Botanical Timeline for Kentucky, 2008 to 2014

By Ron Jones, Foundation Professor Emeritus, Eastern Kentucky University

With the assistance of Tara Littlefield, Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves.

We’re republishing this article because additions have been made.

This botanical timeline is a continuation of the series that appeared in The Lady Slipper in five installments from 2005 to 2008.

The goal is to highlight major events in the history of Kentucky botany, including new discoveries, important publications, changes in agricultural developments, major changes or upgrades of herbaria, developments or changes for the Kentucky Native Plant Society, and the retirements or deaths of people that made major contributions to Kentucky botany.  Addition to the list are welcome; please send suggestions to ron.jones@eku.edu.

Events omitted from previous lists:

Dr. Beal when he was at NC State, from NC State University Libraries

1980—Dr. Ernest O. Beal passed away in August 1980.  (from his obituary):  Dr. Beal was born on March 7, 1928 in Lancaster, Illinois. He received a BS from Northcentral College in Naperville, Illinois, before going on to attain his MS and PhD from the University of Iowa. He taught from 1954 to 1968 at North Carolina State University, where he received a distinguished teaching award from the Association of Southeastern Biologists in 1966. From 1965 to 1968 he served as Director of a National Science Foundation Academic Year Institute in Raleigh, North Carolina. From 1968 until his retirement in 1978, Dr. Beal was the head of the Biology Department at Western Kentucky University. Dr. Beal also led a full life outside of academia. He was an author of two books and numerous publications, a member of the First Christian Church in Bowling Green, husband, and father to three children. Most notably he was coauthor with John Thieret of Aquatic and Wetland Plants of Kentucky;  Beal initiated the book and invited Thieret to join the project in 1977. After Beal’s death, Thieret completed the book with Beal as first author; it was published in 1986 by the Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission. Upon his death, the Ernest O. Beal Biology Scholarship Fund was established to honor the memory of Dr. Beal: Department Head, lover of Biology, author, and scholar. Through this fund his legacy lives on, helping other students cultivate a love for biology.

1986–KSNPC (Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission) signed a limited Cooperative Agreement on Plants with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on January 8, 1986 to work cooperatively on rare and federally listed plants in Kentucky. Since then, KSNPC (currently OKNP) has led the states rare plant program that focuses on surveying, monitoring, managing and recovering federally listed and globally rare plants in Kentucky.  The Rare plant program has been managed since 1986 by three successive botanists–Marc Evans, Deborah White and Tara Littlefield.  Currently (2023) this program focuses on the recovery of around a dozen federally listed species and an additional 30 globally rare plants.  This program also oversees the Kentucky’s Rare Plant List, which is updated every 4 years in accordance with the Kentucky Rare Plant Recognition Act of 1994.

1992-2012-Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Salato Center began a native plant propagation program led by Mary Carol Cooper.  This program focused on propagating native forbs and grasses that were important pollinator plants and was instrumental in native plant and pollinator education for Kentucky. 

1994-KSNPC creates the Natural Areas Inventory Program, led by Marc Evans, which focused on surveying and inventorying the remaining remnant natural areas that have a concentration of rare species and high quality natural communities in the state.  The majority of Kentucky’s state nature preserves have been discovered through this program.   Several ecologists/botanists have worked on this program since its inception including Tom Bloom, Martina Hines, Brian Yahn, Deborah White, Tara Littlefield and several other KSNPC biologists.

2005-Delisting of the federally endangered Eggerts Sunflower (Helianthus eggerti).  This species was removed from the Federal endangered species list due to additional populations discovered during status surveys and inventories as well protection efforts and management of several populations in Kentucky.

2007–2012—NSF Grant for Herbarium improvement at Murray State University (MUR). 

Murray State University Herbarium received a five-year grant of about $167K from the National Science Foundation.  The goals of the grant were to improve the existing database, to make the data accessible over the Internet, and to acquire new herbarium cabinets to enlarge and improve storage facilities of the herbarium, under the direction of Dr. Dayle Saar. The herbarium contains an important collection of Kentucky flora, especially from the less studied western region of the state. .

2007—Dave Luzader becomes webmaster of KNPS website.  Dave made great improvements in the KNPS website, and it became a focal point for announcements and organizing the activities of the KNPS.

2007— Major floristic study published on Hancock Biological Station: The Vascular Flora of the Hancock Biological Station, Murray State University, Calloway County, Kentucky, in J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 1: 609–630, by Ralph L. Thompson.

Hancock Biological Station (HBS), a 37.5-hectare tract of upland Oak-Hickory Forest adjacent to Kentucky Lake in the Jackson Purchase of western Kentucky, is the biological field station of Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky. A total of 573 taxa have been documented from ten habitats. HBS is a member of the Organization of Biological Field Stations, a consortium of 220 biological field stations in North America. HBS was founded in 1966 and since 1972, it has served as a year-round facility for aquatic and terrestrial biology research and service programs, and it has presented students with opportunities for field classes, independent research, and faculty-directed undergraduate and graduate research.

Continue reading Botanical Timeline for Kentucky, 2008 to 2014 →

KNPS Is Heading West!
Fall Meeting at John James Audubon SP
Oct. 28, 2023

Mark your calendars and plan to meet up with other KNPS members and friends as we head to western Kentucky for the Society’s 2023 Fall Meeting, on Oct 28th, at John James Audubon State Park, in Henderson. We will learn about and explore the old growth forests and wetland plant and animal communities in and around John James Audubon State Park and the nearby Sloughs Wildlife Management Area.

John James Audubon State Park Wetlands, video via Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves.

We are still in the planning process, but the basic outline is set. There will be a meeting in the morning, from 10am to noon, with talks and updates from KNPS. After lunch there will be walks to look at some of the plants and plant communities that occur at the state park and wildlife management area. All of the talks and walks will be finalized by next month’s Lady Slipper

  • Morning session: 10am CDT, in the Audubon Theater in the John James Audubon Museum and Nature Center at John James Audubon SP in Henderson, KY
    • 10am – Welcome and KNPS Updates – KNPS Board
    • 10:45am – One or more talks on plants native to the area and the special plant communities they are part of.
  • 12noon – Lunch on your own. There are no food facilities in the park, so we are recommending that people bring lunch and we can all picnic on the lawns and other park facilities.
  • 1pm – 4:00pm – Afternoon Walks – We are still finalizing our walk schedules, but as of right now, the plan is to have two sets of two walks that folks can choose from. Walks will be led by experts who know the plants and birds in and around the park.
    • 1pm – 2:15pm – 1) A walk through the old growth forest or 2) a birds and botany walk in the Audubon Wetlands
    • 2:30pm – 3:45pm – 1) A walk through the old growth forest or 2) a carpool/caravan to Sloughs WMA for a walk in the wetlands.

The forest along the bluffs of the Ohio River is mature, almost old growth in nature with some trees more than 200 years old. At least 61 species of trees and more than 200 wildflowers have been documented from the site. The north facing, mesic forests are dominated by American beech, sugar maple, and American basswood whereas the more south facing slopes are dominated by sugar maple, various oaks, and tulip tree. At least 169 bird species have been observed in the park.

The 650-acre Audubon Wetlands was added to the park by the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation fund in 2016. The highlight is a bald eagle nest and heron rookery, as well as habitat for waterfowl and amphibians. The Friends of Audubon, a local nonprofit, has installed a wheelchair accessible boardwalk through the wetlands with plans to install more.

Summer storm clouds over Sloughs WMA

Sloughs WMA consists of a diverse mix of seasonally flooded grain crops and natural “moist soil” vegetation, natural marsh, seasonally flooded bottomland forest, and natural depressions or “sloughs,” that contain flooded stands of bald cypress lined with buttonbush thickets.

Please Let Us Know if You Are Going to Join Us

This event is open to KNPS members and friends alike. There is no cost for the event, but in order to plan effectively, we are requesting that folks pre-register for this event. If you are likely to attend, please fill out the registration form HERE. Thanks, hope to see you there!

Field Trip to Pine Creek Barrens, September 13, 2023

Date of trip: Sept. 13, 2023
Start time: 5PM EDT
Location: Pine Creek Barrens Nature Preserve, Bullitt County, KY
Difficulty of hike: Moderate, approximately 2 miles and 2 hours.

Alan Abbott, hike leader.
Alan Abbott, hike leader.

Join Kentucky Native Plant Society member Alan Abbott for a sunset tour of Pine Creek Barrens. We’ll be discussing some of the different plant communities of the Louisville area and looking for a number of late-season flowers in bloom, such as Clasping Aster (Symphyotrichum patens), Rough Blazing Star (Liatris aspera) and Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana). 

The hike starts at 5pm and it should take about 2 hours to complete the 2 mile trail. Meet at the main parking area. There is usually a porta-potty there. Make sure to bring plenty of water and tick protection. 

This is a joint event with the Fairdale Seed Library.

Register for this field trip

Because this is a joint field trip, we limited signups to 5 people. The trip is now filled. If you have any questions, email us at KYPlants@knps.org.

Native Spotlight: Turk’s cap lily (Lilium superbum)

By Robert Dunlap

In March 2022, I was lucky enough to find a new population of Turk’s cap lilies (Lilium superbum) containing about 500 stems in two colonies in McCracken County while searching for spring ephemerals. Additional searches yielded five more colonies containing another 1,700 individuals, all within about 75 yards of each other.

Due to my unfamiliarity with this plant and the lack of blooms, it took a little research to verify they were Turk’s cap lilies and not their close relative, Michigan lily (L. michiganense). Dichotomous keys usually differentiate between these plants using flower characteristics i.e., tepal curvature and anther length, which is not very helpful if you don’t have a flower to examine. Several online sources mentioned two vegetative characteristics to check: L. superbum has smooth leaf margins (not finely serrate), and the bulbs are white (not yellow). The plants I found exhibited both of these features so I’m going with the Turks cap lily. This plant was found by Mr. Raymond Athey less than 10 miles from this site in 1978, so there is historical evidence supporting the L. superbum identification, as well.

That being said, some botanists are reluctant to rely on the vegetative characteristics described above and feel that positive identification requires examination of flower structures. After being moved to more suitable sites in the future, my hope is that some of these bulbs will produce flowers allowing their identity to be determined beyond any doubt.

The species name is pronounced “superb – um” as opposed to “super – bum” and refers to the flowers, which can be translated from Latin as proud, superb, excellent, splendid, or magnificent. Mr. Linnaeus did a good job naming this plant back in 1762!

Ecology

Turk’s cap lilies are classified as threatened in Kentucky by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves and probably occur in less than a dozen counties. They are scattered across the state from Black Mountain in Harlan County in the east to Carlisle County in the west. Threatened plants are defined by the OKNP as “… likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant part of its range in Kentucky.” So, the assumption is that their numbers are declining and will continue to do so in the future.

Counties where Lilium superbum occurs in the U.S.

The BONAP map (Biota of North America Project) to the right displays the counties where Lilium superbum occurs in the U.S. Light green counties have stable populations while those highlighted in yellow have populations that are small and possibly declining.

It is generally more common in upland areas along the Appalachian Mountain chain, which includes Black Mountain. So how did they end up in McCracken County and across the Ohio River in southern Illinois? Some botanists have theorized that many southern plant species migrated north and west following the Cumberland River and the Tennessee River, which join up with the Ohio River near Paducah. Perhaps the lilies travelled from the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee along these waterways over the last several thousand years or so.

Continue reading Native Spotlight: Turk’s cap lily (Lilium superbum) →

Wetland Plant ID Workshops, A Great Success!

By Rachel Cook, EEC

On June 27-29, 2023, the Kentucky Native Plant Society hosted two Wetland Plant ID Workshops at John James Audubon State Park in Henderson, KY. June 27 was a one day workshop for beginners and June 28-29 was a two day workshop for intermediate level participants. The workshops were well attended with 26 participants combined between both workshops, despite some challenging weather.

Instructor Nathanael Pilla with American bur reed (Sparganium americanum)

Participants visited several areas of John James Audubon State Park and nearby Sloughs Wildlife Management area. The workshop instructor, Nathanael Pilla of Midwest Biological Surveys, focused on more difficult taxa such as graminoids and aquatic species. He took students through overarching characteristics of wetland plants, such as unique adaptations for seed dispersal by water and drought tolerance.

Henderson County, where the workshop was located, has been understudied botanically, leading to several new county records being discovered over the course of the three days. These new county records include multiple species of duckweed (Lemna sp.), watermeal (Wolffia sp.), broad waterweed (Elodea canadensis, S3), and joint paspalum (Paspalum distichum). Some other highlights of the workshop were seeing multiple state watch-listed species (S3/S4), including hemlock water-parsnip (Sium suave) and white-nymph (Trepocarpus aethusae).

Image Gallery

  • Beginner class starting on the first day.
  • John James Audubon SP wetlands.
  • Beginner class looking at Lemnas
  • Sloughs WMA
  • Wolffia sp. through handlens
  • Class at Sloughs WMA
  • John James Audubon SP wetlands.
  • Class looking at Hydrocotyle ranunuloides and other wetland plants
  • Aquatic milkweed (Asclepias perennis)
  • Class at John James Audubon SP
  • Water hemlock (Sium suave)

Workshops are one of the ways the Society fulfills its mission of education about our native plants and native plant communities. Workshops generally are narrowly focused, usually with a single instructor. Most workshops involve a mix of classroom instruction and field work, with an emphasis on hands-on experience for all of the participants. We are already talking about workshops that KNPS might offer in 2024. If there are native plant-related topics that you think would make a good workshop or if you would be interested in presenting a workshop (or know of someone who is), please send us an email at KYPlants@knps.org.

Rachel Cook is a botanist at the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves.

President’s Message – August, 2023

Liz & I enjoying the shade of a massive pecan (Carya illinoinensis) on a hot day at Ballard WMA.

Hello fellow native plant enthusiasts. I hope everyone’s summer is going well and that you have been able to get out into Kentucky’s natural areas to enjoy our native plant communities. August is definitely a good news, bad news month. The good news is that many species of native plants are in full flower and the butterflies and other pollinators are taking full advantage of the bounty. The bad news is that August can be brutally hot and humid, making enjoying the extensive blooms a bit difficult. Whenever I can in August, except for those days when the heat index is in triple digits, I brave the heat, get out early, bring plenty of water, find shade when I can, and enjoy the beauty and diversity of Kentucky’s native plant communities. I hope you can as well.

Cup plant
(Silphium perfoliatum)
Dense blazing star
(Liatris spicata)
Hollow Joe-Pye weed
(Eutrochium fistulosum)

I am absolutely thrilled by the success of KNPS’s two Wetland Plant ID workshops at John James Audubon SP at the end of June. The workshops were well attended with 26 participants, despite some challenging weather. Be sure to read about the workshops and see images from the field, also in this month’s Lady Slipper: Wetland Plant ID Workshops, A Great Success! An enormous thank you has to go out to Rachel Cooke who conceived, planned, and organized this great event. And thanks also to Nathanael Pilla of Midwest Biological Surveys who did such an amazing job of teaching.

Workshops are one of the ways the Society fulfills its mission of education about our native plants and native plant communities. Workshops generally are narrowly focused, usually with a single instructor. Most workshops involve a mix of classroom instruction and field work, with an emphasis on hands-on experience for all of the participants. We are already talking about workshops that KNPS might offer in 2024. If there are native plant-related topics that you think would make a good workshop or if you would be interested in presenting a workshop (or know of someone who is) please use the comment form at the bottom of this article to let us know.

John James Audubon SP wetlands.

Be sure to save the date for the KNPS 2023 Fall Meeting at John James Audubon SP, in Henderson County, on Saturday, October 28. There will be a KNPS member and friends meeting in the morning, with informative talks and updates about the Society. After a break for lunch, there will be hikes, led by experienced botanists and naturalists that know the park, to explore the plants and plant communities that occur at the state park. Along the bluffs of the Ohio River is mature, almost old growth forest with some trees more than 200 years old. Along the Ohio River the 650-acre Audubon Wetlands allows visitors to explore the forest and wetlands of the The Wabash–Ohio Bottomlands ecoregion. This will be the first time since 2012 that one of KNPS’ annual meetings will be hosted in the western end of the state. As a resident of this end of Kentucky, I’m looking forward to welcoming KNPS friends and members from all over the Commonwealth to western Kentucky.

Everything that the Kentucky Native Plant Society does, such as Wildflower Weekend, the Fall Meeting, workshops, field trips, symposiums, and more, happens through the efforts of volunteers giving of their time and creativity. You can help KNPS accomplish our mission, of promoting education about, appreciation for, and conservation of our native flora. If you have ideas for new things that the Society could be doing or thoughts about doing old things better, we want to hear from you. If you want to be more active in areas such as organizing events, leading field trips, helping with membership, writing and editing articles for the Lady Slipper, helping with the website and social media, and more, we want to hear from you. Let us know if you want to help using the comment form below.

Starting this month I am adding a comment form to the bottom of these President’s messages. Please use this form to ask questions, make suggestions, volunteer to help the Society, or just vent if you need to. Your comments will go directly to my email account. Thanks.

Comment Form