The Beauty of the Black Belt: Prairies, Perry Lakes Park, Barton's Beach, Spencer Farm

Trip Leaders: Brian Keener, Ph.D., University of West Alabama & John Manion, Kaul Wildflower Garden Curator, Birmingham Botanical Gardens
Location: Sumter, Dallas & Marengo Counties, AL
Friday & Saturday, May 27 & 28 
Members $210 | Non-Members $230

This overnight trip will begin at the University of West Alabama in Livingston, where we will be joined by Brian Keener. From there we will spend the morning exploring a fascinating and strange prairie and prairie woods near Epes, AL, whose soils contain so much chalk that it looks like someone painted the ground white. This distinctive landscape supports the growth of several special plants.

We will then lunch at the Touch of Home Bakery, a popular Mennonite bakery in Livingston, before travelling to an area near Old Port Bluff, which is rich in fossils (which we may collect) and many botanical curiosities.

Our next stop takes us to a location where we will see, among other treasures, a newly discovered species of Clematis sp. nov., leather flower – and a population of the stunningly beautiful Delphinium alabamicum, Alabama larkspur, listed as imperiled at both the global and state levels due to its extreme rarity.

After checking into our motel to freshen up we will enjoy a cook-out at the home of Brian and Traci Keener, overlooking the confluence of the Tombigbee and Black Warrior Rivers.
The following morning we travel to Spencer Farm, where we will be hosted for a home-cooked breakfast and a glimpse into sustainable farming. Our last stop will be at Perry Lakes Park and Barton’s Beach Cahaba River Preserve, where we will rendezvous with Greg Harber to traverse trails along its oxbow lakes rimmed by Spanish moss-draped Taxodium distichum, bald cypress. There will be a plethora of birds and plants to observe, as well as the innovative and unique structures designed by Auburn University’s Rural Studio, including the 100-foot birding tower moved there from York, AL.

Motel information will be sent upon registering.
For those interested, camping is available at the Spencer Farm Friday night.