KNPS BotanyBlitz 2022

by Vanessa Voelker

Last year one of the components of our “Virtual” Wildflower Week 2021 was KNPS’s first BotanyBlitz event, hosted on the iNaturalist platform. A BotanyBlitz is a plant-focused BioBlitz, which is an event where participants try to document as many species as possible within a certain geographical location during a set period of time. We felt the event was such a success that even though we returned to in-person events for Wildflower Weekend 2022, we decided to keep the weeklong BotanyBlitz as part of the annual event.

BotanyBlitz Winners

We have awarded a small prize (KNPS coffee mug!) to the first place participants in three categories: Most Species Observed, Most Observations, and Most Identifications. So without further ado, here are the winners of the 2022 BotanyBlitz!

For the categories of both Most Species Observed and Most Observations, Nick Koenig (@nick_koenig1) swept the first-place spot with 224 species observed and a total of 294 observations made over the course of the week. Congrats to Nick for his awesome botanizing! In the category of Most Identifications, Pennsylvania resident Burlton Griffith (@burls) came in first place with an incredible 1,632 observations made for Kentucky botanizers. We’re grateful for all the identification help we can get during iNaturalist events, no matter where it comes from, and @burls’s contribution to the ID effort this year was invaluable! To see the rest of the leaderboard in all three categories, check out the project overview page on iNaturalist.

BotanyBlitz 2022 and 2021 Compared

This year, the BotanyBlitz was scheduled a week earlier than it was last year, and the cooler-than-average weather from March to early April resulted in a slower emergence of spring flora. The effects of this are definitely reflected when you compare the most observed species in 2021 and 2022, as earlier-blooming species were observed much more frequently this year. For example, the most observed species for this year’s BotanyBlitz was Cutleaf toothwort (Cardamine concatenata) with 105 observations, and the vast majority of these observations showed plants in full bloom. Contrast this with last year’s blitz, where Cutleaf Toothwort was in 29th place, and about a third of it was already past flowering and starting to develop fruits. Last year, the most observed species was Dwarf Larkspur (Delphinium tricorne) with 72 observations, and with nearly all observed plants in full bloom. This year Dwarf Larkspur was in 10th place, and about half of the plants seen were only in bud.

Despite the slower and cooler spring, this year’s BotanyBlitz showed a lot of growth compared to last year. We actually observed more species this year (539 species compared to 462 in 2021), increased our total observations by almost 1,500 (4,614 vs. 3,169) and had more participants (121 observers compared to 109). Just a note — the data on iNaturalist are constantly changing, as identifications can be added or changed over time, so all numbers reported here are just a snapshot.

Rare Species Observations

Participants also observed a number of rare spring flora this year, click the links to check out the observations on iNaturalist!

• Running Buffalo Clover (Trifolium stoloniferum, Threatened): On the Kick-off day of the BotanyBlitz, Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves botanists Heidi Braunreiter and Rachel Cook lead an iNaturalist tutorial hike in Lexington, where participants were able to observe a well-managed population of this former federally-endangered species.
• False Mermaidweed (Floerkea proserpinacoides, Special Concern): Several observations of this small annual species showed healthy and abundant populations in wooded parks of Kenton County.
• Sweet Pinesap (Monotropsis odorata, Threatened): Several populations of this unique and highly fragrant species were seen (and smelled!) by hikers during Wildflower Weekend at Natural Bridge State Park.
• Smallflower Baby Blue Eyes (Nemophila aphylla, Threatened): A new population of this species was discovered in Trigg County just prior to the Kickoff Day, and was revisited during the BotanyBlitz.
• Kentucky Gladecress (Leavenworthia exigua var. laciniata, Endangered): This tiny and very rare glade-dweller was observed several times in flower during the BotanyBlitz.
• Glade Violet (Viola egglestonii, Special Concern): Another glade species, this was observed by OKNP botanists while surveying for Kentucky Gladecress.

Wildflower Photos

Finally, the most important part of the BotanyBlitz is the gorgeous photos of Kentucky’s spring wildflowers. Here are a few that caught our eye:

Thanks to all of the BotanyBlitz participants for making this year’s project so successful, we hope to see you all again in 2023. In the meantime, if you enjoyed the BotanyBlitz and are looking for more iNaturalist projects to participate in, consider joining the 2022 Kentucky Botanists Big Year project: this is an event similar to the BotanyBlitz, but is a yearlong event rather than just one week, and it’s a great way to become more familiar with Kentucky’s flora across the seasons!