FIELD TRIPS OF THE CLUB 



Excursions to Montauk Point 



Because of the unusual botanical and geological interest of 

 Montauk Point, and the low excursion rate of $1.50 for the trip 

 of 200 miles out and back now offered by the Long Island Rail- 

 road, the chairman of the field committee scheduled four ex- 

 cursions this season to that locality and all of them were well 

 attended and enjoyed. In early June, club members joined with 

 the Reptile Study Society in exploring the eastern tip, near the 

 lighthouse and the bluffs; on July 30, the western end, in the 

 Hither "Hills State Park, was examined; and other parts were 

 covered in trips in mid-August and early September. 



On the July 30 trip, led by the writer, 28 members and guests 

 were present. The best way to save time and reach interesting 

 regions for botanical study, is to get bus transportation from 

 the railroad station, a few miles east or west and walk back to 

 the station for the return train. On this trip, we took a bus six 

 miles west to the low part of the point, at Napeague Beach, and 

 rambled eastward, through the oak and pine woods of the Hith- 

 er Hills, out to the beach of the north shore, on Block Island 

 Sound, and along the beach back to Montauk village. 



On the inner slope of the backbeach dune, besides the usual 

 marine flowering plants, among which Chrysopsis mariana was 

 most common and brilliant at the time, were found some in- 

 teresting lichens, rather surprising so close to the sea. There 

 were large mats composed of Cladonia sylvatica and Boryi, and 

 among them was found a large colony of the Iceland Moss 

 lichen, Cetraria islandica, var. crispa, which is generally thought 

 of as a northern species. Beach plums and Bayberry bore small 

 but well fruited plants of Usnea barbata, also reminiscent of the 

 North Woods. Small colonies of Cladonia cristatella, f. vestita, 

 covered the dead bases of Beach Grass. 



The party then struck north, across the railroad track and 

 among the moraine hills, veneered with dune sand, blown from 

 Napeague Beach and Harbor, and covered with a dense, gnarled 

 growth of white, red and black oak, with occasional holly. Our 

 course brought us to the south side of a kettle-hole pond, Nom- 



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