The following topics will be discussed at various points along the hike:
-Identification of various hardwood trees including Beech, several Oaks, blackgum, hickories, redbuds, dogwood, sycamore, Iron wood, ash etc. with notes on distribution and soil preference in the forest.
-The biology of the color change in eastern deciduous forests.
-Identification of several herbaceous plants with a focus on different ferns and their life cycle.
-Geology of underlying strata with particular reference to the western most outcrops of the Metagraywacke rocks that make up the lower Potomac Gorge.
-Native peoples of the region and their use of various forest plants for food, fiber, housing and medicine. (ethnobotany)
-History of the George Washington Canal ruins along the river.
-Current land use patterns and the introduction of “islands in an urban sea” along the course of the Lower Potomac Basin.
