VOLUME 12, NUMBER 1______________________________________APRIL 2004
Board of Trustees meeting highlights
Exciting things happened at our spring meeting in Elkins on March 27, 2004.
After the usual approval of the minutes and treasurer’s report the discussion turned to a budget for the year. Proposals had been made to print an invasives educational packet or bulletin, join the Mid-Atlantic Exotic Plant Pest Council, help Sue Studlar preserve the bryophyte collection at WVU, provide a botanical scholarship, purchase tools or educational materials for SNIP, sponsor a WV rare plant, sponsor a native planting at the South Charleston Public Library, and become a group member in The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy. A lot of proposals and frankly, we could seriously consider several of them because most of our members are willing to get the Native Notes by email.
After discussion and voting we decided:
The next Board of Trustees meeting is set for July 10-11 with Cranberry Glades as the focal point. Details to come later!!!
· The Kanawha Valley Chapter has changed their name to the Kanawha Valley Native Plant Society. We are still a chapter of WVNPS but the new name better reflects our chapter’s character and image.
· The KV-NPS has scheduled a wildflower hike into the Glade Creek Canyon of the New River for Saturday, April 17th. All WV-NPS members are welcome! The group will meet at the State Capitol Cultural Center parking lot in Charleston, WV and the drive to the area will take about 1.5 hours. Plan to bring lunch, water and the appropriate gear for the weather. Following the hike some of the chapter membership will be camping in the New River Gorge on Saturday evening and will be exploring (botanizing) the Thurmond area on Sunday, April 18th . Camping and lodging arrangements must be made by the attendees. Please respond to Chris Gatens at (304) 458-2533 or email at cgatens@citynet.net for information. This is an optimum time to visit this scenic and biologically diverse area.
· Learn how to identify WV’s spring wildflowers and where to find them. Speakers from the WV-NPS and the WV Scenic Trails Association will present programs in preparation for the annual wildflower hike through Kanawha State Forest on April 24th , which is hosted by the Kanawha Trail Club and the Kanawha State Forest Foundation. Questions: contact Julie Spiegler (304) 343-4646 X284 or email julie.spiegler@kanawha.lib.wv.us
Schedule at public libraries: Main:343-4646: April 15 at noon (bring your lunch) Presenter is Doug Wood of the WV Scenic Trails Association
Clendenin: 548-6370: April 17 at 1 pm Presenter is Dr. Doug Jolley of the WV Native Plant Society
Riverside: 949-2400: April 14 at 2 pm Presenter is Harry Wise of WV Native Plant Society
KinderGardening in South Charleston with Mary and Lois
Local children will soon be able to help plan, plant, and maintain a native plant garden at the South Charleston Public Library. Kanawha Valley NPS members Lois Kuhl of Charleston and Mary Sansom of Cross Lanes are spearheading the project, which they call KinderGardening.
Having received the library board’s approval for the project, Lois and Mary plan to transform a small section in front of the municipal library into a native plant garden full of eye-catching wildflowers, grasses and ferns.
Eastern Panhandle –NPS president Larry Stritch, who has worked on native plant restorations in the Midwest, has offered to help advise the project by email. KVNPS president Steve Mace and former KVNPS president Chris Gatens have also offered their assistance with plant selection. Other volunteers with time, knowledge and resources are also needed. For more information, contact Lois at 348-4833 or at loisk@cnpapers.com or contact Mary at 776-7852 or at msansom@wvmi.org
Future issues of Native Notes will track the progress of KinderGardening
(bogs, balds, andbeaver ponds to barrens , bedrock, and bluffs)
Chief Logan State Park : By Bill Grafton
The southwestern counties of West Virginia are in “coal country” and in my opinion belong to the Cumberland Plateau ecologically. The mountains are steep and the valleys are narrow. The growing season is definitely longer; about 193 days. Chief Logan State Park is located on 3300 acres of the beautiful Buffalo Creek watershed in Logan County.
The history of Logan County is quite interesting. Chief Logan, a celebrated chief of the Cayugas, lived at peace with early European pioneers in the mid-1700s until a party of whites massacred his family. Chief Logan then carried out a barbaric war for many months until his need for vengeance was satisfied. Logan County is home to the Hatfields of the well known Hatfield-McCoy Feud. The county also was the site of Blair Mountain where American war planes fired on American citizens (the only such incident in our history) during the Mine Wars of 1921. Logan County has been the scene of nearly 2 dozen major mine disasters, including the flood on a different Buffalo Creek in 1972 that killed 126 people.
Your can reach the park by following signs on US 119 south of Charleston.
The park has a half dozen nice trails, a restaurant, playgrounds, picnic shelters and tables, campgrounds and is home to the ”Aracoma” historical drama during the summer. Woodpecker and Lake Shore trails are easy hiking and provide a wealth of spring wildflowers. Just walking the edges of the valley openings can provide a wide diversity of wildflowers. Early May is the best time to visit the park for wildflowers.
Some of the more common plants in Chief Logan State Park are:
Adder’s tongue Ebony spleenwort
Maidenhair fern Sensitive fern
Glade fern Brittle fern
Walking fern Silvery spleenwort
Rattlesnake fern Common polypody
Jack-in-the-pulpit Yellow fawn lily Hairy disporum
Plumelily Mountain bellwort Large-flowered bellwort
Ramps Wake robin Sessile-leaved bellwort
Yellow stargrass Puttyroot Large-flowered trillium
Wild ginger Wood chickweed Great Solomon’s seal
Fire pink Carolina spring beauty Common Solomon’s seal
Dwarf larkspur Columbine Rue anemone
Blue cohosh Bloodroot Smooth Rockcress
May-apple Cutleaf toothwort Sicklepod
Pale corydalis Two-leaved toothwort Dutchman’s breeches
Alumroot Slender toothwort Squirrel corn
Early saxifrage Foamflower Sharplobe hepatica
Stonecrop Carolina vetch Wild geranium
Green violet Common blue phlox Common blue violet
Canada violet Striped violet Smooth yellow violet
Sweet white violet Wild pansy Long-spurred violet
Spreading chervil Greek valerian Harbinger of spring
Bluebells Wild comfrey Golden Alexanders (Z. aurea)
Wood betony Cancerroot Smooth Sweet anise
Squaw-weed Cynthia Pink azalea
Flowering dogwood Pawpaw Umbrella magnolia
Buckeye Redbud Princess tree (Paulownia)
Wahoo Strawberry bush
Showy orchis Cranefly orchid Downy rattlesnake plantain
Giant cane Buffalonut Butternut
Yellow oak Blue-eyed Mary
My favorite spring wildflowers in Chief Logan are:
Guyandotte beauty
Crossvine
Celandine poppy
This article is a summary of an article published by Eleanor M. Bush in Castanea journal in December 1976.
There are three ways to reach this relatively remote area of Barbour County that lies between the community of Arden and the mouth of Teter Creek. The area is popular with whitewater kayakers/rafters, college students, and botanists. A gravel road runs the 3-mile stretch along the east side of the river.
There is a small grocery along the way but you will be better off to take your food, drinks, etc. There are no bathrooms.
Plant communities that can be observed are Semi-prairie openings along the river, river scour zones, wet areas, sandstone shale outcroppings, and mesic woods. The following plants can be observed in the communities listed below:
Aster linariifolius Solidago racemosa Trautvetteria caroliniensis
Allium cernuum Andropogon gerardi Andropogon scoparius
Asclepias tuberosa Aster puniceus Aster simplex
Cardamine bulbosa Euphorbia corollata Gentiana andrewsii
Houstonia caerulea Hypoxis hirsuta Krigia biflora
Liatris spicata Oenothera perennis Oxypolis rigidior
Lysimachia lanceolata Polygala verticillata Rosa carolina
Spiraea alba Senecio pauperculus Sorghastrum nutans
Spartina pectinata Spiranthes cernua Zizia aptera
Coreopsis tripteris Marshallia grandiflora Oenothera tetragona
Phlox maculata Ilex verticillata Physocarpus opulifolius
Pyrularia pubera Rhododendron arborescens Viburnum recognitum
Justicia americana Alisma subcordatum Dulichium arundinaceum
Sagittaria latifolia Myriophyllum heterophyllum Potamogeton diversifolius
Scirpus validus Vallisneria americana Rhyncospora capitellata
Aster junciformis Chelone glabra Erigeron pulchellus v. brauniae
Gerardia flava Lobelia cardinalis Lobelia siphilitica
Lysimachia producta Lysimachia terrestris Osmunda regalis
Phlox maculata Sericocarpus linifolius Xanthorhiza simplicissima
Asplenium montanum Chrysopsis mariana Gerardia tenuifolia
Liatris spicata Phlox subulata Solidago racemosa
Viola primulifolia Stylosanthes biflora Pinus virginiana
Claytonia virginica Dicentra cucullaria Dicentra canadensis
Phlox divaricata Caulophyllum thalictroides Geranium maculatum
Hybanthus concolor Smilacina racemosa Tiarella cordifolia
Aruncus dioicus Hydrophyllum canadensis Athyrium filix-femina
Dryopteris marginalis Osmunda cinnamomea Osmunda claytoniana
During this study Eleanor Bush identified 458 taxa the included 86 Barbour County records and 5 WV State records. The new state records are:
Since 1976, Eleanor Bush has continued to diligently study the Arden area and all of Barbour County. Rosa blanda has been identified along the riverbank at Arden. Perhaps the best news is that Eleanor is hard at work writing a “Flora of Barbour County” which she hopes to publish soon. It would be the first “county flora” in West Virginia. Good luck, Eleanor, and we look forward to your book.
Editor: I have about 20 copies of the Castanea with Eleanor’s original article that has many more facts and details. If you would like one send me a dollar to cover postage and I will send you a copy.
Field Notes
From Chris Gatens: New locations of Giant Cane (Arundinaria gigantea)
From Martin Mackenzie: Martin is our Scottish botany detective that works for the US Forest Service in Morgantown. He sifted through old records and determined that the 4th location where early botanists had transplanted Pitcher Plant in West Virginia was on Stony River in Grant County near the old Westvaco Reservoir. After getting permission from the private landowner his search was successful and a specimen has been deposited in the WVU Herbarium.
The other 3 locations are Cranberry Glades, Cranesville Swamp and Big Run (Olson) Bog. The 4th location had been searched for by numerous people but all in vain. Now we know the rest of the story.
Martha Vandervort was visiting in Morgantown from Maine. She lives there with her husband Andy Egan and their young daughter. She is still working on her Doctorate that involved research on ginseng. She said some seeds that were sown in the woods are still germinating after 4 years.
Russ Richardson is a consulting forester that owns 800+ acres in Calhoun County and is growing ginseng and goldenseal naturally and planted from seeds. His property was hard hit by the ice storm 2 winters ago. The more open forest was suddenly overrun by Japanese stilt grass this past year. Russ and Bill Grafton joined Jay Halvorson and another scientist from the Appalachian Farming Systems Research Center in Grandview, WV to look at the impacts of Japanese stilt grass on the forest. On two large watersheds in Gilmer and Lewis Counties it was obvious the forest is in grave danger.
One 60-80 acre hillside had been timbered 5 years ago and now looks like a savannah. It was almost completely covered from top to bottom with stilt grass. The floodplain along the creek also had a complete cover of Japanese stilt grass. I’m sure all native plants will soon be gone and the opportunities to grow medicinal or aromatic plants will be a battle. Literally every log and gas road, and county route was lined with the grass and it was obviously spreading rapidly into the forests. We see almost no wildlife using the grass or its seeds. Not even Bambi seems to eat this one. One lady who keeps sheep as part of her bed and breakfast has told Russ that her sheep will not eat the grass. We saw evidence of this as we drove through her property.
From The Orchid Nuts: Clete Smith, Scott Shriver, and Bill Grafton traveled to the Eastern Panhandle to botanize with Bob Dean and Larry Stritch. Our goal was to locate Goodyera pubescens –Rattelsnake Plantain Orchid in the last of WVs 55 counties and we were successful. Both Bob and Larry had seen it at the same location on Shannondale Wildlife Management Area. We also saw what has to be one of the best populations of Puttyroot and several small populations of Cranfly Orchid in the same area. It is good to be successful and to be in the company of other serious botanists.
We also visited TNC’s Yankauer Preserve and located both twayblades, downy rattlesnake plantain, and the sites for some ladies’ tresses. It was a long but great day and to top it off Bob showed us the first modern-day bald eagle nest in the Eastern Panhandle. It was complete with one bird sitting nearby.
By the way, long time member of WV-NPS and senior member of the Orchid Nuts, Al Shriver is no longer able to make the long trips to search for orchids. He would surely enjoy a card from any of you:
Al Shriver
110 Hillvue Lane
Pittsburgh, PA 15202
From Jim Vanderhorst, botanist with DNR in Elkins:
He collected a sedge in Canaan Valley early in the year that had the characteristics of Carex mitchelliana. He asked others to try to collect seeds later. Bill Grafton was able to collect some in August and they confirm Jim’s identification. Jim will send the material away for an expert confirmation. This will be a new state record.
From Patty Morrison, Ohio River Islands Wildlife Refuge:
A property bought for the refuge near Moundsville has a forest with an understory of Amur cork-tree (Phellodendron japonicum). There is also a big patch of kudzu. Gray’s Manual lists Amur cork-tree as escaped along roadsides and borders of woods in eastern Pensylvanica. Add West Virginia to the list.
Where are the field notes for the rest of you WV-NPS members??
WVU, POB 6125
Morgantown, WV 26506-6125
Name(S)________________________________________________________________
Address________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Phone (H)__________________________(W)_________________________________
Membership dues: Calendar year (Jan.1 – Dec. 31)
______Regular membership $12 (includes all members of a household)
______Student membership $ 8 (any student college age or below)
______Life membership $200
______$10 Eastern Panhandle ______$6 Kanawha Valley NP
______$6 Tri-State (Huntington)
** You must be a member of the state WVNPS organization in order to join a chapter.
This is a gift membership. Please include a card with my name as donor.
Donor name____________________________________
We really do want your ideas for projects and what you would like to see in the Native Notes.
Lynn Wagner – President Mary Sansom – Vice-president
PO Box 1268 106 Ashley Lane
Shepherdstown, WV 25443-1268 Cross Lanes, WV 25314-1604
Ph: 304/ 876-7027 Ph: 304/ 776-7852
Email: lwagner2@earthlink.net Email: msansom@wvmi.org
Helen Gibbins – Secretary Steve Mace – Treasurer
6128 Gideon Road PO Box 122
Huntington, WV 25705-2241 New Haven, W 25265-0122
Ph: 304/ 736-3287 Ph: 304/ 882-2450
Email: gibbins@marshall.edu Email: sdmace@citynet.net
Bill Grafton – Native Notes Editor
West Virginia University
PO Box 6125
Morgantown, WV 26506-6125
Ph: 304/ 292-0229
Email: wgrafton@wvu.edu