By David Taylor

On November 4, several brave hikers joined me for the Not Quite Winter Botany field trip at the Berea College Forest (Berea Woods). The day’s start was a bit chilly while waiting for everyone to arrive. Once we began to hike, we warmed and the air temperature did as well.

We hiked through oak forest on acids soils developed over Devonian shale, then into mixed mesophytic forest on basic soils developed over Mississippian limestone and compared forest composition. A total of about 30 woody plants — vines, shrubs and trees — were seen with about the same number of herbaceous plants, mostly forbs and some grasses.

The previous week, the area experienced temperatures below 20 for two nights in a row and several other nights around 30. We anticipated finding many plants without leaves. That was not the case. Most shrubs and trees still held leaves, as did many of the herbaceous plants. We had trouble finding fruits of plants and our trip focused on bark and leaves. Some herbaceous plants were still in flower. For example, late purple aster (Symphyotrichum patens) and others such as small-disk sunflower (Helianthus microcephalus) still had identifying remnants of inflorescences.

There was ample opportunity, unfortunately, to discuss nonnative invasive species. The trail corridor provided habitat for a number of them. Many questions were asked and we spent more time having discussions or looking for examples of specific characters than hiking.

We did not reach our goal of Indian Fort Lookout before we had to turn around due to time limitations and identification based on fruit was limited. The trip was a success just the same. Participants were able to see a variety of species, including some nonnative invasive species in winter conditions to aid identification in other places. We had good discussion and laughs and a few people will be coming back to the area in the spring to check out the wildflowers.

David has been interested in plants since elementary school. During middle and high school years, he began a list of the plants found in the fields and forest near his home. He also began to grow wildflowers in a garden that his mother soon adopted. At Berea College, he was exposed to formal botany classes and began to collect extensively (with permission) in the Berea College Forest, updating a much earlier collection. In graduate school, he completed a preliminary flora of St. Tammany and Washington Parishes, Louisiana. After teaching at Cumberland College for two years, he joined the U.S. Forest Service as Forest Botanist for the Daniel Boone National Forest. He has been in that position for more than 30 years working primarily with rare plants and nonnative invasive plants.

David has worked with the Kentucky Native Plant society for about 30 years, serving mostly as grants chairperson. He has contributed about a dozen articles to The Lady Slipper over the years. David lives outside of Berea, where he grows a variety of plants and works to remove invasive species from grown up pasture land.

Not Quite Winter Botany

Date of trip: Nov. 4, 2023 Sorry, this field trip is now filled
Start time: 9:30 a.m. EDT
Location: Berea Woods, Madison County, KY
Difficulty of hike: Moderate, 2-4 miles depending on time, weather and participant desires. We will hike and observe plants for about 3-4 hours

Join David Taylor, US Forest Service Botanist and KNPS board member, in exploring Berea Woods on Saturday, Nov 4. This beautiful forest is changing this time of year, but there are always interesting trees and forbs to find.

The hike will see an elevation change of 600′ feet and hike from 2-4 miles depending on time, weather, and participant desires. We will cross areas of Devonian shale, Mississippian limestone and Pennsylvanian sandstone/conglomerate. Forest types will include mesic oak, mixed mesophytic, and xeric oak-pine. We will look at herbaceous and woody plants. There will be a couple of nice overlooks if one is inclined to take landscape photography.

The hike overall is moderate, with a long easy stretch and a couple of shorter harder stretches.

This field trip may be cancelled in the event of inclement weather.

Registration is Required

Please fill out the form below to register for this field trip. This trip will be limited to 12 participants.

Date of trip: July 29, 2023
Start time: 9AM CDT
Location: Ballard WMW, Ballard Co., KY
Difficulty of hike: Easy. We will car pool/caravan on the gravel roads in the WMA, getting out to walk short distances on flat terrain. Conditions will be hot and humid.

Join KNPS President, Jeff Nelson, as as we explore the native plant ecosystems in the wetlands and river bottoms of the Ballard WMA in Ballard Co.

Ballard Wildlife Management Area is 8,000 acres located in the Ohio River bottomlands ecoregion in far western Kentucky. The WMA is mostly wetland with 39% of the acreage in wetland, 28% forest, 27% open land, and 6% open water. Much of the wetland is comprised of rare, cypress-tupelo swamps and sloughs which many Kentuckians have not had the opportunity to experience. The Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves lists cypress-tupelo swamp as a state endangered ecosystem.

We will drive as a caravan around the WMA, making several stops where we will get out and observe the botany of Ballard’s diverse ecosystems. We will carpool as much as possible to reduce the number of cars in the caravan, but anyone who prefers to drive themselves is perfectly welcome to do so.

We should see several uncommon, wetland plant species. We hope to find Carolina spiderlily (Hymenocallis occidentalis) in flower.

Although we will not be hiking any distance, we will be taking walks of less than 1/2 mile at a couple of stops, all on the road or trails. We will walk into areas off the road to get a better view many of the plants. There is likely to be some muddy spots where we will be walking, so be prepared.

There are no bathroom facilities or water available at the WMA. It will be hot and humid. If conditions are such that the heat index will be over 100, we will cancel the trip. We will email you on Friday the 28th if the trip is canceled.

This should be a great field trip with many native species in flower, some that are rare or uncommon in KY. If you have any questions, just email us at KYPlants@knps.org. Register for this field trip using the form below.

Registration Form

Date of trip: June 17, 2023
Start time: 10AM EDT
Location: Lilley Cornett Woods, Letcher Co., KY
Difficulty of hike: Medium difficulty, approximately 1.5 miles

Join us for a hike at one of the most notable natural areas in Kentucky and a registered national landmark, EKU’s Lilley Cornett Woods.  Located in Letcher County, Lilley Cornett Woods is an old-growth forest, a forest that has not undergone any man-made changes in 150 years. During your hike LCW guides will provide you with an educational experience on various topics ranging from the 12 characteristics of old growth, mixed mesophytic forest, diverse flora and fauna native to Appalachia, and most notably LCW’s incredible “big trees.”

The Shop Holler trail is LCW’s shorter trail at approximately 1.5 miles with medium difficulty. Plan to be on the trail for about 3 hours with the guide, while you traverse the mountainside through different forest communities. This is LCW’s most popular trail due to its shorter length, but don’t be fooled, you will be amazed by the diversity of the area and be able to truly understand a mixed mesophytic forest.

No pre-registration is required for this hike. You will meet, register, and sign waivers at the Visitors Center. From the parking lot the Visitors Center building is on the hill, up the sidewalk. Hike leaders will be outside the Visitor’s Center waiting for you.

Lilley Cornett Woods is located at 91 Lilley Cornett Branch, Hallie, KY. Driving Directions.

If you have any questions, email us at KYPlants@knps.org

Date of trip: 7/9/2022
Start time: 10AM
Location: Buena Vista Glade, Taylor, Indiana
Difficulty of hike: Moderate to Difficult. The glade is very rugged. We’ll hike about a mile and it will take probably two hours knowing plant nerds. And there are always ticks.

Join Kentucky Native Plant Society member Alan Abbott on a field trip to Buena Vista Glade in Taylor, Indiana, about 50 minutes west from downtown Louisville. Plants that will likely be in flower include green milkweed (Asclepias verdiflora), whorled milkweed (Asclepias verticillata), and glade St. John’s-wort (Hypernicum dolabriforme). With a little luck we might also see Ozark bunchflower (Melanthium woodii) in bloom.

One of the defining characteristics of the Bluegrass and Pennyroyal Plateau regions is the presence of small, rocky glades. Broadly speaking, a glade is any clearing in a forest. But in our part of the country, it tends to refer to areas with a shallow soil and a limestone bedrock, usually on south- or west-facing slopes. Without trees shading everything out, a rich layer of grasses and forbs emerges. As islands of grassland within larger forested areas, they tend to have high rates of endemism, or plants found only within one, relatively small area. Some plants can be found only in a few counties (like Kentucky gladecress, Leavenworthia exigua var. laciniata) or a narrow region, like the Interior Low Plateau, which runs from northern Alabama, through central Tennessee and Kentucky and into south-central Indiana.

Their isolation means that glades separated by only a few miles can have surprisingly different plant communities. In Harrison County, Indiana, which has similar shallow soils and limestone bedrock as Kentucky’s Bluegrass Region, one glade may have hundreds of Echinacea and a similar one walking distance away won’t have any.

Sign Up for the Field Trip

Because of the fragile nature of glade plant communities, we are limiting sign-ups to 10 people.