NEWSLETTER OF THE e Ng %, “TENNESSEE NATIVE © 1978 PLANT SOCIETY Volume 45, Number 1 March 2021 ess sS Ry EST. a Bic: “any Soc” A Letter from the President Hello, everyone! I am excited about beginning a new year and a new TNPS presidency. While COVID-19 is still casting a shadow over all that we do, there is now hope that sometime later this year we will embrace a new normal. And, although TNPS has experienced significant challenges over the past year with limitations on gathering for field trips, meetings, and our conference, we have been pushed to learn new skills. I suspect that many of us had never attended a Zoom meeting before last year. But new skills open new doors. Starting in March, we will begin a monthly Native Plant Seminars on Zoom. We have many new members and many who are new to Tennessee. It seems logical to share the expertise of our more knowledgeable members and others experienced with native plants with these newcomers. After all, our mission is “Conserving and celebrating native plant communities and their habitats through education’. For those who do not yet know me, my background (and ancestry) has been focused on nature and the environment. I taught middle school and high school sciences (mostly environmental science), and served as Education Director at Environmental Concern - teaching teachers about wetlands, and even writing and publish- ing acurriculum guide for them. While living in Maryland, I joined the Maryland Native Plant Society and served as Chairman of the Coastal Conservation Association of Maryland, a recreational fishing group of about a thousand. When my grandson arrived, I was drawn to Tennessee and brought my website development company with me. My first friendship in Tennessee was Alice Jensen who insisted that I join her on TNPS hikes. I soon became TNPS Webmaster and later Treasurer. Serving as TNPS President will be an exciting challenge. We also have two new members stepping into vacant positions: Mark Smith as Treasurer and Hilary Swaim as Newsletter Editor. They are both capable, knowledgeable individuals. If you meet them out on the trail, please introduce yourselves and welcome them to TNPS. Should you have ideas, questions, or concerns about TNPS, please send me an email at krh@myripples.org. See you on the trails, aan TE e Í | Karen Ripple Hill TNPS Newsletter This newsletter is a publication of the Tennessee Native Plant Society and is published four times a year, generally in March, June, September, and December. The Tennessee Native Plant Society (TNPS) was founded in 1978. Its pur- poses are to assist in the exchange of information and encourage fellowship among Tennessee's bota- nists, both amateur and professional; to promote public education about Tennessee flora and wild plants in general; to provide, through publica- tion of a newsletter or journal, a formal means of documenting information on Tennessee flora and of informing the public about wild plants; and to pro- mote the protection and enhancement of Tennessee's wild plant communities. Dues for each calendar year are: Regular: $20 Student: Complimentary Institution: $50 Life: $250 Dues may be sent to: Tennessee Native Plant Society P.O. Box 159274 Nashville, TN 37215 Officers Karen Ripple Hill, President Allan Trently, Vice-President Bettina Ault, Secretary Mark Smith, Treasurer Directors Louise Gregory Dennis Horn Bart Jones Larry Pounds Michelle Haynes Suzy Askew Hilary Swaim, Editor Please send comments, photos, and material for the TNPS newsletter to Newsletter@TNPS.org Election Results for 2021 Our Annual Meeting and election were held on November 12, 2020 via Zoom with the following nominees accepted by acclamation for two-year terms: President - Karen Ripple Hill, Treasurer - Wanda Priest, Directors - Larry Pounds, Louise Gregory, and Dennis Horn. Since then, Wanda has stepped down from the office of Treasurer as her family fights COVID-19. Another new member, Mark Smith, was appointed Treasurer by Karen and affirmed by the Board. After our annual meeting, Dr. Joey Shaw (Professor of Biology, The Univer- sity of Tennessee at Chattanooga) gave a presentation on the history of the newly launched Tennessee-Kentucky Plant Atlas plus a tour of the Atlas. This project received strong financial support from TNPS. It serves as a useful tool for learning where our native plants can be found, what environ- ment they prefer, variations within a species, and so much more. The Atlas is the very first link offered on the More Resources page of our website. Members can also go directly to the Atlas at https://tennessee-kentucky. plantatlas.usf.edu/. April 2021 Conference Modified Our 2021 Conference will be held on Saturday and Sunday, April 10-11 in Red Boiling Springs with headquarters at the Donoho Hotel. There will be no registration or fee for this conference. To reserve a room at the Donoho Hotel, please call them at 615-699-3141 and let them know that you are with TNPS. Due to continued concerns regarding COVID-19, there will be no speakers, meetings, or gatherings at the 2021 conference, but field trips will go on as planned for Saturday and Sunday. Saturday field trips will be at Taylor Hollow and Larkspur Cemetery, alterning morning and afternoon hikes with lunch at Larkspur. On Sunday, the hike can be a self-tour or group hike at Winding Stairs. Rue Anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides) Photo by Bart Jones The TNPS group will likely meet at 10 a.m. central time. Details about each of the three conference-related field trips can be found on the field trip schedule included in the following pages, or as a PDF document on the Field Trips page of our website and individually on the Calendar pages. New: Online Native Plant Seminars The Tennessee Native Plant Society will begin hosting monthly Native Plant Seminars, starting on March 16, 2021. These events will be held via Zoom on the third Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. Central (7:30 p.m. East- ern) and last about one hour. All members and potential members are welcome to join the seminars at no cost. The link to join each seminar will be posted on the Native Plant Seminars page and on the Calendar pages of our website (www.tnps.org). Seminar speakers are drawn from our knowledgeable membership, professionals across the state, and the profes- sors and students studying our Tennessee native plants. A range of topics will be covered that may include plants that are currently blooming, native plants in our yards, current research on native plants, protections for native plants, and so much more. Our Native Plant Seminars will begin with our most illustrious member, Dennis Horn. Dennis was lead author and primary mover of our book, Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley and the Southern Appalachians. He received the 2020 TNPS Conservation Award, joined the TNPS Tennessee Botanist Hall of Fame and has many more accolades. Join us for an hour a month to learn more about our Tennessee native plants. 2021 Hike Schedule Date and Location March 27 | Meeman-Shelby State Park Leave the urban environment behind and explore the wooded ravines of this large state park for spring wildflowers. We will concentrate our time hiking along the horse trail where we should see all three varieties of Viola sororia: var. sororia (common blue violet), var. albiflorus (white wood violet), and var. priceana (Confederate violet) among other com- mon spring ephemerals. If time allows, we may go to another paved walking/biking trail that has a large population of the uncommon oceanblue phacelia (Phacelia ranunculacea) with its minute light blue bell-shaped flowers that easily can be mistaken for baby blue-eyes. This trail also has lots of wild blue phlox (Phlox divaricata), prairie trillium (Trillium recurvatum), and spring beauty (Claytonia virginica). April 3 | Old Stone Fort Park, Coffee County Bonnaroo is not the first party to be held in Manchester. Some 2000 years ago, Native Americans held ceremonial events in the 50-acre enclosure inside what is now the State Park. The enclosure is bounded by the Duck River on one side and the Little Duck River on the other, as both rivers cut their way down through the Highland Rim to the Central Basin, forming waterfall steps along the way. The far end of the enclosure is bounded by the old river channel, now referred to as “the moat.” We will hike along the “walls” of the enclosure and along the Moat Trail to the junction of the rivers. Spring wildflowers should be abundant in the lower sections of the trail, including Virginia Bluebells, Yellow Trout Lily, Sharp-lobe Hepatica, Rue Anemone, Wild Ginger, and toothwort species. April 10 | Taylor Hollow, Larkspur Conservancy Taylor Hollow is one of the premier spring wildflower locations in Ten- nessee and is always a treat to visit. At this time, we should expect to see the rare Least Trillium (Trillium pusillum) and other more common spring ephemerals. The day will be split with a visit to the adjacent Larkspur Conservancy, a nature preserve and green burial cemetery. Meeting Place: Parking lot at the park Visitor Center 10:00 am Central Time Difficulty: Easy to moderate. The horse trail does go down and back out of ravines and the trail can be muddy after a rain. Facilities: At the Visitor Center and at parking area of hik- ing/biking trail. Lunch: Bring to eat at picnic area in park. Contact/Leader: Bart Jones, Phone/email: 901-485-2745, bjones7777@hotmail.com Directions/Meeting Place: From I-24 exit 110, turn south onto TN Hwy 53 toward Manchester. Go about one mile to a tee. Turn right onto US Hwy 41. Go another mile to the park entrance on the left. Drive on the main park road to the visitor center parking lot. Meeting Place/Time: Park Visitor Center 10:00 am Central Time. Difficulty: Easy to moderate 2 mile hike. Facilities: At the visitor center Lunch: Bring water, snacks, and camera. Plan to have lunch in Manchester around 1:00 pm after the hike. Contact/Leader: Dennis Horn Phone/email: 931-461-0262, horndd@lighttube.net Meeting Place: 155 Bear Carr Rd. parking area between Taylor Hollow and Larkspur Conservancy, 10:00 am Cen- tral Time. Difficulty: Easy, but be very mindful to stay on the trail in Taylor Hollow. Facilities: None Lunch: Bring lunch and water to eat at the picnic tables at Larkspur Conservancy. Contact/Leader: Michelle Haynes, Phone/email: 615-426- 7551, michellewhaynes@gmail.com continued on next page 2021 Hike Schedule April 11 | Winding Staircase, Lafayette Meeting Place: Parking lot at the park, 655 Nature Trail Way. For those who would like to meet as a group, join us by 10:00 am Central Time. Since it is a self-guided trail you Winding Staircase is a City of Lafayette park which preserves a scenic can go at any time. area of steep rock faces, waterfalls, and large patches of wildflowers. Trails are well marked with self-guided signage. Difficulty: Easy to moderate. Lots of stairs to negotiate. Facilities: At the parking lot Lunch: Bring what you would like or eat after hike. Contact/Leader: Since this is a self-guided trail, there is no leader. April 17 | Frozen Head Wildflower Walk Meeting Place: For carpool: Gold’s Gym/Books-A- Million parking lot in Oak Ridge at the end close to S. Illinois Av- enue, near Salsarita’s, 9AM Eastern. If going straight to the This is a joint outing for the 53rd Frozen Head Wildflower Pilgrimage trail meet at 10 AM Eastern. with TNPS and TCWP. We will have an excellent opportunity to see spring wildflowers. The first mile is ideal for those with rather limit- ed hiking capabilities; the trail is wide and flat. It is a loop with quick return to the parking area (Interpretive Trail). For those continuing the next 2 miles are steeper and rougher but still moderate (Judge Branch and S. Old Mac Trails). Difficulty: Option 1. One mile of wide, flat trail. Easy. Op- tion 2. Three miles with a stream crossing and some steep places. Moderate. Facilities: At meeting place Lunch: Bring water, lunch, and bug spray Contact/Leader: Larry Pounds and Jimmy Groton (Reser- vations required), Phone/email: 865-705-8516, PoundsL@ aol.com April 24 | Stinging Fork Falls to Piney River Meeting/Carpool Places: 1. Gold’s Gym/Books-A- Million parking lot in Oak Ridge (at the end close to S. Illinois Avenue, near Salsarita’s) 9 AM Eastern Time 2. Rocky Top/ Exxon/ McDonald’s on US 27 in Spring City at 10 AM Eastern We will caravan from the Exxon to the Lower Piney River Trailhead to start a shuttle leaving some cars there. We will then carpool to the Stinging Fork Falls Trailhead. From there we hike back to the Piney River Trailhead. This section of the Cumberland Trail was completed in the fall 2018. What spring flowers we will see is hard to predict. The route is definitely scenic. Total walking distance will be about 6 miles. The trail is up and down with many steps. Difficulty: Moderate with some steep sections. Facilities: At meeting places. Alternatives: People are welcome to head back early to the Stinging Falls Fork Trailhead. They will need a car there or will have to wait until the afternoon when the shuttle is completed. With this alternative you could drive back from the Stinging Fork Trailhead to the Piney River Trail Head and walk in along the flat trail by Soak Creek to meet the rest of the group as they reach Soak Creek. Lunch: Bring lunch, water, and bug spray. Contact/Leader: Larry Pounds (reservations required), Phone/Email: 865-705-8516 (cell) PoundsL471@aol.com continued on next page 2021 Hike Schedule Date and Location April 30 - May 1 | Elsie Quarterman Cedar Glades Festival The largest event celebrating the unique cedar glade habitat of Middle Tennessee. Lots of activities including hikes led by TNPS members Todd Crabtree, Milo Pyne, and Darel Hess. May 8 | Bridgestone/Firestone Centennial Wilderness We will explore the Chestnut Mountain and Polly Branch Trails where we hope to see large stands of pink lady’s slipper (Cypripedium acaule) and mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia), and if we're lucky, we might be able to catch the end of the bloom season for other spring ephemerals such as dwarf ginseng (Panax trifolium). A few woody perennials may be in bloom, too, including Dutchman's pipe (Aristolochia macrophylla) and nine-bark (Physocarpus opulifolius). May 29 | AEDC/May Prairie For those that missed the 2019 trip, this is your opportunity to again see orchids and other rare plants. The “Oak Barrens” of Coffee County provide some of the best examples of TN rare plants that also occur in the Gulf Coastal Plain and the prairies of the Midwest. As a result, Coffee County is one of only three counties in Tennessee with 50 or more rare plant species. We will visit the AEDC first to see native orchids: Calopogon tuberosus, Cleistes bifaria (now Cleistesiopsis), and possibly Platanthera lacera and Pogonia ophioglossoides. We should also find Death Camas (Zigadenus leimanthoides, now Stenanthium tennesseense), Whorled Loosestrife (Lysi- machia quadrifolia), and Hyssop Leaved Skullcap (Scutellaria integrifolia). After lunch, time permitting, we will visit May Prairie. We should see Mock Bishop’s Weed (Ptilimnium costatum), Eryngo (Eryngium integrifolium), Coppery St. Johnswort (Hypericum denticulatum), Marsh Pea (Lathyrus palustris), Horned Bladderpod (Utricularia cornuta), and Swamp Candles (Lysimachia terrestris). Check out the website at www.mtsu.edu/glade-center/ for more information. Directions/Meeting Place: In De Rossett 8 or 9 miles E. of Sparta on US 70, turn south on Eastland Road at Bondecroft Headstart Village. Go about 6.5 miles until you get to the graveled parking area on the right at the entrance of the WMA (35.879935, -85.272278) where we will meet, 10:00 am Central Time. Difficulty: Moderate, Approximately 4 miles with some steep sections. Facilities: None Lunch: Bring water, lunch, bug spray. Contact/Leader: Bart Jones Phone/email: 901-485- 2745, bjones7777@hotmail.com Directions/Meeting Place: Wendy's in Manchester at 10:00 am Central Time. Leave I-24 at exit 114 in Manchester, TN. Turn left coming from Chattanooga (right from Nashville) onto US 41 heading NW toward town. Turn right at the 1st traffic light (Raceway at that intersection) beyond the interstate. Wendy’s is half a block on the right. Facilities: At meeting place. Lunch: Bring lunch unless social distancing require- ments have been relaxed. Bring water, insect repellent, sunscreen, snacks, and camera. Difficulty: Easy to moderate walking in low vegeta- tion. Some areas may be wet. Leader: Dennis Horn Phone/Email: 931-461-0262, horndd@lighttube.net continued on next page 2021 Hike Schedule Date and Location July 17 | Thomas Divide/ Kanati Fork Car shuttle required. We will hike Thomas Divide trail and then go down the mountain on the Kanati Fork Trail. We will see a variety of plants and look for some rare species. This will be about 5 miles with about 3 miles downhill. September 25 | The Grasslands of Dry Branch We will travel from the 412 Market to the natural area. Here we will explore the upland grasslands. These grasslands add diversity to the plant and animal richness of the natural area. Leaders will identify plants and animals, collect seed (for conservation initiatives) and dis- cuss the importance of grasslands. We will contribute important data to the Southeastern Grasslands Initiative by adding plant and animal records to iNaturalist. All data will be used to understand the region's grasslands and provide important information regarding management. There is a limit of 15 people for this trip. October 2 | Big Cypress Tree State Park Mycology Safari This trip will focus on all the other things that grow out of the ground (and even from plants). We should encounter numerous species of mushrooms, fungi, lichens, and slime molds that are all weird and wonderful. And, of course, we wont ignore the plants - particularly red turtlehead (Chelone obliqua). Meeting Place: Newfound Gap at 10am Eastern Difficulty: Moderate, but at elevation. Lunch: Bring along with water and bug spray. Facilities: at Newfound Gap. Leaders: Allen and Susan Sweetser Email/Phone: ssretiree@ yahoo.com, 865-938-7627 Directions/Meeting Place: 412 Market at 1403 Linden Hwy (Route 412/20), Hohenwald (35.549535, -87.612235) at 9:30 Central Time (NOTE TIME). Trip will go until 12:30. Difficulty: Easy to moderate. Lunch: Bring to eat after trip. Facilities: At meeting place Contact/Leaders: Allan Trently, West Tennessee Steward- ship Ecologist and Cooper Breeden, Southeastern Grass- lands Initiative and Tennessee Plant Conservation Alliance. Phone/Email: 731-571-9729, allan.trently@tn.gov Directions/Meeting Place: Take US Hwy. 45E north through Greenfield. Turn left onto TN Hwy. 445 (Kimmery Store Rd.). Turn right onto Big Cypress Rd. and follow to the playground/picnic area where we will meet at 10:00 am Central Time. Difficulty: Easy, but it can be muddy. Lunch: Bring to eat at picnic area after trip. Facilities: At meeting place Contact/Leader: Bart Jones Phone/Email: 901-485-2745, bjones7777@hotmail.com Please remember to contact the trip leader for each hike you plan to attend! Spring Native Plant Sales Chattanooga, March 27th The Tennessee Valley Chapter of Wild Ones has planned an Outdoor Native Plant Marketplace for March 27th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern. There will be 10 regional native plant nurseries selling native plants. This event will be held at the spacious and covered First Horizon Pavilion (home of the Chattanooga Market) in down- town Chattanooga, Tennessee. Food trucks and other vendors and exhibitors will also be present. TNPS will have a booth to sell books and memberships. The event is free and open to the public. Masks will be required. https://tnvalleywildones.org/plant-natives-2021/marketplace2021/ Brentwood, May 8th The Middle Tennessee Wild Ones Chapter will hold a native plant sale on Saturday, May 8, at Owl's Hill Nature Sanctuary in Brentwood. Check their Events page for details closer to the date. Visit https://middletennessee. wildones.org/events. 2021 Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage Will Again Be Virtual Contributed by Bettina Ault The Great Smoky Mountains Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage will once again be run virtually. This year, the Pilgrimage will run from May 8-16, 2021 and registration is free. http://www.wildflowerpilgrimage.org/home-virtual-swfp. html The event was held virtually last May and was very popular. Pilgrims from around the world documented their obser- vations on iNaturalist, logging 12,000 observations of 3000 species — from whales to algae. If you haven't used iNaturalist, this is a great way to learn and an opportunity to be a citizen scientist by documenting plant and animal species. Lots of help with identification and verification is available. Long-spurred violet (Viola rostrata) How can you sign up for the 2021 virtual Pilgrimage? Photo by Bart Jones 1. Ifyou do not already have an account, you need to download the iNaturalist app, and set up a username and password. There are instructions on how to do this on the virtual Wildflower Pilgrimage web page. 2. The event is free, but you will need to provide your iNaturalist username to register for the event and join the group. Look for the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage web page or send an email to wildflowerpilgrimage@sebiologists.org for more information. Citizen Science on Zooniverse Contributed by Kim Sadler There is something for everyone on Zooniverse! I teach a general education non-majors biology course at Middle Tennessee State University that is a designated Experiential Learning (EXL) course. One component of an EXL course is that students experience the discipline beyond the classroom. To share my passion about plants, particularly the value of native species, students partic- ipate in ecological restoration projects that involve removing invasive pest plants or planting native plants in designated areas. The value of this experience to the students and the environment is immeasurable. Students also build their resume because they can show this citizen science work as public service. This past autumn, the pan- demic and social distancing kept us from restoration work, but I found another project for them in a virtual space on Zooniverse (www.zooniverse.org). Researchers post projects on Zooniverse to get assistance from the public. My classes joined the Notes from Nature: Southeastern Grass- land Initiative project and transcribed more than 1,200 herbarium sheets of specimens collected in limestone cedar glades and barrens. Herbarium collections are repositories for all types of important Halberd-Leaf Violet information, just waiting to be learned. If you are tired of Netflix, and (Viola hastata) are looking for a rewarding volunteer project, I encourage you to check Photo by Bart Jones out the Zooniverse website. There are endless projects and the smallest contributions add up over time. Share Your Photos From the Trail As spring arrives, and you set out on hikes and scouting adventures, consider bringing your camera. We would love to see your photos from the field. Share your favorite finds, and a brief description with us and we will be happy to feature them in future newsletters and/or social media. Email Hilary Swaim, newsletter editor, with questions or materials throughout the year: Newsletter@TNPS.org When Are Dues Due? Unless you are an email subscriber, check your mailing label for your membership date. You are paid through the year listed just above your name. You can pay TNPS dues at any time, and now you can pay online at the TNPS Website. Just go to www.tnps.org, click “Membership, and follow directions there. If your address has changed, you can email the new address to info@tnps.org. We cannot print the newsletter in full color, but you may be pleased to find all the Southern Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium kentuckiense) color in email copies and at the website. www.tnps.org Photo by Bart Jones 10 Check 7/VPS. org for more details, and connect with us on Facebook and Instagram. SITZE N.L MYSEN PLT6SI XOg'Od IƏPƏASMƏN SdN.L NEWSLETTER OF THE TENNESSEE NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY Volume 45, Number 2 July 2021 2021 Annual Conference Our TNPS annual conference was held April 10-11, but with modifications. The historic Donoho Hotel in Red Boiling Springs served as headquarters even though we had no speakers nor annual meeting. Meals were served family style in the hotel restaurant where many of us ate. Evenings we pulled up the rocking chairs and sat together outside on the veranda talking about native plants and our adventures. It was plant nerd euphoria after a year of isolation. On Saturday we hiked Taylor Hollow State Natural Area in a light drizzle that eventually ended, but in no way dampened our excitement at seeing the beautiful smorgasbord of native plants in bloom. We quickly strung out along the trail looking, photographing, and identifying all the beauties. Bettina Ault carefully listed the identifications of all that we saw. Those plant lists are available on our website on the Conference page. While Taylor Hollow is a fabulous location to view native plants, it is also protected and not open to the public. We were fortunate to be granted permission to explore this treasure along the trail and under the watchful eyes of our “guides”. After lunch on the porch of the cabin at Larkspur Conservancy, an area of natural traditional burial, we Saw more spring beauties. We hiked Winding Stairs on Sunday and saw how fabulous a city park can be. Trails and boardwalks with railings where needed allowed for self-paced exploration of a deep ravine with a winding cascading stream and a hilltop exploding with blooming native plants. Again, Bettina Ault carefully recorded the plant identifications. That plant list is also available on the Conference page of our website. Sometime in the future we hope to hold our annual conference here again, so we can share the wealth of native plants seen with more ofourmembers. Karen Hill TNPS Newsletter This newsletter is a publication of Letter from the President the Tennessee Native Plant Society By the time you read this four successful informative Native Plant Seminars will and is published four times a year, generally inMarch, June, September, and December. The Tennessee Native Plant Society (TNPS) was founded in 1978. Its purposes are to assist in the exchange of information and encourage fellowship among Tennessee’s botanists, both amateur and professional; to promote public education about Tennessee flora and wild plants in general; to provide, through publication of a newsletter or journal, a formal means of documenting information on Tennessee flora and of informing the public about wild plants; and to promote the protection and enhancement of Tennessee’s wild plant communities. Dues for each calendar year are: Individual/Family: $20 Student: Complimentary Institution: $50 Life: $250 Dues may be sent to: Tennessee Native Plant Society P.O. Box 159274 Nashville, TN 37215 Officers Karen Ripple Hill, President Allan Trently, Vice-President Bettina Ault, Secretary Kim Sadler, Treasurer Directors Suzy Askew Louise Gregory Michelle Haynes Dennis Horn Bart Jones Larry Pounds have been held. Each seminar has been well attended with lots of interesting questions for our informed knowledgeable speakers who have taken us on journeys throughout Tennessee to see and learn about our native wildflowers. Seminars are held on the third Tuesday of each month at 7:30 pm Eastern (6:30 pm Central). If you have not attended a seminar yet, our full schedule is posted on the Seminars page of the website (TNPS.org) along with a video link to each seminar that has been held. The link for attending each seminar is posted: (1) in the printable Seminar Schedule on the Seminars page of the website, (2) on the appropriate Calendar page of the website, and (3) ina reminder email usually sent before each seminar to members who have provided an email address. Come join us if you have not already. Remember, the seminar is online. You can turn on your personal video while you relax with your evening wine, coffee, ice cream, whatever you like, while watching the presentation! Our spring wildflower hikes are over (see reports throughout this newsletter), but we still have our planned summer and fall hikes. We also have an addition to the schedule. On September 11 Larry Pounds will lead a Cumberland Mountain Wildflower Walk. Be sure to check it out on the website Calendar. In appreciation for her six years (2015-2020) of dedicated service as President of the Tennessee Native Plant Society Susan Sweetser was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation. In her six years as President Susan presided over conferences at Linden Valley, Fall Creek Falls, Beersheba Springs, Talley Ho Inn, Reelfoot Lake, and also set up this year’s conference at Red Boiling Springs. Susan established our three Outreach Coordinator positions, coordinated efforts to design our new logo, and saw that we joined both the national Plant Conservation Alliance and the Tennessee Plant Conservation Alliance. She guided the induction of both Dr. Eugene Wofford (2017) and Dennis Horn (2020) into our Botanical Hall of Fame, while Dr. Margret Rhinehart received the Conservation Award (2017) and Dennis Horn received the Lifetime Conservation Award (2020). Susan also established and guided our support for the creation of the online Tennessee-Kentucky Plant Atlas. These are just some of the highlights of Susan’s tenure as President. She has always been available to answer questions, provide support, lead hikes, or whatever was needed to further the goals of TNPS. And anyone who has attended an in-person Board meeting is familiar with her delicious brownies. Thank you, Susan, for your years of service to TNPS! fas Trip Report: Old Stone Fort State Park - April 3rd Our group of about 15 participants started the hike along the enclosure above the Little Duck River. The river drops in a Series of waterfall steps. There was little evidence that spring had arrived on this part of the trail. But once we started down into the “Moat” section of the trail flowers became more numerous. The “Moat” is the old river channel left from an earlier geologic time. There we found wild columbine and round leaf ragwort (Packera obovata) along the escarpment. In the bottom were spring beauty, wood anemone and rue anemone [photo right], Trillium cuneatum, three species of toothwort (Dentaria), purple phacelia, woodland phlox (P. divaricata), pale corydalis (C. flavula), and Carolina wood vetch (Vicia caroliniana). Fire pink was just beginning to flower on the hillside. AA At the junction of theBig and Little Duck rivers there was evidence of flooding from heavy rains the weekend before. In this area were huge colonies of Virginia bluebell. Scattered about were yellow trout lily, Jacob’s ladder, and yellow woodland violet (V. pubescens). We found a small infestation of garlic mustard that was later removed by a Friends volunteer group. We followed the Big Duck River on the way back. Two nice waterfalls and good examples of early saxifrage and wood betony were seen along this stretch of the trail. After three hours on the trail, we were ready for a late lunch. Dennis Horn Trip Report: Frozen Head Wildflower Walk - April 17th TCWP and TNPS joined together with Frozenhead State Park for their wildflower pilgrimage outings. Kris Light led a group of Girl Scouts. Larry Pounds organized and shared leadership with several plant folk for a group of 14. The day threatened rain. After an early sprinkle, the weather was fine. We walked the Interpretive and Judge Branch Trails. Some highlights were large-flowered trillium, spotted mandarin, southern pinxter bush (a native azalea) and a group of deep purple dwarf crested irises. Meredith Clebsch pointed out bird calls. At the end of the walk on a whim we went looking for bartonia in a wet area where it is known to grow. No luck. It was probably too early to be up. Larry Pounds Trip Report: Soak Creek Scenic River Outing - April 24th The forecast was 100% rain and that’s what happened. I had decided that rescheduling would be too difficult. So, Jimmy Groton and I headed for Spring City. Despite the soaking conditions Bettina Ault met us there. We were a party of three on a hypothermia inducing day. We toughed it out long enough to see many wildflowers, including a large-flowered yellow lady’s-slipper [photo left] and a population of gaywings. We turned back to eat lunch in my vehicle. I turned the heater to 79 and we were soon feeling better. Warmed up we headed to another trailhead. We got out and the wind was blowing. We went a few steps then quickly got back in the vehicle. Nope, we were not getting chilled again. Larry Pounds Trip Report: Bridgestone-Firestone Centennial Wilderness, May 8th A great group of 15, including a couple from Florida on their way to their summer home in Wisconsin, met at BFCW on a cool and overcast late spring day. We started our trek at Virgin Falls State Natural Area. We encountered several nice damp areas along the trail with a few wildflowers in bloom: mountain azalea (Rhododendron canescens), two-flowered Cynthia (Krigia biflora), Yellow Stargrass (Hypoxis hirsuta), and Indian cucumber-root (Medeola virginiana, photo left). A short detour on a side trail garnered a nice patch of arrowhead violet (Viola sagittata) growing along the sandy bank of an old logging road. Back to the parking lot at the Polly Branch /Chestnut Mountain trailhead of BFCW there were a few more wildflowers, including dwarf cinquefoil (Potentilla canadensis). As we made our way down the Chestnut Mountain trail, we quickly began to see a few of our target pink lady’s slippers (Cypripedium acaule, photo right). As we progressed the groups became larger until we finally reached the largest populations of the orchids. In just one patch there were 52 plants in bloom, plus we saw hundreds along the trail. We noticed a particular white moth perched on numerous flowers (one flower had 3 just hanging out on the pouch) and thought it was odd that it only seemed to be on the lady's slippers (we did see one on a bush honeysuckle flower). It turned out to be a white slant-line moth and one of our members on the hike (thanks go to Dwight Miller) did a google search to try to ID the moth and found a very interesting blog post that described the exact same phenomenon we witnessed. And it seems like this happens across the range of the moth and the orchid which includes most of the eastern US. At the end of the trail was a small unnamed creek that had some nice wildflowers along its banks and in wet areas nearby. A few wildflowers included some nice clumps of marsh violet (Viola cucullata), primrose-leaf violet (Viola primulifolia), hispid buttercup (Ranunculus hispidus), and shrub yellowroot (Xanthorhiza simplicissima). At this location we also encountered the unusual American climbing fern or Hartford fern (Lygodium palmatum). Unlike any other native fern, this species’ fronds grow as vines, scrambling over the grasses and low forbs. In fact, ferns turned out to be one of the biggest surprises in just how many there were and the number of species we saw. Besides the climbing fern we ended up with 12 other species for the trip. The list included Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides), broad beech fern (Phegopteris hexagonoptera), cinnamon fern (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum, photo right), royal fern (Osmunda regalis), New York fern (Parathelypteris noveboracensis), southern lady fern (Athyrium asplenioides), rattlesnake fern (Botrypus virginianum), ebony spleenwort (Asplenium platyneuron), bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum), eastern hay-scented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula), netted chain fern (Woodwardia areolata), and sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis); as well as the fern ally, flat-branched clubmoss (Dendrolycopodium obscurum). After more than 5 miles of hiking we all were worn out, but it was great to see folks on the trail again. Can’t wait for the next one! Bart Jones Trip Report: AEDC and May Prairie - May 29, 2021 A large group of 25-30 participants enjoyed a cool cloudy day of botanizing. We were joined by three visitors from Huntsville, AL, that are associated with the Huntsville Botanical Garden. Our first stop was the power lines at AEDC. We immediately found lots of Rose Pogonia (Pogonia ophioglossoides) |see photo left]. There was no sign of Calopogon or Cleistesiopsis. A cool wet spring had delayed flowering this year. We did find 2-3 Green Adder’s Mouth (Malaxis unifolia) beginning to flower in the | adjacent woods. There we also found Sweet Spire (Itea virginica) and oe Possum Haw (Viburnum nudum) in flower, both are shrubs, and a few Pink Lady’s-slippers past flowering. Lunch was in the May Prairie parking lot on Asbury Road. On the half mile walk to the prairie we found two species of huckleberry, Gaylussacia baccata and G. dumosa, a rare species with white urn-shaped flowers. Just before reaching the prairie, we enjoyed seeing several White Milkweed (Asclepias variegata) beginning to bloom. The flowers in the prairie were also later than normal, but there were still plenty to see. Some plants of note were: Hyssopleaf or Helmet Skullcap (Scuttellaria integrifolia), Smooth Phlox (P. glaberrima), Swamp Candles (Lysimachia terrestris), one early flower each of Shaggy or Cumberland Rosinweed (Silphium mohrii) and Cutleaf Prairie Dock (S. pinnatifidum), Horned Bladderwort (Utricularia cornuta) [see photo above right], rare in Tennessee and found only at May prairie, Hairy Tickseed (Coreopsis pubescens), Dwarf Sundew (Drosera brevifolia) with buds, Colicroot (Aletris farinosa), Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja coccinea), and Blue False Indigo (Baptisia australis). This Baptisia was recently elevated to anew species: Baptisia aberrans [see photo left], with acommon name of Eastern Prairie Blue False Indigo, found in glades, barrens, and prairies in Tennessee. Dennis Horn Online Native Plants Course for Students and Public At a spring event a teacher approached the TNPS table with a question: “Do you have a course or materials available for teaching middle/high school students about native plants?” Regrettably, we had to say, no. But then ideas began sprouting. At our May Board meeting a committee was formed to begin considering a curriculum for an online student course on native plants that could be provided free to educators across Tennessee. So far, the committee is composed of Kim Sadler, Suzy Askew, Karen Hill, and hopefully the educator who made the original suggestion. If you are interested in helping with this project (because teaching about something we love is fun), then please use the Contact form on our website or email: info@TNPS.org. We will use zoom for our meetings, so travel will not be an issue. Jackson County - A Day of Botanizing Richard and Teresa Ware from Rome, GA had watched my TNPS Native Plant Seminar presentation in March titled: Spring Wildflowers Across Tennessee. They noticed Synandra hispidula, a plant in the mint family that they had not seen before and that is not found in Georgia. I invited them to come to Jackson County to see this beautiful plant. Richard is a past president of the Georgia Botanical Society (GBS) and both he and Teresa serve as editors for the GBS journal, Tipulara. They were also interested in seeing Appendaged Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum appendiculatum) and Miami Mist (Phacilia purshii), species not generally found in Georgia. One of our TNPS directors, Louise Gregory, scouted a known site for Synandra in Jackson County several times this spring to be sure we had the flowering date correct, since the driving time from Rome, GA is over 3 hours. May 1 was decided to be the best day weather wise for their visit. Synandra is a monotypic genus. The common name, Guyandotte Beauty, comes from the Guyandotte River in West Virginia. This plant is certainly a beauty, but Synandra is just easier to say. Much of Jackson County is quite rural. The drive along Roaring River and Spring Creek provided an excellent opportunity to botanize the nearby rich hillsides. Louise and I led the Wares to all the important stops along the way. By May 1 the peak time for spring flowers had passed, but it was the prime time for the three species that Richard and Teresa had come to see. After photographing these and other plants [Synandra photo left], we then ventured across the Cumberland River to the northeastern part of the county. There we looked at another site for Synandra that Dr. Margret Rhinehart had showed me 20-30 years ago. This site turned out to have even more Synandra plants than at our first location and they were in perfect condition. We also found Miami Mist, Wild Hyacinth (Camassia scilloides), Chapman’s Meadow Parsnip (Thaspium Chapmanii), and other late spring flowering species. Stay tuned for a possible TNPS field trip to this area in 2022 for some great easy roadside botanizing. Of special note, the Wares have launched a new user-friendly website during the past two years: Guide to the Wildflowers, Ferns, Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of Georgia and Adjacent States. The site contains excellent plant images and distribution maps for each species. This resource should be a valuable resource, especially for plants found in Middle and East Tennessee. It can be accessed at: www.ngaflora.com. What is a Native Plant? A plant is considered native if it has occurred naturally in a particular region, ecosystem, or habitat without human introduction. Native plants have formed symbiotic relationships with native wildlife over thousands of years, and therefore offer the most sustainable habitat. Exotic plants that evolved in other parts of the world or were cultivated by humans into forms that don’t exist in nature do not support wildlife as well as native plants. From National Wildlife Federation website Native Plant Seminars So far, we have enjoyed five monthly Native Plant Seminars presented by Dennis Horn (Spring Wildflowers Across Tennessee), Larry Pounds (Plants of the Cumberland Trail), Milo Pyne (Native Plants of the Cedar Glades), Cooper Breeden (Tennessee Plant Conservation Alliance) and Meredith Clebsch (Low-Tech Native Plant Propagation). All but one were recorded and the videos can be viewed on the “Speakers” page of our website. For the seminar not recorded (Karen’s error) a pdf version of the material presented has been posted. Upcoming seminars: Date Pollination Strategies of Native Orchids September 21 | Edible Natives Pandy Upchurch Invasive Plants of Tennessee Our Native Plant Seminars held via Zoom on the third Tuesday of each month at 7:30 pm Eastern and 6:30 pm Central last about one hour. All members, and potential members, are welcome to join the seminars at no cost. The links to join each seminar are posted on the Native Plant Seminars page and on the Calendar pages of our website (www.TNPS.org). The seminar zoom link is: https://zoom.us/j/95933234646?pwd=cHhBeUNuaGdWbitDTEIqgbFE3bmk4Zz09 Suggestions of possible speakers and/or topics are always welcome. Volunteer Needed An Outreach Coordinator for Middle Tennessee is needed to fill Kim Sadler’s position now that she has taken the position of Treasurer. Would take office as soon as possible. Must be a member of the Tennessee Native Plant Society (TNPS). Outreach Coordinators staff a booth at various events throughout their region, usually selling our books and memberships, meeting the public and providing them with information about TNPS, our field trips, and seminars. It might also include being the liaison between the public and members who are willing to give talks at garden club meetings and other events (or giving one yourself). The position is open-ended; whatever way you can dream up to promote native plants and TNPS is a possibility. You would also become a non-voting member of the TNPS board, which now meets three times a year via zoom. It's a wonderful doorway into becoming more active in TNPS, and we would love to have you on-board. If interested or desiring more information, contact Karen Hill (info@TNPS.org) or Kim Sadler (treas@TNPS.org) for details. Share Your Photos from the Trail As you Set out on hikes and scouting adventures, consider bringing your camera. We would love to see your photos from the field. Share your favorite finds, and a brief description with us and we will be happy to feature them in future newsletters and/or social media. Email info@TNP%S.org. When Are Dues Due? Unless you are an email subscriber, check your mailing label for your membership date. Your membership is paid through the end of the year listed just above your name. All membership dues are due on January 1st To make payment go to www.TNPS.org. Click on “Membership” on the bottom left side of any page and follow the directions for either printing a form and mailing it with a check OR use the online form. Once the online form is completed, you will be taken to the PayPal page for payment with either a credit card or by your PayPal account. If your address has changed, please email your new address to info@TNPS.org. We do not print the newsletter in full color, but you may be pleased to find all the color in email copies and at our website. SIZZLE NL MYSEN VLZ6ST XO"g ‘O'd JƏNƏJSMƏN SdNL NEWSLETTER OF THE So", TENNESSEE NATIVE ws PLANT SOCIETY Volume 45, Number 3 September 2021 “ang aa Kentucky Lady’s-Slipper in Tennessee The weekend after Memorial Day in 1981 a special rare plant mapping trip was scheduled for Saturday May 30 led by Tom Patrick and me. It was the first mapping project for TNPS. The objective was to rediscover Cumberland Rosemary (Conradina verticillata) at the original location near Rugby. After a tour of the historic eighteenth-century English homes and buildings in Rugby, the search began for Conradina. After much looking for the Cumberland Rosemary, we finally located some close to the original site near the junction of White Oak Creek and Clear Fork. On Sunday morning Tom and I were having a late breakfast at the local Rugby café. J. T. Baker from nearby Huntsville had learned about the TNPS trip and came by to see if we had found the Conradina. He brought with him a cardboard box full of his 8 X 10 color photographs of wildflowers, each mounted on stiff backing. Tom and I thumbed through the photos. We saw one labeled Small Yellow Lady’s-Slipper. It looked like our large lady’s- slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens) we occasionally find on well drained hillsides in Middle and East TN. As we continued, another photo labeled Large Yellow Lady’s-Slipper did not look like any yellow lady’s-slipper we had seen before. I remembered Dr. Victor Soukup from Cincinnati had mentioned a few months earlier about a new yellow lady’s-slipper that he was working on and planned to name Cypripedium daultonii. J. T. said, “well, if you want to go see it, it’s in bloom now.” Tom and I jumped at the chance to go look at this new lady’s-slipper. Cypripedium kentuckiense from East Tennessee. Photo by Linda Francis. Continued page 3. TNPS Newsletter This newsletter is a publication of Letter from the President The summer has flown by, with hikes and native plant the Tennessee Native Plant Society Seminars, but we still have a few more of each before the and is published four times a year, holidays. We will also have a brief Member Meeting via zoom generally inMarch, June, September, on November 16t, Details are posted in this newsletter. and December. The Tennessee Native Plant Society (TNPS) was founded in 1978. Its purposes are to assist in the exchange of information and encourage fellowship among Tennessee’s botanists, both amateur and professional; to promote public education about Tennessee flora and wild plants in general; to provide, through publication of a newsletter or journal, a formal means of documenting information on Tennessee flora and of informing the public about wild plants; and to promote the protection and enhancement of Tennessee’s wild plant communities. Dues for each calendar year are: Individual/Family: $20 Student: Complimentary Institution: $50 Life: $250 Dues may be sent to: Tennessee Native Plant Society P.O. Box 159274 Nashville, TN 37215 Officers Karen Ripple Hill, President Allan Trently, Vice-President Bettina Ault, Secretary Kim Sadler, Treasurer Susan Sweetser, Past President Directors Suzy Askew Louise Gregory Michelle Haynes Dennis Horn Bart Jones Larry Pounds Have you noticed all the beautiful colors now as the season changes? I never tire of seeing the yellow goldenrod behind my house. It’s so cheery as the days become shorter. Soon the fall asters will be blooming too. Many new members have joined TNPS this year and we are excited to have you all participate in any and all of our activities. One of the best ways to learn more about the people and activities of TNPS is to volunteer. Currently we need volunteers for three very different roles: Education Outreach (Middle-TN), Photo Librarian, and educator to help us create an online course. None of these positions requires expert native plant identification skills. y 4 Y Education Outreach requires lots of interaction with the public at a variety of events scattered around Middle-TN where we might recruit new members and/or sell a few books. The Photo Librarian is a new position for someone with a tech background. As we digitize older slides and then add digital images to the library, we will need someone to organize the images and control access to them. We are also forming a committee to create an online course about native plants for middle school students using our digital images. A background as an educator would be helpful but is not required. If any of these roles sounds interesting to you or you would like to know more, please send me an email at info@tnps.org. fare Did you know TNPS has a facebook page? If you need/want a plant identified, that’s an easy place to post a photo and receive feedback. Visit https://www.facebook.com/TennesseeNativePlantSociety Continued from page 1. It turned out J. T. Baker was Senator Howard Baker’s first cousin. But J. T. had another first cousin near Huntsville that had this new lady’s- slipper on his property down on a flood plain along the New River. Tom and I were excited to see this new lady’s-slipper. It certainly looked like something new and different to us. Two months later this species was described by Dr. Clyde F. Reed, and he named it Cypripedium kentuckiense. This came as a huge disappointment for Dr. Soukup and Jim Daulton. Dr. Soukup had planned to name this lady’s-slipper for Daulton. See the following historical note by Dr. Carl Slaughter that appeared in the Fall 1999 issue of the Arkansas Native Plant Society newsletter: Jim Daulton of Portsmouth, Ohio was on a fishing vacation in eastern Kentucky, in 1951, when he came upon a large, beautiful lady’s-slipper orchid. Jim knew enough botany to know that this was not the slipper that he knew. It was larger and bloomed later than the others that he knew. Daulton removed two plants to his home where they thrived and formed large clumps. Cypripedium kentuckiense of western Tennessee. Photo by Bart Jones. Jim Daulton invited everyone he could think of to come and look at the orchid. A few came but no help was forthcoming. He did send a whole plant to Donovan S. Correll, who in 1938 had published Native Orchids of North America and was the orchid guru at that time. Daulton did not receive a reply from Correll. In 1977 Victor Soukup traveled from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Kentucky, where Daulton directed him to the original orchid site. Soukup reported this find in a pamphlet of the Mid-American Orchid Conference. Soukup named the orchid after Jim Daulton, Cypripedium daultonii. Jim Daulton was ecstatic! After all the years and after all the work just to have anyone look at it, not only had he succeeded in having people agree with him, but the orchid was also named for him. Oh, how sweet and wonderful! But wait, Victor Soukup had not followed proper procedure in the naming of the orchid. He had not described it in Latin. In 1981, Clyde Reed of Maryland published in Phytologia a proper Latin description with specimen citation of a new orchid find which he called by a different name. It was the same orchid that Soukup had named C. daultonii. Since this name was invalid because of improper naming, what we would now be calling Cypripedium daultonii, named by Victor Soukup, we now know as Cypripedium kentuckiense, the Southern Lady’s-Slipper named by Clyde Reed. Cypripedium kentuckiense is the largest yellow lady’s-slipper we have in the U.S. It has a pale-yellow lip (or moccasin) with a large opening (orifice) on the top and a sharp drop off at the toe. The sepals and lateral petals are deep purple or wine colored. It is found from Oklahoma and Eastern Texas, east to Kentucky and Georgia. It is most common in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Kentucky, but is listed as rare in every state where it occurs. It is most commonly found on alluvial terraces along small rivers or creeks. It has been found only in Decatur, Franklin, and Scott counties in Tennessee, one county in each of Tennessee's three Grand Divisions. So, this year (2021) it has been 70 years since Jim Daulton realized he had found a new yellow lady’s- slipper and now 40 years since Clyde Reed described Cypripedium kentuckiense as a new lady’s-slipper species. Dennis Horn Cumberland Sandwort Delisted After more than three decades of conservation partnerships inspired by the Endangered Species Act and a thorough review of the best available science, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is delisting the Cumberland sandwort due to recovery. “Partnerships are the key to the success of the Endangered Species Act,” said Leopoldo Miranda-Castro, Service Regional Director. “Playing critical roles in the recovery of this delicate flower were the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, states = of Tennessee and Kentucky, Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden and Missouri Botanical Garden. Thanks to these efforts, future generations will have the opportunity to enjoy the sandwort and ae the plants and animals that share its habitat. ee A E - Found only in a small portion of the Cumberland Plateau in Ín AA Tet northern Tennessee and southern Kentucky, the Cumberland sandwort was headed toward extinction before it was listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1988. That’s when the states of Tennessee and Kentucky, federal agencies and conservation groups stepped in to protect and restore this unique plant. At the time of listing, the Service was aware of only 28 \. occurrences of the plant. The species faced threats from overuse Cumberland sandwort, Arenaria or destruction of habitat from recreational activities in the cumberlandensis. It normally sandstone cliff lines where it occurs. Land protection and habitat blooms in June and July. management by diverse partners have been vital to protecting and recovering the sandwort. Conservation actions on behalf of the sandwort included installing signs, fencing and boardwalks to educate visitors about public lands and plant protection. Today, sandwort populations are healthy and stable and are found in 71 places. Sixty-six of those occurrences are on federal and state conservation lands managed by the National Park Service, Tennessee Division of Forestry, Tennessee Division of Natural Areas, or Tennessee State Parks. Pickett State Forest, owned by the Tennessee Division of Forestry, has 29 occurrences alone. Email notice from Daniel Elbert, Field Supervisor, Tennessee Ecological Services Field Office South Atlantic-Gulf Interior Region, USFWS First described to science in 1979 by Drs. Robert Kral of Vanderbilt University and Eugene Wofford of the University of Tennessee from material they collected at Pickett State Park, Cumberland sandwort occurs at the base and ledges of shady sandstone cliffs or rockhouses in four Tennessee counties and one Kentucky county. Its limited range and strict habitat requirements justified the species’ listing as endangered in 1988. Roger McCoy, Director of Conservation for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation in The Tennessee Conservationist, September/October 2020 Trip Report: Purple and Yellow Finale - September 11th We usually have a fall outing to enjoy the end of the flowering season. This year, September 11, we climbed Cumberland Mountain east of Lafollette. We saw lovely yellow displays of sunflowers: Helianthus microcephalus, Helianthus glaucophyllus and a close relative Heliopsis helianthoides. A deep purple was added by clasping aster (Symphyotrichum patens). We also found two types of fruit of interest. Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) fruit is normally hard to find though this small tree is common. First, we found an unripe one then a few minutes later we got one with the fragrant smell for all to enjoy. Some people are attempting to commercialize this fruit. Next, we happened on two butternuts lying on the ground. The butternut or white walnut tree, Juglans cinerea, is rare and rarer still is finding the nut. This tree is attacked by Butternut Canker fungus leading to its rarity. In planning for this trip, we tried to accommodate a variety of interests, length of time available and physical ability. I felt good about how the outing worked for people. The 12 of us turned back at several different points and we helped each other get past a landslide zone in the trail. For some the highlight of the trip was not the plants but the views from cliff tops. Thanks to Jimmy, Judy, and Ken for help with this. We enjoyed meeting new faces, Jack, Bruce, Linda, and Sarah. Jimmy and I did a small service project on the hike gathering info on two rare plant populations found on top of the mountain. This data was hand delivered to Todd our state botanist to put in the state protected plant database. Larry Pounds and photos by Ken Mayes Ea S a) Aureolaria laevigata Trip Report: Thomas Divide-Kanati Fork - July 17th Five hearty souls met on Saturday to car shuttle and hike the trail. Allen and Susan had scouted the trail and provided a list of plants for the group. Plant identification was from the beginning of the trail with the first occurrence of individual plants. Margie Hunter, Bettina Ault, Harland Alpaugh and the Sweetsers made up the group. Needless to say, we looked at each and every plant, photographed and discussed the particulars of each. With this going on, we didn't get very far on the trail. Due to time constraints, a couple of us turned back and 3 went on for about a mile and half only. Some of the highlights were Featherbells (Stananthium gramineum), Steele's Joe-Pye Weed (Eutrochium steelei), Painted Trillium (Trillium undulatum), Flame azalea (Rhododendron calendulaceum) and Rosebay Rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum) still in bloom. Turk's Cap lily (Lillium superbum), White Bergamot (Monarda clinipodia), Cow Wheat (Melampyrum lineare var. americana) and Purple bluets (Houstonia purpurea var. purpurea) were all blooming along the trail. Monarda clinopodia Susan Sweetser and photos this page by Susan Sweetser Fall Virtual Wildflower Pilgrimage Unfortunately, the Smokies’ annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage was cancelled for the second year because of concerns about Covid-19. The second annual Spring Virtual Wildflower Pilgrimage, however, was a great success, with 12,027 observations of 2537 species by 108 observers. The second annual Fall Virtual Wildflower Pilgrimage will take place from October 9-17, 2021. This is an iNaturalist event; pilgrims can upload photos and recordings from anywhere in the country (or the world!) through iNaturalist during this 9-day period. Nor is it restricted to plants; all living things are fair game! Information on registration and how to download the iNaturalist app are available at www.wildflowerpilgrimage.org. Virtual tutorials on how to use the app are also planned as the event approaches. You do not need to know what you're seeing; there will be y plenty of identification help. Monotropa uniflora Registration for this event is free, but a small contribution ($5.00 or a little more) would be greatly appreciated. Join us for this citizen science event. And save the date for the in-person Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage April 26-30, 2022! Bettina Ault TNPS Annual Meeting and Elections On Tuesday November 16 we will have a short Annual Meeting prior to our monthly Native Plant Seminar via Zoom at 7:30 p.m. Eastern (6:30 pm Central). The following Board members are up for re-election this year: Bart Jones and Suzy Askew. Michelle Haynes is stepping down from the Board with Susan Bible running for her position. Any member may also be nominated from the general membership if accompanied by written consent of the nominee and the nomination is received at info@tnps.org prior to November 15‘. Please plan to attend and consider staying for Margie Hunter’s presentation on Invasive Plants of Tennessee. The zoom link is: A https://zoom.us/j 95933234646? wd=cHhBeUNuaGdWbitDTElabFE3bmk4Zz09. Save the Date - 2022 Annual Conference We are planning to have our 2022 Annual Conference in the Chattanooga area on the weekend of May 13-15, 2022. The event will be based at the Clarion Hotel in Lookout Valley. A block of rooms has been reserved at the discounted room rate of $69.00/night; this special rate expires two weeks before the event. Breakfast is included, and we are looking into box/picnic lunches for Saturday. There are many restaurants in the area for dinner. We have many wonderful trails in the Chattanooga area; please feel free to let us know if you want to nominate a favorite. Also, please let us know if you have a suggestion for evening speakers. We will have more details and a registration form in the December newsletter. Bettina Ault Upcoming Events S e Saturday, October 2 - Field Trip, Big Cypress Tree State Park Mycology Safari with Bart Jones e October 9-17 - Fall Virtual Wildflower Pilgrimage e Tuesday, October 19 - Native Plant Seminar, Creativity & Curiosity Surrounding Native Plants with Robin Whitfield e October 20 - Heather Holm webinar on Wasps, WildOnes e Friday, October 22 - Mack Prichard Celebration of Life at Cummins Falls new visitor center e Tuesday, November 16 - TNPS Annual Meeting and Elections via zoom e Tuesday, November 16 - Native Plant Seminar, Invasive Plants of Tennessee with Margie Hunter Details on facebook and website, tnps.org. essee N; g Z, a ~x- Tennessee Native Plant Society, Inc. ang sone When Are Dues Due? Unless you are an email subscriber, check your mailing label for your membership date. Your membership is paid through the end of the year listed just above your name. All membership dues are due on January 1, including those who joined this year up to and including June 30. If you joined late this year, on or after July 1, you should renew January 1, 2023. To make payment go to www.TNPS.org. Click on “Membership” on the bottom left side of any page and follow the directions for either printing a form and mailing it with a check OR use the online form. Once the online form is completed, you will be taken to the PayPal page for payment with either a credit card or your PayPal account. UNTIL PAYMENT IS MADE VIA CHECK OR PAYPAL YOU ARE NOT A MEMBER AND WILL NOT RECEIVE NEWSLETTERS. If you are a student, your membership is free during your four years of study. However, you must provide contact information and year of graduation using the CONTACT form. IF YOU TRY TO USE THE MEMBERSHIP FORM WITHOUT PAYING, YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE THE NEWSLETTER NOR BE CONSIDERED A MEMBER. If your address has changed, please email your new address to info@TNPS.org. We do not print the newsletter in full color, but you may be pleased to find all the color in email copies and at our website on the Newsletter page. SIZZLE NL ‘OUAYSeN VLZ6ST XOg ‘O'd JƏNƏJSMƏN SdNL NEWSLETTER OF THE TENNESSEE NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY Volume 45, Number 4 December 2021 In the beginning... Late in 1977 the Tennessee Native Plant Society was formed. The earliest surviving newsletter is Vol. 2, No. 1 dated January 15, 1979. The following President’s Message was written by TNPS President Robert E. Farmer, Jr. and is excerpted from that newsletter. Enjoy! “Since December 1977, we have grown from an idea to an organization of about 650 members. We have met together in the natural meeting places of botanists to enjoy the region’s diverse reservoir of flora and to think, plan and give hard direction to our goal of maintaining this diversity. This direction is now taking form in an active field program, in the beginnings of general conservation efforts, and in the strength of regular communication among folks of similar interests. As with most new efforts, our work has mixed uncertain starts with clear successes. The year has been one of emerging ideas, interest and energy, and I have enjoyed it.” “Under Ed Cox’s leadership, the monthly field trips are now an institution. Some have been quiet Saturday morning gatherings of a few people to visit, for example, the remnants of a tall grass prairie or an endangered streamside golden-aster. Others have been large occasions requiring divisions into walking groups with leaders and guides. But all involved new names, faces and places, and the many strands of conversation which will gradually build the web of our becoming a constituency for plants. We look forward to January’s indoor discussion of endangered species in Tennessee, and to Ed Clebsch’s February tramp to the state’s scattered groves of eastern white cedar. George Ramseur’s good organization of the Savage Gulf occasion has already prompted mention of return to that area.” “Some efforts have been striking in their clarity of purpose and execution. In early autumn Joan Vaughn decided that a note paper series on Tennessee's rare and endangered flora was needed. At her prompting the essential team of taxonomist (Leo Collins), artists (Andrea Higdon and Babs McBride) and printer was assembled. They went to work and the first of the series is now available.” “Our conservation programs are emerging from diverse plans: the U. S. Forest Service in North Carolina has been receptive to our offer of help in designing vegetation management plans for some sensitive high-country areas on the Tennessee-N. Carolina border; we hope to be working with the Forest Service’s landscape architect soon. A bill is being drafted which, if successfully moved through the General Assembly, will provide legislative foundation to the State’s ginseng conservation program. Another bill aimed at generally giving some State protection to endangered and threatened species is also in the drafting stage. We will be shepherding these pieces of legislation over the course of the next few years. Mary Palmer Kelley reports that the first TNPS “plant dig” will probably take place in late February or March. And Rex Boner has been fitting people with tasks in response to our recent membership interest survey.” [One paragraph skipped. | “Perhaps our most important function at this early stage of TNPS evolution is developing a sense of community. The newsletter, about which we receive much favorable comment, will for present be a focal point in this development. We hope you will not only read it, but contribute to it. From the newsletter, our monthly field gatherings and the projects requiring group effort, we believe there is emerging the community of active interest which will underpin our effective constituency for Tennessee’s native flora. At this stage, the organization especially needs the continuing support of those who this year expressed their commitment to Tennessee’s flora by becoming charter members. Please renew this commitment by promptly returning the membership renewal form in this newsletter.” TNPS Newsletter This newsletter is a publication of the Tennessee Native Plant Society and is published four times a year, generally inMarch, June, September, and December. The Tennessee Native Plant Society (TNPS) was founded in 1978. Its purposes are to assist in the exchange of information and encourage fellowship among Tennessee’s botanists, both amateur and professional; to promote public education about Tennessee flora and wild plants in general; to provide, through publication of a newsletter or journal, a formal means of documenting information on Tennessee flora and of informing the public about wild plants; and to promote the protection and enhancement of Tennessee’s wild plant communities. Dues for each calendar year are: Individual/Family: $20 Student: Complimentary Institution: $50 Life: $250 Dues may be sent to: Tennessee Native Plant Society P.O. Box 159274 Nashville, TN 37215 Officers Karen Ripple Hill, President Allan Trently, Vice-President Bettina Ault, Secretary Kim Sadler, Treasurer Susan Sweetser, Past President Directors Suzy Askew Louise Gregory Sue Bible Dennis Horn Bart Jones Larry Pounds President’s Message Happy New Year to everyone! May it bea kinder year than 2021. The Annual Meeting of the Tennessee Native Plant Society was held on November 16, 2021, via zoom. Three Board members were up for re-election: Bart Jones, Suzy Askew, and Michelle Haynes. Bart and Suzy will return for another two years, but Michelle has stepped down. Sue Bible was elected in her place. In the fall of 2022 three more board members and all four officers will be up for reelection. If you are interested in serving, please let us know. Currently your Board members are very busy scheduling speakers for our Native Plant Seminars (partial list in this newsletter), pulling together an exciting list of Field Trips (full list with details in our next newsletter), and putting the finishing touches on our May Conference in Chattanooga (Registration Form in this newsletter). Two special projects are also underway. e Slides are being digitized and placed in a DropBox library managed by a librarian and available for TNPS use. e Our Tennessee native plants online course(s) is beginning to take shape. Our Education Outreach Coordinators are busy preparing for events in their areas of the state. Upcoming outreach events: e Dogwood Arts House & Garden Show, Knoxville - Feb 11-13 (One of our oldest events dating back to 1970s) e Nashville Lawn & Garden Show, Nashville -March 3-6 e Wild Ones Plant Natives, Chattanooga - March 12 (Symposium) and March 19 (Plant Sale & Expo) e Trails & Trilliums, Monteagle - April 9-10 e Conservation Days, Murfreesboro - April 22-23 e Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage, Gatlinburg -April 26- 30 e Elsie Quarterman Cedar Glade Wildflower Festival, Lebanon -April 29-30 We have a busy 2022 planned. Won't you join us in some of the activities? Better yet, offer to lead an activity! fae Spiranthes ovalis Found in Bedford County The first known occurrence of Spiranthes ovalis Lindley var. erostellata Catling in Bedford County was discovered this fall on Horse Mountain. Although native to eastern North America it is uncommon throughout most of its range. In Orchidaceae, the common name is Oval Ladies’ Tresses. These newly found orchids appeared in an area shaded for part of the day by high trees and occasionally mowed, but never mowed close to the — ground as in a lawn. Like much of the region, the soil of Horse Mountain is of calcareous substrate. The genus Spiranthes grows terrestrially. S. ovalis flowers are tightly spaced within each of the three ranks gently spiraling toward the tip of the inflorescence (spiral phyllotaxy of 1/3 or 1/4). The delicate white flowers each with a recurved crystalline white lip appear in August through October. The blooms are smaller than Spiranthes cernua, with the actual flowers measuring only 4-5 mm in size. The plant is pubescent with capitate hairs on the upper stem and the green parts of the inflorescence. The species S. ovalis carries three oblanceolate glabrous smooth leaves along the stem. These leaves stay green through and past the flowering period. Among the countless specific methods of pollination for Orchidaceae flowers, this orchid is cleistogamous. The flowers do not open enough to be pollinated from the outside, so they self-pollinate. A swelling of the ovaries, which would indicate successful self-pollination, was seen on the largest plant. An electron microscope would be needed, however, to show a nucleus inside of the seeds verifying that it had self-pollinated. Left top photo: Three ranks gently spiral towards the tip of the inflorescence. Middle photo: Close-up of inflorescence taken September 20, 2021. Bottom photo: Foliage LS Right photo: Seed capsules A more detailed description of the species can be found in “Orchids of Indiana” by Michael A. Homoya (1993). - # Alice Jensen ; Mycology Safari, Big Cypress Tree State Park October 2, 2021 There’s always this gut-punch feeling when you wake up on a field trip © morning and it is pouring down rain. This was the situation as I faced a weather forecast that looked very bleak for the rest of the day. But alas, rain is no deterrent for plants, or fungi in this case. B After driving in heavy downpours for two hours, the rain miraculously stopped as I approached Greenfield and the park. Could we be lucky enough to get a few hours of dry in the field? Soon after I arrived at the picnic pavilion at the park, a few others showed up, eventually totaling five participants. Checking the radar, it looked like we might have a brief ý respite from the rain, so we decided to head out. As we walked to the boardwalk, we encountered a few wildflowers still in bloom; white snakeroot (Ageratina altissima), giant goldenrod (Solidago gigantea), and old field aster (Symphyotrichum pilosum). Approaching the boardwalk, we looked for the red turtlehead (Chelone obliqua) that we saw during our last field trip here, but unfortunately, it appeared that it had been choked out by the highly invasive Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum). As we searched for the turtlehead, a flash of bright orange caught our attention. As we got closer, the large, striated fans of chicken-of-the-woods (Photo 1, Laetiporus sulphureus) came = into focus. This large edible mushroom is much sought after by foragers. | Continuing our search along the boardwalk, we encountered another wonderful edible mushroom, the summer oyster mushroom (Photo 2, Pleurotus pulmonarius). These fungi look like a bleached chicken-of-the- woods with its white, fleshy fans. Nearby this great edible, was growing one of the most poisonous of our native mushrooms, the Eastern North American destroying angel (Photo 3, Amanita bisporigera). The ghostly white rounded cap on a stem holds the distinct shape of the genus Amanita, #4 a whole group of poisonous (to some degree or other) mushrooms. Many of our most familiar mushroom memes take their characteristics from this genus. We got back on the boardwalk and went further into the flatwoods. A severe storm a couple of years ago downed many trees near the end of the , me | boardwalk and this dead wood now supported a vast array of different kinds of fungi, colorful ringed shelf fungi of various genera collectively known as turkey tails (Photo 4), gelatinous masses like golden ear (Photo 5, | Naematelia aurantia), tiny bonnet mushrooms (Photo 6, Mycena galericulata) and parachute mushrooms (Photo 7, Marasmius sp.), and even 4 tendrils of membranous slime molds. i Sadly, at this point at the end of the boardwalk, the entire area was flooded, so we were forced to turn back, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because not long after we arrived back at the picnic pavilion and began eating lunch, the rain came back with a vengeance. Safe and dry, it allowed us to spend some quality time with each other and share many great stories about our nature adventures. And although we only got a couple of hours to spend in the field, we were astounded at the diversity and numbers of the fungi present in the small area we explored. Bart Jones The Grasslands of Dry Branch State Natural Area September 25, 2021 In celebration of National Public Lands Day, approximately 15 people met in Lewis County for the Grasslands of Dry Branch State Natural Area event. Leaders, Cooper Breeden, Southeastern Grasslands Initiative, and Allan Trently, Tennessee Division of Natural Areas first led the group to a remnant prairie along Old Linden Road. A section of this site is within the Southeastern Grasslands Initiative’s Western Highland Rim Roadsides project. Using iNaturalist, we added plant species including the state listed Barbed Rattlesnake Root (Nabulus barbatus) to this project. From here we drove into the 2,169-acre Dry Branch State Natural Area. The natural area contains a Series of grasslands along unimproved roads in the uplands. We explored one of these grasslands. Here we found Appalachian Blazing Star (Liatris squarrulosa), late purple aster (Symphyotrichum patens), and other plants in the aster family. The highlight of the site was a plum tree (Prunus spp.) sporting ripe plums. From the grassland, the group continued to the last site, a Highland Rim Parnassia Seepage Fen along Persimmon Branch just outside the natural area. This community contains the Federally Endangered Tennessee Yellow-eyed Grass (Xyris tennesseensis). The fen did have a few leafy clumps but unfortunately no flowers or seed heads. The Xyris population in the natural area is in much better condition though is much harder to get to. Allan Trently Upcoming Events e January 11 -- TNPS Board Meeting (Zoom) e January 18 - Native Plant Seminar: Dave Walters & Dr. Cindi Smith-Walters on Winter Tree Identification (Zoom) e February 11-13 - Dogwood Arts Home and Garden Show, Knoxville e February 15 - Native Plant Seminar: Darel Hess on Wildflower Photography (Zoom) e March 3-6 -Nashville Lawn & Garden Show, Nashville Fairgrounds e March 12 - Wild Ones Symposium, Plant Natives 2022!, Chattanooga e March 15 - Native Plant Seminar: Randy Hedgepath, Some of My Favorite Wildflowers (Zoom) e March 19 - Wild Ones Native Plant Sale & Expo, Chattanooga Details on facebook and our website, tnps.org/events/category/calendar/. IOI ON ON ONION ON ONION ON OY ON OS Native Plant Seminars The Tennessee Native Plant Society will again host monthly Native Plant Seminars beginning in January 2022. These events will be held via Zoom on the third Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. Central (7:30 p.m. Eastern) and lasting about one hour. All members, and potential members, are welcome to join the seminars at no cost. The link to join each seminar will be posted on the Seminars and Calendar pages of our website (www.tnps.org). Seminar speakers are drawn from our knowledgeable membership, from professionals across the state, and from the professors and students studying our Tennessee native plants. A range of topics will be covered that may include plants that are currently blooming, native plants in our yards, current research on native plants, protections for native plants, and so much more. Join us for an hour a month to learn more about Tennessee native plants. 2022 TNPS Native Plant Seminar Schedule January 18 - Dave Walters and Dr. Cindi Smith-Walters, Winter Tree Identification February 15 - Darel Hess, Wildflower Photography March 15 - Randy Hedgepath, Some of My Favorite Wildflowers April 19 - Mary Priestley, Nature Journaling May 17 - John Froeschauer, Moths and Butterflies: Natural History and Gardening June 21 - Louise Jones, Flowers for Nashville Tree leaf answers: Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), Sweet Gum (Liquidambar styraciflua), Sassafras (Sassafras albidum), Oak (Quercus alba), American Holly (Ilex opaca), Red Maple (Acer rubrum) 2022 TNPS Conference Registration Chattanooga, TN ~ May 13-15, 2022 4 oa fant soc” Please complete and return with payment by April 28". Please note: e Our meetings will be held at the Clarion Hotel in Lookout Valley (8641 Cummings Hwy, Chattanooga, TN 37419). A block of rooms has been reserved at the discounted room rate of $69.00/night; this special rate expires two weeks before the event. For reservations call 423- 635-7203 and let them know that you are with TNPS. e Breakfast is included and we are looking into box/picnic lunches for Saturday. There are many restaurants in the area for dinner. e A schedule of hikes and talks will be posted soon at www.inps.org. Registration fee $25 per person: # people @ $25 = Registrant #1 Information: Name Address Telephone Email Special Needs Registrant #2 Information: Name Address Telephone Email Special Needs Make check(s) payable to TNPS and send to: Karen Hill, 2152 Ravenscourt Drive, Thompsons Station, TN 37179 Questions? Email: treas@tnps.org When Are Dues Due? All membership dues are due on January 1, including those who joined during the year up to and including June 30. If you joined on or after July 1, you receive the partial year free, then need to renew annually by January 1st. To make payment go to www.TNPS.org. Click on “Membership” on the bottom left side of any page and follow the directions for either printing a form and mailing it with a check OR use the online form. Once the online form is completed, you will be taken to the PayPal page for payment with either a credit card or by your PayPal account. UNTIL PAYMENT IS MADE VIA CHECK OR PAYPAL YOU ARE NOT A MEMBER AND WILL NOT RECEIVE NEWSLETTERS. If your address has changed, please email your new address to info@TNPS.org. We do not print the newsletter in full color, but you may be pleased to find all the color in email copies and at our website on the Newsletter page. SIZZLE NL MYSEN VLZ6ST XOg ‘O'd JƏNƏJSMƏN SdNL