“What is the Kentucky state flower? One point for the general name and one point for the common name of the specific species and one point for the full scientific name. There about 30 different species of this type in Kentucky.” (*answer below)
Join with other native plant enthusiasts for a Wildflower Trivia Night on Zoom, organized and presented by the staff of The Arboretum, State Botanical Garden of Kentucky.
As a part of Wildflower Week, The Arboretum will host a wildflower-themed trivia night on Tuesday April 13 at 7:00 p.m. EDT. This “ephemeral” event will take place on Zoom so you can join us from the comfort of your own couch! You and your team will be quizzed on Kentucky native wildflowers, botany, and flower-inspired pop culture. Don’t be intimidated if you are not an expert! All plant lovers, regardless of their knowledge level, are guaranteed to have fun and be challenged.
Pre-registration is required as space is limited! Please call (859) 257-9339 or send an email to Arboretum@uky.edu with your name, email address and phone number. Register with a friend to be on the same team or register by yourself and meet some new friends who also love plants!
*Answer to trivia question: Giant goldenrod (Solidagogigantea)
Besides all of the other great events during Wildflower Week 2021 , we have scheduled a virtual field trip for every day of the Week. Each day the video of the virtual hike for that day will be posted on our website at 8:30AM. The video will be available for viewing from then on. You can see all of the posted videos at our Virtual Field Trips page, so bookmark that page and check in each day.
Sat. 10th– Ferns of Anglin Falls – Join Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves botanist Rachel Cook on a virtual hike through John B. Stephenson Memorial Forest State Nature Preserve. While this Preserve is known for its beauty, Anglin Falls, it also has a great diversity of ferns with 32 species!
Sun 11th– Wildflowers of Cove Springs Park
Mon 12th– Spring Flora of Glades and Barrens at Embry Lay – Join Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves botanist Tony Romano for a tour of spring flowers and flora in a rare glade and barrens habitat complex. We’ll explore plants adapted to thin soils, fires, and grassland openings.
Tues 13th– Trilliums of Kentucky – Trilliums are an unforgettable genus of spring wildflowers with their three leaves, petals and sepals, habitat preferences, interesting floriferous smells, and pollination and seed dispersal strategies. Join Tara Littlefield and family as they explore Kentucky’s Trillium diversity across Kentucky
Wed 14th– Wildflowers of Crooked Creek State Nature Preserve
Thur 15th– Wildflowers of an Heritage Land Conservation Fund site TBD.
Fri 16th– Neat Flora of Dry Outcrops and Woodlands in the Kentucky River Valley – Cedar, ash, oaks, and honeysuckle aren’t the only things inhabiting the dry, rocky, steep habitats above the Kentucky River. Join Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves botanist Devin Rodgers for a tour of some of the neat flora adapted to these sunny, erodible, rugged, beautiful places.
Sat 17th– Early flowering plants of upland seeps, grasslands and woodlands in the Cumberland Plateau – Join Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves staff Tara Littlefield and Forest Service staff David Taylor and Claudia Cotton on a hike to see what is blooming in the upland grasslands, woodlands and seeps of the Cumberland Plateau.
By Deborah White, Kentucky Native Plant Society Board
By the end of winter, we are looking for any hope of spring, any bright color in the landscape we can find. When you see a pretty yellow flower in late winter, check to see if it is lesser celandine (Ficariaverna) before you get excited.
Description
Ficaria verna: Common License
The leaves of this invasive plant emerge in winter, and they cover the ground quickly, outcompeting many native plants. This pest plant has a single yellow flower at the end of a stem. It is closely related to buttercups (its former name is Ranunculusficaria, and sometimes it is called fig buttercup) and, like buttercups, the flower has many stamens. There are seven to thirteen flower petals. The leaves are medium to dark green, generally heart-shaped and not lobed with wavy edges that have smooth or rounded teeth. Also, the small bulbils at the base of the plant will help identify it (see also the control section as these bulbils allow this weed to spread).
Habitat
Lesser celandine grows in riparian areas like stream banks and adjacent flat moist areas, shady woods and even lawns. Lesser celandine is found in the eastern United States, west from Texas and Missouri, as well as Washington and Oregon on the west coast.
Lesser celandine covered these shaded woods at UK Arboretum in 2019. Photo by Emily Ellingson.
How it Got Here
Lesser celandine is native to Europe, Asia and Africa. Introduced to the United States for horticultural use as a border plant, this weedy invasive is, unfortunately, still being sold. It easily escapes from gardens to nearby forests. The fingerlike bulbils and fruit can be spread by flooding, or any movement from one habitat to another, even mowing.
Lesser celandine in the United State; blue states show its presence. Map by NRCS.
Ecological Impacts
Lesser celandine can quickly form a blanket across the ground in natural areas. It crowds out native plants and depresses their reproduction. Like other invasive weeds, the elements that control these plants in their native range, whether fungus, animals or other biological controls, are absent, leaving this plant free to increase, unchallenged.
How to Control
Small infestations may be removed by pulling the plants by hand, but all plant parts must be removed to be effective. The roots and bulbils easily fall from the plants and then establish new plants!
It is also possible that covering the plants with black plastic to solarize, or heat up the soil can help kill the vegetative structures and root systems of the plants. This would be appropriate where lesser celandine is abundant.
Studies show spraying with herbicide is effective, especially if applied before other plants have emerged. Glyphosate has been used to control lesser celandine but be aware that it is not appropriate for use near aquatic habitats. A 2.5% solution may be applied when it is at least 50 degrees Fahrenheit–being extra careful to spray only lesser celandine because the herbicide will affect any plant it contacts. It may take two or even three applications and future monitoring to eliminate the plants. You will be helping our natural flora by battling this yellow invader!
References
Aulakh, Dr. Jatinder S. Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna Huds.) Identification and Management. Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station.
At the end of winter we are looking for any hope of spring, any bright color in the landscape we can find. When you see a pretty yellow flower in late winter, check whether it is lesser celandine (Ficariaverna) before you get excited.
Deborah has been a botanist for the Kentucky Office of Nature Preserves and Florida state plant conservation programs.
The Habitat Management Symposium is a natural areas training event created for landowners and conservation professionals performing or planning habitat improvement practices. This symposium takes place on three Tuesdays: March 16, March 23 and March 30, from 10 am to 12 pm ET and 9 to 11 am CT. Tickets are free, and registration is required to receive the event link.
● Oak-Hickory Forest Management, Chris Will (President, Central Kentucky Forest Management)
● Amphibian Habitat Management, Stephen Richter (Eastern Kentucky University Professor and Director of Division of Natural Areas)
● Nuisance Deer Management, Matt Springer (Assistant Extension Professor of Wildlife Management, University of Kentucky Department of Forestry and Natural Resources)
The snow has melted, the days are getting warmer, we’re excited to celebrate the glory of spring and we hope you’ll join us for a virtual Wildflower Week from April 10-17. If you’re as ready as we are to get outside and explore natural areas for our favorite spring bloomers, head over to iNaturalist to join our Wildflower Week 2021 BotanyBlitz! A BotanyBlitz is citizen-science event that focuses on finding and identifying as many plant species as possible in a select area for a specific period of time. This particular Blitz is a state-wide event that will run for the duration of Wildflower Week, and it’s a great outdoor activity and easy to do while social-distancing! All you need to do to participate is log in or sign up for an iNaturalist account (a quick and easy process), navigate to the project page and click the “Join” button near the top right corner, then just upload plant photos you take during the week. If you aren’t sure how to identify everything you see, fear not! KNPS members will be watching the observations roll in, and are more than happy to help identify all the plants you aren’t familiar with. We encourage everyone to post their wildflower observations on iNaturalist for this botanyblitz, we’d love to see what’s blooming in your part of the state.
We also have a number of events already planned throughout the week:
On Saturday April 10, all are invited to attend the KNPS Spring Meeting & Wildflower Week Kick-Off Zoom meeting. Register here to attend both the Kick-off and Closing meetings!
Then on Monday April 12, we’re looking forward to watching a virtual hike with Park Naturalist Samantha Evans to Natural Bridge State Resort Park in the Red River Gorge area.
Tuesday April 13, Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves Botanist Tara Littlefield will take us on a virtual hike of Cumberland Plateau acid seeps of eastern Kentucky, a rare habitat that OKNP is helping to restore. Later that evening, you can test your botanical knowledge by attending a wildflower trivia contest hosted by The Arboretum, State Botanical Garden of Kentucky.
And on Sunday April 17, join us again on Zoom for our Closing Session, and to hear the BotanyBlitz Results!
Additional virtual as well as local events will be added between now and the Kick-Off date, so make sure to bookmark our official Wildflower Week 2021 info page to find out how to register for various events and check for updates.
Mark your calendars now, and we’ll see you on April 10!
Harbinger of spring (Erigenia bulbosa), doing what it does best.
Hello, native plant lovers! The Kentucky Native Plant Society is super excited to host a virtual Wildflower Week (April 10 to April 17) jam-packed with workshops, wildflowers, and iNaturalist. We are hoping to have a large group of botanists and plant enthusiasts from around the state join the KNPS Wildflower Week 2021 BotanyBlitz collection project on iNaturalist.
A BotanyBlitz is an event where anyone who joins the iNaturalist project can use a camera to snap a picture of a plant, in a given area (this case Kentucky), and in a given timeframe (this case April 10-17). At the end of the week, we will have a map and totals by numbers, species, and by each person of all the great collections we found! Additionally, expert botanists and people with a keen identifying eye will be able to add comments to your specimens on why they agree or disagree with a certain identification, so we can learn better ways to ID plants in the future.
Below are instructions to join the iNaturalist project and how to use iNaturalist. If you have any questions or would like to be more involved, please contact wildflowerweek@knps.org
Happy Botanizing!
App Instructions:
Download the iNaturalist App (both iPhone and Android)
Create/Sign In to your account.
Click “More” (three dots)
Click “Projects”
Search “KNPS Wildflower Week 2021 BotanyBlitz”
Join Project!
Computer Instructions
Click the following link to the KNPS Wildflower Week 2021 BotanyBlitz iNaturalist Collection Project:
Clovers (Trifolium sp.) are well recognized by the public primarily because of their role as a forage crop and lawn weed. In Kentucky, we have 12 species of clover, but only 3 are native to our state, Kentucky Clover (Trifolium kentuckiense), running buffalo clover (Trifolium stoloniferum), and buffalo clover (Trifolium reflexum). All of our native clovers have declined greatly since European settlement and are state or federally listed as threatened or endangered. Historic accounts from pioneers and historic collections of native clovers indicate that our native clovers may have been more common in the woodlands of our state, particularly in the Bluegrass Region. Our native clovers have common names associated with buffalo since their associated habitat historically occurred mostly along buffalo/animal trails through the forest, which the Bluegrass Region is known for, large ungulates grazing on the grasses and forbs in our woodland systems.
In an effort to increase coordination and collaboration focused on priority native clover (Trifolium sp.) conservation projects in Kentucky, close to 30 botanists, ecologists, researchers, students, and land managers met in late February 2021 to discuss all things native clover (Trifolium sp.). Species of focus included the globally rare and newly described Kentucky Clover (Trifolium kentuckiense), the federally endangered running buffalo clover (Trifolium stoloniferum), and the state threatened buffalo clover (Trifolium reflexum).
The Kentucky Plant Conservation Alliance coordinated the meeting and facilitators from the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves, Virginia Tech University, Eastern Kentucky University, Austin Peay University, University of Michigan, and Cincinnati Zoo presented information on the current status (population ranks and trends), current conservation measures (land protection and management efforts), current research (life history, management needs, and genetics), as well as seedbanking and propagation efforts The goal of the group is to work more collaboratively together to prevent the extinction or extirpation of these native clovers. If you missed the meeting, here is the agenda, and recorded version and meeting notes
If you are interested in joining our clover conservation group and helping with some of the existing working groups involving research, monitoring, management, propagation, seedbanking, and fundraising for priority clover projects, please contact Tara Littlefield, tara.littlefield@ky.gov. We will continue to provide updates on existing Trifolium projects through the ladyslipper newsletter and at the Kentucky Botanical Symposium this fall. We will also be organizing various volunteer days this summer to help with monitoring and managing running buffalo clover, so be on the lookout for future volunteer work day announcements.
