SHORTIA

NEWSLETTER OF THE
WESTERN CAROLINA BOTANICAL CLUB

SUMMER 2010

Shortia galacifolia

Oconee Bells

WESTERN CAROLINA BOTANICAL CLUB

President Juanita Lambert Secretary Nancy lha

Vice President Frances Jones Treasurer Alan Graham

From the President Juanita Lambert

We all have our favorite Botanical Club outings; those we wouldn’t miss unless we
were infirm. I find that I really like outings with a large variety of species. Recent outings to
Pearson’s Falls and Twin Bridges along the North Pacolet River are two of my favorites.

What are your favorite outings? Twice each year a scheduling committee of the
Botanical Club meets to lay out the schedule for six months, but a committee cannot be too
large, and therefore may not schedule some of the outings you really like as often as you’d
like. This is an appeal for your input to scheduling outings -which outings should we do
more (or less) often, and what new outings do you think we should try?

The Club conducts a wide variety of botanical walks. Some are very short walks
amongst rich displays of flora; another type involving little walking are the stop-and-ao
outinas. Most of our outings seem to be about one to four miles in length, where we go out-
and back, in a loop, or do a car shuttle. Some outings consist of walks longer than four miles
in order to reach special plant communities. Another category would be visits to members’
gardens. Some outings are close bv. convenient to most members, but others involve longer
travel to unique sites. Except for the very short and stop-and-go outings, difficult trail
conditions could be a negative factor for some folks, but Tom Goforth’s off-trail excursions
really appeal to others. Often we schedule multiple outinas to the same location during the
growing season in order to observe changes during the year, is this approach of interest to
many? Sometimes we travel longer distances to a special area of botanical interest, making
it an overnight outing.

The variety of outings is intended to provide something for everyone, but do we have
the right mix? Each of us has our preferences amongst the underlined categories of outings
in the previous paragraph, as well as those we are not interested in at all. Some outings are
so obviously popular that we schedule them for each year. Others could perhaps be
scheduled every other year on a regular basis; would that be a good policy? Some
categories are so unique that only one outing should be scheduled in a year.

What are your preferences? We are all ears . Please think seriously about which
outings and categories of outings you like, and relay your thoughts to the Scheduling Team
by e-mail or in person at any time during the year. Scheduling Team leaders are: Bonnie
Arbuckle(barbuckle@brinet.com) and Ken Borgfeldt(kborgfeldt@gmail.com).

DO OQ ©Q ©o eo 00 oo

Cover: The flower on the cover is Shortia galaci folia, Oconee Bells. Our newsletter is named for this southern
endemic which is now rare in the wild.

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Member News

New Members

Bonnie Allen, Weaverville
Mary Kathryn Hardman, Brevard
Mary Beth Hayes, Hendersonville
Keiji and Stefani Oshima, Edneyville
Saretta Prescott, Highlands
Cindi Probst, Asheville
Carroll Toole, Hendersonville
Carolyn Trapp, Mills River
Donna Van Kampen, Hendersonville
Jane White, Asheville

-Name correction: Jean Lemire, joined in March, 2010

UNC-TV nature program: “Exploring North Carolina” can be seen during June
Thursday, June 3 at 8:30 and Friday, June 4 at 9:30 - “Invaders Among Us”
Thursday, June 10 at 8:30 and Friday, June 1 1 at 9:30 - “Fishy Science”

Thursday, June 17 at 8:30 and Friday, June 18 at 9:30 - “Our Place in Space”
Thursday, June 24 at 8:30 and Friday, June 25 at 9:30 - “Lawson’s Journey”

“Tom Earnhardt’s heartfelt embrace of the state’s natural wonders opens

an eye-opening world.”

For the spring issue of Shortia, Jenny Lellinger wrote an article on the plant family Iridaceae.
She has chosen for her second article the Bunchflower family, Melanthiaceae.

See pages 5 and 6.

Any change of address, e-mail or telephone number, please inform Alan Graham, 544
Tip Top Road, Brevard, N.C. 28712. 828-884-3947 <adgraham@citcom.net

Field Trip Cancellations. On occasion field trips need to be cancelled or changed
either for weather conditions or other reasons such as road closings. Such changes are
sent out by e-mail to all members at the latest by 7 a.m. the day of the field trip. If you do not
have e-mail access, we will try to reach local members by telephone by 7 a.m. If in doubt,
contact a leader or co-leader whose telephone number is listed on the schedule. When a
field trip is cancelled, no member will be at the contact point.

I Z 3L/-- -

r ' . _ -

Ramblings

2010

Ken Borgfeldt

We started the new season with a cancellation. In keeping with the indecision of last
season, the day was sunny but the trail was snowbound. So the Hardy Souls Hike was
called off.

The Station Cove walk started a little on the chilly side but warmed up as the walk
progressed. It was highlighted by masses of Sharp-lobed Hepatica ( Hepatica nobilis v.
acuta). A stop was made at Devils Fork State Park to see the Oconee Bells ( Shortia
galaci folia).

The walk at Jones Gap State Park was highlighted by a guest leader, Rudy Manke, a South
Carolina nature TV personality. Bloodroot ( Sanguinaria canadensis) was in bloom as were a
variety of violets including Halberd-leaved Violet ( Viola hastata) and Long-spurred Violet
(Viola rostrata).

We had a large turnout for Pearson Falls as cabin fever seemed to be spreading after the
long winter. The trilliums were making their first appearance including Toadshade (Trillium
cuneatum), Large-flowered Trillium ( Trillium grandiflorum) and Wake Robin ( Trillium
erect urn).

The rock slide on 1-40 caused us to cancel the scheduled trip to Baxter Creek. We
substituted a walk along Pulliam Creek Trail. As on earlier walks, lots of blooming violets
and an abundance of Toadshades (Trillium cuneatum) were found. The first part of the walk
through a controlled burn area is still desolate even after three years.

A record (at least by recent standards) turnout showed up for Twin Bridges and were not
disappointed. Blue Cohosh ( Muscari neglectum) was in full bloom and we got to test the
rumor that it smells like cardboard (mixed reviews!). Loads of blooming plants including nice
specimens of Wild Ginger ( Asarum canadense) were seen.

Glassy Mountain was not up to its usual standards as blooming plants were not as
abundant as usual. The Elf Orpine ( Diamorpha smallii) appears to be dwindling, which is a
shame. The Hairy Spiderwort ( Tradescantia hirsuticaulis) was in full bloom and this is one of
the few places we see this plant.

The trip to Gorges State Park using the new parking a rea/trail head was highlighted by
Rainbow Falls and Turtleback Falls. The Catesby's Trilliums ( Trillium catesbaei) were in
bloom. The first of the green Jack-in-the-Pulpit ( Arisaema triphyllum) were found. We had
seen the purple variety so far.

The walk at Pilot Mountain was a success as we got to see the Pinkshell Azalea
(Rhododendron vaseyi). Other blooming plants appearing for the first time on recorder
sheets included Wood Anemone ( Anemone quinquefolia) and a variety of Rues.

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Western Carolina Botanical Club Membership

Arden N.C.

Jackson, Howard & Linda
Asheville, N.C.

Beyer, Patsy
Bonway, Rachel M.

Durpo, Wilma
Hankins, Diane
Hansens, Aline

<olton-Dwarshuis,Marilyn&Louis

.ackey, Charlotte

Middleton, Dave & Milly

3robst, Cindi

Reed, John

Robbins, Paula

Bchuman, Nancy

Biddall, John & Muriel

rait, Andy

A/hite, Jane

Black Mountain, N.C.
reil, Elisabeth
Bon Air, VA.

/erduin, Bill & Evelyn
Brevard, N.C.
rarrar, W. Edmund & Carver
3raham, Alan
Hardman, Mary Kathryn
Hudson, Jack & Dorothy
ha, Nancy &Tom
Jones, Betty
.ellinger, Jenny & Dave
3rescott, Saretta
slol, Maryke

Bchifeling, Daniel & Annalee
Smith, Jeanne
Sunflower, Sue
/Vails, Harriet
/Voods, Jean
Campobella, S.C.
\shbum,Carolyn/Hearon, Chuck
Candler, N.C.
ruenge, Teena
Canton, Ga.

‘Wery, Larry
Canton, N.C.
rishback, H.D. and Jan

Cedar Mountain, N.C.

Steinberg, Aleen
Wilcox, Gail

Edneyville,N.C.

Oshima, Keiji & Stefani
Etowah N.C.

Barnes, Christine
Chariebois, Joy
Flat Rock, N.C.

Arbuckle, Bonnie
Gibson, Ruth Anne & John
Jones, Frances
McCurdy, Mike & Cynthia
Greenville, S.C.
Wasson, April

Hendersonville, N.C.
Anderson, Ken & Jane
Armstrong, Rebecca
Bentley, Glenda
Bockoven, Paul & Beth
Borgfeldt, Ken & Chris
Collins, Ed
Dice, Bill & Ann
Duncan, Tina
Fouts, Carol & Gregory
Hayes, Mary Beth
Herman, Don & Dana
Kirkland, Jean
Koch, Barbara
Kotch, Sharon
Lambert, Larason & Juanita
Lenhart, Jean
Miller, Don & Linda
Montgomery, Bob and Elaine
Polchow, Margaret Ann
Prim, Lucy and Bob
Toole. Carroll
Ulinski, Anne
Van Campen, Donna
Highlands, N.C.
Landwehr, Barbara
Poole, Edwin

Horse Shoe, N.C.
Hudelson, Fran

Lake Toxaway, N.C.
Allen, Barbara D.

Dziedzic, Betty

Landrum N.C.

Ewing, Ann

Lexington N.C.

Fisher, Don

Long Boat Key, FL.
Blackwell, Rusty
Marion, N.C.

Goldsmith, James W.

Mills River, N.C.

Trapp, Carolyn
Montreat, N.C.

Standaert, Joe & Mary
Norcross, Ga.

Arrington, Daisy
Ormond Beach, FI.
McDaniel, Lois
Palm Harbor, FI.

Pearson, Bud & Laveme
Pisgah Forest, N.C.
Goldthwaite, John & Sheila
Koelling, Karen
Lemire, Jean
Schmidt, Christene
Smith, Helen M.

Spencer, Kim
Saluda, N.C.

Pearson, Millie

Spruce Pine, N.C.

Gray, Gussie
Suwanee, Ga.

Drake, James P. (Jim)

Sylva, N.C.

Miller, Earl & Bettye
Stenger, Gloria
Tryon, N.C.

Grosser, Judith
Jenks, Mary Clare
ter Kuile, Robbie

Travelers Rest, S.C.
Prickett, Ema

Waynesville, N.C.

Couric, Elrose & Sue Hollinger
Fitts, Jackie

Weaverville N.C.

Allen, Bonnie

Some members are summer visitors

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FLOWERING PLANT FAMILIES - Melanthiaceae - Bunchflower Family

The Lily Family (Liliaceae), in its broadest sense, includes around 280 genera and 4200
species worldwide, of which roughly 70 genera and 478 species are found in North
America. In order to narrow the scope of this article, I have chosen to cover a group of
genera that some taxonomists recently have treated as a separate family: the
Bunchflower Family (Melanthiaceae). Alan Weakley uses this approach in his Flora of
the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States (March 2010 version -available online).
Melanthium is often used as the generic name for some of this family’s species.

Melanthiaceae species are monocots. From our Spring Shortia, you may remember the
two basic clues that we can use to identify monocots:

Leaves are generally narrow and parallel-veined (dicot leaves are often broader
and veins are never truly parallel).

Flower parts are often in threes or multiples of three (dicot parts may appear in
fours, fives, or more).

Examples of monocots are: grasses, orchids, palms, trilliums, asparagus, and irises.

Some of the genera Melanthiaceae that we most often encounter are: Amianthium (Fly-
poison), Stenanthium spp. (Featherbeds), and Veratrum spp. (False Hellebores). The
inflorescences (how flowers are arranged on a plant) of these genera are generally
panicles (compound, branched racemes).

Amianthium is a genus that contains only one species: spelled A. muscitoxicum (Fly-
poison). As its name implies the plant contains alkaloids that are toxic to flies. Cattle
have been known to die from ingesting this plant.

Amianthium

muscitoxicum

Fly-poison

Britton, N.L., and A. Brown.
1913. An illustrated flora of
the northern United States,
Canada and the British
Possessions. Vol. 1: 489.

Check out Bear Pen Gap, Buck
Springs Nature Trail, and
Haywood Gap in the last week
of July.

Thriving in moist forests,
this woodland plant
displays a single erect
raceme of multiple
flowers with six creamy-
white tepals (similar
petals and sepals). This
narrow-leaved perennial
is primarily pollinated by
beetles.

Its leaves, bulb, and
roots are toxic. Colonists
used the bulb mixed with
sugar to kill flies.

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The genus of Melanthiaceae with the greatest number of species that we might
encounter in our area is Veratrum. Melanthium is a synonym for some Veratrum
species. Veratrum viride is the one we most commonly see. Like most members of this
genus, this species is highly toxic. Insecticide was formerly manufactured from its roots.

Veratrum viride
Indian Hellebore,
Green False Hellebore

Britton, N.L., and A. Brown.
1913. An illustrated flora of the
northern United States, Canada
and the British Possessions.

Vol. 1: 494.

Check out Bear Pen Gap,
Heintooga Spur, and the Shut-
in Trail to Elk Pasture Gap in
the first week in August.

This stout, perennial
bearing large, lush,
pleated, vibrantly green
leaves grows on the
forest floor in the
Spring in openly
wooded, rich coves.

If you’ve asked yourself
“when does it bloom?”
You’re not alone. Its
green flowers, borne on
terminal panicles atop
tall, erect stems, mostly
bloom in Aug. -Sept.

Only one species of Stenanthium (Greek for narrow flowers) occurs in our area.

Stenanthium
gramineum
Eastern Featherbells

Britton, N.L., and A. Brown.
1913. An illustrated flora of
the northern United States,
Canada and the British
Possessions. Vol. 1: 490.

Check out Bear Pen Gap,
Frying Pan Gap, and Shut in
Trail to Elk Pasture Gap in
August.

This grass-like leaved
plant is a showy, tall
perennial that prefers
moist open woods, moist
slopes, and gorges. We
often see it along the
Blue Ridge Parkway.

Its striking, white-
flowered inflorescence
bears its flowers in a
loose, wispy, elongated,
freely-branched panicle.
The flowers have 6
pointed tepals.

Other genera of Melanthiaceae are Zigadenus and Anticlea (Deathcamas) and
Schoenocauion (Feathershank). The latter is not known to grow in our area. Anticlea
grows on more alkaline soils, is rare, and is known only from McDowell County in NC.

Jenny Lellinger P.6

Plant Protectors

“When I observe the fate of Botanists, upon my word I doubt
whether to call them sane or mad in their devotion to plants.”

Linnaeus, Critica Botanica, 1737

Jane Goodall in her recent book, Hope for Animals and their World, writes primarily
about men and women working with threatened animal species but she devotes one
chapter to plant explorers. She writes ” For most people, mention of endangered species
brings to mind giant pandas, tigers, mountain gorillas, and other such charismatic
members of the animal kingdom. Seldom do we think of trees and plants in the same
category — as life forms that, in many cases we have pushed to the brink of extinction and
that desperately need our help if they are to survive.”

She continues: “This discussion about healing earth’s scars illustrates
that, through a combination of human determination, scientific know-how,
and the resilience of nature, even badly compromised habitats can be
restored — and time and again we find that it is plants that start the process.
Somehow they build the soil and clean the water, paving way for other life-
forms to follow.

“Without plants, animals (including ourselves) cannot survive. Herbivores
eat plants directly, carnivores eat creatures that have fed on plants, or to
be picky, they may eat animals that fed on animals that fed on plants.

“Yet for the most part, the work of botanists and horticulturists who battle
to save unique plant species from extinction, and to restore habitats, goes
unnoticed. The more I thought about this, the more I realized that it was
really important to recognize the sometimes extraordinary work that has
been and is being done to preserve the rich diversity and sheer beauty
of the plant life that brightens our planet. I wanted to acknowledge the
contributions of the field botanists who travel to remote places to collect
specimens of endangered species; the talented horticulturists who struggle
to germinate reluctant seeds, the skill and patience of those working
in herbariums, seed banks, and the many Centers for Plant Conservation
that have been established in so many places around the world.

“Many of these scientists have generously shared their stories with me or
informed me, of the work of others. And while unfortunately we cannot pay
tribute here to all those champions of the plant kingdom, many of their
fascinating stories can be found, gloriously illustrated, on our Web site.”

When Jane Goodall visited Kew Gardens she heard many stories about plants in the
Kew Gardens collection. Carlos Magdelena told her about a schoolboy on Rodrigues Island
off the coast of Maritius. The boy discovered a small flowering shrub, Care' matron, about a

P.7

hundred years after it was last seen. The area was carefully searched but it seemed that
only one plant had survived. There was no information on its cultivation and no other similar
surviving species for comparison. Several invasive plant species were growing next to it. It
was near a public road and frequently exposed to cyclones. It was a nightmare to protect.

But eventually after two years of struggling, three cuttings survived.

Another Kew Garden story was of a beautiful flowering shrub, Cylindrocline, found in
France. Seeds had been collected 14 years before the last living plant died, but none of them
germinated. A few living cells were detected and from these, scientists persuaded a new
plant to grow.

Reid Moran was a dedicated field botanist who for decades did botanical explorations
in Baja, California and the Pacific Islands of Mexico. The Mexican islands were of immense
botanical richness but were being destroyed by goats and invasive plant species. In his
book, The Flora of Guadelope Island. Moran wrote “With its unique flora it is a Mexican
treasure that urgently needs protection.” It was only after Moran’s retirement that an
expedition was organized and it was found that many of the island’s unique species
apparently were gone or on the brink of extinction. It took “international cooperation and
heroic effort to restore the devastated land to its glorious paradisiacal condition”.

David Noble was a New South Wales national parks and wildlife officer. In 1994 he
was leading a small group in the Blue Mountains of Australia about a hundred miles
northwest of Sydney. He had been exploring the canyons of these mountains for more than
20 years. They came to a wild and gloomy canyon that he had never seen before. It was very
deep with a rim fringed by steep cliffs. The party abseiled down into the abyss, swam
through icy waters, and hiked the trackless forest. David noticed a tall tree with unusual bark
and leaves. He collected a few of the leaves and when he later showed them to a botanist,
he was asked whether they came from a fern or a shrub. As other experts examined the
specimen, excitement began to grow as the leaves appeared to match spectacular rock
imprints of prehistoric leaves that belonged to the two-hundred-million-year old
Araucariacea family. David led a small team of experts back to the site where the discovery
had been made and later after an exhaustive search of the literature, the tree was declared a
new genus and named after David, the Wollemia nobilis, the Wollemia pine.

Further research showed that the pollen of this new tree matched pollen found in deposits
across the planet dating from the Cretaceous period somewhere between 65 and
150 million years ago.

The exact location of these trees has been keep secret. Efforts made to propagate
them have been successful and two are now in protected iron cages in Kew Gardens.

oooooocooooooooooo

Hope for Animals and their World bv Jane Goodall. 2009

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SHORTIA

c/o Anne Ulinski

1212 Chanteloup Drive

Hendersonville, N.C. 28739

FIRST CLASS

Library *Att: Dr. Buck
New York Botanical Garden
Bronx, N.Y. 10458-5126

SHORTIA

A quarterly publication of the Western Carolina Botanical Club

Vol. XXXII. No. 2

Summer 2010

Editor: Anne Ulinski

Editorial Assistants: Jean Lenhart, Kim Spencer
Member News: Ruth Anne Gibson

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: Alan Graham, 544
TipTop Road, Brevard, N.C. 29812