On Saturday, October 19, 2024, over 30 KNPS members and friends came together for a day of botanical education and exploration at the Bernheim Forest and Arboretum & Pine Creek Barrens Nature Preserve.
The day began in the the Sassafras Room, located in the Bernheim Arboretum Visitor Center, with updates from KNPS leadership on the Society’s activities in 2024 and plans for 2025. Following the updates the group enjoyed two talks. The first talk was Boo! Botany that goes Bump in the Night by KNPS Vice-president and Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves Botanist, Kendall McDonald. In a nod to the season, Kendall gave a fun and interesting presentation on poisonous, carnivorous, and parasitic plants found in Kentucky. Following Kendall, Tyson Gregory, KNPS member and Director of Programs for Trees Lexington, presented Ethical Seed Collection. His presentation was chock full of tips and information on collecting native plant seeds ethically and responsibly. You can download both of these presentations by clicking on the images below.
After lunch, the group carpooled to Pine Creek Barrens Nature Preserve for a field trip. Pine Creek Barrens is considered one of the finest examples of limestone/dolomite barrens complex in Kentucky. This open woodland with a prairie-like ground cover hosts a diversity of native glade flora. Besides the glade, 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.
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.
Because of the size of the group, we split into two groups and went in opposite directions on the loop trail. One group was led by Alan Abbott, KNPS Field Trip Coordinator, and the other group was led by Tyson Gregory. The weather was great and the lovely fall color was just starting to make an appearance. We enjoyed a diversity of native plants in the various habitats. We observed three species in bloom that are rare in Kentucky, prairie gentian (Gentiana puberulenta), Great Plains ladies-tresses (Spiranthes magnicamporum), and barrens silky aster (Symphyotrichum pratense). Kendall also showed the group a rare lichen, Dermatocarpon dolomiticum. This lichen doesn’t have an “official” common name but Kendall calls it “tumbleweed lichen” for its habit of lifting itself loose from the flat dolomite rock surfaces it grows on and spreading via flowing water and wind.
Prairie gentian (Gentiana puberulenta) 
Great Plains ladies’ tresses, (Spiranthes magnicamporum) 
Barrens silky aster (Symphyotrichum pretense) 
tumbleweed lichen (Dermatocarpon dolomiticum) 
Carefully exploring the fragile glade habitat 
Pine Creek 
Beechdrops (Epifagus virginiana) 
American beech (Fagus grandifolia) and beechdrops (Epifagus virginiana)