Updating the Botanical Record with the New Hampshire Botanical Club

Abstract

The New Hampshire Botanical Club is an informal group of botanists and other native-plant enthusiasts. We organized in 2008 and have been holding regular meetings, or Botany Nights, since fall of that year. Botany Nights occur once a month from November through April; we get together for workshops and presentations on plants and their distribution in New England. Most often, the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests (SPNHF) graciously hosts us at their conservation center in Concord. Upcoming events are listed on our website, www.nhbotany.org. From 2012 to 2018, we organized forays in the three counties in New Hampshire that were least well represented in the ‘‘Atlas of the New England Flora’’ (compiled by Ray Angelo and David Boufford and available online at neatlas.org). A total of 24 botanists collected in Sullivan, Belknap, and Merrimack counties. During eight forays, in either early June or late August, we visited a variety of habitats (aquatic, wetland, and upland) and collected anything in flower or fruit. We tried to avoid collecting the same species twice in a county. Nor did we collect rare plants, though we did report the few that we found to the landowners. Collecting sites included state parks, wildlife management areas, an Army Corps of Engineers flood-risk-management project, town conservation lands, and several SPNHF reservations—all with written permission. Camping as a group in Pillsbury State Park and collecting there was especially enjoyable during the Sullivan County forays. Probably the most dramatic location was the 20-meter-high bluffs at Muchyedo Banks Wildlife Management Area in Canterbury (Merrimack County), where we were joined by collectors from the Consortium of Northeastern Herbaria (CNH). Of the several SPNHF reservations we visited, Morse Preserve in Alton (Belknap County) had the best view, taking in the Belknap Range and Lake Winnipesaukee. My personal favorite was a sunny day on the meanders in Merrymeeting Marsh (Belknap County).