redbuds and legume subfamilies - vnps home

A publication of the VIRGINIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETYConserving wild flowers and wild placeshttp://www.vnps.org

Vol. 32, No. 2 ISSN 1085-9632

Spring 2013

Although legumes constitute one ofthe largest families of flowering plantsin the world, and despite 25 years ofcelebrating Virginia’s wildflowers, red-bud (Cercis canadensis) is the first le-gume to be recognized as a VNPS Wild-flower of the Year. This article addressesthe relationships of Cercis with the restof the legumes (family Fabaceae, orLeguminosae in older literature).

In general, legumes can be recog-nized by their usually compound, stipu-late leaves bearing hinge-like swollenpulvini on petioles and petiolules (leaf-let stalks); floral details vary from groupto group (see below), but there is alwaysa single pistil with a superior ovarythat matures into a dry fruit that is usu-ally flattened, elongate, multi-seeded,and dehiscent along both sides. Thecharacteristic fruit is known botani-cally as a legume—which leads me tothe nearly tautological truism, “Le-gumes make legumes.” Traditionally,legumes (the plants) have been parti-tioned into three well-defined subfami-lies—Mimosoideae, Caesalpinioideae,and Papillionoideae—distinguishedlargely by details of floral structure.

Mimosoid legumes are most di-verse in the tropics and subtropics, butat least one member of this subfamily

First Legume WOY

Redbuds and Legume subfamilies

Pea pods? Well, sort of...You are looking at the seed pods of the VNPS2013 Wildflower of the Year, redbud. (Photo courtesy John Hayden)

should be familiar to most readers ofthe VNPS Bulletin, the so-calledmimosa, Albizzia julibrissen, na-tive to western Asia, but now wide-spread in much of North America.Most mimosoid legumes are woodyplants of the tropics and subtropics;relatively few occur in temperate re-gions. Leaves are often bipinnate with

numerous small leaflets. Further,mimosoid flowers are individuallysmall and radially symmetric (FigureA), but they are most easily recognizedby their occurrence in tight head-likeclusters dominated by numerous elon-gate styles and stamens—the overalleffect resembling a powder puff. There

(See Redbud, page 4)

The VNPS Annual Meeting is September 13-15, see Page 3

Bulletin of the Virginia Native Plant Society

Spring 2013

From the presidentIntroduce children to the natural world

Can all of us trace our love of nature andnative plants to a single moment or place in

time? I know I can. When I was a small child, Iremember liking dandelions and blowing on theseed heads. Later, I recall frequenting an oldwaste field that had chicory, Queen Anne’s lace,viper’s bugloss, and yarrow. Oh, how proud Iwas to pick a lovely bouquet for my mother. Inever understood why that cornflower bluechicory always closed up and died by the time Iarrived home. And if the bouquet did end up in avase, the Queen Anne’s lace always shed pollenall over the table. My mother, a tidy housekeeperin those days, didn’t really appreciate my offer-ings. Maybe she was a purist at heart and longedfor true native plants, not introduced species.They were all just wildflowers to me.

The defining moment for me involved a bit ofdisobedient independence. I liked to ride mybicycle, and generally I rode on the sidewalksaround my block. But nearby Flat Branch andBull Run called to me. Invariably, if I rode on thedirt path, I would get mud on my tires or, worseyet, my pants. Despite the fact that illegal motor-ized mini-bikes would terrorize me when theypowered past on that trail, I just loved to pedalthere. The grapevines and Virginia creeper in thetrees transformed the area into an exotic jungle.In comparison, my overly manicured suburbanlawn offered nothing to explore.

One fine spring day, I decided to go a bitfarther afield. I rode alongside Bull Run andcame upon carpets of blue flowers. They were

absolutely enchanting. I almost thought that Iwas in some kind of unreal dream world. It wassuch a beautiful scene, but I knew that I couldnot exclaim about it to my mother later because Iwasn’t supposed to be there. How hard it was tokeep this fantastic discovery to myself!

Well, I could not keep it a secret. I told myyounger sister about it and promised to take herthere at our next opportunity. When the timecame a few weeks later, we rode our bikes outthere. I kept saying, “It’s just a little farther, justa little farther.” But we never found those myste-rious blue flowers. My sister thought that I wastrying to trick her, and I was beginning to thinkthat maybe I had dreamed it.

As most wildflower lovers realize by now, Ihad come upon Virginia bluebells in my youth.Those glorious spring ephemerals last barely afew weeks, and then disappear before reemerg-ing in 10 months. They have been my favoritewildflower since my childhood.

We need to give today’s children the chance toconnect with the environment and share a magi-cal moment. If you’re a parent, grandparent,aunt, uncle, teacher, or friend, you can open theworld of nature to children. Take them on a walkin the woods or along a creek and let them dis-cover for themselves. If all they do is sit insidewhere the electrical outlets are, they won’t bondwith the natural world and won’t have a stake inprotecting it for generations to come.

Your President, Nancy Vehrs

Please send your web news, chapter newsletters, anditems you want posted on your chapter’s pages to SueDingwell at [email protected]. Deanna High has notleft our VNPS web team, but Sue Dingwell is taking over theday-to-day management of the VNPS.org site. Many thanksto Deanna for her long service in this capacity and for herpatient tutoring during the ongoing transition.

One of Sue’s goals this spring is to work with chaptersso that they are empowered to edit their own pages on theVNPS site. Every chapter already has the ability to enter itsown information, and Sue is hoping to work with individualmembers to make the process more understandable and easy.

New VNPS webmaster asking for helpThat way each chapter will have the control needed to makeits page relevant, up-to-date, and the go-to source that itshould be for chapter members.

Sue added: “While I have your attention, I’d like to askfor your help with our brand new VNPS Facebook page.This page has an open, not-for-profit status, and gives us awonderful opportunity to promote all facets of our missionin the public arena. Posts on our page are regularly sharednot only by individuals, but by Master Gardeners, land-scape designers, plant nurseries, and organizations suchas RIP (Remove Invasive Plants), SciencePubRVA, bed and

(See VNPS webmaster, page 8)


Spring 2013

For the 2013 Annual Meeting, theJefferson Chapter invites you toCharlottesville to explore an areawhere northern and southern floralranges overlap and where the Moun-tain and Piedmont regions meet. Markyour calendars for Friday evening, Sep-tember 13, through noon on SundaySeptember 15. We have lined up two ex-citing talks for Friday and Saturdayevenings. Our speaker Friday night willbe Lara Gastinger, principal illustratorof the Flora of Virginia and a mem-ber of the Jefferson Chapter. Then,for our Saturday night banquet, Dr.Nancy Adamson, a pollinator con-servation specialist who works withthe Xerces Society.

We are planning a wide range offield trips including a visit to PreddyCreek Park, a 450-acre park at the north-ern edge of Albemarle County. The parkhas a stunningly diverse naturalmeadow featuring many varieties of Eu-patorium and Solidago, includingmasses of showy goldenrod (Solidago

speciosa), as well as striped gentian(Gentiana villosa) and tall coreopsis(Coreopsis tripteris). Preddy Creek Parkalso may be the northernmost site in Vir-ginia for naturally occurring sourwoodtrees (Oxydendron arboreum), whichare scattered through the nearby woods.A separate field trip will take you to thewestern edge of the park to see an un-usual colony of American climbing fern(Lygodium palmatum).

For those interested in landscapingwith native plants, we will visit two awardwinning landscapes designed by thenationally known Nelson Byrd WolzLandscape Architects, including both thegrounds of the new Martha Jefferson Hos-pital, voted the most beautiful hospital inAmerica in 2012, and the Dell at the Uni-versity of Virginia. We will also offer a fieldtrip to Kemper Park, which occupies 89acres of land along the Thomas JeffersonParkway leading up to Monticello. Thepark features a two-acre pond plantedwith native wetland species, as well asan arboretum of native trees and shrubs

that includes several special outdoorrooms including two of interest in the fall:one that masses trees and shrubs with out-standing fall color and a second that fo-cuses on edible fruits and nuts.

Phil Stokes’ 30-acre tree farm is aninspirational example of what a privateindividual can do to rescue and en-hance woodland property. On parts ofthe farm there are relatively intactplant communities ranging from anupland dominated by a mix of oak spe-cies to stream corridors containing win-terberry (Ilex verticillata), witch-hazel(Hamamelis virginiana), Americanhazelnut (Corylus americana), andpinxterbloom azalea (Rhododendronpericlymenoides). Perennials of inter-est include rattlesnake plantain (Good-yera pubescens), lady’s tresses(Spiranthes sp.), great blue lobelia (Lo-belia siphilitica), and skunk cabbage(Symplocarpus foetidus). The gentlysloped trails pass by large stands of Christ-mas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides)

The Flora of Virginia is selling likehotcakes. Just since December’s FloraPremieres, we’re down to only 1,000copies out of a printing of 3,500. A sec-ond printing is on the agenda. So manymembers of the Virginia Native PlantSociety either received a complimen-tary copy for their level of giving orhave bought a copy—or copies! Butpart of this blitz reflects sales from out-side Virginia.

This isn’t too shocking to us Virginiaplant aficionados. There are only sixspecies found solely in the common-wealth, said Chris Ludwig, a Flora co-author and executive director of the Floraof Virginia Project. The others range far-ther afield. “Because we have the new-est flora on the block, other states arefinding our manual useful,” he said.“And it’s their turn, actually,” he added,only half joking.

Lacking our own flora for decades—or centuries—we’ve had to use manu-als written for other states, the Caroli-nas (published in 1968) or West Virginia(1978), for example. A lot has happened

Flora sales brisk, buyers not all VirginiansFlora of Virginia and a professor andthe curator of the herbarium at the Uni-versity of North Carolina in ChapelHill. “It means the Flora can be usedalmost as though it actually were in-tended to cover those areas.”

Moving further out, to countiessharing 90 to 95 percent of Virginia’splants, picks up most of New Jersey, theremainder of Pennsylvania, West Vir-ginia, and Ohio, and most of the rest ofNorth Carolina and Tennessee. “Ofcourse, ‘90 to 95 percent’ means that 5to 10 percent of the species are missing,and that requires some extra attentionin using the manual,” Weakley said.

One step further, to 75 to 90 per-cent shared species, reaches the GreatPlains, north beyond the Great Lakes,and northeast into lower Maine. Thepercentages drop further in the Plainsand along the warmer Southeast, re-flecting different environmental fac-tors and the influx of prairie, south-ern, and subtropical species. “To me,75 to 90 percent still means it’s a very

taxonomically in the past 40 years, oreven 30. But now that we have our ownflora, it’s getting play in other states.

How useful is the Flora of Virginiaoutside the Old Dominion? That’s aquestion the Biota of North AmericaProgram recently answered (it an-swered a similar question for 36 otherstates or regions as well). They mapped— for each county in the contiguous 48states—the percentage of that county’sflora covered by our new Flora. Onthe maps, counties are color-coded todenote, in a series of ranges, percent-age coverage.

In Virginia, of course, eachcounty’s plants are covered 100 percentby the new Flora. Some counties in WestTexas and in the California desertshave no more than 5 percent ofVirginia’s plant species. But largechunks of West Virginia, North Caro-lina, and Maryland and parts of Ten-nessee, Ohio, and Pennsylvania share95 to 100 percent of Virginia’s plants.“A level of 95 percent or more is great,”said Alan Weakley, a co-author of the

Mountains meet Piedmont at Annual Meeting

(See Flora, page 8)

(See Annual Meeting, page 5)

Spring 2013


are two mimosoid legumes native to Vir-ginia: Aeschynomene virginica, sensi-tive or Virginia jointvetch, a rare plantof freshwater tidal marshes, and Mi-mosa (Schrankia) microphylla, littleleafsensitive-briar, a species of the South-east that reaches its northern limit in Vir-ginia where it, too, is considered rare.

Papillionoid legumes are cosmo-politan, well developed and diversefrom the tropics to temperate regions.All growth habits are well representedamong the papillionoid legumes, butherbaceous forms are especially commonin temperate regions. Leaves are mostlyonce-pinnate or trifoliolate. Flowers arebilaterally symmetric with two keel pet-als that enclose 10 stamens and the pis-til, two laterally divergent wing petals,and an erect standard (or banner) petal(Figure C). Further, the 10 stamens canbe completely separate from each other,fused in a ring, or, most frequently, nineare fused along their filaments forming apartial tube surrounding the pistil, withthe 10th stamen separate from the rest, ex-tending parallel to the upper edge of thepistil. There are many papillionoid le-gumes native to Virginia. A few of the morefamiliar genera include Desmodium(beggar’s ticks), Robinia (locusts), Tri-folium (clovers), Vicia (vetches), andWisteria.

The traditional definition ofcaesalpinioid legumes—to which red-buds belong—suggests some degree ofintermediacy between the other two sub-families. Like the mimosoids, most arewoody and tropical or subtropical, butthere are temperate zone examples, in-cluding some herbs. Floral symmetryvaries from radial to extremely bilateral;in some cases, redbud being a good ex-ample, flowers appear superficially verymuch like papillionoid flowers. How-ever, when possessing bilateral symme-try, caesalpinioids always differ frompapillionoids in one respect: the upper-most petal (standard or banner) is cov-ered by the two wing petals in flowerbuds whereas among papillionoids theuppermost petal is always outermost inthe bud (Figure B). Another interestingcharacteristic of many caesalpinioid le-

gumes is that roots lack the nodulescontaining nitrogen-fixing symbioticbacteria that are widespread amongother legumes.

In addition to redbuds, someprominent caesalpinioid legumes to befound in Virginia include species of

Chamaecrista (partridge pea), Senna,Gleditsia (honey locust), andGymnocladus (Kentucky coffee tree).Though few in number, the Virginiacaesalpinioids form a heterogeneousgroup: Chamaecrista species have

Sketches and diagrams of legume flowers representing the three traditionallyrecognized subfamilies. Key to floral organs in the diagrams (right hand sideof figure): calyx/sepals are shaded, corolla/petals are black, stamens are 4-lobed and white, pistils are the centermost element of each diagram; note thatpapillionoid stamens are linked indicating fusion; sepals in each subfamilymay be fused at the base, a detail not depicted in these diagrams. Redrawn byNicky Staunton from images on the Watson and Dallwitz web site (http://delta-intkey.com/angio/).

A. Subfamily Mimosoideae

AcaciaAcaciaAcaciaAcaciaAcacia

B. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae

CercisCerc isCerc isCerc isCerc is

C. Subfamily Papillionoideae

CytisusCytisusCytisusCytisusCytisus

•Redbud(Continued from page 1)

(See Redbud, page 5)


Spring 2013

symbiotic nitrogen fixation in rootnodules, while the others do not;Chamaecrista and Senna are herba-ceous, but the others are woody; andflower symmetry varies from essen-tially radial in Gleditsia andGymnocladus to slightly bilateral inChamaecrista and Senna to extremelybilateral in Cercis.

Within Caesalpinioideae, Cercisis classified in tribe Cercideae(Wunderlin 2010), a group of 12 gen-era that, except for the redbuds, arenative to tropical regions of SouthAmerica, Africa, and Australia. Tomost Virginians, these redbud rela-tions are obscure plants but somereaders may be familiar with the largegenus Bauhinia (so-called orchidtrees), frequently seen as ornamentalsin conservatory collections and tropi-cal landscapes.

The preceding sketch of legumerelationships will almost certainlyundergo some revision in the nottoo distant future. Molecular ge-netic studies confirm, at least inbroad outline, the composition ofsubfamily Mimosoideae, subfam-ily Papill ionioideae, and tribeCercideae. However, subfamilyCaesalpinioideae, as traditionallydefined, is untenable in the light ofcurrent knowledge. The problem isthat caesalpinioid legumes do not

form a single distinct lineage. Rather,subfamily Caesalpinioideae is com-posed of six (maybe more) discrete lin-eages, several of which (for example,tribe Cercideae) form the lowermostbranches of the legume evolutionarytree, while the remaining branches areinterspersed among the well-definedmimosoids and papillionoids. By themodern philosophy of systematics, thissituation is a mess . . . but exactly howbest to resolve it is not yet clear. Onemay expect proposals to define addi-tional subfamilies that will, in effect,dismantle the traditional broad defini-tion of Caesalpinioideae. In all likeli-hood, a much more narrowly definedCaesalpinioideae will emerge, and Cer-cis will be placed elsewhere. Stay tuned!

It may be disconcerting to learn thatclassification of eastern redbud, a plantnamed by Linnaeus more than two anda half centuries ago, is currently in flux.There are lessons to be learned here. Thefirst lesson is that naming a plant andplacing that plant in a classification aretwo different enterprises. While manyof the names coined by Linnaeus areconsidered valid and enjoy widespreaduse today, the very concepts of plantfamily and subfamily that are such in-tegral parts of modern plant taxonomydo not appear at all in the formal clas-sifications of Linnaeus. Naming andclassifying are not the same. The sec-ond lesson is that all classifications arehypotheses. The traditional definitionof legume subfamilies arose during the

19th century, a time when gross mor-phology dominated how botanists per-ceived relationships. Nowadays muchmore data are available to systematists;it is now commonplace to integrate tra-ditional gross morphology with micro-scopic structure, comparative chemis-try, and vast amounts of gene sequencedata in order to generate classifications.Not only is there much more informa-tion available, but the principles of cla-distics, now firmly ascendant in sys-tematics, alter how hypotheses aboutrelationships are evaluated. As itturned out, the morphology used by19th-century botanists to distinguishmimosoid and papillionoid legumescorrelates well with patterns revealedvia gene sequence data and the prin-ciples of cladistic classification, con-firming, at least in broad overview,these two very old hypotheses of le-gume relationships. The problem withthe caesalpinioids is not simply fail-ure of morphological characters to de-fine the subfamily. The problem stemsfrom the very fine resolution of rela-tionships revealed by gene sequencedata coupled with the relatively newrequirement that taxonomic groups bemonophyletic (not merely descendedfrom a common ancestor but also in-cluding all descendants of that ances-tor) that makes the subfamily problem-atic. Finally, there is a third lesson tobe taken from the impending failure oftraditional Caesalpinioideae: we justdon’t know everything there is to knowabout biodiversity. That’s true forplants in general and the legumes inparticular. Yes, Cercis, the redbuds, arereasonably well known plants, but toplace them properly in a robust classi-fication (a hypothesis likely to with-stand rigorous testing), requires thatwe also know all the potential redbudrelatives, i.e., all the caesalpinioids,equally well. We are not there yet! So,for now, redbuds are classified in sub-family Caesalpinioideae, but that is atemporary situation, an old conceptretained out of expediency for lack ofa better alternative.

Wunderlin, R. P. 2010. Reorganization ofthe Cercideae (Fabaceae: Caesalpinioideae.Phytoneuron 2010-48: 1-5.

John Hayden, VNPS Botany Chair

•Redbud(Continued from page 4)

and hayscented fern (Denstaedtiapunctilobula), as well as two speciesof Lycopodium. Also there are areasonce overtaken by invasives that nowthrive with natives both planted andregenerating from remnants of existingflora. A 1.4 acre pond constructed in2003 has been landscaped with over athousand native plantings. Pickerel-weed (Pontederia cordata), lizard’s tail(Saururus cernuus), cardinal flower(Lobelia cardinalis), and sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia) should be inbloom. Over the past 10 years fieldshave been planted with a nut orchardof about 500 trees. See side-by-side

rows of black walnut, butternut, and pe-can. Remains of an older home, its con-structed spring, and cemetery are alsointeresting features of the property.

Other trips will include a mush-room and plant ecology walk, a visit toIvy Creek Natural Area with its longshoreline on the Rivanna Reservoir, fernand wildflower hikes in the Blue Ridge,as well as visits to members’ gardens. TheCharlottesville area is rich in history andmid-September should be an ideal timeto enjoy the abundance of late summerflowers and fruits in its gardens andparks. We hope you will join us in ex-ploring this botanically rich region.

•Annual Meeting(Continued from page 3)

Mary Lee Epps, Jefferson Chapter

Spring 2013


Rockwood Park in ChesterfieldCounty is a 161-acre, much used parkthat I have been familiar with since thelate 1970s. The park includes basketballcourts, baseball diamonds, public gar-dens, and a large body of water knownas Gregory’s Pond and has occasionallaw-enforcement problems. Much of thepark is, fortunately, a natural area, withseven color-coded trails to stroll. If you’refamiliar with Les Blacklock’s essay,“Meet My Psychiatrist,” where the for-est is the willing, listening problem-solver, then you’ll know why I say thispark is my therapist. I always approachthe noble and scrappy male Americanholly (Ilex opaca), found just downhillfrom the visitors’ center, as an old friend.Thirty years ago I became acquaintedwith this holly while simultaneouslycoaxing my mother to accompany me onhealthful hikes. She gladly went despiteher fear of imminent snake sightings.

American holly is just one of themore common upland understorytrees. Another is American strawberrybush (Euonymous americanus), withstrikingly shiny leaves and small butattractive pink-tinged yellow flowers.More rarely encountered is sassafras(Sassafras albidum), with its character-istic mitten leaves, and spicebush(Lindera benzoin), which WilliamBartram saw in north Florida and calledit ‘laurel’ in his Travels. I know thesesmaller trees best because, unlike the gi-ant dominant trees, these conduct theirlives where I can easily discern them.

Shading much of the uplands arelarge white oaks (Quercus alba) inter-spersed with a remnant population ofloblolly pine (Pinus taeda). Forest floorevidence such as acorns and leavesreveals other trees such as blackjackoak (Q. marilandica var. marilandica),scarlet oak (Q. coccinea) and pignuthickory (Carya glabra). Stepping softlyover the spongy three- to sometimesfive-inch layer of leaf litter, you may seemany small red and white oaks, calledorphans, awaiting the propitious fallof a canopy tree, but few pine seedlings.These loblolly pines are remnants froman era when the Rockwood area wasan open field. An inconspicuous plant

Solace in Suburbia: Rockwood Park in Chesterfield

The view at Rockwood Park in Chesterfield County.

dependent on pines is epiparasitic andknown as pinesap (Hypopitys mono-tropa). Pinesap parasitizes a fungus,in this case dusky-yellow and wine-splotched polypore mushrooms of thegenus Suillus that is mycorrhizal withthe pines.

Walking around trees may presenta few awkward situations, particularlyif you encounter a natural “barbed wirefence” of saw brier (Smilax glauca),with vicious prickles so dense that yourclothes will be held in a tenacious grip.At least while slowly extricating your-self, you’ll have time to notice sawbrier’s glistening and nicely varie-gated leaves. Thankfully other vinessuch as the ubiquitous Virginia creeper(Parthenocissus quinquefolia) andgrape (Vitis vulpina or V. rotundifolia)aren’t nearly so grasping.

Progressing downslope leads toever deepening shadows beneath largetulip trees (Liriodendron tulipifera)that are so tall you'll need binocularsto see the flowers. In May the only evi-dence of flowers is yellow-green andorange petals littering the forest floor.There they gather rainfall and morn-ing dew and then serve as carafes forthirsty ants. Other dominant trees inmesic areas are red maple (Acer

rubrum) and, in the lower zones, blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica).

This varied canopy creates an un-derstory with a patchwork of variablelight conditions and sunflecks thatsupports, in some places, short-staturedthickets of black huckleberry (Gay-lussacia baccata) and long twines of run-ning cedar (Diphasiastrum digitatum)sometimes accompanied by small colo-nies of perfoliate bellwort (Uvulariaperfoliata) with an occasional pale spikelobelia (Lobelia spicata var. spicata). Inthe more open uplands occurring be-neath oak or pine can be found my fa-vorite plant, the pink lady-slipper or-chid (Cypripedium acaule), an intri-cately structured charmer unmatchedby any other flower in the park. An-other equally common orchid, but onefar less noticeable is cranefly orchid(Tipularia discolor).

Descending the trail marked by awhite rectangle, you approach a ridgethat I think provides one of the mostattractive views of Gregory’s Pond.With a row of trees in the foregroundand no houses visible on the far shore,it gives the feeling of idyllic WaldenPond solitude. Following a dirt path

(See Rockwood Park, page 7)


Spring 2013

VNPS Membership Chair, Blandy Experimental Farm, 400 Blandy Farm Lane, Unit 2,Boyce, VA 22620

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___Life $500*Please designate one person as delegate for Associate membership

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The BulletinISSN 1085-9632

is published five times a year(Feb., April, June, August, Nov.)

by the

Virginia Native Plant SocietyBlandy Experimental Farm

400 Blandy Farm Lane, Unit 2Boyce, VA 22620

(540) [email protected]

www.vnps.org

Nancy Vehrs, PresidentNancy Sorrells, Editor

Original material contained in the Bulletin may bereprinted, provided credit is given to VNPS and theauthor, if named. Readers are invited to send letters,news items, or original articles for the editor's con-sideration. Items should be typed, on disk in MicrosoftWord or e-mailed to: Editor, 3419 Cold Springs Rd.,Greenville, VA 24440, or [email protected] deadline for the next issue is April 30, 2013.

VNPS Membership/Renewal FormSee the address label for your membership expiration date

Membership dues are tax deductible in the amount they exceed $5. Contributions are tax deductible in accordance with IRS regulations.

Which chapter do you wish to join? (See www.vnps.org)_______________________

Paying by credit card? ___MC ___Visa ___Discover Exp. date___________Card #_____________________Security code______ Signature______________________

Make check payable to VNPS and mail to:

downward to the orange circle trail youdescend to a lower ridge that is the onlyplace where I’ve seen the downy falsefoxglove also known by the more de-scriptive name of downy oak leach(Aureolaria virginiana). With spectacu-lar spikes of canary-yellow flowers inJuly or August, it is a hemiparasite ofwhite oak.

Where the trail enters woody thick-ets, you might find the frilled white anddeep pink flowers of pinxterbloom(Rhododendron periclymenoides). Iwas lucky enough a few years ago tocatch the tree flowering. Also in theseswampy lowlands is coastal fetterbushor swamp doghobble (Eubotrys ra-cemosa). I must have passed by thisplant for years without noticing it untilI saw its raceme of tiny white bells a foot

above my head. Sometimes emergingfrom the shoreline thicket is the herba-ceous vine pigeon wings (Clitoriamariana), with pastel pink saucers heldagainst the muted green backdrop.

The shoreline thickets of smooth al-der (Alnus serrulata) are nearly impen-etrable, but a close inspection may re-veal juvenile water snakes draped acrosslow hanging branches where they canbask as they hide from predatory fish andbirds. Overtopping the alders in a fewspots are aged American wild plum trees(Prunus americana) that provideperches for birds such as green herons.

Taking the blue diamond trail up-hill brings you back to some brightopenings and heavy shading whereyou may find sporadic colonies of theorchid known as downy rattlesnakeplantain (Goodyera pubescens). Likejewel orchids worldwide, these orchids

have beautiful labyrinthine-patternedwhite-veined leaves but rather smallwhite flowers. Nearby one might see thediminutive spotted wintergreen(Chimophila maculata) that also dis-plays boldly white-veined leaves andhas flowers seemingly carved fromnephrite and white chalcedony as froma creation of Peter Carl Fabergé.

Another forest plant identificationconundrum that I observed after study-ing tallgrass prairie for several yearswas a single specimen of a white flow-ered euphorbia looking very much likeflowering spurge (Euphorbia corol-lata), but this specimen had far fewerflowers and noticeably wider leavesthan the typical flowering spurge ofmy experience and may have beenfalse flowering spurge (Euphorbiapubentissima).

Pink lady-slipper (Cypri-pedium acaule), left, andcoastal fetter-bush (Eubotrysracemosa) are two of the manyplant friends found at Rock-wood Park. (Photos courtesyStephen Johnson)

•Rockwood Park(Continued from page 6)

(See Rockwood Park, page 8)


breakfasts, and Audubon groups,among many others. Some of these or-ganizations are involved in environ-mental issues, but some of them arelearning about native plants from ourpage. Our page’s name on Facebookis Virginia Native Plant Society.”

The social media are a powerfultool. Future members are using it toguide their decisions and choices; andVNPS needs to have a recognized pres-ence there. And Sue needs your help,

•VNPS webmaster(Continued from page 2)

useful reference, but requiring somecaution in using it to key plants,”Weakley said. “Even at the 50- to 75-percent level, which extends to includethe eastern half of the United States,the Flora of Virginia is still relevant.”

“Indeed, the Flora is selling well be-yond the Virginia border,” said BarneyLipscomb, head of the BRIT Press, ofFort Worth’s Botanical Research Insti-tute of Texas, the book’s publisher. “Wehave shipped books to North Carolina,Maryland, Tennessee, Alabama, andmany other states.” The Flora of VirginiaProject has mailed copies to Pennsylva-nia, New Hampshire, West Virginia,Mississippi, New York, and Florida,Ludwig said. One copy went to a Vir-ginian now living in New Mexico(whose flora overlaps with Virginia’sonly 5 to 25 percent). A copy has gone toEngland, and another to Sweden.

The Flora already has been desig-nated the official textbook for thisspring’s plant taxonomy course atJames Madison University, andWeakley will use it this fall in his courseon the plants of North Carolina.

To order your Flora, visit thehome page of the Flora of VirginiaProject, floraofvirginia.org, and clickthe red button. It’s also available onAmazon.com. The price is $79.99,plus $6.50 shipping.

Bland Crowder, asso-ciate

director and editor,Flora of Virginia

Project.

•Flora

With further ascent you cross andre-cross the park’s creek, which is bor-dered by small marshes and home toa population of southern two-linedsalamanders. At the drier borders ofthe marshy areas you may see manysapling American strawberry trees,and in the marsh muck itself, south-ern leopard frogs. In one marshy de-pression, I happened to see a smallgreen woodland orchid (Platantheraclavatella). All too quickly the trail ends.I proceed toward the entrance, say fare-well to my holly tree friend and imag-ine what I might find there tomorrow.

Stephen Johnson is a freelance plantecologist originally from Virginia

and now living in Iowa.

•Rockwood Park(Continued from page 7)

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Chimophila maculata

especially with photos. “I need photosof native plants, in pots, in home land-scapes, or in natural settings. I also needphotos of smiling people doing plantthings—field trips, planting, andsowing seeds. Be sure to let me knowthe names of the plants; the people,however, can be named or not as theywish.” Sue will give photo credit, too,but please help her make the Society'spage reflect the great diversity of plantlife and VNPS activity in Virginia bysending photos to your newwebmaster and Facebook guru at:[email protected]

Continental U.S. mapshowing percentagesof flora overlaps withVirginia.

redbuds and legume subfamilies - vnps home

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