Boston Flora

Tag: Boutwell

  • Tuesday, August 6, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm – Bellevue Pond

    Enjoy a summer stroll to study a wide range of wildflowers in bloom along the edge of Bellevue Pond, a beautiful site within the 2,500 acre rocky woodland known as Middlesex Fells in Medford, on Tuesday, August 6, from 10 – 2, with Roland “Boot” Boutwell, naturalist.  Then hike up Pine Hill, one of the many rocky outcrops of “fells” in the area for a panoramic view of downtown Boston.  After lunch, if there is time, hike to a small meadow area to study one more very different type of habitat.  The walk focuses on plant ID as well as fun and interesting natural history about the plants you see.  Bring lunch, a field guide or two, and a hand lens if you have one.  Sponsored by the New England Wild Flower Society, the fee is $38 for NEWFS members, $46 for nonmembers.  Register on line at www.newfs.org.

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  • Saturday, January 29, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm – Naked Shrubs

    No leaves? No problem! Use a combination of branching patterns, bud and bark characteristics, habitat, persistent fruits, galls and marcescent leaves to identify shrubs in winter. The New England Wild Flower Society program on January 29 will begin at 10 am with a short session indoors. Then head out into MA Audubon Habitat’s 86 acres in Belmont for a close look at 15-20 native shrubs plus a couple of non-native invasives. You will end up back indoors for a twig or slide quiz and a cup of something hot. Review for those who have taken “Native New England Shrubs” and a good introduction to shrub ID in winter. Bring lunch and a hand lens if you have one. Roland “Boot” Boutwell leads, and the fee is $32 for NEWFS and Massachusetts Audubon Society members, $36 for non-members. Click on www.newfs.org to register.  Image of willow below from the Royal Horticultural Society.

  • Saturday, October 17, 10 am – 1:30 pm – Fall in the Bog

    A thick, floating mass of sphagnum moss, oxygen-poor water, and plants adapted to very low nutrient conditions characterize quaking bogs. The Philbrick-Cricenti Quaking Bog, one of the best examples of these unique peatlands, offers a chance to explore a trail about a mile in length, while staying high and dry atop a boardwalk. A host of bog plants are to be discovered as you transition from a red maple-sphagnum swamp, through a black spruce-larch swamp, to the Tundra Garden Loop where you find vegetation similar to that in more northern areas where boreal forest meets the open Arctic tundra. The walk will be led by Roland “Boot” Boutwell, and is sponsored by the New England Wild Flower Society. Bring a bag lunch, water, and a hand lens if you have one.  Cost for NEWFS members is $28, $32 for nonmembers.  Limit 10 participants.  To register, and for directions, log on to www.newfs.org, or call 508-877-7630.

    http://www.nhdfl.org/library/images/photo-index/DSC_0037a.jpg