President’s Message – August, 2022

Jeff Nelson, KNPS President 2022-2024

I write this message just a week after historic and unprecedented floods devastated Eastern Kentucky. I know I speak for all of our members when I say that our hearts are broken for the lives that were lost and the homes, businesses, and entire communities that were utterly destroyed. Unsurprisingly, Kentuckians across the Commonwealth have stepped up by volunteering and providing needed resources to their fellow Kentuckians. If you are reading this message and are looking for a way to help, a donation to the Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief Fund is one way to make a difference. Thank you.

Be sure to mark your calendars for the KNPS Fall Meeting, Saturday, October 15, at Blue Licks Battlefield State Resort Park. This will be a great opportunity to get together with other KNPS members and friends and to find out what the Society is planning for the end of this year and in 2023. We will also be taking easy walks through the Blue Licks State Nature Preserve to see the globally rare and endangered Short’s goldenrod (Solidago shortii). We are still working out details for the meeting but you can read about what we currently have planned here: KNPS 2022 Fall Meeting – Save The Date, Oct. 15. Learn more about Short’s goldenrod from this article from the Lady Slipper Archives, “A Short Take on Short’s Goldenrod.”

Swamp candles (Lysimachia terrestris)

This summer the Society built on the success of Wildflower Weekend by getting back to scheduled, in-person field trips. In June we had our first field trip of the year at the Ohio floodplains of the Ballard Wildlife Management Area in Ballard Co. The participants saw many wetland obligate species such as broadleaf arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia), green arrow arum (Peltandra virginica), as well as the lovely swamp candles (Lysimachia terrestris), a species that is rare in KY and only known from two far western counties.

Green comet milkweed (Asclepias verdiflora)

In July, Alan Abbott took a group to Buena Vista Glade in Taylor, Indiana, about 50 minutes west from downtown Louisville. This glade community has similar shallow soils and limestone bedrock as glades in Kentucky’s Bluegrass Region, as well as similar plant communities. The group saw several interesting glade species, including straggling St. John’s-Wort (Hypericum dolabriforme), green comet milkweed (Asclepias verdiflora), and whorled milkweed (Asclepias verticillata).

At the end of July, the Society was finally able to present a workshop that had originally been scheduled for March, 2020, and which had to be cancelled due to the pandemic. The workshop, “Plant Family Identification Motifs: patterns for simplifying the complexity“, was given by Dr. J. Richard Abbott, Assistant Professor of Biology, and current Curator of the University of Arkansas Monticello Herbarium. With the cooperation and assistance of the good folks at Bernheim Arboretum, a group of around 20 native plant enthusiasts spent a day in the facilities and plantings at Bernheim, learning how to use certain motifs to ID plants to their plant families. The group learned a lot and as one participant, Carol, wrote, “Just wanted to drop a line that this class was fantastic! I’d attend a Part 2 session if there was one scheduled!”

Watch for more field trips and workshops in the months to come and remember that KNPS members get first shot at signing up for any of these events before they are opened to the general public.

Everything that KNPS does happens because of the support and help of our members and friends. On behalf of the Society, I want to thank everyone reading this message for caring about the native plants of our beautiful Commonwealth and for the support you give to the Kentucky Native Plant Society, thank you.

If you would like to get more involved with the activities of the Society or if you have any questions about KNPS or the native plants of Kentucky, please send us an email at KYPlants@knps.org

—- Jeff Nelson

From the Lady Slipper Archives: A Short Take on Short’s Goldenrod

The Lady Slipper newsletter of the Kentucky Native Plant Society has been published since the Society’s founding in 1986. We occasionally feature an article from a past issue. This one, about the globally rare, and endangered, Short’s Goldenrod, Solidago shortii, first appeared in the summer of 1999, Vol. 14, No. 2 & 3. If you would like to see other past issues, visit the Lady Slipper Archives, where all issues from Vol. 1, No. 1, February 1986 to Vol. 34, No. 1, Winter/Spring 2019 (after which we moved to this blog format) can be found.

If you would like to see this rare and beautiful goldenrod, plan now to attend the KNPS Fall Meeting on Oct. 15.

A Short Take on Short’s Goldenrod

by James Beck

In Berkshire with the Wild Flowers / Elaine & Dora Read Goodale / 1879 / W. Hamilton Gibson, Illustrator

Anyone out for an afternoon walk or Sunday drive in Kentucky during late August through mid October just can’t miss the bright yellows in every field and fencerow that belong to the Goldenrods (Solidago sp.). Mary Wharton considered 32 different species in the Commonwealth. Two of them, the White Haired Goldenrod and Short’s Goldenrod, are endemic in Kentucky. They are known only from our state. [Editor’s note: at the time this article was written, Short’s goldenrod was only known from Kentucky. Since then a small population has been discovered across the Ohio in at least one county in Indiana.] The White Haired Goldenrod (Solidago albopilosa), discovered by E.L. Braun in the limestone clifflines of what is now Red River Gorge, is known from 90 populations and is listed as Federally Threatened by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Short’s Goldenrod, (Solidago shortii), listed as Federally Endangered in 1985, is both a beautiful plant, and one with a fascinating history.

This species was first collected by the eminent Dr. C.W. Short (then chair of the Medical Department at the University of Louisville) on Rock Island, which lies at the famous “Falls of the Ohio” between Louisville and Clarksville, Indiana. This is one of several islands and stony outcrops which were dry for part of the year and completely submerged for the remainder, representing the only serious navigational impediment on the Ohio River from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. Sent east for identification, the Goldenrod found at the Falls was subsequently described as a new species by Drs. John Torrey and Asa Gray, then hard at work on the landmark Flora of North America.

© Tom Barnes

Civil engineering projects, culminating with the opening of a hydroelectric dam in 1930, have been historically blamed for the apparent disappearance and extinction of Short’s Goldenrod by the 1870s. It wasn’t until 1939 that the only other known population was discovered by Lucy Braun on rocky slopes and grazed pastures near Blue Licks Battlefield State Park at the convergence of Robertson, Nicholas, and Fleming Counties, Kentucky. Today 13 small subpopulations survive, all within the vicinity of Blue Licks.

The disappearance of this species at the Falls of the Ohio (which may have actually occurred some years before construction of the dam at Louisville) and its decline over the years at Blue Licks have always raised questions. Evidence exists that might support a connection between historic bison usage and S. shortii. Bison were possibly a seed dispersal mechanism, or perhaps Short’s Goldenrod benefited from the reduced plant competition that resulted from their trampling. The Falls of the Ohio represents the most logical crossing point of the Ohio River on a trail which led the bison from the Midwest to the springs and salt licks of central Kentucky. Blue Licks itself is a famous lick, one which lies on a well documented horseshoe-shaped bison trace which began at what is now Covington and made a large circuit through the region, meeting the Ohio again at present day Maysville.

Solidago shortii from Britton & Brown’s Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions, 1913.

Short’s Goldenrod is easily identified in the field. Totally smooth, leathery leaves and the length of its involucre (the circle of bracts or leaflet-like structures surrounding each flower) separate it out from most of the other local Goldenrod species. The Riverbank Goldenrod, (Solidago rupestris) is the most similar in form, although simple habitat differences (riverbanks versus dry, glady conditions) should end any confusion. Three other Goldenrods, S. altissima, S. ulmifolia, and S. nemoralis, grow with S. shortii at Blue Licks, but sufficient morphological differences exist between them and Short’s, and anyone with a little patience and basic knowledge of terminology should have little trouble finding it.

Short’s Goldenrod is not included in Wharton and Barbour’s Kentucky wildflower guide. The best key to it is the key to Solidago in Gleason and Cronquist’s Manual of the Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada.

The easiest viewing of this rare species occurs in the Kentucky State Nature Preserve Commission’s Buffalo Trace Preserve, which is in the vicinity of Blue Licks Battlefield State Park. A truly unique and enjoyable day trip for any Kentuckian would be traveling from Lexington though Paris and on to the Park, all on US Highway 68. In just a few hours one could enjoy the majesty of the Bluegrass horse farms and the beauty of probably the rarest variety of our state flower.

Plant Family Identification Workshop

Plant Family Identification Motifs: patterns for simplifying the complexity

Instructor: Dr. Richard Abbott*

When: Saturday, July 30, 2022 Workshop has finished
Time:  9am-4pm Eastern Time
Where:  Bernheim Arboretum & Forest, meet at the Garden Pavilion
Cost:  $25 /$10 for students
Bring your own lunch, and wear hiking shoes

Using minimal basic vocabulary, approximately 30 plant families, and half a dozen artificial motifs, we will focus on plant identification patterns.  Learning Kentucky plants within a global framework not only empowers confidence in knowing what you know, but enables identifying more than 130,000 plants to family globally and provides a solid foundation for incorporating other family patterns.  Essentially, this workshop is an introduction to a way of thinking about how to organize botanical knowledge in a practical, applied way.

*About the Instructor

Dr. J. Richard Abbott, Assistant Professor of Biology, is the current Curator of the University of Arkansas Monticello Herbarium. At UAM, he teaches General Botany, Ecology, Medical Terminology, Regional Flora, and Plants in Our World and conducts floristic, systematic, and taxonomic research, especially with the milkwort family (Polygalaceae). He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Biology and German from Berea College in Kentucky and both M.S. degree and Ph.D. in Botany from the University of Florida in Gainesville. His primary passion is teaching plant identification, using the local flora to understand global patterns. To that end, he is currently working to establish a living teaching collection on the UAM campus, with the ultimate goal of cultivating as many families and genera as possible.

Registration Form

Please fill out the form below to register for the workshop. The workshop is limited to 20 participants.

From the Lady Slipper Archives: Western Kentucky’s Swamp Leather-flower

The Lady Slipper newsletter of the Kentucky Native Plant Society has been published since the Society’s founding in 1986. We occasionally feature an article from a past issue. This one, about a rare, and threatened, native vine, Clematis crispa, commonly known as Blue Jasmine or Swamp Leather-Flower, first appeared in the summer of 2013, Vol. 28, No. 2. If you would like to see other past issues, visit the Lady Slipper Archives, where all issues from Vol. 1, No. 1, February 1986 to Vol. 34, No. 1, Winter/Spring 2019 (after which we moved to this blog format) can be found.

Western Kentucky’s Swamp Leather-flower

Robert Dunlap, OKNP Volunteer

Swamp leather-flower (Clematis crispa)
© Bob Dunlap
Swamp leather-flower (Clematis crispa)
© Bob Dunlap

One of the plants I look for every spring in western Kentucky is Clematis crispa, commonly known as Blue Jasmine or Swamp Leather-Flower. C. crispa is listed as “Threatened” by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves and is only known from the four western counties along the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers – Ballard, Carlisle, Hickman and Fulton. It occurs in a few counties across the rivers in southern Illinois and western Missouri and becomes more common as you head into the southern states.

As its name implies, this native clematis likes to grow in wetlands, floodplains and swamps. All of the sites where I’ve found this plant growing in Ballard and Carlisle counties are flooded for some portion of the year when the rivers decide to overflow their banks. In addition to enjoying getting its feet wet, C. crispa prefers a bright location and is usually found competing for sunlight along with all the other vine species that like to grow in swampy conditions. The stems of this herbaceous vine grow to a length of 6- 10 feet and the plants die back to ground level each winter. The flowers consist of four sepals (no petals) that curl backwards resulting in an urn-like appearance.

Seedhead of Clematis Crispa
© Bob Dunlap

Finding this plant in the field is a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Searching for the purple-blue flowers before the neighboring vines have put out all of their foliage affords the best chance for success. Another option that requires good eyesight is to search for the distinctive seed pods, sometimes referred to as “Devil’s Darning Needles” in the fall.

Two additional native clematis species that can be found in western Kentucky include C. pitcheri (Bluebill) and C. virginiana (Virgin’s Bower). Differentiating C. crispa from C. pitcheri is best accomplished by examining the undersides of the leaves. C. pitcheri exhibits a prominent raised network of veins which are absent on C. crispa.

A quick internet search turned up several native plant nurseries where Swamp Leather- Flower can be purchased. From the planting advice given on these sites it apparently does well when grown in containers and I’m guessing it would make a nice addition to an outdoor pond or water garden

Poetry Corner

By Liz Neihoff

We only live
in a lighter sea
and so hear and
see, in Summer’s
cottonwood crowns,
South Sea breakers
where big salt lands.

Wax is buffed
to green crystal shine.
As thousands of gimbeling
leaves dance and flash
at Summer’s height.
A welcome sound
of moist air comes
over the ridges,
all free as a breeze.

Field Trip to Buena Vista Glades – July 9, 2022

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.

Whorled milkweed (Asclepias verticillata)

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.

Ozark bunchflower (Melanthium woodii)

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.

Wildflower Weekend 2022

by Heidi Braunreiter, KNPS Vice President & Jeff Nelson, KNPS President

From April 8th through the 10th, over 100 native plant enthusiasts came together to enjoy KNPS’ first, in-person, Wildflower Weekend since 2019. Although temperatures were cool and skies were damp at Natural Bridge SRP, spirits were high as folks dressed for the weather and enjoyed 14 different native plant walks led by an incredible group of expert botanists. Saturday night, a large group of KNPS members and friends met in the Woodland Center for presentations by Ted Brancheau, Nick Koenig, and the keynote speaker, Mike Homoya.

Wildflower Walks

Beginning at noon on Friday and ending Sunday morning, fourteen wildflower walks, led by some of the best botanists in the country, explored the amazing diversity of the plant communities in Natural Bridge SRP and the Red River Gorge. Here’s some shots from the walks.

  • Carolina Vetch (Vicia carolina)
  • Red trillium (Trillium erectum)
  • Search for sweet pinesap.
  • Sweet pinesap (Monotropsis odorata)
  • Striped wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata)
  • Virginia pennywort (Obolaria virginica)
  • Bishop’s cap (Mitella diphylla)
  • Members & Friends Friday Evening Campfire
  • Woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata)
  • Trailing arbutus (Epigaea repens)
  • Downy serviceberry(Amelanchier arborea)
  • Lichen walk
  • Cranefly orchid (Tipularia discolor)
  • Long-spurred violet (Viola rostrata)
  • Rock Bridge Trail

Discussions about next year’s Wildflower Weekend 2023 are already happening. Dates and the location are not set yet, but be thinking about the first half of April as the general time-frame. If you have any thoughts about how the event could be made better, we would love to hear from you. If you would like to lead or co-lead a walk next year, let us know. KYPlants@knps.org.