Field Trips

For field trips, a hat, water and sturdy shoes are recommended. Bring your hand lens, if you have one. (There will be a few to borrow.) Participants will be expected to sign a waiver before the field trip.

UPCOMING FIELD TRIPS

Future field trips will be announced here and on our events page. Stay tuned!

PAST FIELD TRIPS

Pop-Up Field Trip: Poppy Promenade in the Floridas
Tuesday, March 21st, 9:00 am to noon

If you’re willing to drive a little to see a spectacular bloom, join us on this Poppy Promenade in the Floridas this coming Tuesday. Our Field Trip Committee scouts discovered an amazing abundance of poppies and other early spring wildflowers down a gravel road in the Florida Mts. This doesn’t happen every year, and they want to share this experience before the bloom fades. 

The plan is to gather before 9 am at the parking space across the side road from the gas pumps at the Valero station on route 180 just north of Deming. If you’re coming down 180 from the north, the Valero is on the left just a short distance past the turnoff to State Highway  26. Those with low-clearance vehicles can then carpool in vehicles with a little higher clearance for the gravel road. The caravan will leave from there at 9 am for about a 30 minute drive to the flowering site.

As usual for field trips, wear a hat and sturdy shoes and bring water, and participants will be asked to sgn a waiver. No dogs, please. Bring a hand lens, if you have one, but don’t forget your camera!


Saturday, October 15, 2022, 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. — Field Trip to City of Rocks State Park
The Friends of the City of Rocks and the Gila Native Plant Society are co-sponsoring a botany hike to the Cienega Trail at City of Rocks State Park. The word is that the monsoon season has brought out an unusually rich variety of plants this year. Russ Kleinman, Ed Leuck and Bill Norris will lead the trip. Participants should meet at 9:00 am at the parking lot by the Cienega Trail near the entrance to the park off route 61.

Saturday, October 8th, 8 a.m. to noon —Field Trip: Learn Your Trees and Shrubs II (and more!)
Leader: Don Graves, GNPS President

This field trip is for those new to the Gila area, new to native plants, or just wanting to brush up on their tree and shrub identification. You need not have participated in our first trees and shrubs field trip last month. The group will travel to Ira Canyon near the Bird Area on past Bill Evans Lake. This is a little farther afield than usual. We’ll try to carpool, as you feel comfortable.
Vehicles should be medium to high clearance, as the monsoon rains have left a bit of a mess in a couple of areas, but not too bad, if we’re careful.
Participants will learn some botany basics, understand how plants are named, and learn how to use a botanical key to identify some local native trees and shrubs. The butterflies can be pretty good in this area, so bring binoculars, if interested. We’ll have some guides for identifying them. We’ll be walking up a sandy, rocky arroyo, so a hiking stick is recommended.
Meet and be ready to leave by 8:00 am at the Silva Creek Botanical Garden on North Virginia Street (two blocks north of Route 180).

Saturday, September 24, 2022, 8am-12pm- Field Trip: Pollinators and Larval Host Plants of Signal Peak. Leader: GNPS President Don Graves, as part of the 18th Annual Gila River Festival.


There is an evolutionary bond between native plants and the pollinators that ensure not only their survival, but the survival of a whole host of ecosystem components. Join us on this exploration of Signal Peak, from the bottom wet meadow to the coniferous forest at the top. Along the way, we will experience these pollinators and native plants in an attempt to better understand this fragile ecosystem. Participants will also learn strategies to help bring this diversity to their own yards and landscaped spaces. Participants will need to register and pay for this field trip at https://www.gilariverfestival.org/.  GNPS is a major sponsor of the Gila River Festival.

Saturday, July 16th, 8 am to noon, Field Trip: Learn Your Trees
Leader: Don Graves, GNPS President

This field trip is for those new to the Gila area, new to native plants or just wanting to brush up on their tree identification.  The group will travel to Cherry Creek Campground, McMillan Campground and Signal Peak Meadow. Participants will learn some botany basics, understand how plants are named and learn how to use a botanical key to identify local trees.

A hat, water and sturdy shoes are recommended. Bring your hand lens, if you have one. Participants will be expected to sign a waiver before the field trip. Meet at 8 am at the Silva Creek Botanical Garden on North Virginia Street (two blocks north of Route 180).

Saturday, May 28 and Sunday, May 29, 2022, 9:00 am to 11:00 am — Medicinal Plants of the Silva Creek Botanical Garden (SCBG).

The Gila Forest and our nearby desert regions contain many plants that have historically been used for healing.  Local herbalist Naava Koenigsberg will lead a guided tour of our Silva Creek Botanical Garden and will talk about some of the many medicinal plants that can be found there.

We will discuss traditional and contemporary uses, as well as how to incorporate these plants into a home garden or landscape.

Because the tour can accommodate only 10 people at once, Naava has offered to give it twice, once on Saturday, May 28, and again on Sunday, May 29. We are asking anyone interested to sign up in advance via gilanative@gmail.com. The tours will be from 9 to 11 am.

A hat and water are recommended. Bring your hand lens, if you have one. The walking is easy. Participants will be expected to sign a waiver before the field trip.

This will be a chance to learn some surprising new things about the plants in our garden.

Saturday, April 30, 2022 – Field Trip to Pitchfork Ranch

A.T. and Lucinda Cole have invited us to come botanize at Pitchfork Ranch on Saturday, April 30th. Over the years the Coles have worked hard at restoration of the land, and it is fascinating to see what they have achieved.

(https://www.pitchforkranchnm.com/).

Located down in the grasslands near Soldier’s Farewell peak, Pitchfork Ranch has a different flora than we find around Silver. Among other things, it hosts a rare plant, Euphorbia rayturneri, found only in three places in New Mexico. In addition to our hosts, we will have the expertise of Russ Kleinman and possibly Bill Norris and Jim McGrath, too.

The trip down takes an hour and might not be easy for all vehicles, so we’ll meet 8 am at the parking lot next to the Fine Arts Center Theatre at 8 am to carpool and caravan.

Saturday, April 16, 2022, Field Trip to Cienega Trail

GNPS has joined with the Friends of the City of Rocks to organize a spring wildflower hike at the Cienega Trail at City of Rocks State Park on Saturday, April 16th from 9-11 am. As the name implies, the trail leads to a rare wetland. This will be a new part of the park to explore. The cienega is about a mile down the trail. Ed Leuck and Bill Norris will be our leaders. Meet at 9 am at the Cienega Trailhead (the first parking lot you come to after entering City of Rocks State Park).

Saturday, January 22, 2022, 10:00 am to noon — “Winter Botany Hike at City of Rocks State Park”

As a follow up to Bill’s presentation (see Programs), we will have another field trip to City of Rocks. This Winter Botany hike will be led by Edwin Leuck, Russ Kleinman and William (Bill) Norris, and the primary focus this time will be cacti and other succulents, with Ed taking the lead. Participants should meet at the Park Visitor Center at 10:00 am.

Dr. Edwin Leuck, now resident in Silver City, is emeritus Professor of Biology at Centenary College of Louisiana.  His interest in cacti is of long standing: his doctoral dissertation dealt with the systematics of the small-flowered hedgehog cacti in the genus Echinocereus. He continues to look for cacti in New Mexico, especially in the Bootheel and southern Gila regions, and is currently involved in a long-term study of a Peniocereus greggii population near Rodeo, New Mexico.

Saturday, October 16, 2021, 9:00 am – Field Trip to City of Rocks State Park – Led by William Norris

To see a plant list for this field trip, click here.

William (“Bill”) Norris, Professor of Biology at Western New Mexico University, will lead us in an exploration of the botany of this fascinating Chihuahuan Desert landscape.

Bill will point out the major vegetation types found in City of Rocks State Park, including important grass species, and will describe the floristic study of the park he is conducting with the help of Tim Geddes. We’ll also learn something about the history of the Park and its recent additions. The field trip will include a visit to the botanical garden, rich in cacti, yucca and agaves, and there will be an option to walk the two-mile Cienega Trail at the conclusion of the field trip.

Photo:  Pancake Prickly Pear (Opuntia chlorotica) with Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens)

With luck we might see this lovely little plant, Arizona Bluecurls (Trichostema arizonicum):

Members of the Friends of City of Rocks, a group of dedicated volunteers, are cordially invited to join us. Meet at 9:00 am at City of Rocks State Park (east on Hwy 180 and left on route 61) in the parking lot by the Cienega Trail (on the left shortly after entering the Park).

Saturday, September 11, 2021 – 8:30 am to noon – Field Trip to Pinos Altos Range

To see a partial plant list for this field trip, click here.

Russ Kleinman led us on a field trip in the Pinos Altos Range along hwy 15. There were so many of us (pent-up demand?) that we had to quickly rethink our auto-stops. 

At the Ben Lilly parking area we explored the immediately surrounding area, with special attention to the grasses, with help from Don. As we went north from there on 15, some of us were able to spot the large stand of Rothrock’s Basketflower (Plectocephalus rothrockii) past Cherry Creek Campground. We then moved to the roadside meadow at the Signal Peak turnoff, where we found an abundance of late summer wildflowers (see the partial plant list above).

At the close of the field trip, a few of us stopped at a small rocky meadow, featuring plants that are often overlooked and stepped on, such as Phemeranthus parviflorus (New Mexico Fameflower) (right), Tagetes micrantha (Licorice Marigold), mosses, lichens and ferns.

Take a Virtual Field Trip with Russ Kleinman!  One winter Russ did a trip around some of the open lots in Silver City to see what was growing on its own. Click on the link to start the video. It is a series of short videos, total time is about 20 minutes:

Meadow Creek – August 8, 2020

Silene laciniata

Don and Wendy Graves and Jackie Blurton did an intensive plant walk along Meadow Creek on August 8th and identified 20 species.  Here is their list:

  1. Bouteloua gracilis (Blue Grama)
  2. Castilleja nelsonii (Southern Mountain Paintbrush)
  3. Cirsium sp. 
  4. Erysimum capitatum (Western Wallflower)
  5. Grindelia arizonica (New Mexico Gumweed)
  6. Hesperidanthus linearifolius (Slimleaf Plains Mustard)
  7. Ipomopsis aggregata (Skyrocket)
  8. Lithospermum viride (Green Gromwell)
  9. Lotus wrightii (Red and Yellow Pea)
  10. Monotropa hypopitys (Pinesap)
  11. Oenothera hexandra (Harlequin Bush)
  12. Oenothera elata (Hooker’s Evening Primrose)
  13. Oxalis metcalfei (Alpine Woodsorrel)
  14. Penstemon barbatus (Scarlet Penstemon)
  15. Phaseolus parvulus (Pinos Altos Stringbean)
  16. Plectocephalus rockrothii (Rockroth’s Basketflower)
  17. Sambucus caerulea (New Mexico Elder)
  18. Sedum stelliforme (Huachuca Mountain Stonecrop)
  19. Silene laciniata (Indian Pink)
  20. Symphoricarpos rotundifolius (Roundleaf Snowberry)

To view the video of their Meadow Creek field trip, click on the image:      

And here is a video of Lower Meadow Creek, created on a hike done on August 26, 2020:

More species found:

  1. Ceanothus fendleri (Fendler’s Buckbrush)
  2. Commelina dianthifolia (Birdbill Dayflower)
  3. Delphinium scopulorum (Rocky Mt. Larkspur
  4. Echeandia flavescens (Crag Lily)
  5. Ipomoea cristulata (Scarlet Morning Glory)
  6. Lithospermum macromeria (Giant Trumpets)
  7. Penstemon fendleri (Rocky Mountain Beardtongue)
  8. Rosa woodsii (Wood’s Rose)
  9. Solanum stoloniferum (Fendler Wild Potato)
  10. Sphaeralcea sp. (Globe Mallow)