: 314/577-9522; e-mail: george.yatskievych@mobot.org


FT 11 Edwards Plateau Region, Central Texas, USA

Trip departs Saturday, August 7, 1999 from the San Antonio, Texas airport at 5:00 p.m., returns Saturday, August 14, 1999 at 10:00 a.m.

Limited to 15 participants Cost $350. includes ground transportation, overnight accommodations for Saturday through Friday, meals, and a field guide to plants of the area.

Participants will explore the Edwards Plateau and Llano Uplift Region of Central Texas. The Edwards Plateau covers 55,000 mi2 (142,450 km2), varies in elevation from 900' in the east to 5,000' in the west and is composed of Cretaceous limestone and granite outcrops. Over 2500 species of plants are known from the area with many endemics. Numerous springs occur throughout the area. Hiking is easy to moderate. A day trip to the second largest granite dome in the United States is included. Participants will stay in a bunkhouse and lodge located on the ranch where the field trip will be based. Weather will be hot and dry with the possibility of thunderstorms. Collecting is allowed.

Trip leaders: Edward L. Roth and Jack W. Stanford, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Howard Payne University, Brownwood, Texas 76801 USA Ph: 915/646-2502 Ext. 5402 or 5403; Fx: 915/649-8948; e-mail: eroth@hputx.edu or jstanfor@hputx.edu


FT 12 Prairies and Glades of Missouri, USA - Co-sponsored by the Missouri Native Plant Society

Trip departs Sunday, August 8, 1999 from America's Center, Washington Street entrance, at 8:00 a.m. and returns at 5:00 p.m.

Limited to 38 participants Cost $45. includes ground transportation, lunch and beverage, and handouts.

Prior to European settlement, more than one-third of Missouri was dominated by tallgrass prairies. Prairie vegetation extended into the ground layer of adjacent large areas of open oak-dominated woodlands (savannas) with glade vegetation developed in areas of thin soil. Following two centuries of agricultural, mining and urban development, and associated fire suppression, less than 0.5% of the original 30 million acres of prairie remain in Missouri, and many of the remaining woodlands and glades have been heavily invaded by dense woody vegetation. The University of Missouri's Tucker Prairie, located east of Columbia in Callaway County, is one of the easternmost examples of an intact prairie in Missouri. It serves as a site for biological and ecological research by faculty and students and as a preserve for prairie vegetation. The nearby Graham Cave State Park contains a mosaic of upland plant communities that have been the object of intensive habitat restoration activities. Of particular interest is the fact that limestone and sandstone bedrock are in close proximity on the site, providing a haven for acidophiles and calciphiles that normally would not be growing together. Moderately easy walking over uneven surfaces, sometimes away from trails, will be necessary. Glades and prairies contain little shade and can be quite hot during the summer months.

Contact: George Yatskievych, Missouri Botanical Garden, P. O. Box 299, St. Louis, Missouri 63166-0299 USA; Ph: 314/577-9522; e-mail: george.yatskievych@mobot.org


FT 13 Big Rivers, Floodplains of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, USA - Co-sponsored by the Missouri

Native Plant Society

Trip departs Sunday, August 8, 1999 from America's Center, Washington Street entrance, at 8:00 a.m. and returns at 5:00 p.m.

Limited to 38 participants Cost $45. includes ground transportation, lunch and beverage.

Missouri contains major portions of the floodplains of two of the largest rivers in the United States, the Missouri and Mississippi. At one time, these rivers supported diverse aquatic and terrestrial communities, including such bottomland types as prairies, forests, marshes, and sloughs. Nearly all of the floodplains have been impacted massively by past alterations in river hydrology (dams, levees, channelization, dredging, etc.), industrial and other development, agriculture, and removal of timber trees for lumber. Most recently, the area felt the effects of massive flooding in 1993 and to a lesser extent again in 1995. This trip will visit the Riverlands National Environmental Demonstration Area of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is the site of a relatively new visitor's center interpreting the history, ecology, and management of the riverine systems, as well as large scale prairie restoration efforts and a mosaic of wetland types. The trip will also visit the recently acquired Columbia Bottoms Conservation Area of the Missouri Department of Conservation, a 4,300 acre parcel located at the joining of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. Here, remnant natural communities are becoming expanded through restoration efforts for forests, prairies, and wetlands in conjunction with food plots and other high-maintenance sites to encourage wildlife diversity.

Contact: George Yatskievych, Missouri Botanical Garden, P. O. Box 299, St. Louis, Missouri 63166-0299 USA; Ph: 314/577-9522; e-mail: george.yatskievych@mobot.org


FT 14 Shaw Arboretum

Trip departs Sunday, August 8, 1999 from America's Center, Washington Street entrance, at 8:00 a.m., returns 5:00 p.m.

Limited to 38 participants Cost $45. includes ground transportation, lunch and handouts.

The Missouri Botanical Garden's 2,600 acre Shaw Arboretum is located at Gray Summitt, in Franklin County, Missouri. The property, which formerly consisted of farms, was purchased during the 1920's when air pollution problems in the city forced the Garden to consider moving many of its living collections to cleaner air. Much of the site is a mosaic of native vegetation types ranging from gravel bars and aquatic habitats along the Meramec River to various bottomland forests, upland forests, woodlands and glades. There are also old fields and a variety of other disturbed habitats. The glades and adjacent woodlands were once badly overgrown and are a showcase for regional methods of habitat restoration for uplandsites. In addition to the natural communities at the Arboretum, there are a large constructed wetland and a prairie. The Whitmire Wildflower Garden provides opportunities to observe cultivated examples of numerous regionally native species and an adjacent interpretive center provides natural history information on the area. Other highlights include a propagation area for the Garden's Center for Plant Conservation species and a large deer exclosure area. Join us for an informative and fun tour led by Arboretum staff focusing on habitat restoration and creation, naturescaping, and local history.

Trip leader: James Trager, Shaw Arboretum, Gray Summitt, Missouri USA Ph: 314/451-3512 & TBD


FT 15 Eastern Missouri Ozarks - Co-sponsored by The Nature Conservancy

Trip departs Sunday, August 8, 1999 from America's Center, Washington Street entrance, at 12:00 noon and returns Monday, August 9, 1999 at 5:00 p.m.

Limited to 26 participants Cost $210 double; $310. single; includes ground transportation, dinner on Sunday, breakfast on Monday, boxed lunch on Monday, beverage and site flora lists.

A 1 ½ day guided tour of the Ozarks of Southeast Missouri will highlight the landforms, geology, and unique botanical assemblages of the St. Francois Mountains and the karstic Lower Ozarks regions. Stops in several of the finest natural areas will examine acidic igneous glades and rock barrens, Dolomite glades, calcareous fens, mesic dolomite forests and large springs.

Trip leaders: Blane Heumann, The Nature Conservancy, P. O. Box 960, Van Buren, Missouri 63965 USA; Ph: 573/323-8790; Fx: 573/323-8782; e-mail: bheumann@tnc.org & Doug Ladd, The Nature Conservancy, 2800 South Brentwood Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri 63144 USA; Ph: 314/968-1105; e-mail: ladd@mobot.org


FT 16 New Jersey Pine Barrens, USA

Trip departs Sunday, August 8, 1999 from Philadelphia International Airport at 1:00 pm, returns Wednesday, August 11, 1999 at 4:00 pm.

Limited to 39 participants Cost $200. includes ground transportation, boxed lunches for four days, beverages, accommodations for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday

This trip will visit numerous habitats of the Pine Barrens including: Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) swamps (including a visit to the State's largest specimen of this tree), bogs, freshwater tidal marshes, pine-oak uplands, pitch pine (Pinus rigida) lowlands, and vernal ponds. The carnivorous bladderworts (Utricularia spp.) pitcher plants (Sarracenia purpurea), and sundews (Drosera spp.) will be encountered. Various orchids should also be seen, with perhaps blooming individuals of fringed orchids (Platanthera) and ladies' tresses (Spiranthes). Other unique species that should be encountered include: sensitive joint vetch (Aeschynomene virginica), Conrad's crowberry (Corema conradii), stiff tick trefoil (Desmodium strictum), waterwort (Elatine americana), Parker's pipewort (Eriocaulon parkeri), resinous boneset (Eupatorium resinosum), bog asphodel (Narthecium americanum), inundated beaked-rush (Rhynchospora knieskernii), and curly-grass fern (Schizaea pusilla). Recently burned areas will be visited to show the role of fire in maintaining the various habitats of this region. The region's rich botanical history will also be overviewed, including early efforts to document the Pine Barrens flora by naturalists Witmer Stone and Mary Treat (a frequent correspondent of Charles Darwin) and visits by numerous botanists including: John & William Bartram, Nathaniel Lord Britton, William Canby, Merritt Fernald, Asa Gray, Thomas Nuttall, Frederick Pursh, Rafinesque, John Small, and John Torrey. Three major herbaria (NY, PH, US) will be within a 1-3 hour's drive, for those who wish to conduct herbarium research after the field trip. Participants should bring plenty of insect repellent and prepare for wet walking.

Trip leader: Gerry Moore, Box 124, Alabama State University, Montgomery, Alabama 36101-0271; 334-229-5143; fax: 334-229-1007; agmoore@asu.alasu.edu.


FT 17 Southern Rockies, Colorado, USA

Trip departs Sunday, August 8, 1999 from Denver Airport Hyatt Hotel at 8:30 a.m., returns Thursday, August 12, 1999 at 5:30 p.m.

Limited to 23 participants Cost $825. double; $1,100 single; includes ground transportation, boxed lunches for five days, beverages, accommodations for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with some meals included. (Accommodations on the night before departure and the night of return must be made individually)

This Southern Rockies excursion includes five life zones, from shortgrass plains to alpine slopes above 12,000, with western and southwestern ecosystems: grassland, cool desert shrub and foothills brushland, pinyon-juniper woodland, riparian, coniferous forest and tundra. Two days in Rocky Mountain National Park, ideal Southern Rockies scenery, flora and fauna, with a 14,000-foot peak, highest paved through highway in U. S. continental divide, and start of the Colorado River, with several easy hikes. Then south on the Peak to Peak Highway, into geologically spectacular foothills to Colorado Springs area, gateway to American Southwest with pinyon-juniper woodland, red sedimentary Garden of the Gods, and across the "Great American Desert" to climb to the Arkansas River's Royal Gorge. Finally, west past Pike's Peak to Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, with its Cenozoic fossil redwoods and insects, through gold country at Cripple Creek, and to Denver via the ecologically unique Black Forest.

Trip leader: Richard Beidleman, (prior to 6/1/99: 726 Richmond St., El Cerrito, California 94530 USA; Ph: 510/527-4427 or 766 Bayview Ave., Pacific Grove, California 93950 USA; Ph: 831/375-1922) After 6/1/99: Biology Dept., Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903 USA; Ph: 719/389-6395. Home Ph: 719/471-3264


FT 18 Southwest/Petrified Forest, New Mexico/Arizona, USA

Trip begins Sunday, August 8, 1999 at Sheraton Old Town Hotel, Albuquerque, New Mexico at 4:00 p.m., returns Friday, August 13, 1999 at 8:00 a.m.

Limited to 29 participants Cost $820 double; $1,020. single; includes ground transportation, lunch for five days, beverages, accommodations for Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, a guidebook and park entrance fee.

PermoTriassic Floras of New Mexico and Arizona . This trip will present an unparalleled opportunity for the participants to examine several Late Carboniferous/Permian and Upper Triassic fossil plant localities in the scenic southwestern United States. The party will visit two localities containing non-peat forming Carboniferous/Permian floras in central New Mexico near Albuquerque. After the Paleozoic collecting is completed, the party will travel to Gallup, the Indian Capital of New Mexico. Participants will also visit several localities in the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation, plus an old cowtown in east-central Arizona. The Petrified Forest National Park will be explored and a visit to the capitol of the Navajo Indian Nation will be included. The trip will conclude with a banquet at the New Mexico Botanic Garden. Participants must be in good physical condition as there will be moderate hikes in rough terrain with some climbing at an elevation of about 1600 m. Hot weather (35-40C/90-105F) is to be expected, along with brief thundershowers. There will be adequate opportunities to collect at most localities and to view cultural attractions, as well as discussions of the local high desert floras and the geology of the area.

Trip leader: Sid Ash, 1708 Quail Run Court NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87122 USA; Ph: 505/856-5852; e-mail: sidash@aol.com


FT 19 Fern Foray to Shawnee Hills of Southern Illinois, USA - Co-sponsored by the American Fern Society

Trip departs Sunday, August 8, 1999 from America's Center, Washington Street entrance, at 8:00 a.m. and returns Thursday, August 12, 1999 at 12:00 noon

Limited to 31 participants Cost $450. double; $580. single; includes ground transportation, boxed lunch on four days, beverages, accommodation on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and handouts.

This southernmost section of Illinois is an unglaciated western extension of the Appalachian Plateau. As such, it contains many Appalachian taxa at the western extremity of their range. Deep narrow gorges also support disjunct occurrences of both southern and northern species in their highly moderated habitats, including huge sandstone "rockhouses". Localized microhabitats permit the growth of such unusual species as filmy ferns (Trichomanes) and independent gametophytes (Trichomanes, Vittaria). High, dry cliffs and glades of both limestone and sandstone support a variety of ferns, as do woodlands and wetlands we will visit. This area is particularly rich in species and hybrids of Asplenium and Cystopteris. More than 50 species of pteridophytes occur in the region. The trip will start and finish in St. Louis and will be headquartered in Marion, IL, with daily forays into the region.

Trip leaders: Don Farrar, Dept. of Botany, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011 USA; Ph: 515/294-4846; Fx: 515/294-1337; e-mail: dfarrar@istate.edu & W. Carl Taylor, Dept. of Botany, Milwaukee Public Museum, 800 W. Wells Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53122 USA; Ph: 414/278-2760; Fx: 414/278-6100; e-mail: ct@mpm1.mpm.edu


FT 20 Missouri/Arkansas Ozarks - Co-sponsored by American Bryological and Lichenological Society

Trip departs Sunday, August 8, 1999 from America's Center, Washington Street entrance, at 8:00 a.m. and returns Thursday, August 12, 1999 at 5:00 p.m.

Limited to 25 participants Cost $600 double; $730. single; includes ground transportation, boxed lunch and beverage for five days, and accommodations for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

This trip will give the participants an opportunity to collect specimens at Pickle Springs, an area of Missouri upland pine/oak forest, sandstone bluffs and glades and deep, narrow ravines. In Arkansas, Hercules Glades Wilderness Area consists of upland oak/hickory forest and open cedar glades, while Alum Cove Natural Bridge area consists of upland mixed hardwood forest, beech/maple forest on slopes and ravines, sandstone bluffs and deep, narrow ravines. Back in Missouri, the area around Bay Creek consists of mixed hardwood forests and steep dolomite bluffs.

Trip leader: Paul Redfearn, Dept. of Biology, Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield, Missouri 65804 USA; Ph: 417/836-5882; e-mail: plr426@vma.smsu.edu


FT 21 Northern Baja California, Mexico

Trip departs Sunday, August 8, 1999 from San Diego, California, USA Airport at 12:00 noon and returns Friday, August 13, 1999

Limited to 12 participants Cost $1,150. double, $1,400. single; includes ground transportation, boxed lunches for four days, beverages, overnight accommodations for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, field guides, maps and miscellaneous documentation.

Participants will explore the northwest portion of the Baja California Peninsula, an important and very interesting transition zone between the Holartic and Tropical kingdoms, including Mediterranean climate. Vegetation types to be visited include coastal succulent scrub, chaparral, coniferous forest and Sonoran Desert vegetation. The excursion will include two transects: a) north to south, with coastal succulent scrub, saltmarsh and Sonoran Desert vegetation and b) west to east, coastal line to coniferous forest in the Sierra San Pedro Martir, up to 2,800 m. altitude. Rough terrain, high altitude and extremely warm temperatures will be part of this field trip, but no plant collection will be allowed. Currency will be in Mexican pesos or US dollars. PASSPORT/VISA MAY BE REQUIRED FOR ENTRY INTO MEXICO.

Trip leaders: Dr. José Delgadillo, Herbario BCMEX, Science Faculty, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, km. 106 carretera Tijuana-Ensenada, Ensenada, Baja California, CP 22830, Mexico; Ph: +52 61 74 45 60, e-mail: jdelga@bahia,ens.uabc.mx & Dr. Jon P. Rebman, Botany, San Diego Natural History Museum, P. O. Box 1390, San Diego, California 92112 USA; Ph: 619/232-3821 Ext. 247; Fx: 619/232-0248; e-mail: sdnhmrebman@earthlink.net


FT 22 Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley/Oaxaca City, Mexico

Trip begins with overnight accommodations at a Mexico City Airport hotel (TBD). Departure Monday, August 9, 1999 from the hotel at 9:00 a.m. and returns to Mexico City on Saturday, August 14, 1999.

Limited to18 participants Cost $1,380. double; $1,600. single; includes overnight accommodations on

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, ground transportation, boxed lunches on five days, beverages, field guides, maps and miscellaneous documentation.

Participants will visit the semi-arid region of the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley, an area especially rich in endemics. Vegetation types to be visited include pine forest, oak-pine forest, chaparral, tropical deciduous forest, several associations of columnar cacti that include, among others, Cephalocereus hoppenstedtii, Polaskia chichipe, Mitrocereus fulviceps, Neobuxbaumia macrocephala, N. mezcalaensis, N. tetetzo, Stenocereus stellatus, S. pruinosus, and "izotal" - an association with dominance of Yucca periculosa. The site of a fossil flora that shows an affinity with the so-called boreal tropical flora, typical of high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, will also be visited. Two days will be spent in Oaxaca City and several points of interest in the vicinity. Rough terrain, high altitude and extremely warm temperatures will be part of this field trip, but no plant collection will be allowed. Currency will be in Mexican pesos or US dollars. PASSPORT/VISA MAY BE REQUIRED FOR ENTRY INTO MEXICO.

Trip Leaders: Dr. Fernando Chiang, Departamento de Botánica Instituto de Biologia, UNAM, Apartado Postal 70-233, 04510, México D. F., México; Ph: +52 5 622 5694; Fx: +52 5 550 1760; e-mail: chiang@servidor.unam.mx & Dr. Alfonso Valiente, Instituto de Ecología, UNAM, 04510, México D. F., México; Ph: +52 5 622 9010; e-mail: valiente@servidor.unam.mx


FT 23 Chihuahuan Desert/Copper Canyon, Mexico

Trip begins at the El Paso, Texas, USA Airport where participants will be picked up and driven across the border to Chihuahuan.

Limited to 12 participants Cost $1,100. double; $1,200. single; includes overnight accommodations on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, ground transportation, boxed lunches on four days, beverages, field guides, maps and miscellaneous documentation.

Starting in the northern portion of the Chihuahuan Desert, the Samalayuca Sand Dunes will be visited, after which we will pass through desert scrub and grasslands. Afterwards, the transition vegetation of piñon-oak woodland will be explored before climbing up to the pine-oak forests. A steep ecological gradient from temperate to tropical climate will be experienced as we descend into the dry tropical forest of the Batopilas Barranca. En route, Tarahumara Indian ranches and colonial mining settlements can be seen. Returning to the high mixed conifer forests, an overnight stop will nbe made at the Basaseachic Falls, the highest waterfall in Mexico. The final leg of the trip will pass through a different transition oak woodland to reach the southeastern margin of the Sonoran Desert. Rough terrain, high altitude and extremely warm temperatures will be part of this field trip, but no plant collection will be allowed. Currency will be in Mexican pesos. PASSPORT/VISA MAY BE REQUIRED FOR ENTRY INTO MEXICO.

Trip Leader: Dr. Robert Bye, Jardin Botánico, Instituto de Biologia, UNAM, Apartado Postal 70-614, 04510, México D. F., México; Ph: +52 5 622 9046; e-mail: rbye@ibiologia.unam.mx


FT 24 From Hill to High Water/Southeastern Oregon/Western Idaho, USA

This is a unique, two-part field trip. For those who are not interested in river rafting, Part I may be purchased as a "stand-alone" trip. Part I departs Sunday, August 8, 1999 from the Boise, Idaho Airport at 2:00 p.m. and returns to the Boise Airport on Thursday, August 12, 1999 at approximately 5:00 p.m.

Limited to 20 participants Cost $460. double; $520. single; (Part I only) includes locked storage for excess baggage, ground transportation, boxed lunches for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, beverages, a Western bar-be-que dinner on Tuesday and an authentic Basque dinner on Wednesday, overnight accommodations on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Part I will explore the unique features of southeastern Oregon for five days, encompassing visits to a variety of coniferous forest, cold desert, and grassland communities. John Day and Succor Creek fossil beds illustrate two different Miocene floras. Steens Mountain, the northernmost range of the Great Basin, rises 1600 m. from alkaline playas and freshwater marshes to isolated alpine tundra and includes extremely high landscape scale diversity. Leslie Gulch, a scenic caldera, is home to many neoendemics. Cultural highlights include a western-style bar-be-que and an authentic Basque dinner.

Part II is a continuation of Part I and consists of a jaunt into the mountains of Western Idaho and concludes with an overnight raft trip on the Salmon River in the Frank Church Wilderness Area. The raft trip will include one night of camping on the riverbanks. Add $400. double; $450. single to the cost of Part I if you choose the whole package.

Trip Leaders: Dr. Don Mansfield, Albertson College of Idaho Biology Department, Caldwell, Idaho 83605 USA; Ph: 208/459-5287; e-mail: dmansfie@acofi.edu & Dr. Barbara Ertter, University of California, Berkeley, Ph: 510/643-0600; Fx: 510/643-5390; e-mail: ertter@uclink4.berkeley.edu