Cincinnati Wild Flower Preservation Society
Newsletter for September through December 2008
> * Our new website is CincyWildflower.Org *<
Southwestern Ohio Chapter Ohio Native Plant Society
Welcome to the 2008-2009 season of the Cincinnati Wild Flower Preservation Society. We have had a year with many great field trips, and fine lectures. Our program chair Anita Buck has lined up a nice selection of speakers. This year Vic Soukup has agreed to be our field trip coordinator. We will visit a variety of interesting places (concentrating more on nearby treasures) and have a variety of leaders on these hikes. We are scheduling some of these hikes on Saturday or Sunday at 1:00 pm instead of 10 am. I would like to thank Dan Boone and Jim Decker for choosing and leading most of the hikes for the past several years to many exciting and unique areas.
At our annual meeting in March, we elected Theresa Culley, a professor in the UC Department of Biological Sciences, to our Board. She replaces Becky Johnson, who continues as our Weekend Field Trip Coordinator. Thank you Becky. Our financial situation is good. Jim Husbands is brewing coffee, and the cookies at the meetings are always delicious.
Please let your friends know about the Society. You can pick up extra schedules (or print them from PDF files on our website) to post on local bulletin boards. We welcome visitors and guests, but would like to increase our membership.
An individual membership is only $12 and a family membership is $20. The check can be written to “Cincinnati Wild Flower Preservation Society” and mailed to Rob Repasky, Treasurer, 488 Crestline Avenue #2, Cincinnati OH, 45205.
Please try to use name tags at meetings to help new (and old) members get acquainted. All event information is available on our website if you misplace your newsletter. If you would like to receive e-mail reminders of events, write this on your membership form or email me at . Be sure to note that we have a new website with a name I hope you can remember, http://CincyWildflower.org . We hope to add pictures from our field trips and other features soon.
The "Great Outdoor Weekend" takes place September 27th and 28th, with free nature-oriented events held all over town on subjects ranging from plants to birds to fossils. The Wild Flower Society is represented with Dr. Denis Conover leading a prairie and wetland hike at Miami Whitewater Park. (Details below.) You can find the magazine listing all events at a library or store, or call 513-965-4248, or go to http://greatoutdoorweekend.org/ and click on "programs." Our event is on page 28.
Our annual schedule lists several major non-Society events such as the Wildflower Pilgrimage in Spring 2009. At the end of each newsletter we also list smaller non-Society events, such as lectures and seminars. I'm sure you'll find something of interest. Let me know of other good events to include.
If you haven't been to our programs before, most Friday lectures are held at Avon Woods Nature Center (a Cincinnati City Park) 4235 Paddock Road, Cincinnati 45229. From the Norwood Lateral (SR #562), drive 9/10 mile South on Paddock to the Avon Woods Park driveway. Turn sharp right and go to the lodge at the end of the long dark drive. Our dinner meetings are held at the Northern Hills Fellowship, 460 Fleming Road, Cincinnati 45231.
Finally, please remember that the motto on our program reads: "Enjoy: Do Not Destroy." It is up to Society members to set the standard for the rest of the public: respecting all rules at the places we visit, staying on trails when required, and not collecting seeds or plants without permission or permits.
For the Society,
Bob Bergstein
513-221-3070; 513-477-4438 (cell);
Programs and Field Trips
Friday, September 12, 2008, 7:30 pm: Photo Sharing Program, Avon Woods Nature Center (see page 1)
This is the first program of our new season. See our website or annual schedule for directions to Avon. Please bring photos and slides from your summer trips to show your friends. We will have a slide projector, digital projector and computer, and cookies and coffee, too. Come early, at 6:30, and bring your own picnic dinner. Call Bob Bergstein (513-477-4438) for computer information. Let me know (if you can) if you have photos to show.
Sunday, September 28, 2008, 10:00 am: Shaker Trace Wetlands in Miami Whitewater Forest, Hamilton County Parks, Hamilton County, OH
Dr. Denis Conover leads this 2-3 hour field trip to an area he has studied for years, the Shaker Trace Wetlands of Miami Whitewater Forest. This event is part of the Great Outdoor Weekend, which is the city-wide nature weekend. For a park map, go to http://hamiltoncountyparks.org/parks/miami.htm and click on "download park map" at the bottom of the page. The terrain is flat. Wear long pants (and your shoes may get wet) as we explore on and off the trail.
Directions: Take I-74 west from Cincinnati to Dry Fork Road (Ohio exit #3). Turn right (north) and it will become New Haven Road. In the town of New Haven, turn left on Oxford Road, then very shortly afterward left on Baughman Road, and go 1/2 mile to a small gravel parking lot on your right. No park sticker is necessary to reach this parking lot.
Friday, October 10, 2008, 7:30 pm: Lecture Program, Avon Woods Nature Center (See page 1)
"It Takes Two to Tango: The Invasion of the Callery Pears"
Dr. Theresa Culley, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati
Come learn why the ornamental Callery Pear tree is becoming invasive across the United States. These Chinese trees are extremely popular in urban areas for landscaping but are now producing abundant fruit that is dispersed by birds into surrounding natural areas. Learn what you can do to help reduce the spread
of this introduced species and the formation of wild populations in our area.
Saturday, October 11, 2008, 1:00 pm: Miami Whitewater Forest, Hamilton County, OH
Join us as we explore the woodlands of this large park. We may see some late-blooming fall wildflowers: tall bellflower, various goldenrods, Desmodium ("beggar lice"), and ladies' tresses. If you do not have a Hamilton County Park Sticker, you may purchase a day car pass for $3 as you enter the park. Call hike leader Vic Soukup (513-761-2568) if you know you are coming on the hike.
Directions: Take I-74 west from Cincinnati to Dry Fork Road (Ohio exit #3). Turn right (north) on Dry Fork Road and drive 9/10 mile. Turn right on West Road and drive 2/10 mile. Turn left on Timber Lakes Drive and drive 1 mile (go PAST Harbor Ridge Road) to the Timberlakes Program Shelter on your left and park. We will hike part of the Oakleaf Trail. See previous field trip for park map.
Friday, November 14, 2008, 7:30 pm: Lecture Program, Avon Woods Nature Center (See page 1)
"Fungal Movement: The Microscopic Circus"
Dr. Nicholas Money, Department of Botany, Miami University
Few scientists are aware of the extraordinary range of movements accomplished by fungi. The speed of these biophysical processes ranges from the slow extension of hyphae accompanying the penetration of plant tissues, to blisteringly fast mechanisms of spore discharge. Current research in the Money lab is concerned with spore discharge in basidiomycete and ascomycete fungi: How do these mechanisms work and how might they have evolved? Dr. Money’s experimental approaches include the use of ultra high speed digital video to capture images of spore motion, which he’ll share with us, along with other utterly new ways to understand these amazing organisms.
Sunday, December 7, 2008, 3:00 pm: Hardy Souls Hike, Burnet Woods, Cincinnati Parks
Burnet Woods, a 90-acre Cincinnati park in the Clifton neighborhood, has some nice forest-covered rolling hills, a small lake and a prairie area. Park naturalist Michael George will first show us the recently renovated and improved Trailside Nature Center. Steve Slack (who has been active in removing invasives and restoring native plants) will then lead our hike in the park. For more info, Google search on park finder Burnet Woods.
Directions: From the intersection of Clifton and Ludlow Avenues in Clifton, drive 1/10 mile east on Ludlow and turn right onto Brookline Drive. We will meet at Trailside Nature Center (3251 Brookline) on your right. Note: other roads in Burnet Woods no longer connect through to Brookline.
After the hike, proceed to the Northern Hills Fellowship (460 Fleming Road, Cincinnati, 45231) for wine and appetizers (5:45 pm) and the potluck dinner (6:15 pm). (Please call Shirley Soukup, 761-2568, beforehand for your potluck assignment, but if you fail to call please don’t let it stop you from coming. Just bring a covered dish!)
Sunday, December 7, 2008, 7:30 pm: Lecture, Northern Hills Fellowship
“Wetlands Restoration and Conservation”
Dr. James Amon, Department of Biological Sciences, Wright State University
Jim Amon is a microbial ecologist specializing in conservation ecology and restoration of wetlands. His current projects include studies of wetland vegetation and its relation to nitrogen and phosphorus cycling by the microbial community; the use of wetlands for bioremediation of waste water and aquifer waters contaminated by chlorinated solvents; and the use of soil amendments to enhance the restoration potential of sites where good soils are not present. He has worked extensively at the Beaver Creek wetlands.
Non-Society Events
Various Dates. The Cincinnati Museum Center has a variety of FREE science lectures though parking is $3-$4. Their schedule is not available yet, but for more info go to http://www.cincymuseum.org and search on "Dury" or call (513) 287-7000. They also have an email reminder list.
Monday, September 15, 2008, 7:00 pm. "Wild Orchids of the Eastern United States." Brian Jorg, Manager of Horticulture, Cincinnati Zoo. Free at Winton Center on Valleyview Drive (a short distance from Winton Road) in Winton Woods. For map, google Winton Woods or call 521-7275. Sponsor-Audubon Society of Oh.
Saturday, September 20, 2008 NKU. One-day course, "Gardening with Native Plants." $59. Call 859-572-5600 or go to http://nkuconnections.nku.edu/detail.asp?id=6607
Monday, October 13, 2008. "Natural Science Observations in the Land of Ghengis Khan (My Travels in the Gobi Desert)." Dr. Richard H. Munson, Dept of Botany, Miami University.
Talk will be held in the 2nd Floor meeting Room at the Lebanon Citizens National Bank at 30 Park Place West in Uptown Oxford, Ohio. For more information contact Gail Reynolds at or go to http://audubonmiamivalley.org and click on newsletter.
Saturday, October 18, 2008, 1 pm till 3 pm. Workshop on Removing Invasive Plants. Location is Burnet Woods in Clifton. For more information contact Park Naturalist Michael George at 513-751-3679.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008. 7:30 pm "New Ways of Looking at Dinosaur Evolution" by well-known Paleontologist Michael Benton from University of Bristol. Free Dury lecture in Reakirt Auditorium at the Cincinnati Museum Center (Union Terminal)
Thursday, October 23, 2008. "Ravens at the Feast." Dr. Bernd Heinrich, author of Ravens in Winter and other classics of natural history. Talk will be held in room 102 in Benton Hall on the Campus of Miami University. Benton Hall is on the North Side of High Street (just East of Tallawanda Road) For more info contact Gail Reynolds at or go to http://audubonmiamivalley.org
Saturday, November 22, 2008. Annual all-day conference by the Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society with a variety of good speakers. Near Indianapolis. This year’s theme, "Growing Native Plants for Wildlife." Register by Nov 1 for $65. Discount for INPAWS members. Info at http://inpaws.org/ or call 317-263-9655.
Thursday, November 6, 2008 - 7:30 p. m. " Big Bone Lick, Cradle of American Paleontology" by Presented by Dr. Stanley Hedeen. Free Dury lecture in Reakirt Auditorium at the Cincinnati Museum Center (Union Terminal). Spend an evening with Dr. Stanley Hedeen as he brings Big Bone Lick to life through discussion and images.
Thursday, December 4, 2008 - 7:30 p.m. "Only a Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America’s Soul" . Presented by Dr. Kenneth R. Miller of Brown University. Free Dury lecture in Reakirt Auditorium at the Cincinnati Museum Center (Union Terminal). In his new book, Only a Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America’s Soul, Dr. Kenneth Miller discusses the Dover, Pennsylvania school board case (in which he testified) and why Intelligent Design collapses at the very moment when one begins to take it seriously as a scientific movement.
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