FIELD TRIPS OF THE CLUB 
Fietp Trip oF SuNnpAy, Marcu 15 
Snow lingered on the northern slopes of the hillsides in the 
Ramapo Section of the Harriman State Park, on the field ex- 
cursion of Sunday, March 15, and although the elm and maple 
buds were swelling, the alder catkins turning a lighter hue, and 
the willow twigs bright yellow, floral signs of spring were lack- 
ing. Not even a skunk cabbage spathe could be found. Spring 
comes a week or two later in these hills, a thousand feet above the 
sea level, than on Long Island. So botanizing turned to the mosses 
and liverworts, some of which displayed plenty of persistent cap- 
sules, ripened the previous autumn, and some showed the be- 
ginnings of new growth, especially on the brooks on southern 
slopes. Georgia pellucida, Brachythecium plumosum, Pogonatum 
brevicaule and Webera sessilis showed plenty of capsules. An in- 
teresting species, without capsules, but identifiable by the leaves, 
was Fissidens taxifolius, a tiny member of this genus, with leaves 
under the hand lens quite suggestive of the yew. Two liverworts, 
Conocephalum and Plagiochilia, though submerged by the brooks 
high with melting snow, showed bright new growth. A dozen 
members of the Torrey Botanical Club were joined, for part of the 
walk, by twenty members of the Trail Campers of America, from 
their camp on Stony Brook, near Sloatsburg. 
| Raymond H. TorREY 
Frecp Trip or Sunpay, Marcu 22 
Spring was obviously nearer, but not quite definitely declared, 
on the excursion on Sunday, March 22, to Cushetunk Mountain, 
in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, led by Mrs. Gladys P. An- 
derson, A few green things, grasses along the brooks, chickweed 
in the plowed fields, and red maple buds soon to blossom, gave 
Promise of spring, in spite of the raw, cloudy day. But, as the 
excursion was primarily for lichens, it did not matter: they were 
easy to observe, on rocks, trees and earth. Mrs. Anderson, who 
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