Spring Plants and Observations of Change on the Sandplain

Where:       Bethel, Minnesota (northern Anoka County)
When:        Saturday May 25th, 2019 (9 AM to Noon, with picnic lunch after)  
Leaders:     Barb Delaney, Botanist and Plant Ecologist

Barb Delaney will lead MNNPS members on a morning hike into Helen Allison Savanna, one of the more unique plant communities of the Anoka Sandplain. If you have never seen an oak savanna, this is your chance. See large, open-grown bur oaks with a suite of prairie plant species understory. Helen Allison Savanna was named for Helen Allison Irvine, “Minnesota’s grass lady,” who wrote a text on the 180 grasses of Minnesota. This SNA lies within the Anoka sand plain, providing an excellent example of sand dune plant succession, with blowouts and dunes in various stages of stabilization by pioneer species.

Community types found on the site include oak sand savanna, dry prairie with bur oak and pin oak, thickets of willow and aspen, and sedge marshes in scattered depressions. Trees and shrubs characteristic of a savanna are found here: pin oak, bur oak, American hazelnut, chokecherry, and quaking aspen. Other savanna species include lead plant, smooth sumac, slender willow, steeple bush, aster, and goldenrod. Look on the dunes for pioneer sand plants such as sea-beach needle grass and hairy panic grass. Sedge meadows contain tussocks of Hayden’s sedge, along with marsh fern and blue-joint grass. Other rare plant species occurring here include rhombic-petaled evening primrose and tall nut-rush.

In case of severe weather, we will wait for it to pass and shift the trip time accordingly. In the unlikely event that we must cancel, we will email you.

Field trips are open to MNNPS members only and pre-registration is required. Send an email to Ken Arndt at ken.arndt@mnrinc.us to register.