Botany 2018 (July 21-25) Fern Field Trip

摘要

This year's Botany conference will be held in Rochester, MN, and it promises to be a good year for fern enthusiasts. While plans for colloquia, talks, and workshops are still in the development phase, Amanda Grusz, PhD was kind enough to share a few preliminary details about the fern field trip. While nothing is yet set in stone, the most exciting aspect about the trip is its duration; those who choose to attend will have the option to participate in two full days of fern hunting in southeast Minnesota, spending the intervening night in log cabins likely at Mystery Cave State Park. As the name suggests, there's an impressive cave with a subterranean system of pools and passages that span a total of thirteen miles. The main attraction of the park, however, is the nineteen species of ferns that grow there, including three separate species of Equisetum (horsetails), several Dryopteris species (wood ferns), two Botrychium species (moonworts), along with crowd favorites like ostrich and interrupted ferns, as well as others. And this is only the beginning of the trip.