CHINQUAPIN The Newsletter of the Southern appalachian Botanical Society Volume 23 (1) Winter 2015 Boykin’s Lobelia – and a Plea for Rare Species Research By Linda Chafin, State Botanical Garden of Georgia, depressions in flatwoods and savannas. University of Georgia, Athens Studies conducted throughout the 1990s by Elizabeth Lacey and her students Ramona Bates, Alejandro Royo, and Rachel Moreno, After a two-year break, the rare plant column is back. Thanks to at UNC-Greensboro illuminated details of the species’ genetic the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society for the kind welcome variation, reproductive biology, interactions with other species, back to the pages of Chinquapin! and habitat requirements that bear on the rarity, management, As a botanist who studies and writes about and long-term prospects of Lobelia boykinii. They rare plants, I am frequently reminded how lit- determined that Lobelia boykinii is an obligate out- tle scientists know about the biology of most crosser whose reproduction is therefore limited by rare species, and how even what we think we the small population sizes throughout most of its know sometimes turns out to be wrong. My range. These researchers also found that reproduc- conservation horticulturist colleagues here at tion was affected by low numbers of pollinating the State Botanical Garden of Georgia often insects – perhaps attributable to widespread insec- start from scratch as they develop propagation ticide spraying in nearby agricultural fields. They and re-introduction protocols for the rare spe- also determined that hydrology and fire frequency cies they raise for restoration projects–basic play critical roles in the survival of the species, knowledge such as type of seed dormancy and results with immediate implications for site soil nutrient requirements is often lacking. management. Lacey and her group also suggested Occasionally, even the most basic natural that sophisticated mathematical techniques, such history fact – is a species annual or perenni- as population dynamic studies, be used to predict al? – is in dispute. There is little funding out population and species survival in Lobelia boykinii there for conducting life history studies of and other rare plant species. rare plants, and Natural Heritage programs, Field surveys also continue to reveal new infor- a vital source of information on rare species mation about Boykin’s Lobelia – ask Bill McAvoy, for the last four decades, are experiencing dire botanist with Delaware’s Species Conservation and funding cuts and loss of mission throughout Research Program (formerly the Natural Heritage the country. program). In 2013, McAvoy and his colleague, When a species does receive detailed Ronald Wilson, were surveying Delaware’s Coastal and long-term study, the findings are often Plain ponds for Dichanthelium hirstii, anoth- eye-opening–and of great value to conser- er globally rare species and Federal candidate. vationists and land managers. Among the Imagine their surprise when they ran across 14 best studied rare plant species in our area is stems (3 in flower) of Boykin’s Lobelia, not seen in Boykin’s Lobelia, Lobelia boykinii. Historically Delaware in 100 years! And this in a site that had known from the Gulf and Atlantic Coastal been repeatedly surveyed for rare species over the Plains of eight states (MS, AL, FL, GA, SC, past 29 years. McAvoy and Wilson speculate that NC, DE, NJ), Boykin’s Lobelia is considered Hurricane Sandy, which flooded the site in late by NatureServe to be critically imperiled in October 2012, created conditions that promoted five states, and imperiled or vulnerable in bolting and flowering in Lobelia plants that had three. It is currently under consideration long persisted as rhizomes and sterile rosettes. by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for listing as Threatened or But in their article they also note: “Conversely, a population of Endangered. L. boykinii in New Jersey produced over 200 flowering plants on Boykin’s Lobelia is a rhizomatous perennial distinguished by its a ‘dry pond bottom’... Only long-term population monitoring spongy-thickened stem base, filiform leaves, and flowers 10 - 13 throughout the range of the species can reveal even some of [Lobe- mm long (a bit less than ½ inch). It is an obligate wetland inhab- lia boykinii’s] secrets.” itant of Carolina Bays, limesink ponds, cypress-gum ponds, and If even the well-studied Boykin’s Lobelia can continue to sur- Lobelia continued on Page 2 2 Chinquapin 23 (1) The Newsletter of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society SABS Officers and Executive Council For full addresses, see http://sabs.appstate.edu/about/officers From The Editor’s Desk: Kathy Gould Mathews Joe Pollard, Newsletter Editor President (2014-2016) We have a very full issue this time, so I’ll keep my remarks brief. I’m especially happy to Western Carolina University welcome Linda Chafin back to the pages of Chinquapin. Linda’s regular column on rare (828) 227-3659 plants went on hiatus a couple of years ago as she prepared a book on the wildflowers of [email protected] Georgia for UGA Press. I look forward to seeing the finished product, and in the meantime it’s good to have Linda’s insights back in Chinquapin. Wendy Zomlefer For a new twist in this issue, George Ellison gives us a “Botanical Excursion” in the form Past President (2014-2015) University of Georgia of a poem. Alan Weakley and Lytton Musselman continue their series. And we welcome a (706) 583-0389 new author, Martin Cipollini of Berry College, with a timely update on American Chest- [email protected] nut. Enjoy! Charles N. Horn Treasurer (2014-2018) Lobelia continued from Page 1 An illustration from a study of Lobelia Newberry College prise, what might we learn from studying boykinii, a rare species endemic to the (803) 321-5257, fax (803) 321-5636 more obscure rare taxa such as those in Carolina Bays. Castanea 66: 115-125 [email protected] Eriocaulon, or Rhynchospora, or Dichan- Leopold, A. 1953. A Sand County Almanac thelium? This article is a plea to all con- and Sketches Here and There. Oxford Michael E. Held University Press, New York. Membership Secretary (2012-2015) cerned about the loss of biodiversity in this Saint Peter’s University country: Support basic botanical research in McAvoy, W.A. and R.M. Wilson. 2014. (201) 761-6432 our universities, botanical gardens, and state Rediscovery of Lobelia boykinii (Cam- [email protected] natural resource agencies. Fund herbaria and panulaceae) in Delaware. Phytoneuron their staff as they build and protect priceless 2014-23:1–4. Susan Farmer collections. Resurrect the Natural Heritage Moreno, R. 2003. Genetic variation in Recording Secretary (2013-2016) three populations of a rare plant Lobelia Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College programs in those states where they’ve lost (229) 391-5126 funding and vision. We have so much to boykinii: A microsatellite analysis. M.S. [email protected] lose otherwise and a world of biodiversity to Thesis. University of North Carolina at gain. And, as we research, study, and protect Greensboro. Brian Keener our natural heritage, we humans stand to NatureServe. 2015. NatureServe Explorer: Member at Large (2013-2015) gain, as Aldo Leopold wrote: “…a sense An online encyclopedia of life. Nature- University of West Alabama of kinship with fellow-creatures, a wish Serve, Arlington, Virginia. http://explor- (205) 652-3796 er.natureserve.org/. [email protected] to live and let live, a sense of wonder over the magnitude and duration of the biotic Royo, A.A., R. Bates, and E.P. Lacey. 2008. Lisa Kelly enterprise.” Demographic constraints in three popula- Member at Large (2014-2016) tions of Lobelia boykinii: a rare wetland University of North Carolina at Pembroke Bates, R. 1996. The reproductive biology of endemic. Journal of Torrey Botanical (910) 325-1470 Lobelia boykinii. M.S. Thesis, University Society 135(2):189-199. [email protected] of North Carolina at Greensboro. Royo, A. 1998. Demographic modeling of Jay Bolin Lacey, E. P., A. A. Royo, R. Bates, and Lobelia boykinii, a rare species endemic to Member at Large (2014-2016) D. Herr. 2001. The role of population the Carolina Bays. M.S. Thesis, Univer- Catawba College dynamic models in biogeographic studies: sity of North Carolina at Greensboro. (704) 637-4450 [email protected] Bereavements Christopher P. Randle We are saddened to report that two influential southeastern botanists passed away Editor-in-Chief of Castanea (2014-2017) recently. Sam Houston State University Dr. John E. Fairey, III died on February 1, 2015, at the age of 74. Dr. Fairey received (936) 294-1401 his Ph.D. from the University of West Virginia, and taught biology and botany at [email protected] Clemson University for over 30 years. He served the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society as Vice-President in 1981-82 and President in 1982-83. Joe Pollard Chinquapin Editor (2012-2015) Dr. Wade T. Batson, Jr. died on February 14, 2015, at the age of 102. Dr. Batson Department of Biology received his Ph.D. from Duke University, and was a faculty member at the University of Furman University South Carolina for 30 years. He received many awards during his distinguished career, 3300 Poinsett Highway including being honored on his 100th birthday by a resolution passed in the South Greenville, SC 29613 Carolina General Assembly. (864) 294-3244 Full obituaries and tributes for these two outstanding individuals are in preparation [email protected] for publication in Castanea. On the web at sabs.appstate.edu Chinquapin 23 (1) 3 Taxonomic Advisory! The Tangled Taxonomy of Southeastern United States Vines (part 2) By Alan S. Weakley, Director, University white, Where the scuppernong perfumes merely an intergrading form, a variety, or a of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU, the breeze at night, Where the soft south- full species.