[BSW] Sign up now for next Tuesday's Holiday Potluck! + December 18 Solstice Walk

[Kathy Bilton]

Here is the link to sign up for the holiday potluck on Tuesday, December 
6:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RBixwitzhqsemzOOoUUW2wi4zwI_u8kzOTWmH-MV72Q/edit

Just put your name and what you're planning to bring on a line. That's 
all! (You don't have to send it in anywhere.)

The room will open at 5:30 for set-up.  And the event will get going at 
6:00 PM.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Sunday, December 18, 2016

10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Field trip co-sponsored by the Maryland Native Plant Society, Potowmack 
Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society, Botanical Society of 
Washington, and Mattawoman Watershed Society

Leaders: Rod Simmons, Jim Long, Ken Bawer, and Alan Ford
Celebrate the beginning of the winter season at Chapman Forest (Chapman 
State Park) with its spectacular scenery and remarkable diversity of 
native plants, wildlife, and natural communities!

This year, we will visit the old-age forest section from the low river 
terrace and extensive Water-willow Shrublands along the Potomac River to 
the marl cliffs and ravines near Glymont.  This section of the park is a 
fascinating and regionally unique meeting ground for plants with a primary 
range in the inner Piedmont and mountains and those of the Coastal Plain.

Most of the ravines and rolling valleys throughout the forested tract 
between Mount Aventine and Glymont comprise a globally rare natural 
community called Shell-Marl Ravine Forest, coined by Harvard botanist M.L. 
Fernald in the 1930s after discovering similar forest communities in the 
Virginia tidewater region to the south.

This community type occurs only on the Coastal Plain where river bluffs 
and deep ravines over millennia have exposed underlying calcareous and 
glauconitic marine sands and marl beds deposited during the Paleocene, 
Eocene, and Miocene epochs when the area was a shallow sea at the western 
edge of the Atlantic Ocean.  The Brightseat and Aquia Formations are the 
prominent underlying strata in this section of Chapman Forest.
The combination of deep ravines, calcareous soils, and close proximity to 
the Potomac River has produced a remarkable flora predominately composed 
of species typical of the inner piedmont and carbonate areas of the 
Appalachians that are otherwise rare to absent on the Coastal Plain, 
especially in association.  Chapman Forest is considered to be Maryland’s 
largest and finest example of this natural community type.

During this year’s trip, we’ll see a diversity of species and natural 
communities, including Maryland state champion Pagoda Oak (Quercus pagoda) 
and Chinquapin Oak (Quercus muehlenbergii).  We’ll also see old-age Tulip 
Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera), White Ash (Fraxinus americana), American 
Beech (Fagus grandifolia), American Basswood (Tilia americana var. 
americana), Winter Grape (Vitis vulpina), Pignut Hickory (Carya glabra), 
Sweet Pignut Hickory (Carya ovalis), Sassafras (Sassafras albidum), 
Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), and 
other trees such as Dwarf Hackberry (Celtis tenuifolia), American 
Hop-hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana), Slippery Elm (Ulmus rubra), Red Mulberry 
(Morus rubra), Shumard Oak (Quercus shumardii), Deam’s Oak (Quercus x 
deamii), Paw Paw (Asimina triloba), and others.

Field trip is free and open to non-members.  Registration is not required.

For ARMN members, this event will apply towards advanced training hours in 
botany, dendrology, forest ecology, and geology.

Bring: Wear sturdy shoes and bring lunch or snacks and water.  Most of the 
walk traverses rolling, fairly open forest along trails, though some steep 
grades will occasionally be encountered.

Directions: Take Indian Head Highway (Rt. 210) south from Capital Beltway 
(495).  Proceed south on Rt. 210 for app. 15 miles.  Continue on Rt. 210 
past the Rt. 227 intersection at Bryans Road (McDonald's, Burger King, and 
shopping center on right and large CVS and builders supply will be on 
left) and start looking for Chapman Landing Road on right.  Take half 
right on Chapman Landing Road and proceed a couple of miles to entrance to 
Mount Aventine (Chapman State Park) on right.  Park and meet in small 
parking lot at entrance gate (additional parking is available along the 
shoulder of Chapman Landing Road, though please be extra mindful of the 
neighboring residents and careful not to damage the road edges when 
parking).

Carpooling: For those interested in carpooling to the field trip – or has 
room to provide a ride – please email Kathy Bilton at kathy at fred.net 
closer to the time and she will send out a list of names, general 
location, and contact info which she has received so that folks wishing 
transportation to the field trip can arrange something.  A number of folks 
in the Alexandria-Arlington-D.C. area will likely be looking for a ride to 
the site.

For folks who aren’t able to stay the full time, there will be numerous 
points throughout the field trip to depart from and easily get back to the 
parking area.

*In the event of heavy-steady snow, sleet, pouring rain, or icy, dangerous 
conditions of roads, the field trip will be cancelled.

Contact: Liz Jones at elksjones at aol.com or http://mdflora.org/events.html 
if needed.