GANNETT HILL SPRING WILDFLOWER WALK

SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 2016
10:00 AM  ONTARIO COUNTY PARK
Sandra Bierbrauer will lead us through the woods at Gannett Hill (Ontario County Park) to enjoy the spring wildflowers. We can use this opportunity to test our knowledge that Bruce Gilman taught us about using the Newcomb's Wildflower Guide!  Meet at the parking area nearest the Lookout / Jump-off trail.
http://www.cnyhiking.com/OntarioCountyPark.htm

We started out at Ontario County Park but then went to Sandra's home as there was not much in bloom yet at the high altitude of Gannett Hill.
Garlic Mustard
 
May Apples
 
 
 
 
Jacob's Ladder (valerian)
Prunella - heal all - mint family
 
sedge
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
looking northward from jumpoff
pussytoes
 
 
teaberry
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Now onto Sandra's property...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
chocolate mint
 
blood root
 
Toad trillium
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Paw Paw tree
 
 
 
 
 
 

Our 142nd Year - Program of Events



2015-2016 
Canandaigua Botanical Society 
Events
       Events are on Saturdays at 10 AM unless otherwise noted.
      April 30:          Spring Wildflowers at Gannett Hill

      Sunday, May 8: Plein Air ~ Bluebells for Mother’s Day

      June 4:              Ontario Pathways – National Trails Day

      June 18:            Tree Pruning workshop

      July 16:             Worm Power tour

      August 6:          Bentley Woods Walk

      October 1:        Lagoon Park Walk

      November 12:   Native Plant Arranging

      March 25, 2017: Sonnenberg Gardens History Tour

      Friday, April 28, 2017:  Canandaigua City Arbor Day

      Friday, April 28, 2017:  Potluck and Presentation

** artwork by Howard Freese

APRIL EVENTS:

Annual Potluck Dinner and Botany 101 Presentation


Friday, April 22, 2016  6:00 PM
ANNUAL POTLUCK DINNER AND BOTANY 101
Saint John’s Episcopal Church, 183 N Main St.
Meet at Saint John’s Episcopal Church,
183 North Main Street, Canandaigua 
(enter through St. John’s Court off Howell Street).   
Bring a dish to pass and place setting for yourself and any friends you invite along.  Dinner begins at 6 pm. 
At 7 pm Bruce Gilman will teach us the basics of botany that we may be better prepared to identify species.
Bring cash or check to pay your annual dues and receive the 2016-17 Canandaigua Botanical Society program. ($7 individual / $10 family)



Arbor Day 2016 
Friday, April 22, 2016 at 1:00 PM

The Tree City USA Arbor Day tree planting will occur at Lakefront Park at the north end of Canandaigua Lake on Friday, April 22, 2016 at 1:00 PM.  Parking is available off Lakeshore Drive adjacent to the Lakefront Park between Carousel Lane and the hotel construction site. The Canandaigua City Arborist will talk about the proper planting of trees.  TREE CITY USA and National Arbor Day SWAG will be available!
 
 BIRDING 101 

Thursday, April 07, 2016  -  7:00 PM - 8:15 PM

Our friends at the Eaton Birding Society are presenting an introductory lecture on birding. Get recommendations for useful books and apps and learn the basics about birds and migration, bird feeding, and equipment and organization. Discover why birding is one of the fastest growing outdoor activities. Registration requested: please contact Wood Library (woodlibrary.org / 585.3941391). 
Wood Library - Mary Parmele Hamlin Meeting Room Sides A & B

Skunk Cabbage Blooming now!

Symplocarpus foetidus, commonly known as skunk cabbage or eastern skunk cabbage (also swamp cabbage, clumpfoot cabbage, or meadow cabbage, foetid pothos or polecat weed), is a low growing, foul-smelling plant that grows in wetlands of eastern North America.  It is now blooming at the FLCC trail to the west of CMAC.  Most blooms can be seen along the boardwalk through the woods.

Annual Potluck Dinner and Botany 101 Presentation



Friday, April 22, 2016  6:00 PM
ANNUAL POTLUCK DINNER AND BOTANY 101
Saint John’s Episcopal Church, 183 N Main St.

Meet at Saint John’s Episcopal Church,
183 North Main Street, Canandaigua 
(enter through St. John’s Court off Howell Street).   
Bring a dish to pass and place setting for yourself and any friends you invite along.  Dinner begins at 6 pm. 
At 7 pm Bruce Gilman will teach us the basics of botany that we may be better prepared to identify species.
Bring cash or check to pay your annual dues and receive the 2016-17 Canandaigua Botanical Society program. ($7 individual / $10 family)

FUNGI with a FUN GUY


Saturday, March 19, 2016  10:00 AM
FUNGI WITH FUN GUY CARL WOLF
INDOOR MEETING - FLCC Room C220
 Carl Wolf of the Rochester Area Mycological Association (RAMA) is back to tell us about mushrooms. Carl led our fungi walk through Onanda Parkin September 2014 and will talk to us about mushrooms as wild edibles, photographic subjects, and objects of curiosity and study.
Carl shared an plethora of information with the nearly two dozen in attendance on March 19th.  
Carl is one of the founding members of the Rochester Area Mycological Association which was formed 30 years ago.  He showed an excellent DVD called The Good, The Bad, and The Deadly by Taylor Lockwood. 
Highlights of the ten pages of notes I took include:
** nutritional values and medicinal qualities of mushrooms
** mycologicals are closer to insects than plants
** there are numerous myths about mushrooms
** Particularly susceptible to mushroom poisoning are: young children, elderly, pets, immigrants, and overdoses
** Monomethylhydrazine (MMH) is a substance used as a propellant for rockets. It is produced when gyromitrin (present in some species of poisonous wild mushrooms) is gently heated.
** RAMA folks are familiar with Little Brown Mushrooms 
** Mushrooms can be identified by color, size, fruiting season, and spores (gills, pores, teeth, and others)
** Poisonous mushrooms can impostor safe mushrooms
** some mushrooms have skirts or rings around their stems
 ** Mushrooms are fruits to a network of mycelium like apples to a tree
** The largest known living organism is the Armillaria ostoyae covering over 2200 acres of Malheur National Forest in eastern Oregon.
** Mushrooms often cause "fairy rings" as they spread out from a central point in all directions
** Cooking mushrooms helps to break down trace soil, release nutrients, and help digestion
** Mushrooms are the decomposers of the world
** Mycorrhizal relationships exist between mushrooms and certain trees
** Henn of the woods has a parasitic effect on trees
  ** Old growth forests are ideal places to find mushrooms
** Mushroom cultivators should check out www.smugtownmushrooms.com
** We will likely find mushrooms during our walk through Bentley Woods in August
To finish our morning we enjoyed this baked variety of Turkish meltaways:

 Directions to FLCC C220:  The easiest way to locate room C220 will be to park in the southeast corner of the main parking lot "A" of FLCC.  Walk along Laker Lane on the sidewalk to the east side of the Student Center.  Enter the building at the SECOND (southeast) entrance (building 8) just past the loading dock "C".  Look for signs at the southeast corner of the parking lot and near the blue light to turn to enter the building.

Finishing our 141st year / Planning our 142nd year

Remaining on our 2015-16 calendar:
Fungi with Fun Guy Carl Wolf on Saturday, March 19, 2016 at 10:00 AM in room C220 at FLCC.

National Arbor Day Tree Planting at Lakefront Park (east of Kershaw Park) at 1PM on Friday, April 22, 2016.

Annual Potluck dinner, BOTANY 101 presentation by Bruce Gilman, and annual meeting at Saint John's Episcopal Church on Friday, April 22, beginning at 6pm.


Planning our 142nd Year:

Are you involved with another group that would like some added publicity and participation?  Pairing organizations to shared events has been quite successful in the past and certainly welcomed as program ideas.  We are interested in a wide variety of events for people of all interests, abilities, and ages.  Ideas close to Canandaigua as well as throughout the Finger Lakes Region are encouraged.  We will be repeating the Mother's Day Plein Air at Mertensia Park to celebrate the blue bells.  Lagoon Park and FLCC trails are favorites anytime of the year and we'd love to have folks volunteer to lead walks at these locations (you pick the date).  Traditionally we meet on Saturdays at 10:00 AM but that should not keep folks from suggesting other days or times.  Is there something you'd love to know more about?  Make a suggestion and we'll see if we can host an event to learn more.  You can contact us at canandaiguabotanical@gmail.com.