Virginia Tech School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Blacksburg, VA
Country Home Farms, Pembroke, VA
In the acidic, drier soils of the Bluegrass State and the Upper South, splitbeard bluestem (Andropogon ternarius) graces our landscapes with its elegant presence. This botanical marvel stands at comparable heights to little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), reaching heights of 3 to 6 feet, its feathery seed heads resembling delicate beards that lend an air of elegance to the verdant tapestry of Kentucky’s native flora. This member of the primary bluestem genus is most distinctive at the end of the growing season, generally September to November in Kentucky. Splitbeard bluestem captivates with its slender stems swaying gracefully in the breeze. Its ethereal silvery seed heads add a visual symphony to the landscape, creating a picturesque image in the minds of those who encounter it (Figures 1).
Figure 1.Splitbeard bluestem growing in a working cow-calf grazing system in Carroll County, Virginia. Photo credit: talented, yet unnamed research assistant. September 29, 2023.
Splitbeard and little bluestems can be differentiated from one another quite easily at the end of the season. Little bluestem florets curl up and down the stalk without branching. Splitbeard bluestem seed heads are especially feathery, branching, and generally convey a pinker hue than little bluestem (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Little bluestem (left hand) and splitbeard bluestem (right hand). Both bluestems growing in a working cow-calf grazing system in Carroll County, Virginia. Photo credit: talented, yet unnamed research assistant. September 29, 2023.
Splitbeard bluestem is well documented in the Upper South: particularly in Kentucky and Tennessee. Herbarium specimens catch the species in the Cumberland and Allegheny Plateaus, the Highland Rim, the Ridge and Valley, and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Venturing into Kentucky’s diverse ecosystems, splitbeard bluestem thrives in various habitats, from sunny prairies to open woodlands. Ecotones — transitions between habitats or sun regimess — seem to be a key area to find this native grass (Figure 3). This resilient native weaves its story across acidic, well-drained soils.Splitbeard bluestem consists of a group of native grasses adapted to fire and herbivory in the landscape. Embarking on a journey through ecological history, splitbeard bluestem emerges as stalwart, surviving regular fires, elk (Cervus canadensis), and bison (Bison bison). Codeveloping with the region’s fauna, it has weathered the ages, adapting to the rhythms of fire and contributing to the rich tapestry of native ecosystems.
Figure 3. Splitbeard bluestem growing along an ecotone between open pasture and pine woodland in a working cow-calf grazing system in Carroll County, Virginia. Photo credit: talented, yet unnamed research assistant. September 29, 2023.
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. Much more has happened and will continue to happen; follow-up lists and updates are encouraged.
2015—Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States Working Draft of 21 May 2015
Alan S. Weakley University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU) North Carolina Botanical Garden University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Area covered is indicated in map below. See update below for 2022.
2015—Guide to the Vascular Plants of Tennessee, by the Tennessee Flora Committee (editors: E.W. Chester, B.E. Wofford, J. Shaw, D. Estes, and D.H. Webb)
University of Tennessee Press. 813 pages. (from UT Press): The product of twenty-five years of planning, research, and writing, Guide to the Vascular Plants of Tennessee is the most comprehensive, detailed, and up-to-date resource of its kind for the flora of the Volunteer State, home to nearly 2,900 documented taxa. A team of editors, authors, and contributors not only provide keys for identifying the major groups, families, genera, species, and lesser taxa known to be native or naturalized within the state—with supporting information about distribution, frequency of occurrence, conservation status, and more—but they also offer a plethora of descriptive information about the state’s physical environment and vegetation, along with a summary of its rich botanical history, dating back to the earliest Native American inhabitants. Other features of the book include a comprehensive glossary of botanical terms and an array of line drawings that illustrate the identifying characteristics of vascular plants, from leaf shape and surface features to floral morphology and fruit types. Finally, the book’s extensive keys are indexed by families, scientific names, and common names.
The result is a user-friendly work that researchers, students, environmentalists, foresters, conservationists, and anyone interested in Tennessee botany and the surrounding states will value for years to come.
2015—Herbarium at Centre College in Danville transferred to EKU
A collection of a few hundred vascular plant specimens remaining at the Centre College Herbarium was transferred to EKY. Heidi Braunreiter facilitated this transfer, as she was working on her MS thesis on the flora of Boyle County at the time. The collection had formerly been curated by Susan Studlar and focused on nonvascular plants. When Susan Studlar accepted a position at West Virginia University, she took her collection of over 2,000 (mostly) Kentucky mosses and hepatics with her, leaving only a small collection of vascular plants at the college.
2015—White-haired goldenrod (Solidago albopilosa), one of Kentucky’s three endemic plants, is delisted by USFWS in September 2015. The discovery of new populations and stable long-term trends documented by KSNPC botanists Deb White, Nick Drozda, and Tara Littlefield led to the realization that many of the populations were stable and that the goals of the White-Haired Goldenrod Recovery Plan were met.
2015—George P. Johnson passes away in December
George Johnson received his undergraduate and master’s degrees at Western Kentucky University and published a flora on the vascular plants of Barren County. He received his Ph.D. from North Carolina State University, working on the chinkapin chestnuts. He taught at Lindsey Wilson College for four years, before accepting a position at Arkansas Tech University in 1990. In 2015, he was promoted to full professor and honored for 25 years of service. Throughout his career, George remained active in botanical collecting, herbarium work, mentoring students, and publishing articles, and was co-editor of the 2014 volume on the Atlas of the Vascular Plants of Arkansas. He was particularly interested in working to preserve and enhance the herbaria in Arkansas and in developing a digital database of the collections and was a key figure in working with other southeastern U.S. curators to build a database of all SEUS collections, which culminated in the SERNEC website. George was held in very high regard by his friends and associates; for more on his life and career, see the 2016 obituary (from which this entry was copied) written by his student and colleague Travis Marsico: J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 10(1):295–298.
Tichenor Middle School in Erlanger got a late start on their pollinator garden, but the students put forth a spectacular effort. The garden will be fabulous this spring!
Steven McNabb, a teacher at Tichenor, is the adult sponsored for the project. WildOnes Cincinnati are providing educational support for the next two years to help ensure the garden’s success. The school received a $500 grant from Kentucky Native Plant Society, and Ironweed Native Plant Nursery in Waddy supplied the native plants.
The school is hoping to plant even more plants this spring if they can secure more funding.
We need everyone interested in plant conservation to rally together for the passage of the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act. With historic levels of funding and support from both sides of the aisle, this bipartisan bill is critical to protecting our nation’s plant life. This rally will feature leaders in plant conservation and give you an opportunity to take action to encourage your Members of Congress to vote YES on this historic bill. Bring your passion and excitement, because we need YOU to push Recovering America’s Wildlife Act over the finish line!
Special guest speakers from Atlanta and California Botanical Gardens, SE Plant Conservation Alliance, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, NatureServe, Center for Plant Conservation, Garden Club of America, Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves, & National Wildlife Federation will share the latest information and why we need your help!
The rally will occur November 13th, 2023 from 2-3pm EST. This is a virtual rally hosted on Zoom. Be sure to register here: Meeting Registration – Zoom
When: Saturday, Oct. 28, 10:00 a.m. – 4:15 p.m. CDT Where: John James Audubon SP, Henderson, KY
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.
Audubon State Park was the home of the famed naturalist, ornithologist, and painter and the park museum features the largest collection of original Audubon art in the world in addition to personal artifacts about his life. The surrounding forest along the bluffs of the Ohio River is mature, almost old growth in nature with some trees more than 200 years old. Approximately half of the property has been dedicated as a State Nature Preserve. 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.
Date of trip:Nov. 4, 2023Sorry, 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.
Blue mistflower is a late summer to frost flowering species frequently encountered in Kentucky. It is a member of the sunflower family (Asteraceae) and belongs to what is known as the tribe Eupatorieae. This tribe includes some well-known genera including Eupatorium (thoroughworts), Eutrochium (Joe pye-weeds), Ageratina (snakeroots) and Ageratum (the cultivated ageratums).
A name change
Blue mistflower was described and named by Linnaeus in 1753 as Eupatorium coelestinum. Swiss botanist A.P. de Candolle determined it was worthy of its own genus and named the plant Conoclinium coelestinum in 1836. The name was not widely accepted and Eupatorium coelestinum was used well into the 1900s by various botanists. That name can be found in floras and manuals such as Gleason (1952, p. 493), Correll and Correll (1970, pp. 1555–1556), Fernald (1970, p. 1370), and Gandhi and Thomas (1989, p. 78).More recent research, including genetic analysis, supports the separate genus Conoclinium. More recent manuals and floras (e.g., Wunderlin 1982, p. 370; Jones 2005, p. 225; Patterson and Nesom 2006, p. 480; Weakley et al. 2023, p. 1635) use that name.
Four species are found in the eastern, central and southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico. Blue mistflower, is the only species in Kentucky. Another similar species, Pink thoroughwort (Fleischmannia incarnata) is also in Kentucky and the two species are sometimes confused (see below).
The genus name is derived from the Greek words κῶνος (kônos), meaning cone, and κλινίον (kliníon), meaning little bed. The words refer to the shape of the receptacle, the small pad of tissue on which the flowers and fruits are borne in each tiny head of flowers. The specific epithet is derived from the Latin caelistis (also spelled coelestis) meaning celestial or heavenly, in reference to the often-sky-blue color of the flowers.
Culture and botany
Blue mistflower leaf
It typically grows in moist soil, often along ditches, streambanks, moist disturbed areas, moist shady patches in forest, and less commonly, in drier sunnier locations. It will grow on basic (sweet) to somewhat acid soils. When in ideal growing conditions, plants may reach 2.5 feet (76 centimeters) tall and nearly as wide. Patches of plants can create a ground cover. Leaves are strongly wrinkled ovate to deltoid to triangular, up to 2 inches (5 centimeters) long and almost as wide near the base. They are medium green above and lighter below.
Plants are much branched, with each branch ending in a flat-topped to slightly rounded cluster of generally purplish-blue to light blue, but sometimes pinkish blue flower clusters. Within each cluster is 10–25 flower heads (also called capitula).
Blue mistflower heads
Because the plant is in the sunflower family, what may look like a single flower is actually a group (heads, or capitula) of very small flowers. Each head can contain 30–50 individual flowers. All of the flowers are tubular disk flowers. There are no ligulate (strap-shaped) flowers like the ones on a sunflower. The flowers appear fuzzy because the styles/stigmas extend 0.25” or more out of the flower.
This species is cultivated as a garden in many areas. It does especially well in partial shade where soils are moist to average in either gardens or natural settings. Large patches of the plant in flower are striking because of the intense blue to purplish color. Flowers can last for 2–3 weeks depending on temperature and rainfall. The plant will also grow in full sun and in drier soils. It tends to be short in such locations and does not flower for long. It also tends to look somewhat scrappy in these locations.
A number of commercial nurseries sell seed and plants. You may also be able to collect seed from along a road ditch somewhere. It is best to find a source close to where you intend to plant the seed or plants rather than purchasing from many states away. Blue mist flower is a perennial and if growing conditions are suitable, the plant will come back for several year before dying. Allow at least some of the seed to fall to establish replacement plants and increase the size of the patch.
Like many of the species related to Eupatorium, blue mistflower is a copious nectar producer and attracts butterflies of many species. When in more open areas, monarchs will spend a lot of time feeding on this plant, especially if near milkweeds. Small bees such as jewel bees will sometimes visit the flowers as well. Occasionally honeybees and bumble bees will take nectar from the flowers.
A related plant, pink thoroughwort, is sometimes confused with blue mistflower. This species tends to have long stems (up to 6 feet or so), but stems are lax, sprawling on other plants or the ground. Scattered branches are relatively few, short, and often in the same plane as the main stem. Leaves, 2–3.5 inches long, are triangular to deltoid with somewhat tapering tips (see photos below). Flowers look similar to blue mistflower, but are usually pink-purple or whitish with pink or lavender lobes.
Pink thoroughwort leafPink thoroughwort
Pink thoroughwort usually grows where limestone is close the surface and soils are moist, such as along creek banks, thickets, open forest, and bottomland fields. The species has a range similar to, but narrower than blue mistflower: from Missouri east to Ohio and Virginia, south to Florida, then west to Texas and Oklahoma. USDA-NRCS (2023) adds Arizona (but probably an error per Nesom 2006, p. 541). Weakley et al. (2023, p. 1666) adds northeastern Mexico. In Kentucky, the species is mostly in the Bluegrass counties between Lexington and Louisville, and in scattered in the Jackson Purchase counties, with outliers in Bell, Floyd, Pike, Pulaski and Wayne counties. The two species may grow together.
This plant also attracts butterflies, at least when in open bottomland areas. Plants in open forest situations are often close to the ground and larger butterflies do not find the flowers. Small butterflies and some bees will visit them. It does not make for a great garden plant, but does well in natural settings.
Range
The species’ range is New York State south to Florida, then west to Texas, north to Nebraska and Missouri, through Illinois to Michigan. Patterson and Nesom (2026) and USDA-NRCS (2023) add Ontario, Canada, the latter source indicating it is introduced there. BONAP (2014) shows the same states, but adds Iowa. Both BONAP (2014) and Weakley et al. (2023) indicate New York plants are likely escapees from cultivation.
USDA-NRCS (2023) shows it from 91 counties in Kentucky from far western counties to most of the eastern counties. BONAP (2014) shows approximately the same distribution in Kentucky. In all likelihood, the blue mistflower is in every Kentucky county.
Correll, D.S. and M.C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the vascular plants of Texas. Contributions from Texas Research Foundation, Volume 6. Texas Research Foundation. Renner, TX. 1881 p.
Gandhi, K.N. and R.D. Thomas. 1989. Asteraceae of Louisiana. Sida, Botanical Miscellany, No. 4. Botanical Research Institute of Texas. Dallas, TX. 202 p.
Gleason, H.A. 1952b. The new Britton and Brown illustrated flora of the Northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. Volume. 3. Hafner Press. New York, NY. 594 p.
Fernald, M.L. 1970. Gray’s manual of Botany. Eighth edition, Corrected printing. Van Nostrand Company. New York, NY. 1632 p.
Jones, R.L. 2005. Plant life of Kentucky: An illustrated guide to the vascular flora. The University Press of Kentucky. 834 p.
Weakley, A.S. and the Southeastern Flora Committee. 2023. Flora of the Southeastern United States. Edition of 14 April 2023. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC. 2015 p. Available at https://ncbg.unc.edu/research/unc-herbarium/flora-request/. Downloaded 9 May 2023.
Wunderlin, R.P. 1982. Guide to the vascular plants of Central Florida. University Presses of Florida. Gainesville, FL. 472 p.
All Photos by author.
David Taylor, Forest Botanist for the Daniel Boone National Forest for the last 34 years, works with rare plants, invasive plants and plants in general. Most of his hiking and plant observations occur in the eastern and east-central parts of Kentucky. He encourages native plants and works to remove invasive plants on his property in central Kentucky.
