Tag: field trips

Posted on

Field Trip: Palmetto State Park, Saturday, October 19, 2024

— by Kathy Galloway

image of Dwarf palmetto, Sabal minor
Dwarf palmetto, Sabal minor. Photo by Greg Donica.
  • What:   Palmetto State Park
  • When:  10:00 AM – 12:PM on Saturday, October 19, 2024
    • Meet at the park.
    • Optional lunch after the field trip.
  • Where:  78 Park Road 11 S, Gonzales, TX (about 90 miles from Georgetown)
  • Our field trip is open to the public. The park’s entry fee is $3 per person.

Palmetto State Park is an unusual botanical area resembling the tropics more than Central Texas.  Most notably, a stand of dwarf palmetto (Sabal minor) plants is found in the park’s ephemeral swamp.  (The overview on the park’s website has a slide show with a short video.)

You will need to pay a $3.00 per person entrance fee at park headquarters (age 12 and under free).  From there you will proceed and take the second left to park at the Refectory Building (CCC Pavilion).   Ask for directions at park headquarters.

Dress appropriately for the weather.  Wear long pants and closed-toed shoes.  Bring water. Sun protection if needed.

Lunch is on your own.  Some of the attendees will be stopping in Luling for lunch at Blake’s Café, 621 E Davis St, Luling, Texas.          

=> Please register for the field trip by submitting the RSVP form at this link. Although there’s no limit on the number who can attend, we’re collecting RSVPs so we have an idea of how many and who in case we need to get in touch. If at the last minute you decide to come and you did not register, that’s okay. Come anyway!

Please feel free to contact the Field Trip Committee (contact form here) beforehand if you have any questions.

————–
See photos from some of our previous field trips in our Field Trip Album.

Field Trip Album

Posted on

Trip Report: Hidden Springs Preserve on August 3, 2024

— by Cindy Chrisler

group hiking in field

It was hot but green at Hidden Springs Preserve, where NPSOT-Wilco members conducted the 11th plant survey of the 12 planned for this location. A rainy July kept vegetation green in spite of the summer heat.   

Three new members joined four field trip committee members to conduct the survey.  The seven participants ventured to a pond in the north central part of the preserve, and observed such species as Texas Bluebells, Snow on the Mountain, Buttonbush, and Humped Bladderwort.  Blackfoot Daisy, horse crippler and prickly pear cacti, sideoats gramma, two leaf senna, and Dakota mock vervain were also observed. The remote area that was explored and the abundance of species found engaged the group for more than the two hours scheduled for the field trip.

In 2021, the NPSOT-Wilco Field Trip Committee was invited to conduct a plant survey at Williamson County’s Hidden Springs Preserve (not open to the public). The result was the committee’s plan to visit the property every calendar month of the year over a 2-3 year period. The 12th and last plant survey for Hidden Springs Preserve will take place in September.

image of plants
image of flower
image of flower

Photos by Cindy Chrisler


See photos from this field trip and others in our album=>

Field Trip Photo Album

See field trip plans on our Home page.