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FIELD TRIP REPORTS

Our group met on a beautiful, sunny, cool day at the southern end of the park. Our group leader, David Künstler was called out of town and Jeff Freilich, City Gardener, made an excellent substitute. We covered the western side of the park in five hours. There was so much to see that we did not stop for lunch. At the marshy area at the lower end of the lake, we saw Caltha palustris and Cardamine bulbosa growing out of the wet soil. As we walked we were impressed at the huge size of a few of the Platanus x acerifolia specimens. We also encountered Cladastris kentuckea saplings along the way. As we progressed into the northern park woodlands, we were excited to find Erythronium americanum, Geranium maculatum, Claytonia virginica, Dicentra cucullaria, and Triosetum aurantiacum in bloom. There was much discussion about the identification of the violets, and we concluded that we had seen Viola sororia, V. affinis, V.pubescens, V. sagittata and one example of V. palmata. We encountered Viburum acerifolium, V. dilatatum, V. prunifolium, and V. sieboldii. We also identified Staphylea trifolia. The highlight of the day, Silene caroliniana, was found at the northern end of the woods. It was growing densely among the rocks and glowing in the sunshine. We were impressed to find that Van Cortland Park has so many natural, unspoiled areas in the midst of the city (despite the appearance of invasive species like Alliaria petiolata). Everything should be done to preserve it as it is now. A complete plant list for the day was prepared by Andrew Greller, Amy Berkov, and Carol Levine and is available from the Field Chair. Attendance was nine people, and the trip leader was Jeff Freilich.