Bring a bag lunch and sturdy footgear. Hiking is moderately strenuous. A hand lens and set of binoculars will enhance the day. We ll also see and identify a multitude of asters and goldenrods. Bring a bag lunch.
Sturdy footwear is advisable although no rigorous hiking is involved.
We ll focus on fall twig identification of trees and shrubs in these two communities, using field manuals. Then we ll look at an adjacent grassland community maintained by mowing under a nearby power line and identify many of the late-blooming flowers, including asters and goldenrods. Myles Standish State Forest has 12,000 acres that include dry and fire-prone vegetation and a variety of small wetlands. We will discuss the effects of land use history and glacial geology, including their effects on the vegetation, and we will visit the site of an experimental prescribed fire. Even seemingly ordinary plants have wonderful stories to tell.