NPSO 2022 Annual Meeting

May 20 - 22     Spirit Mountain Lodge, Grand Ronde, Oregon

Field Trips

Friday May 20, 2022    1 - 4 p.m.                    Field Trip # 4

Difficulty:     Easy

Elevation:     Negligible

Group Size Limit:     10

Trip Description:     Join Dr. Cindy Roché in exploring prairie, ash grove, and riparian habitats for native and introduced grasses at Deer Creek Prairie Park. We will use the recently published Field Guide to the Grasses of Oregon and Washington, an illustrated guide to all 376 species, subspecies, and varieties of grasses - both native and introduced - that grow wild in Oregon and Washington. Cindy will introduce the finer aspects of grass anatomy and you will learn about everything from awns and auricles to lemmas and ligules. Participants will learn to use a dichotomous key to identify a variety of grasses in different genera.

In 1992, the Nature Conservancy identified this area as the largest wet prairie ecosystem remaining in the lower Willamette Valley. Prior to the arrival of European settlers, the Kalapuyan people periodically set fires to maintain conditions favorable to species they used for food and shelter. When settlers arrived in the mid-1800s, they ditched and drained the wetlands and produced profound changes in the environment. The 29-acre park was established in 1978 and restoration efforts are underway to restore the natural cycles of fire and flooding. A diversity of native and disturbed habitats will provide a wide variety of grasses to identify, giving the participants a solid introduction to using the field guide.

Floristic highlights include California oatgrass (Danthonia californica), California brome grass (Bromus carinatus), blue wildrye (Elymus glaucus), California fescue (Festuca californica), Roemer's fescue (Festuca roemeri), and Lemmon's needlegrass (Achnatherum [Stipa] lemmonii).

Appropriate Clothing and Footwear:     Waterproof footwear is advised.

Special Considerations:     Hiking poles recommended. Copies of the field guide will be available for purchase at the annual meeting and on the field trip.

Meeting Place and Time:     Trip # 4 leaves at 1 p.m. from Spirit Mountain Lodge entrance. Plan to arrive 30 minutes before departure time to meet your group and arrange carpools.

Alternate Meeting:     Participants may also meet the trip at 1:30 p.m at Deer Creek Prairie Park, Sheridan, Oregon 97378. If you choose this option, be sure to notify your trip leader in advance.

Driving Miles and Time from Spirit Mountain Lodge:     18 miles, 23 minutes to Deer Creek Prairie Park

Driving Directions:     Trip leader will provide detailed driving instructions.

Leader:       Cindy Roché

Cindy lived and botanized in the Rogue Valley and adjacent mountain ranges from 1998 to 2016. During that time, she illustrated grasses for two volumes of the Flora of North America and taught workshops at the Siskiyou Field Institute. As a member of the Carex Working Group, she worked on a Field Guide to Grasses of Oregon and Washington for 17 years. After moving to Bend, she added sedges to her repertoire. High Desert Chapter.

Plant Lists and Other Information:     Clink on the links below for more information about this trip.

Photo: Dave Hanson
Entrance to the park

Photo: Dave Hanson
A boardwalk leads the way over the wetlands.

Some of the prairie at the park, with an Area of Critical Environmental Concern, called The Butte, in the background