/s H-WI r SHORTIA NEWSLETTER OF THE WESTERN CAROLINA BOTANICAL CLUB SPRING 2006 Shortia galacifolia A Oconee Bells WESTERN CAROLINA BOTANICAL CLUB President President Elect Vice President Secretary Larason Lambert Jenny Lellinger Helen Smith Juanita Lambert Treasurer Larry Avery Recorder Ken Borgfeldt Historian Suzanne Huie FROM THE PRESIDENT Larason Lambert ENDANGERED DIVERSITY - April 93 in NORTHERN VIRGINIA How long has it been since you've heard the spring peepers, more than a year, I expect. I heard just a few by the pond yesterday, a remnant of what was before. A pitiful few, that would sing for a while, then give up for the rest of their lives. What's come about, now what have we done, to foul up the lives of these frogs? Are they just the next to depart from this earth, as the endless procession goes on? We have fouled our own nest, we are shot in the foot, and our days on this earth may be short. But the earth will go on, with life or without; evolution set back to day one. Mankind certainly has altered life here on earth. Although the above poem focuses on the animal kingdom, the same principles apply to plants, to a lesser degree. Every time we make some change to the natural landscape -- cutting vegetation, excavating the soil, or putting up some kind of physical structure - we change the natural environment by altering light conditions or the soil moisture realm. Such changes resulting from commercial development can be catastrophic. Recently, the concept of plant rescue from such man-caused changes has become formalized in native plant rescue programs in many parts of the world. Of course, we cannot rescue all plants, nor would we want to -- we must pick and choose, and concentrate our efforts where they are most needed. Furthermore, as we rescue plants, we must provide them with suitable homes, on sites where they can thrive. These rescues are important in preserving plant diversity, but I would go a step further. I would submit (with qualifications) that removing some plants from any site, provided you have permission from the owner and do not substantially impact the plant population, constitutes legitimate redistribution of the gene pool and strengthens the status of the specie, even for endangered species. The critical factor in such a “redistribution” is providing the proper site for the plant -- if you can’t, you’re just satisfying your own selfish whim. Constructive responses to this approach would be welcome -- please submit them to Shortia. OOOOOQOOOOOOOQOOQOOQOQOOOQ Cover: The flower on the cover is Shortia galacifolia, Oconee Bells. Our newsletter is named for this southern endemic which is now rareirrthe wild. Member News New Members Marv Ann Bakken. Hendersonville. Mary Ann came here from Illinois three years ago. She learned about the Club from a class at Bullington. Grea & Carol Fouts. Hendersonville. The Fouts came to N.C. from Canada. Their home is surrounded by woods and they want to learn more about the wildflowers in their yard. Mike Iw. Hendersonville. Mike moved here fom Sylva last fall. He works as a plant consultant, particularly rare plants, so may not be free on Fridays. Erica Macklin. Hendersonville. Erica came here six years ago from Berkeley, CA. She enjoys identifying wild orchids and is also a hiker. Joadv Perrett. Hendersonville. Joady moved here from Florida six years ago. She wants to know the names of wildflowers. She is a ceramics teacher at Blue Ridge Community College. Lou Anne Rhodes. Hendersonville. Lou Ann comes from many generations of plant lovers and had a great aunt who worked with engineering day lilies and had several named after her. Lou Anne is recovering from cancer. Indoor Meeting Cancellation A reminder that when the Henderson County Schools are closed, the Sammy Williams Senior Center will be closed, and our indoor program for that day will be cancelled. Change of Address Any change in street address, e-mail or telephone number please inform Larry Avery at 4 Windrush Lane, Flat Rock, N.C. 28731, Tel. 692-2679, email: alavery@cytechusa.com Biltmore Estate Garden Walk Botany Club member, Betty Carlson, who is a guide at Biltmore Estate, has arranged for a guided walk for our members on Wednesday, April 26. For those without Biltmore Estate passes the entry cost will be reduced to $31 and the garden walk (for all) will be $7.50. Passes are good for all day and can be upgraded to yearly passes. A minimum of 10 people and a maximum of 21 people is required. The fees must be paid to Betty by April 1 so that tickets can be delivered to each participant before the walk. You can reach Betty at P.O. Box 563, Candler, N.C. 28715, Tel. 670-6702 and email Learn and Share Learn and Share was once again varied and interesting. Millie Pearson reported on the rare Hexastylis naniflora which she saw at a site in Polk County. Pierre Hart talked about the rare Franklinia tree. Anne Ulinski reported on the horticultural changes at the Botanical Gardens of Asheville. The Wilderness Wildlife Week program at Pigeon Forge was covered by Wilma Durpo, Jeanne Smith, Helen Smith, Cindy and Mike McCurdy, and Ken Borgfeldt. Each reported on an aspect of the program. Jenny Lellinger had a power point presentation on the Botrychium ferns. Thanks to all these club members. P.2. Ramblings 2005 Ken Borgfeldt We had a very successful walk season in 2005 as we completed 31 outings with few cancellations. In addition to visiting some of our favorite wildflower spots, we walked six new locations. We spent the day with Tom Goforth at Skv Valiev, a location just over the North Carolina - Tennessee border where we bushwhacked our way through a variety of fern communities. It seems to be the Goforth "norm" to take us through areas that hardiy pass for trails. We joined Michael Skinner, the Preserve Naturalist, for a walk along the Sugar Loaf Trail in Balsam Mountain Preserve in early spring. We found an abundance of Trillium grandiflorum and lunched at an 1800's vintage log cabin. The visit to Silver Run Preserve allowed us to walk the largest Conservancy- owned preserve along the Blue Ridge Escarpment. While most of the spring ephemerals were past their blooming period, we did get to see examples of gametophytes. While we have visited several trails in DuPont State Forest, our trip to Cedar Rock Mountain was a first for the club. We saw a variety of plants indigenous to a rock outcrop. We agreed that it would be a good spot to revisit during the spring. The sixth new spot for the year was the South Carolina Botanical Gardens and Clemson Herbarium at Clemson University. Karen Carlson Hall led the walk. The club had been trying to have an overnight trip, a favorite activity in the past. A spring outing to Weymouth Woods Preserve had to be cancelled due to a low turnout but the group persevered and the trip was completed in the fall. We had a special focus location for 2005 - Kellogg Center. We visited there once every couple of months through the walk season for a total of four visits. The compilation of the data from the visits will provide an inventory of the plants at the center and a chance to see the progression of the growing season for each of the species. A copy of the inventory will be given to the center. Now we look forward to 2006 and what I am sure will be another plant filled experience for us all. P.3 Franklinia alatamaha In 1765, John and William Bartram discovered a small grove of Franklinia on the banks of the Altamaha River in Georgia. As botanists, they subsequently collected seed from that grove for propagation in their Philadelphia gardens. It was fortunate that they did so for the species would never be encountered in the wild again. Named in honor of John Bart ram’s friend, Benjamin Franklin, the small, shrub-like tree deserves wider cultivation. Franklinia is in the Theaceae or tea family, the same family as Stewartia and Camillia. It has an abundance of five petalled white flowers with yellow- orange stamens. The blooms appear in the late summer and early fall, just as the foliage is turning a deep red. Franklinia has a reputation for being difficult to establish so careful site selection and preparation are important. Prior to planting, the soil should be amended with about two-thirds of the volume in pine bark mulch. Franklinia does best in partial shade with protection from the intense afternoon summer sun. A mildly acidic soil with good drainage is optimal. Bartram’s Garden which is on the site of John Bartram’s pre-Revolutionary home, has taken an informal census of the existing Franklinias reporting about 2,000 of them, 95% of which are in the U.S. This is certainly a vast underestimate since it depends upon voluntary reports from those familiar with Bartram’s but it is fair to say that the species remains relatively uncommon. The North Carolina State Arboretum has planted a number of young specimens on the grassy dividers in its parking lots and there are several trees within the city of Hendersonville. Since all existing specimens are descended from the Bartrams’ original seed collection, the genetic material is quite homogeneous. To enhance the genetic vigor of the species a New Jersey nursery, J.G. Akerboom, has solicited seed collected by volunteers from throughout the species’ range. He then treats a portion of it with a mutagen in the hope of introducing some beneficial variation. Franklinia blooms at a relatively early age (4-5 years) so a second generation involving crosses between selected parents should be forthcoming. Volunteers, including Pierre Hart, who provide seed for this program, are given seedlings produced by the nursery in payment. The oldest documented specimen of Franklinia is on the Chinese Path of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. According to the records the tree was accessioned in 1905, making it just over 100 years of age. eooooooooo Thanks to Botany club member, Pierre Hart, for sharing with us his notes on Franklinia from his presentation at the Learn & Share program this winter. Who’s That Lady? I'm often faced with the question "is this the Southern or the Northern Lady Fern?" Before attempting to answer, one must note that Athyrium filix-femina is circumboreal and is found in every state in the continental US. Most authorities, including the Integrated Taxonomic Information System, recognize three subspecies in the US: A. filix-femina subsp. angustum, Northern Lady Fern (a.k.a. Subarctic Lady Fern) A. filix-femina subsp. asplenioides, Southern Lady Fern (a.k.a. Lowland Lady Fern and Asplenium Lady Fern) A. filix-femina subsp. cyclosomm, Western Lady Fern Most importantly, the ranges for the first two subspecies overlap in central eastern North America. The answer to the question is simple in the northern or southern part of the country. As it turns out, because both subspecies are found in our area, identification is tricky. Montgomery and Fairbrothers, in their field guide. New Jersey Ferns and Fern Allies, state that where the ranges overlap the typical Northern Lady Fern "grades into" the southern one-adding that, "many specimens combine the characters of the northern and the southern in various ways." Having said that, for those of you who wish to have fun and try to identify local Lady Ferns, I've compiled the following differentiating field characteristics from various sources: A. filix-femina subsp. angustum Stipe scales brown to dark brown, persistent, up to 1 cm long and 1.5 mm wide; blades widest near or below the middle, at the 4th or 5th pinnae pair from the base; pinnae sessile or short-stalked; pinnules linear to oblong. A. filix-femina subsp. asplenioides Stipe scales light or reddish brown to brown, deciduous, up to 5 mm long and 1 mm wide; blades widest near the base, at the 2nd or 3rd pinnae pair from the base; pinnae usually stalked; pinnules oblong- lanceolate to narrowly deltate. -Jenny Lellinger P.5 (continued next page) A. filix-femina subsp.asplenioides Southern Lady Fern [Blades widest at the base] A. filix-femina subsp. angustum Northern Lady Fern [Blades widest near or below the middle] Illustrations from The Fem Guide . Northeastern and Midland United States and Canada by Edgar. T. Wherry, Dover Publications 1961 oooooooooooogqoooo Editor’s Note: Radford’s Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (1968) lists only the Southern Lady Fern. Alan Weakley’s Flora of the Carolinas and Virginia (Working Draft 2000) lists both Northern and Southern Lady Fern. The entry for A. angustum (Northern Lady Fern) in The Natural Heritage Program List of Rare Plant Species of North Carolina 2004 is: “M: rock outcrops and forests at high elevations (Avery *?). Watch List 3-rare, but uncertain documentation.” M = Mountains. The asterisk following Avery means a county with historic populations (not seen since 1979). Ken Borgfelt reports that the club recorded Northern Lady Fem in the past at Frying Pan Gap, Bee Tree Gap, Graybeard Mt to Glassy Mine Fields and Davidson River - Sycamore Flats. Confirmations of these identifications could lead to new information for the state records. P.6 Book Review Zoro’s Field: Mv Life in the Appalachian Woods by Thomas Rain Crowe What a gift to anyone who is nature-minded. Especially to western North Carolinians. The field is located near Saluda, he fishes in the Green River, occasionally works in a bakery in Black Mountain, recycles the goat manure from Connemara, walks in the woods with the Snowbird Cherokees. He is a poet, a storyteller and a weaver of words. This is a chronicle of the four years Crowe survived by his own hand without electricity, plumbing, modern-day transportation or regular income in a cabin he built himself. He writes of many things: digging a root cellar, being a good listener, gathering wood, living in the moment, tending a garden, being snowed in, watching the birds, tracking the animals. He explores profound questions on wilderness, self-sufficiency, urban growth, and ecological overload. Each chapter is an essay in its own right ending with a poem. I learned many things about the birds and the bees and lightning (the human body being a natural conductor of hydroelectricity) and if I didn’t live in an apartment, I might be tempted to have a garden and dig a root cellar. As it is, Crowe wrote so beautifully of the wonders of being snowed in that I eagerly await our next storm when cut off from the pressing clamor of the real world, I can curl up and read his book all over again. -Jeanne M. Smith TIME Slow down! Where are you going in such a rush? To the supermarket of your last dime? Is the sound of pencil-lead on paper too much for your ears? At fifty miles per hour the butterfly on the rose by the side of the road is as invisible as a wish for the answer to prayers. As you run through your best years watching the road. Faster than the speed of life. -Thomas Rain Crowe Thomas Rain Crowe is the author of eleven books of original and translated works, as well as a poet, translator, editor, publisher, and recording artist. He lives in Tuckasegee, North Carolina. Zoro’s Field was published in 2005 by the University of Georgia Press. Last year some of us were fortunate to hear him speak at the Henderson County Library. He talked about his life and, on request, read some of his poetry. P.7 Floras What is a Flora? A Flora is a published work containing a systematic inventory of plants of a particular region. As well as a means of identifying the plant species in that area, there will be illustrations and often range maps. Many Floras now cover the conservation status of plants, as some works, notably in Europe, have long done. David Frodin in an article in Wildflower raises the question: Why write Floras? “All life depends on plants.” he says. “From the beginning man has eaten or otherwise used plants, as have his evolutionary predecessors. Therefore there has always been a need to know about plants. Accumulated knowledge was (and continues to be) passed down orally and sensually, but as drawing and writing developed. ..such information could be committed to various forms of permanent media. Initially the organization of this material was relatively casual, but particularly in medicine the variety of possible plant and other remedies made some sort of organized arrangement essential.” He continues, “The materia medica are the oldest form of encyclopaedic plant accounts.... Over time Floras began to appear in distinctive formats and by the 18th century came to be arranged in ways that were independent of medical needs.... As we now understand them, Floras evolved in southern, western and central Europe, but as European civilization and ideas spread across the rest of the world they became nearly universal.... As world trade and plantation agriculture increased and western models of colonialism came to dominate much of the world, it became essential to document plant life in an organized way ....With the growth of the environmental movement movement since the 1960’s, the need for Floras has become even more pronounced.” Some Floras are for areas that are well-known botanically.There are Floras documenting up to 5000 vascular species. These may take as many as three to ten years to write. Examples are those of California, France, and Siberia in the north temperate zone and those of Jamaica, Namibia and Sri Lanka in the tropics and subtropics. Some Floras are contained in one volume, such as those for small areas as Barro Colorado Island in Panama. Others, such as the Flora of North America is planned for 15 volumes, the fifth having just been released. The Floras of China published so far contains 1 1 volumes of text and 10 volumes of illustrations and is now being translated into English With cheap personal computers and the World Wide Web the trend is toward virtual Floras. Some begin as printed books but evolve into electronic information systems. They generally include text and may also include maps, illustrations and keys. Frodin concludes that for the average user, print is still the best. and quotations from “Floras in Retrospect and for the Future”, Wildflower 20(1) 2004 by David Frodin Yellowroot Flora of North America Arctic Wintergreen Flora of Iceland P.8 -Anne Ulinski SH0RT1A do Anne Ulinski 1212 Chanteloupe Drive Hendersonville, N.C. 28739 FIRST CLASS Library *Att: Dr. Buck New York Botanical Garden Bronx, N.Y. 10458-5126 Imillli mini slim! SHORTIA Vol. XXV1 11. No. 1 SPRING 2006 A quarterly publication of the Western Carolina Botanical Club Editor Anne Ulinski Editorial Assistants: Pat Arnett and Jean Lenhart Member News: Ruth Anne Gibson Please submit contributions for the next issue by MAY 15, 2006 to: Anne Ulinski 1212 Chanteloupe Drive, Hendersonville, N.C. 28739 The purpose of the Club is to study the plants of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and the Southeast through field trips and indoor meetings. Membership is open to all. Individual/family memberships are $15. New members joining from the period July 1 -December 31, pay $8. All memberships are renewable on January first of each year. Send dues to: Larry Avery, 4 Windrush Lane, Flat Rock; N.C. 28731 SHORTIA NEWSLETTER OF THE WESTERN CAROLINA BOTANICAL CLUB SUMMER 2006 Shortia galacifolia Oconee Bells WESTERN CAROLINA BOTANICAL CLUB President President Elect Vice President Secretary Larason Lambert Jenny Lellinger Helen Smith Juanita Lambert Treasurer Larry Avery Recorder Ken Borgfeldt Historian Suzanne Huie FROM THE PRESIDENT Larason Lambert In a plant taxonomy class in the late 60s I was required to collect a large number of native specimens for identification. As a shortcut, I collected some flowers from abandoned vegetable gardens on campus. The professor rejected all of them, and such was my introduction to hybrids. In my landscaping of Fernhaven, I do use some non-native ornamental plants for special purposes, but I prefer to use native species wherever I can, and certainly, only native ferns. Thus, at a recent plant sale at the Asheville Botanical Gardens, I found myself first asking vendors if they carried natives, many did not. One vendor claimed that hybrids were natives -- 1 moved on. Another clarified things for me a bit, explaining that hybrids can be created by selecting and breeding for desired characteristics that occur naturally by virtue of the variability within a specie. Certainly we see these intra-specific variations in our field trips, the variation within some trillium and violet species, for example. Betty Jones found some unusual specimens of ferns on her property which could only be explained as some deviant within the specie. And we cannot deny that Homo sapiens is quite variable -- we come in numerous varieties and hybrids. (Viva la difference!) Hybridization certainly does occur in nature, and ferns are quite notorious in this respect. Many Dryopteris species hybridize, and produce fertile offspring now recognized as a separate species. Such is life in the natural world. However, plant breeders produce all sorts of bizarrely formed fern hybrids, which must appeal to some fashion-minded folk, but I want no part of them. I like my native plants au natural, as close as possible to what I might find in the wild. I guess I just don't like the hand of man messing with mother nature. CQOOOOCOOOOOOOCdOOOOCQOO Cover: The flower on the cover is Shortia galacifolia , Oconee Bells. Our newsletter is named for this southern endemic which is now rare in the wild. P-1 Member News New Members John and Sheila Goldthwaite, Pisgah Forest. John and Sheila came from Atlanta a year ago. Sheila has a two-year horticulture degree and worked at the Georgia Perimeter College native plant garden. She was formerly on the board of the Georgia Botanical Society. Coming Events The Botany Club’s Annual Meeting is scheduled for July so our summer members can attend. The meeting will be on Friday, July 14 at the Bullington Center in Hendersonville. There will be a guided garden walk at 10:00 a.m. with the meeting beginning at 11:00. Reports by the present officers will be followed by the election of officers. John Murphy, Coordinator of the Bullington Center, will give a short talk on the Bullington educational programs. Come with a covered dish to share and a good appetite; the food is always delicious. More information and driving directions will be in the next schedule. An overnight field trip is scheduled in September to the Buck Creek Serpentine Barrens. Serpentine barrens are a series of magnesium-rich deposits which are scattered along the Appalachian Mountains from Alabama to Quebec. One of the best known and floristically distinct barrens occurs near Franklin in the Nantahala Mountains. Nineteen state- listed plant species have been documented on the site, including Parnassia grandifolia, Big- leaf Grass of Parnassus and Gentiana crinata , Fringed Gentian. Our guide will be U.S. Forest Service botanist, Gary Kauffman. Watch for details in the new schedule. cooooooooooo Change of address, e-mail or telephone number please inform Larry Avery at 4 Windrush Lane, Flat Rock, N.C. 28731, Tel. 692-2679, email: alavery@cytechusa.com ©o ©o oo co co c© Western Carolina Botanical Club Financial Report - 2005 Income Dues $1425 Gifts 35 Book Sale 250 Total Income $ 1710 Expenses Printing $ 470 Postage 233 Donations 710 Office 152 Total Expenses $ 1565 Income over exoenses $ 145 Respectfully submitted, Larry Avery, Treasurer P.2. Ramblings .2006 Ken Borgfeldt Weil, we’ve started a new year of botany walks. For the second year in a row we had a good day for the Hardy Souls Hike. A nice walk along Cathevs Creek road included large crops of Little Brown Jugs ( Hexastylis arifolia) However, we started the official walk season with a rainout at Station Cove. We broke our jinx for the last two years at Pearson Falls having nice weather for a change. We found Horse Sugar ( Symplocos tinctoria) for the first time at this location. Sharp-lobed Hepatica ( Hepatica nobilis v. acuta) was in abundance on the hillsides. The scheduled trip to Garrick Creek was replaced with Station Cove hoping to see more blooming plants. Despite a heavy rain on the trip down, it was sunny at our final destination. Slopes were covered with Toadshade ( Trillium cuneatum). There were large areas of May Apple ( Podophyllum peltatum), many plants in bud. Cedar Rock Trail in DuPont State Forest is our repeat location for 2006. There are several granitic outcroppings to provide botanical diversity. We made our first visit. Trailing Arbutus ( Epigaea repens) was found in abundance. Mosses, including Twisted-hair Spike-moss ( Selaginella tortipila), were found in abundance on the outcrops. We visited Pulliam Creek Trail where we passed through a section of forest recovering from a controlled burn. Several blooming plants were observed in the burned area so recovery is underway. Abundant species found later in the walk included Fire Pink ( Silene virginica) and Long-spurred Violet ( Viola rostrata). Access to Bat Cave is only available through a permit from The Nature Conservancy. The caves, home to five species of bat, are fissure caves including the largest such cave in North America. We found Southern Nodding Trillium {Trillium rugelii), Yellow Mandarin ( Disporum \anuginosum) and Purple Phacelia ( Phacelia bipinnatifida ) in abundance. The visit to Dan Pittillo's Nodding Trillium Garden was conducted in the rain. He has packed a lot of varieties of native plants into a small area. We saw Pale Yellow Trillium ( Trillium discolor) which looks like a small Yellow Sweet Betsy, which we also saw. The trip to Big Creek in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park included lunch at Mouse Creek Falls. A striking display of Purple Phacelia ( Phacelia bipinnatifida) was seen cascading down a hillside. P.3 Western Carolina Botanical Membership 2006* Arden, N.C. Bott, Helen Nichols, Eunice Asheville, N.C. Beyer, Patsy Conway, Rachel M. Durpo, Wilma Gunn, Bob & Betty Hankins, Diane Hansens, Aline Kolton, Marilyn Lackey, Charlotte Middleton, Dave & Milly Probst, Cindy Reed, John Rhodes, Lou Anne Robbins, Paula Wong, Anna Balsam, N.C. Chattaway, J.S. & Patricia Houghton, Ann Black Mountain, N.C. Feil, Elisabeth Bon Air, VA. Verduin, Bill & Evelyn Brevard, N.C. Blaha, Millie Crawford, Dean & JoAnn Farrar, W. Edmund & Carver Graham, Alan Hudson, Jack & Dorothy Huie, Suzanne lha, Nancy Jones, Betty Lellinger, Jenny & Dave Moore, Eric & Peggy Schifeling, Daniel & Annalee Smith, Jeanne Updike, Connie Walls, Harriet Candler, N.C. Sarlson, Betty Canton, N.C. -ishback, H.D. and Jan Charlotte, N.C. A/ard, Courtney '"Some members are summer visitors >.4 Columbus, N.C. Smoke, Henry & Therese Etowah, N.C. Charlebois, Joy Hart, Pierre Flat Rock, N.C. Arbuckle, Bonnie Avery, Larry & Anita Blackwell, Rusty/Cottier, Ray Gibson, Ruth Anne & John Joiner, Billy McCurdy, Mike & Cynthia Fletcher N.C. Bachand, Bob & Kathy Hendersonville, N.C. Alperin, Carolyn Anderson, Kenneth & Jane Bakken, Mary Ann Bentley, Glenda Bockoven, Paul & Elizabeth Borgfeldt, Ken & Chris Collins, Ed Davis, Thomas and Jane Dice, Bill & Ann Foresman, Louise Fouts, Greg & Carol Herrman, Don & Dana Ivey, Mike Kotch, Joel & Sharon Lambert, Larason & Juanita Lenhart, Jean Macklin, Erika Mizeras, Alan Montgomery, Bob and Elaine Pearson, Bud & Laverne Perrett, Joady Petteway, Jo Polchow, Peggy Prim, Lucy and Bob Repici, Carole Russell, Beverly Sidoti, Marjorie Sinish, Bessie Ulinski, Anne Highlands, N.C. Davis, Charlton & Patricia Landwehr, Barbara Poole, Kay & Edwin Hilton Head. S.C. Strayer, Lucie A. Lake Toxaway, N.C. Allen, Barbara D. Dziedzic, Betty Lexington, N.C. Fisher, Don Marion, N.C. Goldsmith, James W. Norcross. Ga. Arrington, Daisy Ormond Beach, FI. McDaniel, Lois Pisgah Forest, N.C. Goldthwaite, John & Sheila Hauschild, Linda Smith, Helen M. Saluda, N.C. Pearson, Millie Spruce Pine, N.C. Gray, Gussie Stone Mt., Ga. Lennox, Susan & David Sylva, N.C. Harris, Mary Helen Horne, Ann and Lynn Miller, Earl & Bettye Stenger, Raymond & Gloria Tampa, Fla. Center, Dan and Barbara Tryon, N.C. Galda, Odessa Waynesville, N.C. Brinson, Beth Couric, Elrose/Hollinger, Sue Thomas, Jane and George The Flora of the Carolinas. Virginia, and Georgia and Surrounding Areas by Alan S. Weakley The 2006 draft of Alan Weakley’s Flora is now available. Its 1026 pages covers 6500 species and varieties with primary coverage of the flora of NC, SC, VA and GA. Secondary coverage (species keyed but with less habitat and other information) covers north FL, AL, MS, southeast LA, TN, KY, WV, MD, DC, DE, and southern NJ. Thus the Flora now covers the southeast except for west of the Mississippi River and the peninsula of Florida. Those who are replacing their older draft will be pleased to find both an Index and a Table of Contents. Included in the new draft are keys to the species of nearly all genera with some significant exceptions (Rosa, Solidago, and a few others). Large families such as Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Poaceae) do not yet have keys to the genera and the overall key to families is not done. For this reason, Alan Weakley suggests that at this stage the 2006 draft be used as a companion volume to Radford, Ahles & Bell , Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolines. (1968), or Gleason and Cronquist, Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada (1991). The price of the 2006 draft is $30 for loose leaf and $50 for a bound copy. Send your order to Alan S. Weakley, CB 3280 Coker Hall, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C. 27599, c/o Carol Anne McCormick. Checks should be made out to UNC Herbarium. Alan writes that the plans are for the UNC Press to publish the completed work in 2008. It is still undecided whether the 2008 version will have drawings, but probably the same ones as in Radford, Ahles and Bell. Space considerations may mean that the county dot maps will not be a part of the Flora but will be online and also probably issued periodically, in a spiral binder. in the meantime the 2006 draft will continue to be sold “at cost”, looseleaf and hardbound, from the Herbarium. If you have high-speed internet you can download the flora as a pdf file from the the Herbarium website at www.herbarium.unc.edu. Map of the area covered by the Flora P.5 DID YOU KNOW? “Prior to Linnaeus, and especially prior to 1753 when he published Species plantatum, plants were given long multi-worded Latin phrase names (polybinomials) such as “Chrysanthemum Marilandicum, caule & foliis hirsutis Hieracii, flore magno, pluribus petalis radiato, disco granti protuberanate.” Linnaeus simplified this to Rudheckia hirta." Gentle Conquest by James L. Reveal OOOOOOOOOOOO For the early Spanish naturalists visiting the new world, the plants and animals they found were a revelation to them and did not fit into any of their classifications. Among the most surprising to them was the pineapple. It became highly prized by hot-house gardeners in the seventeenth century and a favored subject of stone carvers who added its distinctive shape as adornment on buildings and bridges. Gentle Conquest by James L. Reveal DO OO OO CO OO CO William Beebe, who went on to have a remarkable career as a naturalist, ornithologist, marine biologist and tropical biologist, developed a passion for nature at an early age. In 1893 at the age of 16, he penned in his journal: “To be a Naturalist is better than to be a King.” OO OO OO OO OO OO As physicists built bigger and more ambitious machines [particle accelerators], they began to find or postulate particles or particle families seemingly without number: vector bosons, hyperons, mesons, K-mesons, Higgs bosons, intermediate vector bosons, baryons, tachyons. Even physicists began to grow a little uncomfortable. “Young man,” Enrico Fermi replied when a student asked him the name of a particular particle, “if I could remember the names of these particles, I would have been a botanist”. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson P.6 Euonymus The genus Euonymus is in the Celastraceae (Staff-tree or Bittersweet) Family. There are three native and five naturalized species which occur in the Southeast. The native species are: Euonymus americana - Strawberry-bush or Heart’s-a-bustin’ Euonymus obovatus - Running Strawberry-bush Euonymus atropurpureus - Wahoo or Burning Bush One of the naturalized species is Euonymus alatus, or Winged Euonymus. Ron Lance in his newly published Woody Plants of the Southeastern United States describes it as “a commonly planted Asian shrub, naturalized sparingly”. Alan Weakley’s Flora (2006) describes it as “cultivated, rarely naturalized; rare, introduced from e. Asia. Reported for N.C. (Jackson County) by Pittillo & Brown (1988)”. In some parts of the country, this species is invasive. In the first week of May, three species of Euonymus were recorded by the Botany Club. Euonymus americana and E. alatus were seen at the Shinn Gardens. This is the first recording in our data base of E. alatus. A few days later, a healthy specimen of E. obovatus was seen trailing from the top of a large boulder at one of the Coleman Boundary stops. E. obovatus was previously recorded at Kanati Fork and during six visits to the Graybeard Mt. to Glassy Mines Falls trail. Euonymus plants are deciduous or weakly evergreen shrubs or small trees, with green or gray-green stems. Leaves are simple, opposite and petiolate. The species E. obovatus has stems which are trailing or decumbent. The species E. alatus has twigs and branches with corky wings, and is easily identified from other species. In the fall look for seed coverings (arils) from pink to orange to scarlet, depending on the species. Familiar to most of us are the seed covers of E. americana which have given the plant the common name, Heart’s-a-bustin’. Euonymus alatus a. Euonymus americana b. E. obovatus Illustrations copied with permission from Ron Lance from Woody Plants of the Southeastern United States (2004). P.7 SHINN GARDENS FIELD TRIP Tommy and Nancy Shinn made us welcome at their home on Spivey Mountain in Leicester on Monday, May 1. Our leaders, Elisabeth Feil and Betty Carlson had scouted with Tommy on the previous Friday so were well prepared to identify for us the many unusual plants along the roads and trails. Not insignificant on this cool day, was the hot tea Nancy served us at our outdoor lunch. The story of the Shinn Gardens began in 1947 when Tommy’s father, Tom Shinn, brought home a clump of plants that had been torn away by a bulldozer making a road to a power plant. From then on Tommy’s mother and father, Bruce and Tom Shinn, would find out when new roads were to be cut, new power lines built and dams constructed. The Shinns were then living in the Montford Hills section of Asheville. Soon their property and two adjacent purchased lots were filled not only with rescued plants but others given Bruce by friendly landowners as she traveled with Tom in his work with Carolina Power and Light. Bruce and Tom began to look for more land and in 1964 they (and their plants) moved to Spivey Mountain. After his parents’ death and his retirement, Tommy and Nancy moved to the Gardens. Some of the unusual plants identified on this field trip were: Halesia tetraptera , the Four-winged Silverbell, Cymbalaria muralis, Kenilworth Ivy, Fothergilla major, Witch Alder, Cladrastis kentukea, Yellow-wood and Cypripedium parviflorum, the smaller Yellow Lady’s Slipper. Juanita Lambert, our recorder for the trip, supplied us with the following list of Ferns and Fern Allies we saw on the Shinn property on May 1 . Ferns Adiantum pedatum Athyrium asplenioides Botrychium virginianum Cystopteris fragilis Deparia acrostichoides Dryopteris goldiana Dryopteris intermedia Dryopteris iudoviciana Lygodium palmatum Matteuccia struthiopteris Onoclea sensibilis Ophioglossum vuigatum Osmunda cinnamonea Phegopteris hexagonoptera Polypodium virginianum Polystichum acrostichoides Pteridium aquilinum Woodwardia areolata Fern Allies Huperzia lucidula Lycopodium digitatum Lycopodium obscurum Equisetum arvense Northern Maidenhair Southern Lady Fern Rattlesnake Fern Fragile Fern Silver Glade Fern Goldie’s Fern Intermediate Fern Southern Wood Fern Climbing Fem Ostrich Fern Sensitive Fern Adder’s-Tongue Cinnamon Fem Broad Beech Fern Rock Cap Fem Christmas Fern Bracken Fern Netted Chain Fern Shining Clubmoss Fan Club Moss Ground Pine Common Horsetail Adder’s-Tongue P.8 SHORT1A do Anne Ulinski 1212 Chanteloupe Drive Hendersonville, N.C. 28739 FIRST CLASS Library *Att: Dr. Buck. New York Botanical Garden Bronx, N.Y. 10458-5126 WESTER T. MERTZ LIBRARY JUN 1 3 2006 NEW YOr BOTANICAL G; & ■ 1 1 ! ! i 1 1 1 H ! i 1 ! 1 1 ! 1 ! I ! I ! ! 1 1! i ! I ! 11 1 1 1 ! I J i Hi I i ! ! : 1 ! ! I i 1 H I i til!! SHORTIA Vol. XXV1 11. No. 2 SUMMER 2006 A quarterly publication of the Western Carolina Botanical Club Editor Anne Ulinski Editorial Assistants: Pat Arnett and Jean Lenhart Member News: Ruth Anne Gibson Please submit contributions for the next issue by August 15, 2006 to: Anne Ulinski 1212 Chanteloupe Drive, Hendersonville, N.C. 28739 The purpose of the Club is to study the plants of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and the Southeast through field trips and indoor meetings. Membership is open to all. Individual/family memberships are $15. New members joining from the period July 1 -December 31, pay $8. All memberships are renewable on. January first of each year. Send dues to: Larry Avery, 4 Windrush Lane, Flat Rock, N.C. 28731 SHORTIA NEWSLETTER OF THE WESTERN CAROLINA BOTANICAL CLUB FALL 2006 Shortia galacifolia Oconee Bells WESTERN CAROLINA BOTANICAL CLUB President Jenny Lellinger Treasurer Larry Avery Vice President Helen Smith Recorder Ken Borgfeldt Secretary Juanita Lambert FROM THE PRESIDENT. Jenny Lellinger OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOQOO Like many other retirees, my husband Dave and I carefully selected THE place to enjoy our ideal retirement. We were living a dream when we relocated from Northern Virginia to the Western Carolina mountains. Among our many projects, Dave would design his dream house and I would botanize and explore nature to my heart’s content. I was chagrined to learn, however, that the NC Native Plant Society did not have a chapter in the western part of the state. How could this be, given the botanical riches in our area? Undaunted, I resorted to Google and voila! much to my delight I discovered a listing for the Western Carolina Botanical Club. I was ecstatic to learn that the club botanized in the field at least once a week well into the fall, with a lecture series throughout the winter! This by far exceeded my expectations. No native plant society that I knew of offered as much field exposure. Unencumbered by incorporation, this group was simply, yet efficiently, organized and took botanizing seriously. Leaders and participants alike share a keen interest in learning more about our botanical world. Each walk is carefully scouted, and participants are issued a plant list alphabetized by up-to-date scientific names! You guessed it; I signed up and soon realized that one of the group's greatest attributes is that, regardless of fair weather or foul, we have great fun botanizing. However, we are not just a fun and games bunch. There is an educational component to our group. We support a variety of educational outreach efforts, including plant identification workshops offered through the Bullington Horticultural Center in Henderson County. In the area of field botany we informally fill another educational niche through our walks and lectures, which reach a growing segment of our local population, namely retirees. Retirees typically move to the Southern Appalachians because they value its wilderness and natural diversity. The more knowledgeable newcomers become about the natural world around them, the better equipped they will be to protect and exercise wise stewardship of the wild areas we so treasure. I am delighted to be writing my first letter for SHORTIA as President of our Club and I feel honored to thus participate in the stewardship of such a fine group. oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Cover: The flower on the cover is Shortia galacifolia, Oconee Bells. Our newsletter is named for this southern endemic which is now rare in the wild. p.i MEMBER NEWS New Members Carolyn Ashburn and Chuck Hearon. Campobello, S.C. Carolyn and Chuck both enjoy photography: He of plants, she of people. Chuck maintains trails for FENCE and FETA and monitors land in conservation easements for the Pacolet Area Conservancy. He hiked the entire Appalachian Trail in 1999. We all enjoyed his photographs at the recent annual meeting. Dawn Bigelow. Sapphire, N.C. Dawn lives in Sarasota, Fla. but has summered in our area for the last 6 or 7 years. She has worked in a nursery and has taken courses in landscape design. Pori Miller. Roseman, N.C. Dori works as an attorney in Atlanta from Tuesday to Thursday. She has been coming to our area for the last 18 months for long weekends. She is a member of the Transylvania Native Plant Stewards, a birding group, and a book club. Kim Spencer. Pisgah Forest N.C. Kim came to Pisgah Forest in 1998 from the Mississippi Delta. She is a Master Gardener, a member of the Transylvania Native Plant Stewards and is an avid reader. Aleen Steinberg. Cedar Mountain, N.C. Aleen has lived full time in Cedar Mountain for the last 8 years. For over 40 years she lived part time in Cedar Mountain and part time in Florida where she belonged to the Florida Native Plant Society. She is a member of Friends of Dupont Forest and is now serving as the Conservation Chair on the Advisory Board to Dupont. oooooooooooooocooooo Overnight Field Trip. A field trip to the Buck Creek Serpentine Barren is scheduled for September 25, 26. Our guide will be Gary Kauffman, U.S. Forest Service Botanist. There will be an overnight in Franklin Monday September 25 with a group dinner at 6 p.m., followed by a program on serpentine barrens by Gary. Tuesday we will go to the Barren (bring a lunch), returning home later that day. Members are responsible for their own reservations. A block of rooms at the Franklin Hampton Inn (828-369-9200) has been reserved for club members. As of this time (Sept. . 2) four rooms remain. Identify yourself as a club member to get a special rate. If you plan to join the group for dinner, notify Bonnie Arbuckle (696-2077) who will be making the restaurant reservation. A Symposium on Shortia galacifolia, the Oconee Bell, is being planned at Clemson, S.C. for March 16-18, 2007. The program will feature presentations on history and botany and a field trip to Devil’s Fork near where Michaux first found the plant in the 1780’s. Registration information will be available soon. Field Trip and Indoor Program Changes. Every effort is made to keep to the published schedule but in case of changes, e-mails are sent out. For those without email, a telephone call will be made. If you want to receive this information be sure that Larry Avery has your e-mail address and/or telephone number. If members have a change of address, e-mail or telephone number please inform Larry Avery at 4 Windrush Lane, Flat Rock, N.C. 28731, Tel. 692-2679, e-mail: alavery@cytechusa.com. Winter meetings are automatically cancelled if the Henderson County Schools are closed because of weather conditions. P.2 Ramblings 2006 Ken Borgfeldt It's time again for a summary of our walks. We've had an active spring/summer with very few cancellations, so here goes: The easy walk to Davidson River/Sycamore Flats featured a wide variety of spring bloomers including an abundance of Golden Ragwort ( Packers aurea ) and May Apple ( Podophyllum peltatum). Tommy Shinn led the walk through Shinn Gardens, which was very lush with diverse flora. We observed and noted the differences between Pale Yellow Trillium (Trillium discolor) and Yellow Toadshade ( Trillium luteum). There were at least 18 fern species for our fern lovers. We were able to visit Coleman Boundary this year as the road washed out by the hurricanes has been repaired. However, the forest service has gated the road to Douglas Falls so we did not lunch there as in the past. The Dwarf Larkspur ( Delphinium tricorne) was as abundant as ever and we were able to find the Wild Comfrey ( Cynoglossum virginianum) in bloom. We returned to Cedar Rock in DuPont State Forest for our May visit. Berries or berry producing shrubs were the major topic of discussion as we saw quite a variety. Additionally, a beautiful Fringe Tree ( Chionanthus virginicus) was in bloom as were the Pinxter Flowers ( Rhododendron periclymenoides). It was a sunny day as Don and Dana Herrman welcomed us to Ramblewood for our summer picnic. Dana led us on a ramble around the property. A highlight of the day was the celebration of Millie Blaha's birthday. She entertained us with a short history of the club and its beginnings. The sightings of numerous blooming Whorled Pogonias ( Isotria verticillata) highlighted the walk to Tanbark Tunnel/Rattlesnake Lodge. We also saw Shooting Star ( Dodecatheon meadia) and Flame Azalea ( Rhododendron calendulaceum). At Cold Mountain Trails, Happy and Jan Fishback led a walk around their property after which we lunched on the deck of their home. We saw a wide variety of blooming plants including an abundance of Flame Azalea ( Rhododendron calendulaceum) and Wild Geranium ( Geranium maculatum). The visit to Falling Creek Camp marked the first rainy walk of the season. We had an off and on drizzle throughout the walk. We generated a number of new additions to our plant list. The camp naturalist, Yates Fair, has requested a copy of our final tally. At the Bluff Mountain Preserve, Beth Bockhoven met us and introduced us to our guides Doug Monroe, Volunteer Preserve Manager, and Fowler Bush, Volunteer Guide. We had a wonderful time and the weather cooperated beautifully. We saw a variety of unusual plants. The star plant was the inconspicuous, yet rare, Lyre-leaved Rock-cress ( Arabidopsis lyrata) threatened or endangered in various states. We were joined on our monthly walk to Cedar Rock in DuPont State Forest by biologist Ed Schwartzman who, along with Dan Pittillo, is conducting the Transylvania County plant inventory for the NC Heritage Program. We saw a French Broad Heartleaf (Hexastylis rhombiformis) which is endemic to a small area south of Asheville that extends south to the headwaters of the Saluda River. The temperatures at Craggy Pinnacle near Craggy Gardens were quite nippy. The Catawba Rhododendron ( Rhododendron catawbiense) was disappointing with just a few blooms. However, the Tassel Rue ( Trautvetteria carolinensis) was excellent. The lunch spot near the top of the pinnacle afforded excellent views. We visited the Buck Spring Nature Trail after a seven-year absence. The brochure prepared by the club has been reissued and we found that all 25 markers were still in place. Some plants identified in the brochure have been crowded out by others but in general the brochure is still relevant. We found a large number of species and feel it might be a good site for next year's focus location. P.3 Hypericum Late summer is a good time to see the flowers of Hypericum, commonly called Saint John’s-wort. The name originated during the dark ages when June 24, the longest day of the year, celebrated the birth of St. John the Baptist. The long summer days brought the flowers into bloom and priests used them in ceremonies to show the power of light over darkness. Different Hypericum species were observed and identified on field trips to Graybeard Mountain and Sky Valley Road. I have five growing in my yard. How many do you know and recognize? Hypericums have opposite leaves and bright yellow flowers. They can be divided into two groups. Those with four petals and either two sepals or four unequal sepals and those with five petals and five sepals. A common name for a four petaled Hypericum is St. Andrew’s Cross. The four narrow petals form a flattened X , the shape of the cross of St. Andrew. This hypericum, Hypericum hypericoides, forms a low mat on the ground and makes a lovely cover that grows in both sun and shade. I have encouraged it in my yard where it carpets large areas of poor soil. Most of the Hypericums have five petals, five sepals and a large number of stamens. The meadow at the top of Graybeard Mountain had large stands of H. graveolens ( Mountain St. John’s-wort) and H. prolificum (Shrubby St. John’s-wort). These perennials are medium sized shrubs with showy blossoms that usually grow at high elevations. The stamens of H. graveolens form a puffy ball in the center of the flower. It was surprising to see a miniature H. prolificum in one of the bonsai displays at the N.C. Arboretum. Hypericum punctatum, H. mutilum and H. gentianoides were found along Sky Valley Road. This is a generally dry area with rock outcrops. H. gentianoides (Pineweed or Orange Grass) is an annual plant that prefers this habitat. It doesn’t look like the rest of the genus. It has tiny sessile flowers at the nodes of branched stems and scalelike leaves H. mutilum (Dwarf St. John’s-wort) is a much branched plant with small leaves and flowers. H. punctatum (Spotted St. John’s-wort) gets it’s name from the dark glands found on the leaves, flower petals and sepals. It is a rather stiff looking plant with few branches. Be watching for Hypericum buckleyi on the rock seeps along the Blue Ridge Parkway. H. densiflorum was identified around the pond at Highlands Botanical Station. Hypericum mutilum Dwarf St. John’s-wort Earlier manuals listed the Hypericums in the family Hypericaceae, but recently they have been changed to the Clusiaceae family. Weakley’s latest draft (2006) has returned to Hypericaceae, saying, “It appears from molecular analysis that recognition of the Hypericaceae may (after all) be warranted.” Since it is the WCBC policy to rely on the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) we will, for now, list Clusiaceae as the Hypericum family. P.4 -Bonnie Arbuckle Gary Kauffman Gary, our guide for the Serpentine Barren field trip, has worked in the past as an erosion control specialist for the Department of Transportation, a botanist for The Nature Conservancy and a part-time teacher at Warren Wilson College, N.C. His job now as a botanist with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) includes ecosystem restoration, public education, locating rare plants, and timber assessment. Ecosystem restoration projects within the USFS generally have the goal of maintaining a certain plant community type. Some of these are rare communities that are fire dependent. One such community is known as a serpentine barren. Gary defines this as “a prairie-like community, dominated by grasses. A narrow band of serpentine rock extends from Georgia north into Maryland, and it comes to the surface only in rare locations to create the serpentine barrens. There is not much topsoil in a serpentine barren and the soil has a higher magnesium to calcium ratio than other forest soils. This selects certain plant species that are not common in the Nantahala forest.” Fire has been excluded from the Nantahala forest for over 50 years and shrub species are overtaking the grasses of the serpentine barrens. The USFS is now supporting restoration of serpentine barrens in the Nantahala forest by prescribed bums. These fires will kill the invading shrubs and open up space for the remnant serpentine plants, rhizomes and seeds to propagate. Gary has also assisted ecologist Cecil Frost and botanist Dave Danley in restoring populations of the rare Hudsonia montanta which grows on rock outcrops in Pisgah Forest. This shrub is only six inches tall so is vulnerable to trampling by hikers and from competition from taller shrubs. Seeds are collected from the remnant populations, then grown in the North Carolina Arboretum, and transplanted back into the natural populations. Signs describing the plants’ life histories are placed near the Hudsonia populations to make hikers aware of the significance of this plant. Another project is the experiment Gary is carrying out with the Blue Ridge Park Service. He is developing a mix of native grass seeds that can be planted along the Blue Ridge Parkway. One of the goals is to create a more diverse, self-sustaining roadside community which will require fewer fertilizers, pesticides and other maintenance practices than the present roadside plantings. Because of lack of money and time restrictions Gary can spend only about 10% of his time on restorations. One year the barrens could not be burned because the necessary staff could not be hired. Monitoring is often limited to just ensuring that the plants are still there. Outside grants can be difficult to obtain and few staff members have the time to apply for them. Ecosystem restoration work is new to the USFS and more research is needed. The problem of invasive species, for example, is receiving more attention from the government and restoration may begin to enjoy a larger role in forest service management. P.5 Rhiannon’s Aster Late in the 1970s and early 1980s, Laura Mansberg was a graduate student at North Carolina State University. For her thesis she was trying to collect and identify all the plants at the Buck Creek Serpentine Barren in western North Carolina. The rocks in a serpentine barren are laced with the mineral serpentine, and as they weather they produce a thin soil with lots of magnesium and little calcium. Most plants require just the opposite. Quoting Jason Smith who wrote an article about this aster in a recent edition of “Endeavors”: “This wild and spiteful soil discourages alfnost everything except scrubby trees, grasses, wildflowers, and botanists.” Mansberg found she could not identify one particular plant growing at Buck Creek. She knew it was a perennial herb, an aster with showy, star-shaped flowers. It was not in any of her guidebooks or manuals. She took some specimens and sent them to several aster experts. After some time, all of them finally decided it could be a new species or a hybrid between two existing species. It was more than 20 years later before an identification was sought again for this plant. In 2003, Alan Weakley, curator of the the University of North Carolina Herbarium, his wife, Allison, their one and a half year old daughter, Rhiannon, and the botanist, Tom Govus, and his wife were at the Buck Creek Serpentine Barren. About midday they stopped to give Rhiannon a rest and a snack. By chance growing all around them was Mansberg’s mystery plant. The two botanists decided it was time the aster was identified. Specimens were collected and sent out to botanists such as Guy Nesom of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas and Gary Kauffman of the USDA Forest Service. It was finally decided by everyone, Nesom, Kauffman, Govus, Weakley and Mansberg, now Laura Cotterman, the publications coordinator at the N.C. Botanical Garden, that this aster was a new species. The plant name was announced in December 2004 - Symphyotrichum rhiannon. Symphyotrichum rhiannon appears to have daisy-sized flowers with purple petals and bright yellow centers. However, Cotterman explains that what looks like one flower is actually a cluster or head of tiny flowers of two kinds: bluish-purple ray flowers and yellow disc flowers. It is possible but not yet proved that Rhiannon’s aster grows only in the Buck Creek Serpentine Barren. It is certain, however, that it is not common and no other like it has been collected and sent to the Herbarium. It is also certain that lots of little girls are named after flowers but few flowers are named after little girls. P.6 Excerpts and quotations from an article by Jason Smith published in the UNC “Endeavors” magazine, Fall 2005 Gentle Conquest. The Botanical Discovery of America with illustrations from the Library of Congress by James L. Reveal When Anne Ulinski first showed me Gentle Conquest. I was immediately entranced, if only by the binding and illustrations. It is beautifully presented with marbled end pieces and ribbon bookmark coming from the spine. The historical color illustrations are from the Library of Congress archives and well- chosen, although somewhat out of sync with the text. I found a copy and purchased it for my collection of botanies. The “gentle conquest” spoken to in the book’s title was the conquest of the New World by naturalists of the past 500 or so years seeking to understand its unique flora and fauna. It is the story of discovery and the adventures of men and women explorers as the history of our country unfolded. It also illustrates well the maturation of our scientific knowledge and methods and the growth of the artistic talents of those who documented the discoveries. Sixteenth century naturalists who first visited the New World looked through eyes developed in “an intellectually stagnate world where for too long knowledge was confined to the classical writings of the ancient Greek and Romans”. Scientific method was not only restrained by its antiquity, but by Christian teachings as well. Astonishment reigned at the heretofore unknown species of plant and animal life and natural curiosity overcame awe and disbelief as new species appeared. Thus began the voyages of study and collection. The Spanish naturalists were the first to visit and the first work of natural history of the New World was published by Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdez in 1526. His Natural History of the West Indies was published in 1 555 and it was this translation that attracted Sir Walter Raleigh to the Americas. Oviedo y Valdez was the first to note, only 30-some years after Columbus’ arrival, the many introduced plants that were becoming naturalized and the destruction they were causing. Sir Walter Raleigh in 1585 brought with him to the new colonies Thomas Hariot, a mathematician and astronomer, and the painter John White. Hariot’s subsequent book (1588) A Brief and True Report of the Newfound Land of Virginia and White’s paintings attracted many new investors and colonists. The French became active in describing the natural products of the New World with gardens both in North America and in Paris. In 1629, the Englishman John Tradescant and his son established a garden and museum in England at Lambeth called “Tradescant’s Ark” and the younger Tradescant traveled to the James River in Virginia in 1637 and gathered many plants and animals for the museum. Many cultivated trees in Europe today owe their origins to the Virginia voyages in 1637, 1642 and 1654. Chapter three of the book (the titles are all printed in an appropriate script) is titled “The Prince and His Disciples”. It introduces Carl Linnaeus “Swedish-born naturalist, teacher, physician to the Queen and self-promoter who proved to be the one person capable of rendering sense from nonsense of the natural world. In recognition of his accomplishments he crowned himself the ‘Prince of Botany’”. He simplified the taxonomy of the 1700’s and began the separation of Botany into a modem discipline. The source of most of the new American species studied by Linnaeus and others was Mark Catesby. Collecting and sharing with Linnaeus also were John Clayton and John Mitchell in the 1716 Spotswood expedition to the Blue Ridge. The book also makes note of plagiarism among early explorers’ work. Prickly Pear ( Opuntia ) Oviedo y Valdez (1535) P.7 Much is written of the contributions of John Bartram and his sons. John Bartram was bom in Darby, Pennsylvania and established along the Schuylkill River a five-acre botanical garden which dominated his and his sons’ lives for nearly a century. Bartram also worked with Linnaeus. Following the deaths of some of the European collectors, the elder Bartram and John Clayton were eventually left by themselves for a time to explore the botanical wonders of temperate North America. They were joined by other younger, interested men and Linnaeus’ influence continued. Thomas Jefferson, even before becoming Secretary of State of our new country, proposed several expeditions to explore the western part of the American continent. A “realistic and promising proposal” by the French botanist Andre Michaux and others, and an imminent treaty providing for the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, gave Jefferson, now President of the United States, a valid excuse for the expedition to the Pacific Ocean. Jefferson selected his private secretary, Meriwether Lewis, to head the expedition and Lewis invited William Clark to be his co-leader. Jefferson instructed Lewis to spend several weeks studying natural history with Benjamin Smith Barton. Lewis was a keen observer and learned quickly. In July of 1803, the expedition set out for the West and in May, 1804 they watched the formal transfer of the Louisiana Territory from the Spanish to the French and from the French to the Americans. As they moved up the Missouri, Lewis collected specimens and sent them back down the Missouri to the President’s home. Jefferson sent them on to Barton who accessioned them into the books of the American Philosophical Society. On November 7, 1805 Lewis saw the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River. The opening of the West by the Lewis and Clark expedition provided a route for explorers with many goals, and further treks were made up of diverse groups. Artists were in great demand and the illustrations were made with varying skills. The best-known botanical artist of the first half of the nineteenth century was Pierre Joseph Redoute. The Pacific territories began to yield its wonders to botanists such as Asa Gray who was an avid proponent in America of Charles Darwin’s thesis. In 1859, “Gray showed an unequivocal floristic relationship between the plants of Japan and southeastern North America that could be explained only by geological and evolutionary processes”. As the frontier began to disappear and gold became the passion, the scope of botanical exploration became more tightly focused. Today the search for uses for botanicals continues in medical and other fields. The work done by the many men and women written of in this book stand as the scaffold for today’s accomplishments. Gentle Conquest is a book that I am pleased to own. I wish that it had an index to the illustrations and plants discovered but leafing through its pages is a pleasure. It is a fine book for the interested generalist . -Betty Carlson Gentle Conquest, was published by Starwood Publishing, Inc. in 1992 oooooooooooooooo This book was presented to the club a few years ago by member Charlotte Lackey. If you would like to borrow it, call Juanita Lambert, at 828-685-0180 P.8 ASHEVILLE NC ZSS SHORTIA c/o Anne Ulinski 1212 Chanteloupe Drive Hendersonville, N.C. 28739 07 SEP 2006 P'M 1 T FIRST CLASS Library *Att: Dr. Buck New York Botanical Garden Bronx, N.Y. 10458-5126 •*: 4. 44. *: t -* i.nilii i ! i ! j I ! i I ! 1 1 i 1 1 1 i S ! i ! iS ! ! ! ! I j ! ! ! I SHORTIA Vol.XXVIll. No. 3 FALL 2006 A quarterly publication of the Western Carolina Botanical Club Editor: Anne Ulinski Editorial Assistants: Pat Arnett and Jean Lenhart Member News: Ruth Anne Gibson Please submit contributions for the next issue by November 15, 2006 to: Anne Ulinski 1212 Chanteloupe Drive, Hendersonville, N.C. 28739 The purpose of the Club is to study the plants of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and the Southeast through field trips and indoor meetings. Membership is open to all. Individual/family memberships are $15. New members joining from the period July 1 -December 31, pay $8. All memberships are renewable on January first of each year. Send dues to: Larry Avery, 4 Windrush Lane, Flat Rock, N.C. 28731 SHORTIA NEWSLETTER OF THE WESTERN CAROLINA BOTANICAL CLUB WINTER 2006 Shortia galacifolia Oconee Bells WESTERN CAROLINA BOTANICAL CLUB President Jenny Lei linger Treasurer Larry Avery Vice President Helen Smith Recorder Ken Borgfeldt Secretary Juanita Lambert oooooooooooooooooooooo From the President Jenny Lellinger I’m often asked the question “Why do the scientific names of plants change so much? Aren’t they supposed to be more stable than common names?” One advantage of using scientific names is that they apply globally. Many circumstances can result in a scientific name change. For instance, recent taxonomic and/or DNA studies of a given plant group may lead to dividing a genus, as was the case recently with Aster. For example, the New England Aster, formerly called A. novae-angliae, is now called Symphyotrichum novae-ang!iae\ and the White Wood Aster, which was called Aster divancatus, is now called Eurybia divaricata. Note that in the latter, the Latin ending of the second part of the name, or specific epithet, agrees with the gender of the genus. In other cases, scientific evidence may lead to the combining of what we had thought of as separate species. For example, the Yellow Wood Sorrels, Oxalis stncta and O. europaea, are now combined under O. stricta. Rules governing the naming of plants are documented in the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. The scientific name given for a species in one source may differ from that in another source. So which name do we use in our WCBC database? I once asked Alan Weakley a similar question, and he replied, “Pick a source and stick with it”, and so we did. We decided to use the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) as our source. The ITIS database was created through a partnership between agencies from US, Mexico, and Canada, and is available online at httnJ/www. it is. eov/index. htmi. We chose this source because other floras relevant to our area are either outdated, incomplete, or in draft form. Common names are often confusing as well. They may vary by region, for example Kalmia latifolia is known in some parts of the country as Mountain Laurel, but locally as Ivy. Other plants are known by multiple, widespread common names, for example Erythronium americanum is known as Trout Lily, Dogtooth Violet, or Adder’s Tongue. Yet, Adder’s Tongue is also the common name for small, primitive ferns of the genus Ophioglossum. For the WCBC database, we usually use the common name given in ITIS, although we are thinking of using more widely known names in some cases. oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Cover The flower on the cover is Shortia galacifolia, Oconee Bells. Our newsletter is named for this southern endemic which is now rare in the wild. P.l MEMBER NEWS New Members Frances Hudleson. Horse Shoe. Frances and her husband moved from Maryland to N.C. four years ago. She is an artist and does watercolors and etchings. Frances Jones. Flat Rock. Frances moved from Washington. D.C. in September where she worked with the U.S. Dept, of State Foreign Service Office. She is interested in learning about wild flowers. Tennis is her hobby. Florence Younkin. Flat Rock. Florence moved here from New York a year ago and now lives in Claremont. She works in the Free Health Clinic and the Literacy Council. She is interested in gardening and wildflowers. Jean Woods. Charlotte. Correction It was Botany Club member Bob Bachand who brought some of his photos to the annual meeting this summer. Winter Meetings Please make a note on your schedules that all the indoor meetings next year will be held at the Bullinaton Center instead of the Sammy Williams Community Center. There will be carpooling from South Gate in Hendersonville with cars leaving promptly at 1:15. Winter meetings will automatically be cancelled when the Henderson County Schools are closed. Check weather reports or call Henderson Co. Schools, 697-4733. Member. Information Any change of address, e-mail or telephone number please inform Larry Avery at 4 Windrush Lane, Flat Rock, N.C. 28731, Tel. 692-2679, e-mail: alavery@cytechusa.com. Annual Dues January 1, 2007 is the date for all membership renewals. Enclose the green renewal form with your check and fill in all the information so we can verify that our membership records are accurate. Rare Plant List The 2006 “List of Rare Plant Species of North Carolina” has recently been published. It includes the N.C. Rare Plant List of vascular plants, with State, Federal and Global rankings. There is also a N.C. Watch List of vascular plants, mosses, hornworts, liverworts, and lichens, and the Watch List by Category (Sandhills, Coastal Plain, Mountains and Piedmont). A section lists plants potentially new to North Carolina, taxa removed from the Rare and Watch Lists since 2004, and name changes since the 2004 edition. The report is available for $5 from the N.C. Natural Heritage Program, N.C. Dept, of Environment and Natural Resources, 1601 MSC, Raleigh, N.C. 27699-1601. It can also be downloaded by going to their web site www.ncnhp.org. These reports are issued every two years. P.2 Ramblings Ken Borgfeldt We've reached the end of another successful walk season. We had a few bumps along the road, especially for two of our members who experienced some very painful bumps. It was a sunny day and not as cool as expected on the trail from Graybeard Mountain to Glassmine Falls Overlook. Several interesting plants were found including Appalachian Sedge ( Carex appalachica), Dotted Hawthorn ( Crataegus punctata), and Dwarf Enchanter's Nightshade ( Circaea alpina). The walk to the old Hendersonville Reservoir was a new one for the club and it was well attended. However, it was one of the hottest walks in the recent memory of several of our members. We were rewarded with the spotting of Butterfly Pea ( Clitoria mariana) in bloom. Keeping with the "hot walk" motif, Sky Valley Road was hot and dusty. It’s always a surprise when we find a variety of unusual plants in such an inhospitable environment. The Fern- leaved False Foxglove ( Aureolaria pedicularia) was in prime condition. The August visit to Cedar Rock Mountain had a light drizzle through most of the walk. Drum Heads ( Polygala cruciata), a special treat for this area, were just beginning to bloom. The trip to Highlands Botanical Garden turned into a muti-stop outing. First the group accompanied by one of the naturalists toured the garden - always a treat. The group lunched at the Davis' home and toured their garden. Afterward several members moved on to Dry Falls. We returned to Frying Pan Gap and couldn't have asked for a better day. Many plants were found in abundance including Mugwort ( Artemisia vulgaris), Spotted Knapweed ( Centaurea biebersteinii) and four different asters in bloom. The fields surrounding Kellogg Center were the site of this walk. Solidagos, Eupatoriums and Ironweed ( Vernonia noveboracensis) were blooming profusely. We found the Walking Fern ( Asplenium rhizophyllum) tucked back in its crevice at the stone wall. The Blue Ridge Parkway South was up to expectations. The Grass-of-Parnassus ( Parnassia asarifolia) were especially plentiful. The overnight trip to the Serpentine Barrens on Buck Creek was led by Gary Kaufman of the Forest Service. We saw many grasses but the highlight of the trip was Rhiannon's Aster (Symphyotrichum rhiannon), a species only found at the barrens. It was a cool autumn day on Coon Branch Trail. Most of the flowering plants were going to seed. Tree identification was the order of the day. The Cat Gap Trail at the Fish Hatchery was another beautiful fall day. Not much was in bloom but the presence of berries on the Spicebush ( Lindera benzoin) was an unusual sight. Of special interest at FENCE were the Bald Cypress ( Taxodium distichum) in their fall colors and an old plantation of Loblolly Pines ( Pinus taeda) pointed out to us by our new member, Chuck Hearon, who works at FENCE. The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid “Who doesn’t love hemlocks? They are majestic and graceful, rising high above the forest floor, shading mountain streams and providing habitat with their thick evergreen boughs. For centuries the hemlock has been a beloved sentinel of our Southern Appalachian landscape.” Unfortunately, there’s something else that’s fond of hemlocks - the tiny aphid-like insect with piercing mouth parts and a voracious appetite for one specific elixir, the sap contained in storage cells at the base of the hemlock needles. The result: yellowed needles, defoliation and eventual death of the tree. The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (uh-DEL-jid) is an illegal immigrant, accidentally carried into the United States in 1924, probably on an ornamental hemlock shipped to the Pacific Northwest. By the mid 1950’s, it had turned up on the East Coast and began a slow, grim march through the forests of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Already it has killed 70-80 percent of the hemlocks in some areas, and foresters as far north as Maine are battling the destructive pest.” But the adelgid has a foe in Clemson University’s Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Botanical Control Laboratory and Dr. Joe Culin, a professor of entomology at Clemson and director of the Lab. He belongs to a small army of scientists and forestry officials experimenting with ways to eliminate the adelgid. One of the most promising methods is biological control -use of carefully-screened predatory insects that attack the pest and stop its spread, but don’t appear to threaten any other species. The beetles are raised in a facility on the Clemson campus and then taken to areas where the adelgid infestations have been observed. During 2004 and 2005, Culin and his colleagues released 300,000 predator beetles (Sasajiscymnus tsugae) in the Chattooga River watershed. This year nearly 170,000 more were released in the Mountain Bridge Wilderness near Table Rock and Caesar’s Head state parks. Culin and his colleagues are looking for volunteers to monitor the sites. The work will involve visiting hemlock trees where the predatory beetles were released, looking for signs of any remaining adelgids and taking photographs. The volunteers will go into the field later this winter, when the adelgids are most active. From “UPSTATE happenings” , the Newsletter of the Upstate Chapter of the SC Native Plant Society, November 2006. oooooooooooo PLANT TALK “We founded PLANT TALK a dozen years ago as an independent vehicle to spread the vital message about plant conservation, to exchange ideas, and to build a worldwide constituency of plant savers.” This message from the editors of PLANT TALK appeared in the April 2006 issue as they announced they can no longer continue to publish the magazine for financial reasons. For those interested in the possibility of an on line publication early in 2007, watch their web side www.plant-talk.org. P.4 Coon Branch Natural Area “I don’t do trees”, I heard a fellow botanical member say once. Lots of us could admit to that and this may be because we have had in the past only a few tree knowledgeable leaders. A former botanical member, Lowell Orbison, labeled all the trees in the Botanical Gardens of Asheville and is rumored to have identified all the trees in Asheville. He made a start with us, but Lowell has since left our area. A botany trip this fall to the Coon Branch trail is changing that and soon some of us may be able to say (with caution), “I do trees”. The date was Friday, October 20, a clear cool autumn day. Ten of us met in the parking lot at the Duke Energy Bad Creek Hydroelectric Station. Our leader, Jenny Lellinger, and co-leader, Alan Graham, had scouted the previous week and had lots of information to share with us. Starting from the parking lot we first saw some exotic trees put there at some time in the past for what reason we do not know. The first was a maple Alan identified as Acer grinnata, Amur maple, a species rumored to have come from Siberia. Elaeagnus augustifolia, Russian olive, was familiar, and the unusual acorn caps helped identify an oak as Quercus acutissima, Sawtooth oak. After crossing an open field, we climbed some steps to find a group of pine trees. Easy! Count the number of needles in a bundle - two? three? five? any twisted? Look for tufts of needles present on the trunk. Look at the size and shape of the cones and if any are armored (have prickles along their edges). Four species of pines were identified at Coon Branch: Shortleaf, ( Pinus echinata), Pitch (P rigida), White, (P. strobus) and Virginia (P. Virginiana). Later the pines we would see would be so old and tall that it would take binoculars to count the needles. As we went along the trail, Jenny and Alan identified for us six species of oak trees: White oak ( Quercus alba), Chestnut oak (Q. prinus), Northern red oak (Q. rubra), Southern red oak (Q. falcata), Black oak (Q. velutina) and Water oak (Q. nigra). Familiar trees followed: Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum), Sweet gum ( Liquidambar styraciflua), Fraser magnolia ( Magnolia f rased), Tulip tree ( Linodendron tulipifera), Black locust (Robinia psuedoacacia), Sassafras ( Sassafras albidum), Redbud ( Cercis canadensis), Canada hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) and an American holly seedling, ( Ilex opaca). Identified but less familiar were: Witch hazel ( Hamamelis virginiana), a small American chestnut ( Castanea dentata), Black birch ( Betula lenta), Yellow birch ( Betula alleghaniensis), American beech ( Fagus grandifolia), Black willow ( Salix nigra), Basswood ( Tilia amencana v. heterophylla) and Common chinquapin ( Castanea pumila). We learned tree identification vocabulary, too: leaves and leaflets (simple or compound), lenticils (bark markings), bristles (on leaf edges), aromatic (leaves, twigs), glands (on back of leaves), prickles (on pine cones) and double-toothed (along leaf edge). All this tree knowledge (30 trees identified), a total of 70 herbaceous plants and ferns identified and lunch by the sparkling Whitewater River. Thank you Alan and Jenny. -Anne Ulinski P.5 Prairies of the North Carolina Piedmont In 1540 Hernando de Soto reported many open “savannas” in his journey through the Carolina Piedmont. In 1670, John Lederer traveled to the vicinity of Charlotte and his map showed a huge area of the Piedmont east of the Appalachians labeled SAVANAE, the Latin word for prairies. In 1701, the English explorer, John Lawson, found a prairie near Salisbury, N.C. that was 25 miles across. A Piedmont prairie is defined as a landscape covered by grass and wildflowers and few trees. Since the usual abundant rainfall of 45-55 inches in the Piedmont would normally support forests of large trees that would cast too much shade for grass and other prairie plants to survive, why did the early explorers find prairies throughout the Piedmont? It is believed that the Native Americans, who inhabited the Carolina Piedmont for at least 12,000 years, maintained these open landscapes through fire in order to drive game, facilitate travel and maintain agricultural land. Over the centuries prairie plants of the Midwest such as little bluestem, Indian grass and switchgrass moved eastward into the Carolinas. They are common in the Carolina Piedmont today and were probably part of the original Piedmont prairie ecosystem. American bison or buffalo and elk also moved from the Midwest and were reported in 1750 as abundant throughout the Carolina Piedmont. As the Native Americans were replaced by settlers, the burning ceased and the Piedmont prairie has almost disappeared from the landscape. With recent attempts to save the federally endangered Schweinitz’s sunflower ( Helianthus schweinitzii ), came an interest in finding a site for this flower. In 1994 the Mecklenburg County Division of Natural Resources began the restoration of Piedmont prairies. One of the first was at the Latta Plantation Nature Preserve near Charlotte. After several burnings the prairie landscape began to emerge and in 1995 and 1996 more than 200 Schweinitz’s sunflowers were moved to the Latta prairie. This sunflower is the most acclaimed prairie plant. No one knows why it is so rare but there have been found only a few remnant populations along roadsides and power lines. It is hoped that the prairie restorations will ensure this species does not become extinct. The Prairie Restoration Program now includes six additional properties which were first identified by mafic soils, native grasses, and rare prairie plants. The program has expanded from a rare and endangered plant community to a comprehensive, adaptive conservation strategy known as the Management of Early Successional Habitats (MESH). This includes management goals for common native plants and wildlife species. In October of this year when the S.C. Native Plant Society sponsored a trip to the Latta prairie, three members of the Botany Club joined them and saw the sunflower in bloom as well as the rare Georgia aster ( Symphyotrichum georgianum), the rare smooth coneflower {Echinacea laevigata), and many prairie grasses. P.6 The Magnoliaceae Living Legends and Fossils In our last issue to the New Leaf,* Ellen Fleming provided us with insights to and garden locations of the Magnoliaceae (Magnolia Family), represented by the two genera: Liriodendron and Magnolia. Did you know that the species of these two groups represent “living fossils”? They deserve that name because plant taxonomists and morphologists (those who study reproductive form and life cycle details) think of the Magnoliaceae as representing an evolutionary trend between the gymnosperms (plants bearing naked seeds on cone scales, characteristic of conifers) and angiosperms (flowering plants or those with seeds borne in a container - the fruit). Let’s take a look at some of the major evolutionary trends, listed below, that relate to these two groups: 1) Predominately woody trees and shrubs to predominately herbaceous plants. This means that in a group of plants, generally, the herbaceous habit will be considered most advanced and the tree habit more primitive. 2) Water conducting tissue (xylem) consisting of tracheids (short pointed cells) to that consisting of vessels (long straw-like functional units from the fusion of many cells). 3) Spiral arrangement of reproductive parts to whorled arrangements of such parts. 4) An elongated axis supporting the spirally arranged parts (a cone or strobilus) to a short axis supporting non spirally arranged parts (a flower). In other words, in the evolution of the flower, the floral axis is no longer elongated and becomes compressed. The area of it remaining at the base of a flower is called the receptacle and all flower parts originate from it in whorls. 5) Numerous reproductive parts (organs) to few reproductive parts. 6) Undifferentiated nonessential organs (tepals) to differentiated nonessential organs (sepals and petals). 7) Seeds (sperma) are borne nakedly (exposed) on a cone scale (hence the name gymnosperm) to seeds borne enclosed in a container known as a fruit (hence the name angiosperm or seeds contained within). Well how do the Magnoliaceae fit into the scheme of things? Let’s look at the wood anatomy of a tulip tree, Linodendron, and a cucumber magnolia, Magnolia acumenata. Examination under the microscope reveals that these two species have xylem tissue consisting of mixed tracheids and vessels. Since gymnosperms have only tracheids in their xylem and all other angiosperms have only vessels making up their xylem, then the woody water-conducting units of the magnolia shows us that we have a transition with regard to xylem change and specialization. The magnolia’s xylem vessels are more functionally efficient water transporting units than those of tracheids. Therefore, based on xylem anatomy, we can conclude that the gymnosperms, including all conifers, are considered more primitive; the Magnoliaceae are transitional; and all the other flowering plants (angiosperms) are more advanced. (See Figure I.) P.7 Next, let’s look at the form of the flower of the magnolia and tulip tree. They both have an inner and elongated floral axis from which spirally arranged parts originate. The out- ermost sets of nonessential organs are called tepals (meaning undifferentiated sepals and petals). The numerous and upper flower parts on the floral axis are the pistils (essential organs which will bear the fruits and seeds). The numerous and lower essential organs are the stamens which bear the pollen. You won’t be able to find any flowers in the gardens at this time of the year as these trees usually bloom in May or June. However, we can find fruits during all our season. Look for the magnolia’s fruits under one of the Botanical Garden’s many trees. Notice that the magnolia’s numerous fruits are spirally arranged on an inner floral axis and bear red seeds. The fruits are splitting open to release the seeds. Also, notice the scars arranged in a distinct spiral on the floral axis just below the fruits. These are scars where the numerous stamens were attached. If you have really good eyes or a hand lens, you can see some more scars (fewer and a bit larger than those of the stamens). These are remnants of where the tepals were attached. (See Figure 2.) Now look for tulip tree fruits. These are a little bit different from the magnolia because they are dry and wing-like and have enclosed seeds. They do not split open. However, they are numerous and spirally arranged on the floral axis. They are released from top to bottom as they mature and one clearly can see the floral axis as it remains exposed. As with the magnolia fruits, look for stamen and tepal scars near the bottom of the floral axis. The illustrations shown provide you with a basis for noting the features of the xylem, flowers, and fruits described above. (See Figure 3.) The next time you are on a botanical or nature walk, look for the characteristics expressed by the flowers and fruits of these trees. Then you will know why botanists think of the Magnolia family as consisting of living fossils. Truly, they are representative of evolutionary trends that occurred between the gymnosperms and angiosperms several million years ago. The fossil records provide us with the same evidence! As a result, the consensus of most plant taxonomists is that the Magnoliaceae is considered to be the group of angiosperms retaining the greatest number of primitive characteristics. Figure 1 . A schematic longitudinal section of a xylem vessel and xylem tracheids. Figure 2. A schematic representation of the fruit and leaf of the cucumber magnolia Figure 3. A schematic representation of the flower, fruit and leaf of the tulip tree *This article appeared in New Leaf, a publication of the Botanical Gardens of Asheville (Fall 2006) and is reprinted with permission of the author, Edward J. Hauser. SHORTIA do Anne Ulinski 1212 Chanteloupe Drive Hendersonville, N.C. 28739 FIRST CLASS Library *Att: Dr. Buck New York Botanical Garden Bronx, N.Y. 10458-5126 o n n SHORTIA Vol.XXVIll. No. 4 Winter 2006 A quarterly publication of the Western Carolina Botanical Club Editor: Anne Ulinski Editorial Assistants: Pat Arnett and Jean Lenhart Member News: Ruth Anne Gibson Please submit contributions for the next issue by February 15, 2007 to: Anne Ulinski 1212 Chanteloup Drive, Hendersonville, N.C. 28739 The purpose of the Club is to study the plants of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and the Southeast through field trips and indoor meetings. Membership is open to all. Individual/family memberships are $15. New members joining from the period July 1-December 31, pay $8. All memberships are renewable on January first of each year. Send dues to: Larry Avery, 4 Windrush Lane, Flat Rock, N.C. 28731