Another field trip sponsored by The New England Wild Flower Society on Sunday, July 18, from 10 – 2, will take place in the Berkshires. Located just a mile north of the Connecticut-Massachusetts border in the Town of Hampden, Minnechaug Mountain has a diversity of forests, wetlands, and stream corridor communties. The mountain, which is owned and managed by the Minnechaug Land Trust, has an elevation of 908 feet and is crossed by a network of hiking trails. Its forested habitats include northern hardwoods-hemlock-white pine habitats on middle and lower slopes, and richer habitats with sugar maple and white ash at higher elevations. The summit area has a dry hickory-hornbeam forest (a rare community type in Massachusetts) with a variety of unusual flora that are particular to this type of habitat. Over the past two years, NEWFS Conservation staff have been working with the Minnechaug Land Trust in botanical inventories and invasive species management on the mountain. Join us as we continue our botanical forays on this special mountain (there is still plenty of flora to search and identify!) and see some of our ongoing work to improve the quality of its habitats. Moderately strenuous—sturdy footgear recommended. $32 for NEWFS members, $36 for nonmembers, and registration may be accomplished at www.newfs.org.
