NATIVE NOTES
Bill Grafton – Editor Daniel J. Grafton – Assistant Editor
VOLUME
14: 3 DECEMBER 2006
Seasons Greetings!
By the time you
are reading this, the Christmas and New Years holidays will be over. And as the snow falls and melts through the
winter, botanical enthusiasts turn their thoughts to a more colorful time of
the year: Spring!
Last spring the
WVNPS Tri-State Chapter started the botanizing season with a field trip to
Grayson Lake State Park. Through the
course of the summer we visited botanical hotspots in the rich mesic woods
around Fort Gay, KY, the oak-hickory forests of Wayne National Forest in Ohio
and the oak barrens and rock bluff communities of Lynx Prairie and Buzzard
Roost, both Nature Conservancy properties in Adams County, Ohio. We ended the 2006 field season with a
spectacular annual meeting and botanizing trip to the Point Pleasant area; home
of Mothman and interesting wetland plant communities.
To combat the
lack of botanical thrill that may exist in the winter I suggest three
remedies.
1) Seek comfort
in learning how to identify trees and shrubs in dormant form. The world of leaf scars, vascular bundle
scars and false terminals is a fascinating field of study. Not to mention how much your friends and
family will be impressed when you tell them, “No, no, no that can’t be a walnut
tree because walnuts have chambered piths!”
A good, cheap reference for starting this endeavor is William Harlow’s Fruit
Key and Twig Key to Tree and Shrubs published in 1946 by Dover
Publications, Inc. Despite its
out-dated nomenclature, I find it to be a reliable key with good photos. The best part about it is that you can buy
yourself a brand-spankin’-new copy for $4.95 on the internet!
2) The second
remedy I suggest is to seek companionship in fellow botanical confidants at
this year’s exciting WVNPS lecture series at Marshall University in Huntington,
West Virginia. This year’s series
features talks about orchids, gardening, outdoor recreation and more! Please check out the schedule of talks
included in this issue of Native Notes.
3) Explore the
newly re-vamped WVNPS website at www.wvnps.org. Jeff Patton has worked tirelessly to update and festoon the
website with pictures, new information and exciting links to other exciting
botanical websites.
I hope you all
had a wonderful holiday season and that you can partake of the above items to
get you through the winter. When spring
is around the corner, remember to keep your eyes open for postings about WVNPS
summer hikes. If you have an idea for a
place that would make a good hike, contact your chapter leader to get it booked
as a 2007 field trip.
Happy Winter
Botanizing,
Chad Kirschbaum,
WVNPS President
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Public Welcome! Please join us for a series of talks about
plants, gardening, outdoor recreation and more!!!
Effects of Nitrogen Pollution on Plant
Diversity
Dr. Frank Gilliam, Marshall University
Thursday, November 16th
Propagation Techniques for Native
Plants
Dr. Frank Porter, Porterbrook Native Plants
Hallucinogenic Plants Used in
Healing
Dr. Dan Evans, Marshall
University
Wednesday, January 17th
Wayne National Forest: From
the Land Nobody
Wanted to Southern Ohio’s
Unique Natural Treasure
Gloria Chrismer, Wayne
National Forest
Thursday, February 15th
Native Orchids of West
Virginia and Beyond
Bernie Cyrus
Thursday, March 15th
Each talk will also feature “Botany on the Web: Useful websites for E-Botanizing: By Forest Service botanist Chad Kirschbaum
Join us: 6:30 – 7:30 P.M.
Science Hall – Room 376
Marshall University
The Annual Membership meeting was held in Point Pleasant at the Lowe Hotel on the evening of September 23, 2006. Chad Kirshbaum presided.
The
following items were discussed and actions agreed to by the members, are
listed.
Editor’s Note:
I hope many of you have seen these releases.
Please let me know,
so a summary
can be included in the Spring newsletter.
Instructor:
Ray Showman, Ohio Lichen All-star – co-author of Lichens of Ohio .
Chad
Kirschbaum (email: ckirschbaum@fs.fed.us
,is the contact to register and get more details.
The board
meeting will be from 3-6 pm and all are welcome!!
What an interesting group of plants the Tri-State Chapter saw during 2006. If you live close to the area you really should go on the trips. Listed below are some of the rare or interesting plants you missed this year. Don’t let it happen in 2007. Join in the fun!!
List compiled by Jeff Patton
Twinleaf Wild
comfrey Filmy fern
Giant
chickweed Veiny skullcap False mermaidweed
Cranefly
orchid Yellow lady’s
slipper Bloodroot
Celandine
poppy Greek valerian Goldenseal
Long-flowered
Heuchera
List compiled by Jeff Patton
Spreading
dogbane Wild cucumber
Young’s
Branch on Wayne NF, Ohio 6/3/06
Fire
cherry Climbing
prairie rose
Narrowleaf
cattail Sweet
low blueberry
Note: Ohio “State listed
plants” followed by (E) Endangered, (T)
Threatened or (P) Protected
Green
milkweed – LP (P) Shale barren aster – BR (T)
Blue-hearts
– LP (T) Flat-stemmed spikerush – LP (T)
Rattlesnake
master – LP (P) Hairy milk pea – LP (T)
Cylindrical
Blazing Star – BR (T) Scaly
Blazing Star – LP (P)
Angle-pod
– LP (P) Plains Muhlenbergia – BR (E)
Few-flowered
Nut-rush – LP (T) Southern Blackhaw – LP
(T)
Goldenseal
– BR False boneset – BR, LP
Carolina
buckthorn – BR Prairie rose – BR
Cup-plant
– LP Prairie dock – LP
White
blue-eyed grass – LP Stiff goldenrod – LP
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
Spring is not “just around the corner”, but it is time to plan what your needs will be for those warmer days of April and May when we like to dig in the soil. It might even help you to get on the web sites of our native plant nurseries. See what they have listed and get your plant list together. Some of the nurseries have catalogs that you can request and be sure to share with you friends, kin folk, and fellow native plant enthusiasts.
Listed
below are some sources of native plants for our area. If you know of others, please let me know so we can compile a
complete list for the spring issue of Native Notes.
Doyle Farm
Nursery
158 Norris
Road
Delta, PA
17314
Phone/FAX
: 717 862-3134
Email:
jld@doylefarm.com
Web
site: doylefarm.com
Doyle Farm
Nursery specializes in native perennial grasses and herbs. They have a large variety of plants to choose
from. All plants are grown outside so
they do not have to acclimatize when first planted.
Located in
York County Pennsylvania. Plants are
high quality and most are sold in “pots” that are quart or gallon size. They will ship but it is cheaper to pick up
gallon size containers at the nursery.
Prices are generally $5-6 for quart size and $8-13 for gallon size.
Note: Emily ordered several plants last year and
had excellent results.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elk Ridge
Nature Works, LLC
Ron Boyer
& Liz McDowell
Phone:
301 895-3686
Email:
info@elkridgenatureworks.com
Web site :
elkridgenatureworks.com
A very
nice selection of native plants grown on site in Garrett County in western
Maryland. Ron and Liz are very helpful
and have a nice selection of Mid-Appalachian wildflowers, grasses and
rushes. You can purchase the plants at
the nursery (by appointment), at local festivals & farmers markets, as well
as, several plant events in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Note: We
have bought plants from Ron and Liz and found them to be vigorous and hardy.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enchanter’s
Garden
Peter Heus
HC 77, Box
108
Hinton, WV
25951
Phone-
FAX: 304 466-3154
Enchanter’s
Garden offers a wide variety of wildflowers, grasses, sedges and about 30
trees/shrubs. Most plants are in quart
size containers. A listing of plants by
common & scientific names and the prices, can be mailed to customers. To buy plants you need to make an
appointment and visit the nursery.
Plants are no longer sold by mail order as they were a few years ago.
Note: I
have bought plants from Peter several times and always found them to be high
quality and quite vigorous.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Porterbrook
Native Plants
Dr. Frank
Porter
49607 St.
Rt. 124
Racine, OH
45771
Phone:
740 247-4565
Email:
info@porterbrooknativeplants.com
Web site:
porterbrooknativeplants.com
We gladly
accept small online orders from those unable to visit the nursery. Unless otherwise stated, all plants cost
$5.00 each plus the actual cost of postage.
Plants will be sent via USPS.
You can pay by personal check or money order made out to Frank W.
Porter.
The web
site lists several hundred wildflowers, sedges, grasses, etc. With descriptions
of foliage, flowers, height, hardiness zones, sun/shade preference and other
useful information. If you have
questions email:
info@porterbrooknativeplants.com
There is
also a page on rock gardens and a note that Frank sells many native trees and
shrubs that are not listed on the web site.
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Sylva
Native Nursery and Seed Co.
Mike
Hollins – President
3815 Roser
Road
Glen Rock,
PA 17327
Phone:
717 227-0486
FAX:
717 227-0484
Email:
sylvanat@aol.com
Sells a
wide variety of seed mixes, seedlings and tublings of wildflowers/herbs, trees
and shrubs. Excellent selections of
wetland species. Mike often collects
seed and material from West Virginia.
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Sunshine
Farm and Gardens
HC 67 Box 539B
Renick, WV
24966
Phone:
304 497-2208
Email:
barry@sunfarm.com
Web site:
sunfarm.com
Barry
Glick is the owner, brains and energy behind Sunshine Farm and Gardens that
grows over 10,000 perennials, bulbs, trees, shrubs, sedges, wildflowers and
specializes in hellebores. This nursery
is primarily wholesale but offers limited mail order to home gardeners where
they have no established retailers. No
one else in our area offers as many plant species.
The web
site is very interesting, colorful and loaded with nice information. Barry offers tours, workshops and lectures
to groups.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Windbeam
Way Nursery
Doug
Jolley
PO Box 37
Heaters,
WV 26627
Phone:
304 765-2608
Email:
aplectrumwv@yahoo.com
Windbeam
Way Nursery offers a selection of all indigenous native azaleas to the eastern
US. Native rhododendrons and other
ericaceous (heath) plants are available. The nursery also offers perennials,
shrubs and trees which are attractive to backyard birds and butterfly
gardens. A one-acre display garden,
showcases mature specimens of much of what is for sale. Group garden tours and presentations to
organizations are arranged by appointment.
The nursery is open Fridays thru Mondays during April, May, and
June. Visitors should call in advance.
CONGRATULATIONS TO WVNPS MEMBERS BARRY GLICK, DOUG WOOD & DONNA FORD-WERNTZ
Barry Glick was featured in the Sunday Gazette-Mail on
October 29, 2006. The article was
entitled, “Mountain Crop – Greenbrier Man Ships Plants Around the World”. Barry has been an active member since WVNPS
was rejuvenated in the 1980s. The
article recognizes Barry as a plant expert who breeds, hybridizes, patents,
writes, lectures and sell plants. His
nursery is located on 15 acres of mostly steeps forests. Here he and the local
folks he hires grow as many as 10,000 species of plants that are sent by mail
order around the world. Barry specializes in hellebores that have fantastic
foliage that is not eaten by deer.
Barry came to West Virginia from Philadelphia in 1972 and
with a brother started a hot tub business near Renick. Look at the web site for Sunshine Farm and
Gardens (sunfarm.com) and you will see why Barry is very deserving of such a
nice article with 4 color photographs.
Doug Wood was in Morgantown and his serious face graced
the front cover of The Daily Athenaeum (WVU student newspaper) on November 8,
2006. Doug was part of the “Mountaineer
Week” festivities. He portrayed
Mankiller Ostenaco, a famous Cherokee war captain, in his determination to help
keep the Cherokee culture alive and let all of us know how that culture influences
us today.
Doug graduated from WVU in 1977 and works for the WV
Department of Environmental Protection.
He and his wife, Diane Anestis, have given many programs
over the years to promote a better understanding of the American Indians. Diane is an expert on native American’s use
of plants for medicine.
Donna Ford-Werntz is curator of the WVU Herbarium, the
largest collection of preserved plant specimens in the state, and will be part
of a National Science Foundation funded project to create an online plant
collections network. The SouthEast
Regional Network of Expertise and Collections is a five-year, $498,00 project
that will enable botanists and others to access pressed plant collections
(Herbaria) and information within a 15-state region. It’s called the Research Coordination Network, and its idea is to
make biological information easily available for students, teachers and
researchers.
WEBSITES
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/invasive_plants/
This US Forest Service website has
excellent information on invasive plants in the Northeastern United States.
http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers
This website is
the “Celebrating Wildflowers” site that has a tremendous amount of
information. Larry Stritch, former WV
Board member has been very instrumental in getting this excellent resource available
for us to use.
www.wvnps.org
This is our very
own website. Jeff Patton has really
turned this into an excellent resource that we can be proud of. Check it out!!!!!!
http://plants.usda.gov/
This site is
loaded with photos, illustrations, range maps and much, much more.
WHY HAVE A FLORA ATLAS
The old West Virginia flora atlas was a list of counties in which a specific plant was known to occur. It is now a series of West Virginia maps (a map for each plant) with each county outlined. Symbols of a circle or a dot are used to indicate the plant has been officially collected from that county and is located in a herbarium.
The circle indicates the plant is an historical record collected prior to 1977.
The dot indicates the plant collection has been between 1977 and the present.
The WV Checklist & Atlas is finally printed and is being distributed to reviewers and agency people who will use it the most. A second printing is being planned and will be sold to those who wish to purchase copies.
Why have an atlas?? As of January 2006, only 4 plants had been collected in all 55 counties based on records at WVU, Youngstown State U., Carnegie Museum, Davis & Elkins College, and a small number of plants inventoried at Marshall U. By the end of 2006, there are 13 plant species that have been collected in all counties. This happened because we can now look at a map and easily see what counties are blank.
The original 4 species collected in all 55 counties were:
· Common serviceberry – Amelanchier arborea
· Downy rattlesnake plantain – Goodyera pubescens
· Oxeye Daisy – Leucanthemum vulgare
· Christmas fern – Polystichum acrostichoides
The 9 new species added in 2006 are:
· Yarrow – Achillea millefolium
· Ebony spleenwort –Asplenium platyneuron
· Flowering dogwood – Cornus florida
· Wild carrot – Daucus carota
· Autumn olive – Elaeagnus umbellata
· Spicebush – Lindera benzoin
· Sassafras – Sassafras albidum
· Stonecrop – Sedum ternatum
· Coltsfoot – Tussilago farfara
Another very nice feature of the Atlas is you can, at a glance, see if a plant occurs statewide, is rare or occurs in a specific area of the state.
By the time you get this Native Notes, DNR should know if there are any copies for sale and what the price will be. For availability information, contact
Janet Iseli
Wildlife Diversity Program, Natural Heritage Group
WV Division of Natural Resources
PO Box 67, Ward Road
Elkins, WV 26241
Phone: 304 637-0245
Email: janetiseli@wvdnr.gov
There are 316 species that are found in only 1 county.
Listed
below are 20 of the 316 that have fairly showy flowers that are Native or Adventive and the one county where
it has been found. If you live in or
take field trip into this county, watch for the plant. It might also be growing in adjacent
counties. Any new sites would be really
neat finds to add to the Atlas.
1.
Fringed
gentian – Gentianopsis crinita N – Greenbrier
2.
Blue-head
Gily-flower – Gilia capitata N –
Hampshire
3.
Frostweed
– Helianthemum propiquum N –
Nicholas
4.
St.
John’s-wort - Hypericum ascyron
A – Pleasants
5.
Disguised
St. John’s-wort – Hypericum dissimulatum N –Barbour
6.
Sheep
laurel – Kalmia angustifolia
N – Randolph
7.
Dwarf
dandelion – Krigia caespitosa
A – Kanawha
8.
Few-flower
gayfeathers - Liatris pauciflora N –
Fayette
9.
Spherical
gayfeathers – Liatris spheroidea N
–Ritchie
10. Blazing star – Liatris
squarrosa A –
Cabell
11. False aloe - Manfreda
virginica N – Wayne
12. Englemann’s adder’s tongue –
Ophioglossum englemannii N – Hardy
13. Brook cinquefoil - Potentilla
rivalis N – Kanawha
14. Dwarf chinquapin oak – Quercus
prinoides N – Greenbrier
15. Prairie coneflower - Ratibida
columnifera A – Wood
16. White blue-eyed grass –
Sisyrinchium albidum N – Grant
17. Northern stitchwort – Stellaria
borealis N – Tucker
18. Blue-Ridge Buckbean – Thermopsis A – Wyoming
19. Dwarf trillium – Trillium
pusillum N – Pendleton
20. Virginia chain fern – Woodwardia
virginica N - Fayette
??? WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR $12 DUES ???
An open
discussion at the end of the Annual Membership meeting concentrated on what
priority activities each member wanted to see our WVNPS get involved with in
2007. Below is a list from the highest
(1st) down to the tenth.
Do these
priorities agree with you!! They ARE NOT cut in stone. Let
your officers or Board members hear from you by conversation, email, phone
call, or letter. If none of these work,
“pull on the proverbial grapevine”. We
can and will change priorities if several of you want something different to
happen. Most of all, we would sincerely enjoy hearing from you!!!!
The US Forest Service completed a questionnaire survey in 2005 of the Northeastern US that includes West Virginia to determine top invasive plant species of forest lands. The forest Service list includes 15 invasive plants compared to our 27 “worst of the worst” list and includes 2 plants that we do not have on our WVNPS list. These 2 invasive species are: Common buckthorn – Rhamnus cathartica (known from only 1 WV county
- Giant
Hogweed – Heracleum mantegazzianum ( not in WV)
The other
plants on the Forest Service list are:
Norway
maple Tree
of Heaven
Garlic
mustard Japanese
barberry
Oriental
bittersweet Japanese knotweed
Amur
honeysuckle Japanese
honeysuckle
Kudzu Japanese
stilt grass
Multiflora
rose Autumn olive
Mile-a-minute
MEMBERSHIP REGISTRATION: Please sign me up as a WVNPS member!!
Name(s):
________________________________________________________________
Address:____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Phone (Home) _______________________ Work
______________________________
Email
_______________________________________________
Membership
dues: Paid by 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
Chapter
membership is optional
_____$6
Tri-State (Huntington area) _____$6
Kanawha Valley NPS (Charleston area)
*** You must be a statewide
WVNPS member in order to join a local chapter.
PO Box 808
New Haven, WV 25265-0808
PO BOX 808
NEW HAVEN, WV 25265-0808