June 19th - June 21st
MONPS 2026
Summer Field Trip
Join us for our next MONPS weekend! We will be visiting several sites near Sedalia MO beginning the afternoon of Friday, June 19th and wrapping up on Sunday morning, June 21st.
The Morton Family Prairie is a 380-acre tract in Benton County, generously donated to Missouri Prairie Foundation by Dr. Wayne Morton. It is a dry-mesic chert prairie and includes 178 acres of unplowed, remnant tallgrass prairie. There is a small pond in one of the praine swales. Surveys at site acquisition revealed Morton Family Prairie supporting at least 79 native plant species with an average coefficient of conservatism (CC value) of 4.84 and 15 species with a CC value of 7 and higher. Thus far, the prairie has been found to support three species of conservation concern: Mead's milkweed (Asclepias meadii), the regal fritillary butterfly (Speyeria idalia), and the prairie mole cricket (Gryllotalpa major).
Field Trip Leader: Hilary Haley - (816) 255-4805
Friday Evening - June 19th
7:30PM
Friday Night Speaker
Sedalia MDC Office
2000 S Limit Avenue
Sedalia, MO 65301
Mycorhizzal Associations of Silphium
Amanda Gehrin will be our speaker
Click Here for Detailed Directions
9:00AM
Paint Brush Prairie Conservation Area
and
Lordi Marker Prairie
Paint Brush Prairie Conservation Area
The Conservation Department acquired this native remnant prairie in 1978. It is currently 529 acres in size. This area is a remnant of a once vast prairie ecosystem that provides habitat for a diverse group of plants and animals. Because less than one half of one percent of our original prairie remains, some of these species have become increasingly rare. Slightly raised circular mounds measuring up to 12 feet in diameter, known as mima mounds or prairie mounds, are found on the area. Their origin is still open to debate. The northwest portion of the area has been designated a natural area, which protects a diverse plant community of over 200 tallgrass prairie plants, including the federally endangered Mead's milkweed. MDC has implemented a Mead's milkweed restoration project on this prairie.
Lordi Marker Prairie
Missouri Prairie Foundation (MPF) purchased this 400-acre tract of a Missouri Century Farm in December 2020, thanks to a generous donation from Susan Lordi Marker and Dennis Marker, for whom the property is named. The tract includes nearly 100 acres of original, unplowed prairie. The Lordi Marker Prairie is located in Pettis County, linking two MPF properties-the 40-acre Friendly Prairie, and the 80-acre Drovers Prairie - creating 520 acres of prairie and native grassland habitat just 14 miles south of Sedalia, Missouri.
The original prairie at Lordi Marker is mostly dry-mesic chert prairie with some hardpan prairie. MPF's restoration work at this property includes removal of encroaching trees on the remnant prairie, conversion of tall fescue to native prairie plantings, restoration of a riparian corridor, and creation of small ephemeral wetlands to support grassland amphibians and migrating shorebirds. MPF is also establishing wildflower plots on a portion of the property for seed collection, to support restoration efforts throughout the Cole Camp Conservation Opportunity Area.
Field Trip Leader: Hilary Haley - (816) 255-4805
Leave Hotel Bothwell– Sedalia, MO at 8:00 AM
Susan Lordi Marker and her husband Dennis Marker have a botanically-rich property adjacent to Paint Brush Prairie.
Field Trip Leader: Hilary Haley - (816) 255-4805
Saturday, June 20th
5:30 PM - Dinner (Optional)
Little Big Horn Cattle Company
1629 W Main St., Sedalia, 65301
Saturday Evening - June 20th
7:30PM
Annual Membership Meeting / Board Meeting
Sedalia MDC Office
2000 S Limit Avenue
Sedalia, MO 65301
Fens harbor many plants and animals considered to be “glacial relicts” in Missouri. That is, they are species that were common in Missouri 10,000 years ago when glaciers covered the Upper Midwest. In the intervening thousands of years Missouri’s climate has gotten warmer and drier. The glacial relict species were able to persist in fens and along spring branches where cool groundwater provides appropriate habitat conditions. Other glacial relict species in Missouri persist on cool, moist north facing bluffs. At Big Buffalo Creek Fen, glacial relicts include interior sedge, Riddell’s goldenrod, and the four-toed salamander. Ozark fens such as these are typically dominated by herbaceous plants and are kept open by both saturated soils and historically occasional wildfires. This fen is within Big Buffalo Creek Conservation Area.
Field Trip Leader: Hilary Haley - (816) 255-4805
Leave Hotel Bothwell– Sedalia, MO at 8:00 AM
Click Here for Detailed Directions
Lodging Options
Hotel Bothwell
103 East 4th Street
Sedalia, Missouri 63640
Reservations for Booked Rooms │ Phone: 660-826-5588
A block of rooms has been reserved at Hotel Bothwell, 103 East 4th Street, Sedalia, Missouri at a price of $132 per night. Reservations must be made by June 5th. You can make a reservation by clicking on this link or by calling 660-826-5588. Group name is Missouri Native Plant Society and group
number is WQ61K1.
