BotSoc News, July 2009 Volume 83 Number 4 July 2009 Georgia Botanical Society PRESIDENT’S REPORT & SOCIETY NEWS Electronic Version of Newsletter. I hope ing will be published in the September BotSoc IN THIS those of you with internet capability saw the May News. Bring a picnic lunch and afterwards, ISSUE: issue of BotSoc News on the Society’s website. Tom Patrick will lead a short hike. BotSoc has Rich Reaves and I received many comments been involved with a plant inventory of Pickett’s Trip Reports (mostly favorable) from members who viewed the Mill. One of the plants of interest, Georgia aster newsletter after obtaining a link to the electronic (Symphyotrichum georgianum), should be in from the version through the BotSoc email list. flower. Make your plans now to attend. Infor- 40th Spring An electronic newsletter offers many ad- mation about Pickett’s Mill can be found under Pilgrimage – vantages over a print version: color images, the historic sites page on Georgia’s state park p2 significant reduction in printing and mailing website (http://www.gastateparks.org). costs and conservation of natural resources. The Upcoming savings in printing and mailing costs will ben- 2010 Wildflower Pilgrimage.Planning for Field Trips – efit our field botany grants and other program the 2010 Pilgrimage is well under way. Please functions. My think- mark your calendars p9 ing, which will require for March 12-14, 2010. board approval, is to GEORGIA BOTANICAL SOCIETY We will return to Bain- modify the membership bridge, GA and botani- Change in renewal form for 2010 ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING cally rich SW Georgia By-laws - to allow members to se- and adjoining areas of p12 lect whether they wish SEPTEMBER 26, 2009 the Florida panhandle. to obtain the electronic 11:00 AM BotSoc’s vice-presi- format of the newsletter dent and pilgrimage through the website or PICKETT’S MILL BATTLEFIELD organizer Jim Drake to continue to receive HISTORIC SITE has done excellent a printed copy in the work in compiling a mail. There will be no list of candidate field change in the current format and printing pro- trips and has secured The Charter House as our cess for those who opt to continue to receive the headquarters for the pilgrimage. More to come printed newsletter. on the Pilgrimage as plans are finalized. We hope that 50% or more of our members will choose to support the electronic format and Change to ByLaws. Lastly, please read the you do not have to wait until January to make proposed change in our bylaws (page 12 of the change. If you prefer the electronic format, this newsletter). The change formalizes the please contact Rich Reaves at [email protected] option offered on last year’s membership to receive the link to issues as they go online. renewal form for information included in the I plan to present more definitive objectives at membership directory. Members attending the annual business meeting in September, but the September business meeting will vote on the transition to an online newsletter is ‘a work in this change. progress’ so please provide your thoughts about the change to Rich or me. As you can see from the list of upcoming field Annual Meeting. The Georgia Botanical Soci- trips in this issue, the next few months are a ety annual business meeting will be held on Sat- good time to get out into the woods and enjoy urday, September 26 at Pickett’s Mill Battlefield our wonderful flora. Historic Site. An agenda for the business meet- Ed McDowell, President 2 BotSoc News, July 2009 40th Annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage before the pilgrimage with thousands of sharp- LACK’S BLUFF lobed hepatica (Anemone acutiloba) with their B mostly white, but sometimes blue flowers. OCK AM ARK L & D P Today we find early rue (Thalictrum dioicum), PILGRIMAGE TRIPS 2 & 6 roundleaf ragwort (Packera obovata) and per- Floyd County foliate bellwort (Uvularia perfoliata) bloom- BotSoc News ing. We also observed here several specimens is published seven times a year (Jan, As was said many times during the pilgrimage, of mockorange (Philadelphus inodorus) and Mar, May, Jul, Sep, we were fortunate to have beautiful weather. Just oak-leaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia), Nov and for the the weekend before we had lots of rain and vio- September elm (Ulmus serotina) and blue ash Spring Wildflower lent storms moving through the area. Friday was (Fraxinus quadrangulata), not flowering. Pilgrimage). Submission deadline cool, cloudy and windy but Saturday and most of Then we moved back down the road, past is August 1 for the Sunday were warm with abundant sunshine. So, the cars to the really rich wildflower area that September issue. we enjoyed perfect weather for the Black's Bluff supports the most abundant and beautiful Subscriptions and Lock & Dam field trips on Saturday morning display of flowers at Black's Bluff. Here we are included with membership. and Saturday afternoon. Attendance was excel- found Dutchmen's breeches (Dicentra cucul- Website: lent with both trips at nearly full capacity. Rome laria), giant chickweed (Stellaria pubera), www.gabotsoc.org News Tribune reporter Kevin Myrick joined the rue anemone (Anemonella thalictroides), wild Editorial Office Saturday morning trip and wrote a nice article for blue phlox (Phlox divaricata), blue phacelia Jean Smith 1135 Barwick Hill Rd the Sunday paper. (Phacelia bipinnatifida), roundleaf ragwort Comer, GA 30629 Field trip leaders, Richard & Teresa Ware of (Packera obovata), blue cohosh (Caulophyllum ph 706.783.2308 Rome, began the field trip with a little history of thalictroides), toadshade trillium (Trillium cu- email: Black's Bluff. Rich- neatum) and oth- jss2holly@ windstream.net ard listed some of the ers in bloom. We early botanists who were a little early visited the area and for the dwarf lark- © 2009 Georgia Bo- the efforts to stop spur (Delphinium tanical Society a private nonprofit the mining at the site tricorne) here, organization under and preserve Black's and a little late for IRS 501(c)3. Bluff as a 132 acre the hundreds of Founded in 1926. Nature Conservancy cut-leaf toothwort Preserve. The push (Dentaria lacini- to save the site was ata). The ground because of all the was beginning rare or unusual plant to be carpeted species found there, with that beauti- such as large-flow- ful little, delicate ered skullcap (Scu- fern - brittle fern tellaria montana), Ware Teresa (Cystopteris pro- limerock arrowwood Dutchmen's breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) trusa). A short (Viburnum bractea- walk down the tum), September elm (Ulmus serotina), blue road revealed two more goodies in bloom: ash (Fraxinus quadrangulata) and Dutchmen's smooth rockcress (Arabis laevigata) and early breeches (Dicentra cucullaria). saxifrage (Saxifraga virginiensis). The walk started with a stroll back down the Then we drove down Black's Bluff road for a road to where everyone could get a good view of short distance to Lock & Dam Park. This county the true “Cliffs of the Coosa” as it was known to the owned park is mostly known for fishing, but early botanists who explored the area. This is the does have many nice plants especially since the last remaining section that escaped mining and addition of the Coosa River Preserve immedi- is a near vertical rock wall. This rock wall, or at ately adjacent to the park upstream along the least the areas in between the rock, supports a very Coosa River that was recently purchased by the rich carpet of flowers, trees and shrubs, includ- state. We first stopped beside a small rock out- ing the limerock arrowwood, September elm and crop that supports a nice population of dwarf blue ash. The ground was carpeted a week or two larkspur (Delphinium tricorne) and found one BotSoc News, July 2009 3 Rome, Georgia April 03 - 05, 2009 flower almost fully open. After parking near the pycnostichum), a huge Shumard oak (Quercus river we began to explore the rich alluvial soils shumardii) that branched really low into 4 huge along the river banks. First we were impressed trunks, the two species of trillium observed ear- by the beautiful silverbells (Halesia tetraptera) lier and more Canada wild ginger. We also saw blooming here and a wonderful group of pawpaws excellent examples of male and female flowers of (Asimina triloba) in full bloom. early rue (Thalictrum dioicum) growing on the Of course, at that point, Richard had to point rock. Richard pointed out two rare shrubs grow- out a huge bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis) ing on the side of the outcrop - American wahoo and a swamp chestnut oak (Quercus michauxii). (Euonymus atropurpureus) and Alabama snow- Growing underneath the oak was a plant that really wreath (Neviusia alabamensis). Teresa pointed got some folks excited - one-flowered cancer-root out the spring coralroot orchid (Corallorhiza (Orobanche uniflora). After crossing the bridge wisteriana), almost invisible among the leaf lit- onto the Coosa River Preserve we immediately saw ter. We walked up above the outcrop and found a beautiful blooming clump of lance-leaf trilliums thousands of tiny jack-in-the-pulpits (Arisaema (Trillium lancifolium) and scrambling across the triphyllum), violet wood sorrel (Oxalis violacea), ground here was a nice patch of Canada wild ginger and a few remaining dissected toothwort (Den- (Asarum canadense) beginning to flower. taria multifida). Now, it was time to head back Then we walked across a field to a small lime- to the hotel, looking forward to the banquet and stone rock outcrop where we saw a small group excellent program provided by Alan Weakley. of Southern adder's tongue fern (Ophioglossum Richard Ware, Rome anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides), foam flower DAVIS FARM (Tiarella cordifolia), lance-leaf trillium (Trillium PILGRIMAGE TRIPS 5 & 9 lancifolium), Wister’s coralroot (Corallorhiza wisteriana), Canada wild ginger (Asarum ca- nadense), little brown jug (Hexastylis arifolia), Chattooga County toadshade trillium (Trillium cuneatum), cut-leaf toothwort (Dentaria laciniata), early saxifrage Despite the fact that seven out of nine days (Saxifraga virginiensis), southern adder’s tongue before the Pilgrimage were rainy, bright sunshine fern (Ophioglossum pycnostichum), squawroot greeted our tours for Saturday, April 4, 2009.