Please join us for the 2021 KNPS Fall Meeting on October 23, from 4PM to 5:30PM EDT. We will be meeting virtually again this year on Zoom (hopefully our last virtual Fall Meeting). Our fall meetings are open to members and non-members alike. The meeting will review what the Society has done in the past year and discuss activities for the rest of 2021 and for 2022. As the meeting is on Zoom, please register by following the link at the bottom of this article. If you want to learn more about your Society the KNPS Fall Meeting is for you. If you have any questions, email us at KYPlants@knps.org.
Meeting Agenda
4:00PM to 4:25PM – Welcome and Review of 2021
Welcome – Tara Littlefield
Wildflower Week 2021 – Heidi Braunreiter
2021 Field Trips – Tara Littlefield
The Lady Slipper – Susan Harkins
Student Grants – David Taylor
Financial Report – Steele McFadden
Membership Report – Jeff Nelson
KNPS Board Secretary – Tara Littlefield
4:25PM to 4:40PM – Botanical Symposia – Tara Littlefield
5:00PM to 5:30PM – Standing Committees & Member Engagement – Jeff Nelson
Registration
As the meeting will be virtual, registration is required. Complete the registration form at this link and you will receive a link to the virtual meeting.
Date of trip: 10/12/2021 Start time: 5:30PM Eastern Time Location: Pine Creek Barrens Nature Preserve Difficulty of hike: Moderate – hike should last 1.5 to 2 hours so we can be finished before dark.
Great Plains Ladies Tresses (Spiranthes magnicamporum)
Join Kentucky Native Plant Society member Alan Abbott on an informal, evening walk to see populations of Great Plains ladies tresses at Pine Creek Barrens Nature Preserve in Shepardsville. Owned by the Nature Conservancy, the 158-acre property was featured in Thomas Barnes’ book, Kentucky’s Last Great Places.
Within this open woodland, large prairie-like openings host a diversity of flora native to grasslands and glades. Other natural communities at Pine Creek Barrens include the dry upland woods which surround the glade. On the southwest boundary, scenic Pine Creek flows through a beautiful mesic ravine forest lined with small limestone cliffs.
In addition to the Great Plains Ladies tresses (Spiranthes magnicamporum) that we will be viewing, a number of other rare or infrequent plants grow here, and most years, visitors can also see Barrens Silky Aster (Symphyotrichum pratense) and Stiff Gentian (Gentianella quinquefolia) bloom in October.
At least eight rare and endangered plant species have been identified at the nature preserve, including the globally threatened glade cress (Leavenworthia exigua var. Laciniata), which has adapted to grow in small depressions on the exposed bedrock. This plant is found only in select areas in Bullitt and Jefferson counties.
This trip was limited to 11 participants. It is now filled. Sorry.
Kentucky Native Plant Society member Alan Abbott will be leading the second KNPS field trip since the start of the pandemic to Pine Creek Barrens Nature Preserve in Shepardsville. Owned by the Nature Conservancy, the 158-acre property was featured in Thomas Barnes’ book, Kentucky’s Last Great Places.
Pine Creek
This open woodland with a prairie-like ground cover hosts a diversity of native glade flora. Other natural communities at Pine Creek Barrens include the dry upland woods which surround the glade. On the southwest boundary, scenic Pine Creek flows through a beautiful mesic ravine forest lined with small limestone cliffs.
Barrens Silky Aster (Symphyotrichum pretense)
A number of rare or infrequent plants grow here, and most years, visitors can see Barrens Silky Aster (Symphyotrichum pretense), Great Plains Ladiestresses (Spiranthes magnicamporum), and Stiff Gentian (Gentianella quinquefolia) bloom in October.
At least eight rare and endangered plant species have been identified at the nature preserve, including the globally threatened glade cress (Leavenworthia exigua var. Laciniata), which has adapted to grow in small depressions on the exposed bedrock. This plant is found only in select areas in Bullitt and Jefferson counties.
Several years ago, KNPS adopted the policy of requiring preregistration for all activities (other than Wildflower Weekend) and for giving members the first opportunity to register for those activities. We send out emails to current members for all KNPS activities at least one week before the activity is announced to the general public. Participation in this trip was limited to 15 people and was quickly filled up by members. If you would like to get advance notification of future field trips, become a member of KNPS. If you join now, your membership will not expire until the end of 2022.
On Saturday, July 31, 2021, for the first time since July of 2019, KNPS members were able to get out into the field as a group and explore our Commonwealth’s botanical diversity. Traveling to the Ballard Wildlife Management Area in Ballard Co., nine of us spent an enjoyable morning visiting a variety of wetland ecosystems that many Kentuckians never see.
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 that many Kentuckians have not had the opportunity to experience. The Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves lists cypress (tupelo) swamp as a state endangered ecosystem. The forested parts of the WMA are mostly bottomland hardwood forest, another ecosystem that is somewhat uncommon in Kentucky.
Pale Indian plantain (Arnoglossum atriplicifolium)
The nine participants headed out in a three-vehicle caravan to visit several spots around the WMA. We were led by longtime WMA employees, Gerald Burnett and Richard Campbell. At each stop we got out and walked and found many native plants. At our first stop we spotted several nice stands of an uncommon native, pale Indian plantain (Arnoglossum atriplicifolium). We also saw several species of St. John’s wort (Hypericum spp.), downy skullcap (Scuttelaria incana), meadow beauty (Rhexia spp.), starry campion (Silene stellata), and several species of aquatic and semi-aquatic plants, including American bur-reed (Sparganium americanum), arrow arum (Peltandra virginica), and broadleaf arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia). Lots of buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) and both species of native Hibiscus, halberd-leaf rosemallow (H. laevis) and swamp rosemallow (H. moscheutos), were in abundance along the shores of the area’s lakes and sloughs.
Oneflower false fiddleleaf (Hydrolea uniflora)
At the second stop we explored both a wetland community and a bottomland forest. We saw several natives, a couple that are rare in Kentucky. In the wetland, we saw a nice patch of oneflower false fiddleleaf (Hydrolea uniflora) in full bloom. This genus, Hydrolea, has two species in Kentucky, this one and ovate false fiddleleaf (Hydrolea ovata). Both species are only found in a couple of counties in far western Kentucky, and were believed to be extirpated until 2006 when both were observed again. Read the post “From the Lady Slipper Archives: Hydroleas (the genus False Fiddleleaf) in Kentucky – Lost and Found” to learn more about these beautiful and rare species.
Snow squarestem (Melanthera nivea)
We also encountered several stands of snow squarestem (Melanthera nivea) just beginning to flower. This is another species that is rare in Kentucky, reported only from four counties along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers; McCracken, Ballard, Carlisle, and Hickman.
Other species that were found in bloom in these habitats included sharpwing monkey flower (Mimulus alatus), butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa), swamp milkweed (A. incarnata), aquatic milkweed (A. perennis), hairy mountian mint (Pycnanthemum verticillatum var. pilosum), cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum), cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), creeping burhead (Echinodorus cordifolius), and water parsnip (Sium suave).
Most of us are familiar with the non-native Asiatic dayflower (C. communis), that grows in gardens and along roadsides. However, many are not aware that Kentucky has three native dayflowers. We saw all three species of Kentucky’s native dayflowers in bloom during the field trip; white-mouth dayflower (C. erecta), Virginia dayflower (C. virginiana), and climbing dayflower (C. diffusa).
White-mouth dayflower (Commelina erecta)
Virginia dayflower (Commelina virginica)
Climbing dayflower (Commelina diffusa)
All Three of Kentucky’s Native Dayflowers
The day was a great start to getting back to in-person field trips. This exploration of an area of Kentucky that many people are unfamiliar with was a great example of the value of KNPS field trips for learning about our native plant communities.
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 one of Kentucky’s rarest genera, Hydrolea, first appeared in the fall of 2006, Vol. 21, No. 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.
As a current update to this article, Hydrolea uniflora, the one-flower false fiddleleaf, was observed in full flower at Ballard Wildlife Management Area during the field trip there on July 31, 2021. Read about the field trip and see an image of H. uniflora at the article about the trip; Field Trip to Ballard WMA.
Hydroleas (the genus False Fiddleleaf) in Kentucky – Lost and Found
by Deb White
Hydrolea uniflora photo from www.biosurvey.ou.edu
The two species of Hydrolea in the state have both been lost and found within the last few years! Both the ovate false fiddleleaf (Hydrolea ovata) and the one-flower false fiddleleaf (H. uniflora) were reported in the 1960’s to 80’s from several western counties. We had checked all the sites where these wetland plants were reported, and the sites appeared to be extirpated – for instance one had turned into a church. As soon as their ranks1 were changed to “Historic,” meaning they had not been reported for 20 years, they were both found in new places in western Kentucky. Robert Dunlap, a budding botanist and all-around naturalist, found a nice population of H. uniflora in Winford Wildlife Management Area. Julian Campbell reported that H. ovata is found at a wetland site within the Paducah city limits.
Hydrolea ovata photo from www.biosurvey.ou.edu
These are both wetland herbs with blue flowers. H.uniflora forms a rooted mat of creeping decumbent (laying close to the ground rather than erect) stems in shallow open pools in wetlands. The plants are usually less than a foot tall if that and generally bloom in the late summer. H.ovata is much taller,up to 3-4 feet, when it blooms and hard to miss if in flower. It has little spines at the leaf axils and has many branches.
Both of these species occur along the edges of bottomland hardwood swamps and marshy openings in western Kentucky. They are distributed in the southeast United States and into Texas and Missouri. Kentucky is at the northern limit of their ranges, not surprising since this is generally a genus of warm climates.
The number of species that become historic and ultimately extinct in the state give us some insight into the rate of loss of our native flora. To date, Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission lists 61 historic plants for the state. It is thrilling to find a plant that has not been seen for 20 years and re-assuring to know that the species continues to find its way in our changing world. In fact I am sure there is more Hydrolea out there to be found. If you are interested in knowing what rare plants, including those that are historic, occur in your area please visit our web site, Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves, and visit the Rare Plant Database for the listing for your county or to our rare plant website.
1 Each plant in the Kentucky flora receives a rank expressing its status in the state, from rare to common, historic or even extinct.
Update to the article: As was mentioned in the introduction above, H. uniflora was observed during the KNPS field trip to Ballard WMA on July 31, 2021. Here are a few images of H. uniflora from that trip.
Date of trip: 07/31/2021 Start time: 9:00 am to 12:00 pm Central Time Location: Ballard County Difficulty of hike: Easy – We will caravan/car pool on the gravel roads in the wildlife management area, stopping to view a variety of native plants and habitats. At a couple of the stops we will walk distances of under a 1/2 mile.
It’s been well over a year since KNPS has been able to have field trips exploring the diverse botany of Kentucky. We are excited to get back into the field with our first field trip since the start of the pandemic. Join KNPS Board Member, Jeff Nelson, Ballard WMA employee, Gerald Burnett, and KNPS member, Bob Dunlap, 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 caravan (carpooling as much as possible) around the WMA, stopping to examine the botany of Ballard’s diverse ecosystems. We should see several uncommon, wetland plant species, some 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. At the end of July, it will be hot and humid and there will mosquitos and ticks, so bring plenty of water and insect repellent.
Directions: We will meet at the WMA Office at 864 Wildlife Lodge Rd, La Center, KY 42056.
Map Coordinates for the Office are: 37.18393861563692, -89.02681588465485
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 one of Kentucky’s loveliest natives, the Wild Bergamot, first appeared in the summer of 2001, Vol. 16, 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.
The author, Mary Carol Cooper, left a huge legacy to the native plant community when she passed in 2016. In almost every native plant gathering, her name is mentioned and a moment is given over to appreciate her knowledge, which she freely shared. Her passion led many of us to our love of natives; she was a mentor and friend to many of us.
Wild Bergamot – 2001 Wildflower of the Year
by Mary Carol Cooper, Native Plant Program Coordinator, Salato Wildlife Education Center
Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) has been selected as the Salato Wildlife Education Center’s Wildflower of the year 2001 by wildflower enthusiasts from all across the state. The Wildflower of the Year is chosen based on the number of nominations it receives and how well it fits the established criteria (must be native, common and widespread across the state, seeds must be readily available, must be easy to grow, and must have wildlife value).
Wild Bergamot is common in old fields, thickets, prairies, and borders thoughout the state. It is a member of the mint family and has spicy-aromatic leaves that are opposite and ovate-lanceolate on a square stem. It has slender two-lipped corollas about one inch long densely aggregated in terminal clusters subtended by conspicuous bracts. The corolla is a pale lavender. Wild Bergamot ranges in height from three to five feet tall depending on the habitat. It is a short-lived perennial that rapidly forms colonies in both moist and dry soil. It is very versatile, as it will tolerate clay soils and drought and will grow in full or partial sun.
Wild Bergamot is a premiere nectar source for butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds. Indigo buntings are known to build their nests in the stems of this plant. It blooms from June through August, providing food and shelter all summer long.
Historically, physicians used leaf tea to expel worms and gas. The Native Americans used the leaf tea for colic, flatulence, colds, fevers, stomachaches, nosebleeds, insomnia, heart trouble; in measles to induce sweating, and poulticed leaves were used for headaches. The pioneers made a lotion of boiled leaves for treating pimples and skin eruptions. Today, Wild Bergamot is still used for headaches and fever and it makes a great tea. Its flavor is similar to true bergamot, the oil of a Mediterranean citrus fruit that flavors Earl Gray Tea. It is also excellent cut for fresh bouquets.
Wild Bergamot seeds and plants are available from many native plant nurseries and are fairly inexpensive. It is also very easy to propagate either by seeds, cuttings, or division. Seeds sown in January should be kept moist and cold (40° F) for 90 days to cause germination. Since the seedlings are tiny and slow growing, they should remain in the flat for 6–7 weeks after germination before being transplanted. To propagate by cutting, take stem tip cuttings, 3–4 inches long, any time from May to August. Remove the lower leaves and all flower or seed heads, dip cutting in rooting powder and insert at least one node into a sand and perlite rooting medium. Place cuttings in an enclosed chamber and mist them several times a day. In 4–5 weeks, cuttings are well rooted and can be transferred to the garden in the early fall. To propagate by division, divide mature clumps in March before they send up stems. Dig up the plant and using a pair of pruning shears or a sharp shovel, cut the clump into sections. Replant and water the division immediately.
