Michigan Botanical Society,

Southwestern Chapter

The Southwestern Chapter, based in Kalamazoo, serves amateur and professional botanists and nature enthusiasts in the southwest corner of Michigan.

Field Trip to Prairie Ronde Preserve

Joe Trapp

Michigan Botanical Society,

Southwestern Chapter

Saturday June 20, 2026, 10am to noon

Dry-mesic prairie is a native grassland community that occurred in association with historic oak openings throughout much of southern Lower Michigan. Very little prairie remains in Michigan and Prairie Ronde Preserve is one of a few remaining sites with a portion of the flora still intact. The preserve is a 3-acre Michigan Nature Association property. MNA has been working to counter invasive plants and burned a portion of the site this spring.

Chapman (1982) called this site “Rattlesnake Master Prairie” and along with Eryngium yuccifolium (rattlesnake master), we should find Lupinus perennis (wild lupine), Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed), Baptisia lactea (white false indigo), Coreopsis tripteris (tall coreopsis), Lespedeza hirta (hairy bush clover), Viola sagittata (arrow leaved violet), Krigia biflora (false dandelion), and Polygala sangunea (field milkwort).

Level ground and the recent burn make this a very easy walk. Mosquito repellent and/or netting, sunscreen, water as well as suitable clothing are suggested.

Joe Trapp is the current President of the Southwestern Chapter of the Michigan Botanical Society.

Directions: The approximate address is 52001 Hutchinson Rd, Three Rivers MI. From Kalamazoo, take US-131 south. Turn left (east) onto Michigan Ave (this is a “Michigan left turn”). In 2.5 miles, turn right (south) onto Hutchinson Rd. The preserve is on your left (east side of road). Park alongside the road. The coordinates are 42.040879207553175, -85.58726918127242

Field Trip to Oak Savannas & Associated Prairies

Ft Custer Training Center

Dr. Tyler Bassett

Conservation Scientist - Botanist

Michigan Natural Features Inventory

Saturday June 27, 2026, 10am to noon

Oak Savannas and associated prairies once occurred in a shifting mosaic of upland and wetland plant communities that depended on frequent fire for maintaining open and semi-open conditions. All these communities are now rare or nearly extirpated from Michigan.

Oak Barrens are fire-dependent savannas dominated by oaks, having between 5% and 60% canopy with a wide range of shrub cover above the forb and graminoid ground layer. The flora of savannas was a mixture of prairie and forest species, with prairie forbs and grasses more abundant in open areas and forest forbs and woody species more common in shaded areas. Many of the species of oak savanna were, in fact, savanna specialists that thrived in the mottled light conditions provided by the scattered oak canopy. Characteristic shrubs include serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.), bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americanus), sweetfern (Comptonia peregrina), dogwoods, American hazelnut (Corylus americana), beaked hazelnut (C. cornuta), hawthorn species (Crataegus spp.), wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens), huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata), wild plum (Prunus americana), choke cherry (P. virginiana), sand cherry (P. pumila), dwarf chinquapin oak (Quercus prinoides), shining sumac (Rhus copallina), pasture rose (Rosa carolina), northern dewberry (Rubus flagellaris), prairie willow (Salix humilis), and low sweet blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium)

Predominant graminoids included big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans) and Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica), with Pennsylvania sedge often replacing the bluestems in shaded areas and fire-suppressed communities. Prevalent forbs include hair grass (Avenella flexuosa), false foxglove (Aureolaria spp.), tickseed (Coreopsis lanceolata), slender sand sedge (Cyperus lupulinus), poverty grass (Danthonia spicata), panic grass (Dichanthelium implicatum), flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollata), woodland sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus), porcupine grass (Hesperostipa spartea), June grass (Koeleria macrantha), false dandelion (Krigia biflora), white pea (Lathyrus ochroleucus), hairy bush clover (Lespedeza hirta), rough blazing star (Liatris aspera), dwarf blazing star (L. cylindricea), wild lupine (Lupinus perennis), wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), wood betony (Pedicularis canadensis), black oatgrass (Piptochaetium avenaceum), prairie heart-leaved aster (Symphyotrichum oolentangiense), goats-rue (Tephrosia virginiana), and birdfoot violet (Viola pedata).

Mesic sand prairie experience fluctuating water tables, with relatively high-water tables occurring in the spring followed by drought conditions in late summer and fall. Thus, the community contains plants that can tolerate a broad range of moisture conditions but is dominated by upland species. Dominant grasses include little bluestem, big bluestem, and Indian grass. Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica) is often important. Low areas transitional to wet-mesic prairie or wet-mesic sand prairie have increased importance of bluejoint grass (Calamagrostis canadensis), cordgrass (Spartina pectinata), sedges (Carex spp.), rushes (Juncus spp.), and bulrushes (Scirpus spp.). Common forbs include colic root (Aletris farinosa), thimbleweed (Anemone cylindrica), spreading dogbane (Apocynum androsaemifolium), arrow-leaved aster (Symphyotrichum urophyllum), tall coreopsis (Coreopsis tripteris), smooth scouring rush (Equisetum laevigatum), flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollata), wild-strawberry (Fragaria virginiana), northern bedstraw (Galium boreale), tall sunflower (Helianthus giganteus), alum root (Heuchera americana), path rush (Juncus tenuis), false dandelion (Krigia biflora), prairie phlox (Phlox pilosa), old-field cinquefoil (Potentilla simplex), black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), stiff goldenrod (Solidago rigida), Missouri ironweed (Vernonia missurica), and arrow-leaved violet (Viola sagittata).

The difficulty level is easy. Mosquito repellent and/or netting, sunscreen, water as well as suitable clothing are suggested.

Tyler Bassett is a Botanist and Plant Ecologist with the Michigan Natural Features Inventory. He has 25 years of experience studying the plants and plant communities of the Upper Midwest. His work, in part, aims to document and conserve these species, and to restore, expand, and reconnect the diminishing fragments of habitat that they require for persistence. He holds a B.S. in Biology from Western Michigan University, and a Ph.D. in Plant Biology, and Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior from Michigan State University.

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED: The Ft Custer Training Center is federal property and is used as training facility by the Michigan National Guard and other branches of the armed forces. Access to the Training Center is restricted and everyone must register in advance on or before Sunday 21jun2026. A list of attendees will be sent to Training Center authorities for review. If you are not on the list, you will not be allowed to enter the Training Center. Please bring a state issued photo ID for entry. Register here: Registration for Field Trip to Ft Custer Training Area 27jun2026 – Fill out form

Directions: The address for entry gate to the Training Center is 2501 26th St., Battle Creek, MI. From the Kalamazoo area, take Gull Road (M-343) at the traffic circle turn right (east) onto E G Ave. In 7.1 miles, turn left (east) onto M-96. In 3.5 miles, turn right (south) onto Armstrong/Denso Road. In 1.0 mile the entry gate is on your right (south). The coordinates are 42.3299637934549, -85.28907654261846

Field Trip to Dry Mesic Prairies in St Joseph County

Dr. Scott Warner

Conservation Associate - Botanist

Michigan Natural Features Inventory

Saturday July 4, 2026, 10am to noon

We’ll start this trip at the Michigan Nature Association’s Sauk Indian Trail Prairie Plant Preserve and if time permits, we may be able to visit some additional sites in the vicinity

The Sauk Indian Trail Preserve is an unplowed remnant of an oak opening community with woody species typical of oak savanna, including hazelnut (Corylus americana) black oak (Quercus velutina) and bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa). Prairie wildflowers include butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), woodland sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus), yellow coneflower (Ratibida pinnata), round-headed bush clover (Lespedeza capitata), Virginia mountain mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum)and Solomon seal (Polygonatum biflorum). Native prairie grasses include big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) and Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans).

Level ground makes this a very easy walk. Mosquito repellent and/or netting, sunscreen, water as well as suitable clothing are suggested.

Dr. Scott Warner grew up in Berrien County and became interested in plants while working at a campground as a teenager. He received his BS in Biology from Western Michigan University and his PhD in Plant Biology from Michigan State University. He has been a conservation associate with MNFI since 2021 and a member of the Southwestern Chapter of the Michigan Botanical Society.

Directions: The approximate address is 69000 Shimmel Rd, Sturgis MI. From Kalamazoo take US-131 south. South of Constantine MI, turn left (east) on US-12 (West Chicago Rd). In about 8.1 miles, the preserve is at the corner of Chicago Rd and Shimmel Rd. There is small parking lot on Shimmel Rd. The coordinates are: 41.79400897846449, -85.50706030909025.