The NYFA trip to Mendon Ponds and the Auburn Trail in Railroad Mills on August 22 set a new one-day record for genera seen at 258! The old record was 243 at Alley Pond Park in Queens in 2008. The Mendon area is very diverse with eskers, ponds, marshes, a kettlehole sphagnum bog and a fen. We saw 229 genera in the park so it actually was less than what we saw in Alley Pond but the walk along the Auburn Trail added 29 more genera for the grand total for the day. The full list of species will be published in the next NYFA newsletter and added to our website. Thanks go to the eager participants whose sharp eyes spotted all the beautiful plants we saw that day and our leader Steve Daniel who knows the plants in both areas very well. Some photos from the day are below.
Identifying plants in the bog
Steve Daniel showing Triglochin palustre
Flowers of the rare swamp lousewort, Pedicularis lanceolata
Happy plant hunters: Steve Young, Ken Hull, Carol Southby, Georgianna Vyverberg, Steven Daniel, Megan Caves, Sarah Shute, Ed Fuchs, Christine Sevilla, Amy Kahn, Karen Schreiner. Not present for photo (Kim Hartquist).