By Alan Abbott, KNPS Field Trip Coordinator

The Kentucky Native Plant Society led a hike at Bullitt County’s Pine Creek Barrens Nature Preserve on June 8th. The preserve has a mixture of oak-dominated woodlands, shallow limestone glades, and grasslands and is one of the best examples of Kentucky’s limestone/dolomite barrens open to the public.

Member Alan Abbott led a group of around a dozen KNPS members for a three hour stroll along the trails. Plants identified by the group included: two species of Coneflowers (Echinacea simulata and pallida), Vase Vine (Clematis viorna), Climbing Milkvine (Matelea obliqua), Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis), Prickly Ash (Zanthoxylum americanum), Scaly Blazing Star (Zanthoxylum americanum), and Glade Heliotrope (Heliotropium tenellum).

The group also discussed the natural history of the region, tools like iNaturalist and Floraquest, and grassland land management techniques.