The Vascular Flora of the Natchez Trace Parkway
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THE VASCULAR FLORA OF THE NATCHEZ TRACE PARKWAY (Franklin, Tennessee to Natchez, Mississippi) Results of a Floristic Inventory August 2004 - August 2006 © Dale A. Kruse, 2007 © Dale A. Kruse 2007 DATE SUBMITTED 28 February 2008 PRINCIPLE INVESTIGATORS Stephan L. Hatch Dale A. Kruse S. M. Tracy Herbarium (TAES), Texas A & M University 2138 TAMU, College Station, Texas 77843-2138 SUBMITTED TO Gulf Coast Inventory and Monitoring Network Lafayette, Louisiana CONTRACT NUMBER J2115040013 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The “Natchez Trace” has played an important role in transportation, trade, and communication in the region since pre-historic times. As the development and use of steamboats along the Mississippi River increased, travel on the Trace diminished and the route began to be reclaimed by nature. A renewed interest in the Trace began during, and following, the Great Depression. In the early 1930’s, then Mississippi congressman T. J. Busby promoted interest in the Trace from a historical perspective and also as an opportunity for employment in the area. Legislation was introduced by Busby to conduct a survey of the Trace and in 1936 actual construction of the modern roadway began. Development of the present Natchez Trace Parkway (NATR) which follows portions of the original route has continued since that time. The last segment of the NATR was completed in 2005. The federal lands that comprise the modern route total about 52,000 acres in 25 counties through the states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. The route, about 445 miles long, is a manicured parkway with numerous associated rest stops, parks, and monuments. Current land use along the NATR includes upland forest, mesic prairie, wetland prairie, forested wetlands, interspersed with numerous small agricultural croplands. The National Park Service (NPS) contracted the S. M. Tracy Herbarium to conduct an inventory of vascular plants over the entire length of the NATR. The inventory objectives were to document vascular plant diversity within the NATR, ascertain the location of threatened and endangered vascular plant taxa, and determine which of the extant plant species were invasive. These objectives were achieved through a combination of a literature search, herbarium search, and an intensive field inventory. Five (5) trips to the NATR were conducted beginning in August 2004 and ending in October 2005, to make field collections. Collections were made over the entire length of the NATR on each of the five trips. Vouchers were collected and processed in the field for subsequent identification at the S. M. Tracy Herbarium. Verification of several specimens required trips to Ft. Worth, Texas to utilize the collections housed at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT). Processing of vouchers involved identification, label preparation, and mounting. These tasks were performed in accordance with NPS protocol. Vouchers for the study comprise a total of 167 families, 750 genera, and 2197 taxa (including infraspecific taxa). Significant increases in the number of grasses (Poaceae) and sedges (Cyperaceae) were added by the study team. Vouchers were collected by the team for 1154 native taxa, 212 introduced taxa and 8 taxa considered both native and introduced. Previous NPSpecies (NPS Database) records account for an additional 642 native taxa, 173 introduced taxa, and 6 considered both native and introduced taxa. 2 Field observations were made of two possible locations in Tennessee where Apios priceana B.L. Robbins (a federally listed endangered species) may exist. However, impacts on the two sites due to haying and roadside maintenance made the subsequent verification of this species impossible. The study team recommends the NPS reassess its maintenance activities with respect to mowing at sites where A. priceana may exist. Persistence of this, and any other endangered species, is doubtful if such sites are continually mowed to an 8 inch stubble height. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS An inventory of this magnitude would be impossible without the assistance of numerous individuals. The authors wish to express their thanks to the staff of the National Park Service’s Gulf Coast Inventory and Monitoring Network (Paul Conzelman – retired, Whitney Granger) and the Natchez Trace Parkway (Kurt Foote, Bill Whitworth, C. E. Miller Smith ) who provided invaluable logistics and resources both in the field, and in the office. A special thanks goes out to Whitney Granger, whose guidance and patience was, and still is, essential to the completion of this inventory. Throughout the course of this project numerous graduate and undergraduate students from Texas A & M University provided much needed assistance in the field and laboratory. Nena M. Phillips was involved in the project from the beginning and her knowledge, skills, and attention to detail were a critical asset. Mark Tietz, Callie Monk, Kayla Kruse, Mindy Gallardo, Ashley Mock, Tracy Evans, and Darren Pawlik spent countless hours in the field and herbarium collecting specimens, processing vouchers, entering data, and other less than glamorous tasks which facilitated completion of this inventory. Guy Nesom, Botanical Research Institute of Texas, provided expert assistance with the identification of several Symphyotrichum specimens whose identity had eluded the authors. The curators of the following herbaria provided specimen data or answered our inquiries: APCR, APSC, AUA, BBG, BRIT, DSC, ETSU, GH, HALA, HEND, HGCRL, HTTU, IBE, LAF, LRU, LSU, LSUS, LTU, MISS, MISSA, MMNS, MEM, MO, MTSU, NLU, NO, NY, STAR, SWMT, SWSL, TENN, THIB, TROY, UAM, UARK, UCHT, UNA, UNAF, UOS, US. And last, but definitely not least, our sincere appreciation to our wives, Nora Lee Hatch and Maggie Kruse, who steadfastly supported our ambitions, despite many long hours at the herbarium and the time spent away from home while in the field. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS 5 LIST OF FIGURES 6 LIST OF TABLES 7 1.0 INTRODUCTION 8 1.1 History of the Natchez Trace Parkway 8 1.2 Land Use along the Natchez Trace Parkway 10 1.3 Climate 13 2.0 METHODS 15 2.1 Literature Review 15 2.2 Herbaria Search 15 2.3 Field and Laboratory Methods 16 2.3.1 Field Collection Schedule and Methods 16 2.3.2 Specimen Identification 16 2.3.3 Voucher Processing 17 3.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 18 A. Kruse 2004 3.1 Literature Search 18 3.1.1 Review of National Park Service Sources 18 3.1.2 Review of Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi State Floras 19 3.1.3 Review of Regional (Southeastern United States) Floras 19 3.2 Herbaria Search 20 3.3 Field Collections 22 3.3.1 Field Schedule and Collecting Effort 22 3.3.2 Taxonomic Distribution of the Natchez Trace Parkway Flora 24 3.3.3 Nativity of Natchez Trace Parkway Flora 25 3.3.4 Longevity of Natchez Trace Parkway Flora 26 3.3.5 Growth Habit of Natchez Trace Parkway Flora 26 3.3.6 Endemism of the Natchez Trace Parkway Flora 27 3.3.7 Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Plant Taxa of the Natchez Trace Parkway 28 3.3.8 Weedy and Invasive Taxa of the Natchez Trace Parkway 29 3.3.9 Verification of Vouchers at NATR Headquarters 30 4.0 THE VASCULAR FLORA OF THE NATCHEZ TRACE PARKWAY 32 5.0 REFERENCES 138 APPENDICES Appendix A Collection Locations by State, County, and Date 141 Appendix B Endemic Vascular Plants of Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee 186 Appendix C Locations of Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Plant Taxa on the Natchez Trace Parkway 190 Appendix D Alphabetical List (by Genus) of the Vascular Flora of the Natchez Trace Parkway 196 5 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 The Natchez Trace Parkway in the Southeastern United States 9 Figure 2 Moderate to Heavily Forested Sites 11 Figure 3 Mesic Upland Prairies 11 Figure 4 Lowland Wet Prairies 12 Figure 5 Forested Wetlands 12 Figure 6 Maintained Roadsides 12 Figure 7 Natural Areas 12 Figure 8 Hay Prairies 12 Figure 9 Grain and Fiber Crops 12 Figure 10 Un-mown Prairie Site - August 2004 24 Figure 11 Mowed Prairie Site - July 2005 24 6 LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Natchez Trace Parkway Mileage by County and State 10 Table 2 2004 and 2005 Monthly Temperatures of Five Large Cities along the Natchez Trace Parkway 13 Table 3 2004 and 2005 Monthly Precipitation of Five Large Cities along the Natchez Trace Parkway 14 Table 4 Summary of Request for Specimen Records 21 Table 5 Summary of Field Dates and Sampling Effort 23 Table 6 Summary of Collections by Division 24 Table 7 Comparison of Study Collections to the Natchez Trace Parkway Headquarters Collections 25 Table 8 Summary of Nativity by Division 26 Table 9 Summary of Longevity by Division 26 Table 10 Summary of Growth Habit by Division 26 Table 11 Records of Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Plant Taxa on the Natchez Trace Parkway 29 Table 12 Verification of Voucher Specimens at NATR Headquarters 31 7 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 History of the Natchez Trace Parkway The influence of the “Natchez Trace” (Trace) in our nation’s westward expansion and the associated economic and political development is often understated. Since its earliest beginnings, the Trace has played a vital role in transportation, trade, and communications at a local, regional, and even national level. In use since pre-historic times, the Trace has been witness to a diverse array of travelers from many important eras in our nation’s history. As an economic route serving its earliest users, the American Indian, to its use by a multitude of European and American travelers, the Trace has provided a viable and convenient means of north to south travel. In contemporary times the roadway and associated lands have preserved countless examples of our nation’s scenic and historical treasures. Throughout history, the Natchez Trace Parkway (NATR) has entwined its way in the lives and history of the people and places of the southeastern United States.