This field class will explore the colorful variety of meadow flora that comes into its own in late summer and early fall. In the field we will observe and identify late-season grasses (which include such species as little bluestem, purple lovegrass, Indian grass, and switchgrass) and fall-blooming wildflowers such as asters, goldenrods, Joe-pye weeds, and many others. Our explorations will include both upland and wetland meadow communities.

Ted Elliman worked for many years for Native Plant Trust as a staff botanist, invasive species program manager, and as an instructor of botany, ecology, and conservation classes. His book, The Wildflowers of New England, an identification guide to much of the region's native flora, was published in 2016 by Timber Press. In the 1980's, Ted started and directed an environmental education and wilderness adventure center in the Berkshires. Since the mid-1990's, he has periodically led natural history tours to southwest China, where he worked for two years as a teacher and forest ecologist.