We will be staying in Sikeston, Missouri and traveling to Crowley’s Ridge to see acid seeps, loess-glacial till woodlands, sand forests, and a small, relictual sand prairie.

• Friday, April 17, 2009
  7:00 to 8:30 PM - Meet at the Drury Inn for an evening program about Morris State Park and Crowley’s Ridge.
• Saturday, April 18, 2007
  8:00 AM - Meet at the Drury Inn parking lot. We will carpool to Morris State Park where we will meet the DNR Natural Resource Steward assigned to the park. We should be there by 9:00 AM. The Trail of the Beech Trees is 3 miles and includes steep topography. At the end of the trail, the NRS will show us a collapse revealing the multiple soil and sand layers that make up Crowley's Ridge. We will encounter loess aprons and acid seeps rich with plant life. Large, stately beech trees populate the bottom of the slope and a small prairie and bottomland hardwood forest can be found a short distance from the trail. Please wear long trousers as poison ivy is present in large amounts in the understory. Pack a sack lunch. Benches, a small pavilion, drinking water and a pit latrine are located at the end of the trail.
  1:00 PM - We will travel from Morris State Park to Holly Ridge Conservation Area outside of Bloomfield. We should arrive by 1:45.
  7:00 PM - MONPS Board meeting at the Drury Inn meeting room. All members are welcome.
• Sunday, April 19, 2007
  8:00 AM - Meet at the Drury Inn parking lot. Travel to Big Oak Tree State Park to see bottomland woodlands and forest, Clematis crispa and Carex socialis.

Lodging

Drury Inn 2602 E. Malone - Telephone 573/471-4100
Please note that by April, there will be 2 Drury Inns in Sikeston. A block of rooms are reserved at the Drury Inn listed above under Missouri Native Plant Society.
King, non-smoking: $59 + tax per room or Double, non-smoking: $69 + tax per room

Bonus trip on Friday

For those interested, George Yatskievych will be traveling to Little River Conservation Area in search of Sideroxylon lycioides (swamp bumelia). You will have to contact George for the time and place to meet on Friday morning.