East central New Hampshire from Ossipee to just north of Gorham offers some of the best, and most accessible, orchid hunting territory in New England.  Easy access to roadsides, open meadows, and borrow pits provide homes for more than 30 species of wild orchids. Join Paul Martin Brown, author of Wild Orchids of the Northeast, as he leads a small group of intrepid enthusiasts to search for and view these sparkling gems of our northern flora. Locations for the field trips will vary from throughout much of Carroll County to just north of Berlin in Coos County and sessions will last from 3 to 5 hours.  Opportunities for discovering new locations for many species will always be there. Some of the genera we will be seeing will include Calopogon and Pogonia, the grass-pinks and rose pogonias, Goodyera, the rattlesnake orchids, a wide selection of fringed and rein orchids in the genus Platanthera, the leafless coralroots, Corallorhiza, and finally the ubiquitous ladies’-tresses, Spiranthes. Learn how to sort out and identify some of the more confusing species and their hybrids.

The field trip will depart from Tin Mountain’s Nature Learning Center in Albany, NH, and has a fee of $10/member and $15/non-member. Space is limited – please call 447-6991 to reserve a spot.