Field Botanists of Ontario 41st Annual General Meeting

Saturday – Sunday, September 27 and 28, 2025, Guelph

Guelph

Dear Field Botanists of Ontario:

Enclosed is the schedule of our 2025 Annual General Meeting and its associated activities and field trips. The AGM weekend activities will be held in the Guelph area. The meeting and dinner will be held at the 10C Shared Space in downtown Guelph on Saturday September 27, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Please join us for an evening of good food, socializing, and entertainment. Enjoy a dinner prepared by Belly and the Beast Food Company and a presentation by Hannah Flores, an Award-Winning Writer, Speaker, Podcast Host & Youth Advocate. Back by popular demand, we will have FBO swag available for purchase on Saturday evening. For those members unable to attend in person, we will have the awards, presentation and business portion of the meeting available online via Zoom, free of charge (see the registration link on the last page).

We have a variety of great field trips lined up for Saturday and Sunday that showcase the botanical diversity of areas including woodlands and wetlands of south Guelph, the Green Legacy Nursery, a mystery tour in the Eramosa / Bluesprings watershed, and a botanical sketching workshop at the University of Guelph Arboretum. Enjoy a hike or two led by knowledgeable guides that will showcase some of the interesting species at these sites. The trip descriptions are included below. Note that field trips are open to non-FBO members after priority has been given to members. For non-members, there is a surcharge of $5 per person per trip. Trips will run rain or shine.

We strongly encourage members to sign up for the meeting and trip portions of the AGM using the provided Eventbrite links. If you prefer to mail a registration form and 1 cheque, please see the instructions on the form provided. Your cheque will be cashed following the AGM. Refunds for cancellations will be issued, provided cancellations are received 7 days prior to the AGM, at the latest. No-shows will not be refunded.

In order to finalize the event catering, we require that members register by 8:00pm September 7, 2025 at the latest.

For the field trips, please arrive adequately supplied with food and drinks, proper footwear and clothing, and sun, bug, and rain protection. As per our policies, personal collecting of plant material (whole specimens or parts, seeds, etc.) is not permitted on trips unless stated otherwise.

Field Trips, Saturday, September 27, 2025

Spend the day exploring botanically rich areas within Guelph’s city limits with local trip leader Graham Buck. The trip will consists of two parts:

The first part is focused on a deciduous forest-kettle lake wetland-old field complex where numerous locally rare species have been observed recently and, in the past, including: Hypericum majus, Hypericum punctatum, Schoenoplectiella smithii (Schoenoplectus smithii), Acorus americanus, Carex atherodes, Carex jamesii, Carex lasiocarpa, Carex leptonervia, Carex sychnocephala, Carex tuckermanii and Carex trichocarpa, which is also provincially rare.

The second part will be a short walk within a mixed deciduous-coniferous forest, with a large population of Carex careyana, which is locally and provincially rare. There will also be an optional opportunity for a short walk from the parking lot and washrooms to see some of the rare and uncommon tallgrass prairie species introduced to the site.

Meet at far end of the parking lot in Larry Pearson Park (near the baseball fields and splash pad) located off Poppy Drive West, Guelph (43.492547, -80.191323).

The County of Wellington’s Green Legacy Programme is the largest municipal tree planting program in North America, with over 3 million trees distributed to date. Tour the Bradford Whitcombe Green Legacy Tree Nursery to learn how they grow and provide over 150,000 free trees annually to residents of Wellington County. Their inventory includes 30-40 species of native coniferous and deciduous trees and shrubs as well as species from the Carolinian Forest zone. The day will include volunteer opportunities such as transplanting seedlings and working with seeds.

Meet at the Little Tract parking lot at 6710 Wellington County Rd 34, Cambridge, ON N3C 2V4 and follow a trail through the woods to the nursery (less than 1km). Carpooling is encouraged as parking at Little Tract is limited. Green Legacy staff will be there to guide participants to the nursery.

Please bring a lunch, space in a covered pavilion will be provided.

Field Trips:  Sunday September 28, 2025

Join Zack Harris for a hike in the Eramosa/Bluesprings watershed at the Arkell Springs Grounds just east of Guelph.

We will follow a glacial spillway/valley that begins on the Paris-Galt Moraine and leads down to the Eramosa River Valley. Along the way we will explore mature Sugar Maple forest growing along the valley terraces and esker-like formations that contain a relatively high diversity of woodland sedges (Pretty Sedge, James' Sedge, Peck's Sedge), before reaching mature bottomland Northern White Cedar forest and swamp along the Eramosa River with Rattlesnake Fern, Cinnamon Fern, Leafcup and Bluebead Lily.

Meet for the trip at the Starkey Hill Conservation Area parking lot, 735 Arkell Rd, Puslinch.

Are you interested in learning how to sharpen your observational skills through field sketching, and learning techniques (both fast and slow) for capturing plant form, structure, and beauty?

Mary Anne will lead this trip at the University of Guelph Arboretum, helping you to build practical drawing skills while supporting scientific observation. We will practice our skills while exploring various collections at the Arboretum, including the World of Trees, the Native Trees of Ontario, and if time allows the Gosling Wildlife Garden.

Pencils and sketchbooks will be provided, however if you have preferred supplies, please bring them with you. Also bring a lunch to enjoy on one of the Arboretum’s many benches.

We will meet at the campus entrance at the Arboretum Kiosk (Arboretum Road at Ivey Trail); access this parking area via East Ring Road (note this is NOT the main Arboretum parking lot).

Following Saturday’s field trips, we will meet at the 10C Shared Space at 5:30 p.m. (https://10carden.ca/). The venue is located at 42 Carden Street in downtown Guelph, our event is happening in the 4th floor event room. Parking is available nearby in the Market Parkade (10 Wilson St, Guelph, ON N1H).

AGM Program

5:30 – 6:00      Social time: an opportunity to meet and chat with fellow FBO members and enjoy some refreshments

6:00 – 7:00     Buffet Dinner

Buffet Menu for Banquet: Taco Bar

• Peruvian beef tacos with charred pineapple and cilantro lime crema

• Cajun chicken taco with chipotle aioli and pickled habanero

• Grilled cauliflower taco with charred pineapple and red curry Greek yogurt

• Traditional taco accompaniments (e.g., salsa, guacamole, sour cream, shredded lettuce, cheese)

• Hard corn tortillas and soft flour tortillas.

• Assorted desserts.

• Coffee, tea, soft drinks, water, wine for each table.

7:00 – 7:30      Feature Speaker: Hannah Flores (Award-Winning Writer, Speaker, & Youth Advocate)

7:30 – 8:00     Awards: presentation of the Goldie Award, FBO Student Award and Bill Crowley Memorial Award for Photography

8:30 – 9:30      Annual General Meeting (the location of the 2026 AGM and potential field trips for next year will be discussed - everyone is encouraged to attend, in person or online)

9:30 – 10:30      Social time

Annual General Meeting Agenda 

1 Call to Order

2 Introduction of FBO Executive and address of the President (5 min)

3 Approval of Agenda (5 min)

4 Approval of the 2024 AGM Minutes (5 min)

5 Auditor’s Report (5 min)

6 Treasurer’s Report (5 min)

7 Membership Fee Increase Discussion & Vote (10 min)

8 Membership Coordinator’s Report (5 min)

9 Review of governing documents (10 min)

10 Nominating Committee Report and election of officers (5 min)

11 Suggestions for future trips and location of 2026 AGM (15 min)

12 General discussion and other business (5 min)

13 Adjournment

Those wishing to view the AGM proceedings via Zoom can email Mary Anne Young by September 20th and you will receive the link prior to the AGM.

Keynote Abstract

This keynote will explore species diversity as a dynamic and multi-layered phenomenon that connects ecosystems across scales, climates, and histories. Drawing on original fieldwork from a tree inventory project in Toronto’s Philosopher’s Walk, Hannah will examine how species richness and assemblage patterns can be interpreted through both ecological and spatial lenses. Emphasizing the role of species diversity in resilience, adaptation, and ecosystem functioning, Hannah will highlight how biodiversity is not only a biological concept, but also a geographic one that is best understood through careful mapping, observation, and cultural context. Hannah will illustrate how she "pays it forward" by offering tree tours in her community to educate the public on local species, an effort fueled by her independent research and species identification skills.

Her talk will also include a reflection on her visit to the Chania Botanical Gardens in Crete, Greece: a post-wildfire, chemical-free garden that hosts species from around the world due to the island’s rich patchwork of microclimates. This example underscores the global relevance of species diversity as an emergent property of complex, overlapping ecologies.

Hannah sees the story of species diversity as one of both detail and connection, and one that we must continue to tell with care, curiosity, and scientific rigor.