September 2010

Vol. 29, No. 4
ISSN 1085-9632

A publication of the VIRGINIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY

www.vnps.org

Conserving wild flowers and wild places

BRIT Press will publish Flora of Virginia

A concept of the cover of the Flora of Virginia. Pre¬
liminary watercolor rendering of Claytonia
virginica by Lara Call Gastinger. The BRIT Press
logo may be seen on the spine.

It's official! The BRIT Press will be
the publisher of the Flora of Virginia.

The Flora of Virginia Project and
the publishing arm of the Botanical
Research Institute of Texas, in Fort
Worth, signed an agreement in July
that moves the creation of the Flora a
giant step forward. Publication is set
for late 2012.

"The BRIT Press is delighted to
be working with the Flora of Vir¬
ginia Project in publishing this re¬
markable flora," said Barney
Lipscomb, Dorothea Leonhardt
Chair of Texas Botany with BRIT
and head of the BRIT Press. "The
Flora of Virginia is a 21st-century
flora that will present critical infor¬
mation about the plant life of Vir¬
ginia and surrounding states."

The Flora will be the most mod¬
ern single-volume flora for our region
and will reflect the latest advances
in genetics and thought in plant bio-
systematics. It will be the first state¬
wide plant manual for Virginia since
Flora Virginica in 1762.

"We are very happy to have a
publisher—but we're especially
happy that it's the BRIT Press," said

Chris Ludwig, director of
the Flora of Virginia Project
and a co-author of the Flora
of Virginia. "This is such a
good match, and that has
been clear since our first
conversations over a year
ago." In April, Ludwig vis¬
ited BRIT and met with
Lipscomb, after which only
a few details remained to be
worked out.

BRIT's mission illus¬
trates why the Flora of Vir¬
ginia is in the right hands.

As its website states, "BRIT
is a global institute for the
conservation and preserva¬
tion of plant diversity
through research, education, scientific
publications, and collections." Its
press reflects its commitment to botani¬
cal research through the worldwide
distribution of books and journals. In
addition to the semiannual Journal of
the Botanical Research Institute of Texas
(formerly Sida ), the BRIT Press's edi¬
tions include systematic monographs,
botanical histories, and floras like
Shinners & Mahler's Illustrated Flora

of North Central Texas and the Illus¬
trated Flora of East Texas of which
Lipscomb is a co-author.

The Flora of Virginia will be some
1,400 pages long, describing more than
3,500 plant species native to or natural¬
ized in Virginia, of which 1,400 will be
illustrated with pen-and-ink drawings
commissioned for the book. Final con¬
tent review is under way, and
copyediting will begin this fall. The fi¬
nal manuscript will be handed off to
the BRIT Press at the beginning of 2012.
There, the Flora will be designed, laid
out, and prepared for the printer. The
BRIT Press will also spearhead market¬
ing efforts.

(See Going to press , page 8)

Let me tell you a thing or two
about removing invasives!
See page 6

- Bulletin of the Virginia Native Plant Society

From the president .

Summer's diverse habitats bring comfort

It's the heat of summer, breeze swishing the leaves in the treetops, a few
yellow ones drifting down with each gust, and the fountain is on so I can hear
the sound of water.

Recent trips to the mountains have shown again the amazing differences in
habitat across the state. While plants here are in a summer lull, only a few Monardas and Rud-
beckias for company, the roadsides in the mountains have diverse blooms, from columbines that fin¬
ished here long ago on the Shenandoah Valley floor to late-summer flowers like the common milkweed
(Asclepias syriacaj that haven't started yet. And there are high-elevation plants like Indian plantain
(Cacalia atriplicifoliaj, poke milkweed (Asclepias exaltata) and fly poison (Amianthium
muscaetoxicum). The summer is compressed into a shorter season, and thick clouds of bumblebees,
butterflies and others are at their seasonal work.

Our late summer wave of bloom in the Valley is beginning though. The first red of Lobelia
cardinalis, heads of Joe-pye weed (Eupatorium spp.), those curious buttons of the buttonbush
(Cephalanthus occidentalism, and a few Helianthus have appeared recently.

In this extremely hot summer, in spite of herbicided power lines and oily water, I am feeling lucky
and grateful for the good things I have around me, and I'm hoping that VNPS can help to find a way

to keep more of the land beautiful and healthy. _ „ . T _ TT „ T

Your President, Sally Anderson

Visit forestry center, unique sand dunes with VNPS

Register now and join experts on
back-to-back VNPS state field trips on
Friday, October 1, and Saturday, Octo¬
ber 2. Both trips run 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
On October 1, join retired William and
Mary professor Donna Ware for an
insider's visit to the New Kent Forestry
Center (NKFC). The center celebrated
its 50th anniversary in 2002, having
produced more than 1.6 billion seed¬
lings and received recognition as a

world premier forest nursery and re¬
search station. Located on more than
400 acres of mostly upland terrain
along the Chickahominy River, NKFC
is operated by the Virginia Department
of Forestry. Its mission has always
been the production of quality seed¬
lings. During the morning portion of
our visit, Lisa Deaton, forest education
specialist, will describe current re¬
search at NKFC, which focuses on at

least 10 species in addition to loblolly
pine, including American chestnut,
Atlantic white cedar, longleaf pine, as
well as native warm season grasses,
and longleaf pine. She will also present
information on the various plant com¬
munities represented on the site.

NKFC maintains a nature trail
and boardwalk built by local Boy
Scouts and Girl Scouts through a bald-
(See VNPS field trips on page 8)

VNPS 2010 State Field Trips

$10 donation per trip. Please register with the VNPS Office at 400 Blandy Farm Lane #2, Boyce, V4 22620, vnpsofc@shentel.net
or phone 540-837-1600.

October 1,10:30 a.m.-3 p.m.

Walk the boardwalk through a swamp at what was formerly the New Kent Forestry Center near Providence Forge.
Trip will be led by College of William and Mary botanist Donna Ware.

October 2,10:30 a.m.-3 p.m.

See a 50-foot sand dune, many plant communities, and a beach that is home to rare northeastern beach tiger beetles
at Savage Neck Dunes Natural Area Preserve. Led by Natural Heritage botanist Dot Field.

I would like to attend the following trips:_$10 New Kent Forestry Center _ $10 Savage Neck Dunes

_TOTAL Enclose check with this information or call the office to register with credit card.

NAME - VNPS CHAPTER -

ADDRESS - PHONE -

EMAIL

\___ J

Page 2

September 2010

_ Bulletin of the Virginia Native Plant Society :

SwordAeaved phlox

VNPS support helps rediscover rare plant

As a result of a Virginia Native
Plant Society-sponsored botanical
survey, a globally rare plant is back
on the maps in Virginia. Sword¬
leaved phlox was "rediscovered" af¬
ter Department of Conservation and
Recreation's Natural Heritage field
botanist, Nancy VanAlstine, con¬
ducted surveys to relocate historical
occurrences of the globally rare phlox
(Phlox buckleyi, G2/S2), known only
from western Virginia and eastern
West Virginia.

This perennial herb, which blooms
in May and June, is typically found in
open shale woods, and has not been
reported in 30 years. The 2010 survey
effort in May and June focused on relo¬
cating occurrences in Craig, Wythe,

Pulaski and Rockbridge Counties. Dur¬
ing the surveys in May and June,
sword-leaved phlox was found in five
of the nine historical locations where
the plant was sought.

During the June survey, popula¬
tions of the plant were relocated and
more accurately mapped for three of
the five occurrences, with one along
a road in Craig County north of New
Castle within the George Washing¬
ton and Jefferson National Forests,
one with two colonies along a road
bank near Max Meadows in Wythe
County, and one consisting of mul¬
tiple colonies along a road within the
national forest west of Pulaski.

Sword-leaved phlox was not
found in two other sites: a Wythe

County location with probable in¬
creased road bank disturbances
since the original discovery, and a
Rockbridge County site that may
have either been subject to habitat
degradation since the original find
or the description may have been
misinterpreted. Additionally, dur¬
ing the June field work two small
road-bank colonies were found be¬
yond the previously documented lo¬
cations, one in Pulaski County and
one in Wythe County. The survey is
part of a larger project, funded by the
Virginia Native Plant Society, to re¬
locate historical occurrences of rare
plants around the state.

Reprinted from Virginia Natural
Heritage E-News, Summer 2010

June field trip opens eyes to forest dynamics

SIGEO and NEON—that's sci¬
ence, not alphabet soup

At our June outing to the Smith¬
sonian Conservation Biology Insti¬
tute (formerly the Conservation Re¬
search Center) we spent much of our
time at the SIGEO Forest Dynamics
Plot with our tour leader Norm Bourg,
plant ecologist and ecological re¬
search programs manager. This acro¬
nym signifies the Smithsonian Insti¬
tution Global Earth Observatory, and
grew out of the tropical forest plots
that have been studied by the
Smithsonian's Center for Tropical
Forest Science since the first plot was
established on Barro Colorado Is¬
land, Panama, in 1980. This study
grew into a network of about 30 plots
worldwide, each 25 to 50 hectares
(about 62-124 acres). According to the
center's website, a common plot struc¬
ture and scientific methodology unify
the network. All free-standing trees
with a diameter at breast height of at
least 1 cm. (0.4 inches) are tagged,
measured, identified to species, and
recensused approximately every five
years. Because each plot follows the

September 2010^= -

same methodology, scientists can di¬
rectly compare data collected from
different forests around the world
and detect patterns that would oth¬
erwise be impossible to recognize.

SIGEO represents the addition
of temperate forest plots to this net¬
work. The same scale and method¬
ology are used. At the site south of
Front Royal, Virginia, the 25-ha.
plot established in 2008 sits at the
intersection of Blue Ridge, Ridge
and Valley, and Piedmont physi¬
ographic provinces and is covered
in a mature second-growth mixed
deciduous forest. Tree bands can be
seen on many of the larger trees, and
provide a precise measurement of
growth. The initial inventory re¬
corded 40,400 trees and shrubs of
65 species, plus 7 woody vine spe¬
cies. Several other types of ecologi¬
cal studies are ongoing, and volun¬
teers can participate in some of
these projects.

Included within the SIGEO plot
is a 4-ha. (10-acre) deer exclosure.
Although some deer occasionally
visit the exclosure, they are soon

chased out. We found a fawn in the
exclosure when we visited, and Norm
told us that the mothers usually man¬
age to come in after them. The fence
does not exclude any other species,
including bears, which seem to have
no problem passing over the farm
fence topped with several strands of
wire. The results of excluding the deer
are seen in the many tree seedlings
that survive to become adults, and in
the paucity of invasive plants, which
are found outside of the exclosure.

The field trip site is also the core
station for the National Ecological
Observatory Network (NEON) Mid-
Atlantic domain. NEON observato¬
ries will collect data across the
United States on the impacts of cli¬
mate change, land-use change and
invasive species, and the effects of
those changes on natural resources
and biodiversity. There are 20 do¬
mains that include all 50 states and
Puerto Rico. NEON is a relatively
new project of the U.S. National Sci¬
ence Foundation, with many other
U.S. agencies and nongovernmental

(See Trees , page 7)

Page 3

Bulletin of the Virginia Native Plant Society =

Ancient longleafpine habitat being restored

In early June, a group of John
Clayton Chapter members gathered in
Sussex County for a tour of the Joseph
Pines Preserve. Hundreds of years ago,
a climax longleaf pine forest probably
stood here. This unique and incredibly
diverse ecosystem, once dominant in
the southeastern United States, histori¬
cally reached its northern limit here in
southeast Virginia. But the most evi¬
dent indication of a formerly grand eco¬
system at the preserve are the remains

Pinus Palustris, longleafpine

of an old longleaf stump that had been
sacrificed to the business of lumber, tar,
pitch, and turpentine production.

Today, through much effort by the
scientists and volunteers of
Meadowview Biological Research Sta¬
tion, minimal funding, and the heal¬
ing hand of nature, the preserve is in
the early stages of recovery. In its
present state the front of the preserve
is a 30-plus-year-old mixed loblolly
pine/hardwood stand. Here the
Meadowview team has conducted five
understory, growing-season burns to
restore a wetland pine savanna. At the
back of the preserve 45 acres have been
cleared, burned, chemically treated,
and replanted with certified native
Virginia longleaf pine. Scattered

Page 4

throughout the preserve are a number
of sphagnous seepage bogs with na¬
tive pitcher plants.

Our walk was led by Phil
Sheridan, president and director of
the Meadowview Biological Research
Station that owns the 100-acre pre¬
serve. As Phil explained to us, the
longleaf pine ecosystem was evolu-
tionarily dependent on lightning-
caused fires. The high resin content of
the fallen needles of Pinus palustris,
and their tendency to decompose
slowly are two of the conditions that
allowed the frequent fires that encour¬
aged the growth of the characteristic
early-successional array of flora—hot
enough to discourage growth of
shade-creating hardwoods and un¬
derstory shrubs, but not so intense as
to kill the fire-resistant longleaf pines.

Hundreds of plant species pros¬
pered in the characteristic fire-robbed,
nutrient-poor soils of established
longleaf forests. Clues that Joseph
Pines was once inhabited by such an
ecosystem are some of the flora recently
discovered there such as red milkweed
(Asclepias rubra), Collins's sedge ( Carex
collinsii), Rafinesque's seedbox
(Ludwigia hirtella), and the sandhill's
fire lily ( Lilium pyrophilum). Histori¬
cally in damp depressions of the fire-
cleared forest, one could also find the
yellow pitcher plant (Sarracenia flava)
and pink sundew ( Drosera capillaris ),
two carnivorous plant species we saw
at Joseph Pines.

Unfortu¬
nately, the
pitcher plant
and many
other species
have been
eradicated
from their na¬
tive territory.

Indeed only
two wild
populations
of the endan¬
gered yellow
pitcher plant
still exist in
Virginia, and

John Clayton members explore the Jo¬
seph Pines Preserve while on afield trip.
(All photos by Phillip Merritt)

these are not thriving. But here is the
good news. Pitcher plants of rare popu¬
lations are being propagated at the
Meadowview facility both from seed
and divisions and then are returned
to the wild. We were thrilled to see the
product of this unique work in sev¬
eral thriving pitcher plant bogs, the
largest stands of their kind in Virginia!

Of course, successful establish¬
ment of the pitcher plant is only a part

(See Joseph Pines, page 7)

Sarracenia flava, yellow pitcher plant

September 2010

Bulletin of the Virginia Native Plant Society

Catalpas, moths have unique relationship

Catalpa trees are part of my coun-

y Vv

try landscape. Their preference for

/fv

moist soil allows them to grow near

1 . >

r' f rJ

roadside ditches or near streams.

Sometimes a specimen tree is seen

t \ ^

in an old farm's front yard.

J

Their lacy white blossoms
against a background of
deep green leaves are
arrestingly beautiful. The cat-
alpa can also be seen in urban
settings; a large tree filling a small
quarter-acre lot. Winter views of ma¬
ture trees reveal twisted gnarled
trunks with irregularly placed
branches that match mountain
top trees shaped by harsh cli¬
mate elements.

Last summer, a vehicle hit a
young Catalpa tree nearby. Several
days after the accident, the tree was
defoliated. Only its cigar-like seed-
pods were hanging from the
branches. No leaf was on the tree and
it was easy to jump to the conclu¬
sion that the tree was dying as a re¬
sult of the accident. There had been
evidence of some small fire related
to the crash.

The tree remained upright and
defoliated, but a few days later, new
leaves began emerging. Within three
weeks, that tree had a new leaf
canopy of large green leaves. It was
not the crash that caused its trauma.
Catalpa worms (sphinx moth cater¬
pillars, Ceratomia catalpae ) were defo¬
liating the tree at the time of the
crash. They didn't attack the seed-
pods, which are sometimes called In¬
dian beans or Indian cigars, that
were hanging from the branches like
giant green beans. The tree com¬
pleted its normal life cycle that year
and the next year the defoliation
cycle began again. Leaves, blooms,
pods, defoliation, and re-leafing.

Controlling the caterpillars of
the sphinx moth is not popular. The
reason lies in the following question-
and-answer. What native southern
tree species is associated with large-
mouth bass fishing? Answer: Both
southern catalpa ( Catalpa
bignonioides ) and northern catalpa

September 2010^=

naturalized after being introduced
from the Deep South and the Midwest.

As a landscape tree enjoyed for its
flowers and interesting architecture, it
might be better for it not to
be a center of landscape fo¬
cus if the sphinx moth lar¬
vae strike, leaving the tree
defoliated even for the short
duration of a week or two.
Knowing that the defoliation
period is brief, using chemical
control for the caterpillars is not
usually considered.

Catalpa trees have had only

Catalpa leaf, blossom, and seed pod, as well as a sphinx sli S ht economic importance be-

moth caterpillar (Illustration by Nicky Staunton)

(Catalpa speciosa)\ An on-going catalpa
industry exists selling catalpa worms
that produce two broods per year. Fish¬
ermen consider these larvae a treasured
bait. After reading how the caterpillars
are used, a fly lure mimicking the worm
might be preferred by those with a
squeamish stomach.

A healthy market on eBay for both
fresh and frozen caterpillars hovers
at about $40 for six dozen. Actually
they are alive when removed from the
packing and thawed. Katawba Gold
is one company offering the bait.
Largemouth bass reportedly have a
voracious appetite for the three-inch
black and pale yellow caterpillar with
the characteristic long black spike
tail or horn.

The catalpa tree creates many
emotions for those who enjoy its
blooms, ache with its defoliation
and then rejoice when it leafs out
again as a renewed tree until winter
takes its leaves once again. Because
not all catalpa trees are selected by
the sphinx moth, some never lose all
their leaves to the caterpillars. Not
everyone is aware that the catalpa
tree leaves are the sole host for the
catalpa sphinx moth, but fishermen
know!

The words catawba and
kawtawba are informal names for the
catalpa. No matter the spelling, nei¬
ther tree species is native to Virginia.

In the Old Dominion, the trees have

yond the landscape nursery
business. The wood has
strength enough to have been used for
fence posts, but generally is not consid¬
ered of key economic value. Catalpa
trees are in the Bignoniaceae family
with trumpet vine ( Campis radicans ) and
cross-vine ( Bignonia capreolata ). The in¬
vasive non-native princess tree ( Pau-
lownia tomentosa) was once classified in
the Bignoniaceae family before being
moved to Paulowniaceae, and, more
recently, into Scrophularaceae accord¬
ing to the USDA website. The new Vir¬
ginia Flora , however, will keep it in
Paulowniaceae.

Two venerable and beautiful old cat¬
alpa trees survived the Civil War in
Chatham, Virginia, near Fredericksburg.
Their photographs can be seen and their
story read in the Remarkable Trees of Vir¬
ginia (Nancy Ross Hugo and Jeff
Kirwan, with photographs by Rob¬
ert Llewellyn). The trees were part
of the antebellum landscape of the
home that served as a hospital there
on the heights. The young catalpa
trunks witnessed the carnage of
war. In 1978, the trees were esti¬
mated to be 160 to 170 years old.
The astounding beauty of their
knotty gnarled and hollow trunks
remains and they still support beau¬
tiful blossoms. Hopefully, the
sphinx moth keeps its distance from
these inspirational and remarkable
catalpa trees.

Nicky Staunton, VNPS vice-president

-Page 5

Bulletin of the Virginia Native Plant Society

Goats put biological brakes
on invasive plant species

W e have all seen the choking de¬
struction of invasive alien plant
species: autumn olive, Ailanthus, Japa¬
nese honeysuckle, Asian bittersweet,
kudzu, Bradford pear, and multi¬
flora rose can take over a
tract of land and wipe
out native habitats
within a few years. Often
the only recourse for re¬
claiming an area is
bushhogging or apply¬
ing heavy applications
of herbicide.

But now there is a
faster, easier, more organic
way to rid an area of
invasives. Enter goats—in
this case South African
Boer Bok goats. These large
goats, raised for meat, ac¬
tually prefer eating with
their heads up, foraging
and browsing off of
shrubs rather than putting
their heads down and
grazing. In the Shenan¬
doah Valley, Linda and
Clay Trainum of Autumn Olive Farms
are participating in a pilot land-recla¬
mation project sponsored by the
Shenandoah Resource Conservation
and Development Council in partner¬
ship with the Headwaters Soil and
Water Conservation District. The pur¬
pose is to restore ecological balance
within a habitat.

The Frontier Culture Museum in
Staunton offered up the perfect labora¬
tory for the project because it had sev¬
eral fields badly overgrown with
Bradford pear seedlings from a nearby
memorial avenue of the trees as well as
autumn olives and multiflora roses. The
Trainums devised a plan to rotate 36
does and a buck through several fields.
The animals were fenced in behind a

flexible electrified mesh fence and pro¬
tected by a Great Pyrenees guardian
dog. Within days the animals had
turned the once-impenetrable field into
a stripped-out war zone while gently
fertilizing the field with their droppings.
And, should any of the invasive seeds
happen to enter the goats' digestive
tracts, the odds of germinating after ex¬
iting are very slim. Further, unlike cattle

in a field, goats don't like to get their feet
wet, so if there is a stream within an
area being cleared, they will not degrade
the stream banks by stepping down into
the water. They will never stand
in the stream and defecate.

The goats, who can strip an
acre in a few days, will be ro¬
tated from field to field every few
weeks. Plants such as autumn
olive will attempt to put out new
growth two or three times but
eventually give up and die after
being munched on time and
again. At that point, when the
invasives are gone, the field is
ready to be prepared and re¬
planted with native species.

The result is a win-win for

everyone. It turns out that some of the
more nutritious forages that produce
some of the best meat are those
invasives that seem to thrive even
during droughts, giving these rumi¬
nants food while other livestock
owners bring out the hay. The result
is a highly nutritious, natural meat
product that is low in fat and choles¬
terol. And, apparently, it is delicious as
well—the meat is
highly sought after
by local restau¬
rants that special¬
ize in fresh, local
food products.

In addition
to their project at
the Frontier Mu¬
seum, 44 other
Trainum goats
are hard at
work south of
Staunton trying
to eradicate an
impenetrable
field of autumn
olive shrubs. We
are all rooting
for them! If you
would like to
follow the culi¬
nary adventures
of the Trainum's goats, visit
www.autumnolivefarms.blogspot.com.

Nancy Sorrells
VNPS Bulletin Editor

A herd of goats teams up on an autumn olive. (Photos by Nancy Sorrells)

Page 6 September 2010

Bulletin of the Virginia Native Plant Society

• Joseph Pines -

(Continued from 4)

of Meadowview's goals. It is also dedicated to restoration of an integrated longleaf
pine-pitcher plant habitat for 18 rare plant and three rare animal taxa. The back¬
bone of the restoration effort is the establishment of native Virginia longleaf pines.
The germplast for the trees planted at Joseph Pines, unlike those of other restora¬
tion sites, was gathered from native Virginia stock. In an effort to capture the
local genome, the scientists and volunteers at the preserve took on the arduous
process of gathering cones still hanging from some of the 4,432 native trees in the
state and propagating those seeds. At the age of 1 year, the seedlings were planted,
and today, 5,000 longleaf pines at the preserve are 2 to 9 years old.

Another key to the sustainability of the longleaf-pitcher plant community
is understanding surface-water and ground-water flows at the preserve. Re¬
search projects are being conducted by Old Dominion University students
and volunteers to determine how water reaches the bogs, to understand the
make-up of the soils, and to learn the type and age of any seeds found in soil
plugs. Finding pitcher plant seeds, or better yet, viable pitcher plant seeds,
would be exciting news indeed!

The work accomplished by the Meadowview team members is unprec¬
edented in the state and a testament to their vision and the challenge still before
them. They plan to expand the preserve to 234 acres by purchasing two adjoin¬
ing properties, which will allow almost complete control of the local bog water¬
shed. The original purchase of Joseph Pines (100 acres at $100,000) was accom¬
plished entirely from small donations by members. Continued generous dona¬
tions are necessary to make this conservation work possible. Donations are tax
deductible because Meadowview is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Make
sure to check out the John Clayton website (www.claytonvnps.org) and follow
the link to "Photo Gallery" and then to Phillip Merritt’s photographs to see more
of Joseph Pines. Also, learn more about the Joseph Pines project and how you can
help at www.pitcherplant.org. Terri Cuthriell, John Clayton Chapter

See the address label for your membership expiration date

VNPS Membership /Renewal Form

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Membership dues are tax deductible in the amount they exceed $5. Contributions are tax deductible in accordance with IRS regulations.

• Trees

(Continued from page 3)

organizations cooperating. Its
purpose is to study continen¬
tal-scale questions about our
environment and seems to be fo¬
cused on climate change and
biological invasions.

Our group also stopped
by a recently sown warm sea¬
son grass plot that had not
sprouted for lack of moisture
and so there was little to see.
The SCBI grows food for our
nation's zoo and plans to test
native grasses for use as for¬
age and at the same time have
a wildlife-friendly pasture.
We also visited the American
chestnut orchard. There we
were lucky to have along
Cathy Mayes, who heads
Virginia's chapter of the
American Chestnut Founda¬
tion. She was able tell us a lot
about the work being done
and about this orchard.
Thanks to both Cathy and
Norm for an interesting day!

Sally Anderson, VNPS President

The Bulletin

ISSN 1085-9632
is published five times a year
(Feb., April, June, August, Nov.)
by the

Virginia Native Plant Society

Blandy Experimental Farm
400 Blandy Farm Lane, Unit 2
Boyce, VA 22620

(540) 837-1600

vnpsofc@shentel.net

www.vnps.org

Sally Anderson, President
Nancy Sorrells, Editor

Original material contained in the Bulletin may be
reprinted, provided credit is given to VNPS and the
author, if named. Readers are invited to send letters,
news items, or original articles for the editor's con¬
sideration. Items should be typed, on disk in Microsoft
Word or e-mailed to: Editor, 3419 Cold Springs Rd.,
Greenville, VA24440, or lotswife@comcast.net
The deadline for the next issue is October 1.

- Page 7

September 2010

Bulletin of the Virginia Native Plant Society

•VNPS field trips

(Continued front page 2)
cypress swamp. After lunch. Ware, who
is curator emerita of the William and Mary
Herbarium, will lead the group along this
trail where species such as Elliott's gold-
enrod, poison sumac, water ash, sweet leaf
(horse sugar), red-berried cat-brier, frogs-
bit, and a variety of ferns occur. After exit¬
ing the swamp, we will follow slopes
above the swamp to the banks of the
Chickahominy River where farkleberry(!)
(Vaccinium arboreum ) is near its northern
limit. From the riverbank we will view an
extensive bald-cypress forest in autumn
foliage. If time permits, we will also visit
a deep sand habitat at the tip of an adja¬
cent peninsula along the river that is in¬
habited by Margaret's oak and narrow-
leafed bluecurls.

Those who sign up for Saturday's
October 2 trip will meet Dot Field, East¬
ern Shore region steward. Division of
Natural Heritage, for a field trip at Sav¬
age Neck Dunes Natural Area Preserve.
This special natural area features sand
dunes as high as 50 feet above the Chesa¬
peake Bay, making them among the high¬
est points on Virginia's Eastern Shore.
The dunes and the mile-long bay shore¬
line help support diverse maritime plant
communities, which in turn provide es¬

sential habitat for migratory birds and
the federally threatened northeastern
beach tiger beetle. Dot introduced us to
this preserve and others under her stew¬
ardship in her presentation at the 2010
annual VNPS Workshop.

Following this field trip, there will
be an opportunity to visit Joe Scalf's
Livng Shoreline Project that is nearby.
If you attended the workshop, you will
recall that Joe introduced us to this
demonstration project.

Bring a lunch or a snack and wa¬
ter and be prepared for weather and
insects by wearing long pants, closed
shoes, and a long-sleeved shirt or
jacket. The parking at Savage Neck
Dunes is limited, so consider
carpooling. The preserve has only ru¬
dimentary toilet facilities (field toilet
with tent cover), so it may be wise to

stop at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tun¬
nel Rest Area or at the McDonalds or
Hardees along Rt. 13 before arriving at
the preserve. To learn more about Savage
Neck, visit http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/
natural_heritage / documents/
pgsavage.pdf.

Invasive plant workshop

"Good Green, Bad Green: Invasive
Plant Control for Habitat Restoration,"
a Mid-Atlantic focused conference
sponsored by a consortium of conser¬
vation organizations including VNPS,
will be held September 16-17 in Front
Royal. Session topics include climate
change and invasives, species identi¬
fication, vegetation management, habi¬
tat triage, herbicide use, and habitat
restoration. For more information, visit
http: / / www. f orestry f ortheb ay. org /
ggbg/ or call 540-564-3080.

Going to press

(Continued from page 1)

"The Flora will be vital for managing Virginia's natural resources and funda¬
mentally important to all levels of education in Virginia," Fipscomb said. "But it
will also provide trustworthy information that will meet the needs of the commer¬
cial and nonprofit sectors and local, state, and federal governments." It is ex¬
pected that the Flora of Virginia will also be in demand in neighboring states,
which share many taxa with Virginia but lack a current flora.

For more information about BRIT, please visit brit.org. And to learn more
about the Flora of Virginia Project, please visit floraofvirginia.org.

Bland Crowder, associate director, Flora of Virginia Project