Kentucky Native Plant Society Sandbox

Author: Jeff Nelson

  • iNaturalist Tutorial Hikes

    Kick-off BotanyBlitz with an iNaturalist Tutorial Hike!

    Have you ever struggled to identify plants outdoors or ever wanted a second opinion? The phone app iNaturalist is a great tool for all levels of plant and nature enthusiasts! It is an online social network for amateur naturalists and professional biologists around the world. Posts of plant photos, also known as observations, made on iNaturalist are not only informative for you, but for many professional biologists who use this app to track plant and animal species. The app will suggest plant identifications based on your photos and other users can help determine if that ID is correct.

    As a lead-up to KNPS’s Wildflower Weekend and the 2022 BotanyBlitz, there will be kickoff tutorials at Taylor Fork Natural Area and Raven Run Nature Sanctuary on April 1st, followed by a number of iNaturalist tutorial hikes held across the state on Saturday, April 2nd. These tutorial hikes will led by experienced iNaturalist users. The hikes will be geared towards beginner iNaturalist users and will teach you how to make observations and navigate the app. You will need to have the app iNaturalist downloaded to your phone and an account created beforehand in order to participate and learn. Hikes will vary in length from 0.5 mile to 3 miles.

    We will be asking folks to register for the hikes so hike leaders will know how many participants to expect. As we are still in the process of setting up the hikes, registration will open in early March and will be announced in the March Lady Slipper.

    Hike LocationHike Leader(s)
    APRIL 1ST
    Taylor Fork Ecological Area, Richmond KYEKU Division of Natural Areas
    Raven Run Nature Sanctuary, Lexington KYStaff of Raven Run and Floracliff nature sanctuaries
    APRIL 2ND
    Ashland-The Henry Clay Estate, Lexington KYHeidi Braunreiter
    Cedar Sink Trail, Mammoth Cave National Park, Park City KYSteve Kistler, Janet Kistler, and Carol Friedman
    Eagle Scout Trail, Nancy KYTyler Adams
    Greenway Trail, Stuart Nelson Park, Paducah KYJeff Nelson & Bob Dunlap
    Hematite Lake Trail, Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, Eddyville KYGage Barnes
    Lilley Cornet Woods Appalachian Ecological Research Station, Hallie KYEKU Division of Natural Areas
    Pine Creek Barrens, Shepherdsville KYAlan Abbott
    Red Maple and White Oak Trails at the Louisville Nature Center, Louisville KYLouisville Nature Center Staff
    Sky Bridge Loop Trail, Red River Gorge, Pine Ridge KYBarbara Graham
    St. Anne Woods and Wetlands, Melbourne KYDr. Maggie Whitson, Kendall McDonald, and Vanessa Voelker

    lf you are already an experienced iNaturalist user and are interested in leading a tutorial hike in your area, please contact: WildflowerWeekend2022@knps.org.

  • 2021 KNPS Botanical Symposium Videos

    “Coming Together to Discuss Current Botany Projects: Conservation and Collaboration in Kentucky and Beyond”

    On Wednesday, December 8, KNPS held our second virtual Botanical Symposium. Close to 90 folks were able to attend online to hear and see several presentations about our native plants and plant communities. We know that there are many who would have liked to participate, but were not able to do so. Here are videos of all of the presentations.

    Download a list of presenter contacts and links discussed in the presentations as a PDF.

    Kentucky Native Plant Society and Office of Nature Preserves Updates: Current projects and opportunities.

    Length 39:55

    Plants of Concern: Monitoring Rare Plants of Southern Illinois
    Chris Benda, Botanist and past president of Illinois Native Plant Society

    Length: 24:36

    Reversing Declines in Grassland Biodiversity
    Brittney Viers, Quail Forever/NRCS Tennessee

    Length: 32:55

    Wetland Monitoring in Kentucky
    Brittany White, Wetland Biologist, Division of Water

    Length: 25:03

    Update on the Tennessee-Kentucky Plant Atlas Project
    Dr. Joey Shaw, University of Tennessee

    Length: 27:16

  • Thank You to Our Members!

    2019 KNPS Membership Meeting and Seed & Plant Swap

    Members are the lifeblood of all volunteer organizations and the Kentucky Native Plant Society is no exception. The Society depends on our members to accomplish our mission of “promoting education, preservation, and protection of native plants and natural communities in the Commonwealth“. Your dues and participation in KNPS’s activities are essential to this mission. We sincerely thank you for your support.

    We currently have 471 members of KNPS. In 2021, we had 150 new members join the Society and 85 members renewed their membership. We also have 165 Life Members, 5 of whom became members in 2021.

    KNPS Life Members Who Joined in 2021

    • Elizabeth Baldwin
    • Alan Chewning
    • Talitha Hunt
    • Pep Peppiatt
    • Michael Tain

    There are many benefits of being a member of the Kentucky Native Plant Society. Education about Kentucky’s native plants is one of the Society’s primary missions. The Society fulfills this mission through a variety of learning opportunities. Each year, knowledgeable leaders take members on field trips conducted in all parts of the state. Members see special plants and visit unique and interesting natural areas. Field trips are typically limited to 10-20 participants and members are given the opportunity to sign up for these trips before they are opened to the general public. The Society also periodically conducts workshops and symposiums on native plant studies and native plant identification. Workshops are narrowly focused, with a single instructor. Symposiums generally cover a broad range of topics with multiple presenters. Again members are given the opportunity to register for these events before they are opened to the general public.

    The preservation and conservation of Kentucky’s native plants and plant communities is another part of the Society’s mission. Through activities ranging from the propagation and restoration of rare native species through the organized removal of invasive species, KNPS members help to preserve and protect our native ecosystems.

    We have two membership meetings a year that include programs with special speakers, presentations, and hikes. The spring Wildflower Weekend is generally at Natural Bridge State Resort Park and the Fall Membership Meeting is held at various sites around Kentucky.

    In 2020 and 2021 most of our in-person activities were cancelled or curtailed due to the pandemic. The KNPS Board is working to make 2022 one of our most exciting and productive years yet. Planning is already taking place for an in-person, Wildflower Weekend on April 8, 9, & 10 at Natural Bridge SRP as well as field trips, workshops, and conservation projects. Watch the Lady Slipper for announcements of these activities.

    If you have any questions about membership or if you would like to comment, or help out with KNPS activities, just shoot us an email at KYPlants@knps.org

    Become a KNPS Member or Renew Your Membership

  • Frost Flowers: Neither flowers nor frost!

    by Jeff Nelson, KNPS Board Member

    Get ready and be observant on these cold mornings. We are now entering the time of year when we will begin seeing one of Nature’s loveliest and most evanescent phenomenons in our region; Frost Flowers.

    What are Frost Flowers?

    Frost flowers are thin ribbons of ice that form on the stems of a few species of native plants. Water from the roots is drawn up the stems (either as part of the plant’s natural transportation system or through capillary action) and expands as it freezes, breaking the stem walls and creating a flow of ice. As the ice forms, more water freezes, forcing out ribbons of thin ice . Other names for these structures are “ice flowers”, “ice ribbons”, “ice fringes”, “ice filaments”, and “rabbit ice”.

    Conditions Needed for Frost Flowers to Form

    Frost flowers form only when certain very specific conditions all come together:

    • Air temperatures must be below freezing (usually below 30°).
    • There should be little to no wind.
    • Ground temperatures must still be above freezing.
    • There must be some degree of soil moisture.
    • They only form on particular species of plants.

    If conditions are right, the same plants can produce multiple frost flowers in a season, starting as early as November and producing frost flowers as late as early February. Usually the first frost flowers of the year will extend quite a ways up the stem, without extending out very far, as the entire stem splits. By the end of the season, when the stems are completely shredded, the frost flowers come out from the very base of the plant.

    What Plants Produce Frost Flowers?

    Worldwide, there are roughly 30 species of plants that produce frost flowers. In our region there are three native species that typically produce frost flowers. The two most common are white crownbeard, a.k.a. frostweed (Verbesina virginica) and common dittany (Cunila origanoides). A third species, that is mainly in wet areas, is marsh fleabane (Pluchea camphorata). I have heard that frost flowers sometimes appear on species of sage (Salvia) but I have never seen that and don’t know for sure what species of sage may produce frost flowers.

    Frostweed (Verbesina virginica)
    Perennial herb, 3-7 ft. tall with winged stems. Leaves are alternate, broadly lanceolate, 4-8 in. long, with winged petioles. Flowers August – October
    Dittany (Cunila origanoides)
    Semi-woody perennial, 12-18 in. tall with a strong odor. Leaves are opposite, oval, 1-1 1/2 in. long. Flowers August – October
    Marsh Fleabane (Pluchea camphorata)
    Short lived perennial, 2-5 ft. tall with a camphor like odor. Leaves are alternate, broadly lanceolate, 3-10 in. long. Flowers August – September

    Grow Your Own Frost Flowers

    Although it is always exciting to find frost flowers in the “wild” another option for folks is to plant one of the natives that produce this phenomena in the yard. My frostweed patch came from a single plant that volunteered in the front yard about 6 years ago. It has reseeded itself and now many others have sprouted from the seeds of the original. On cold mornings I can now just look out the front window and see the frost flowers.

  • 2021 Fall Member Meeting (virtual)

    On Saturday, Oct. 23, KNPS held a virtual Fall Member meeting. The meeting was a review of what the Society has done in the past year and we discussed upcoming activities for the rest of 2021 and for 2022. View the full meeting here.

  • 2021 Fall Membership Meeting (Virtual)

    October 23, 2021, 4PM to 5:30PM Eastern Time

    Please join us for the 2021 KNPS Fall Meeting on October 23, from 4PM to 5:30PM EDT. We will be meeting virtually again this year on Zoom (hopefully our last virtual Fall Meeting). Our fall meetings are open to members and non-members alike. The meeting will review what the Society has done in the past year and discuss activities for the rest of 2021 and for 2022. As the meeting is on Zoom, please register by following the link at the bottom of this article. If you want to learn more about your Society the KNPS Fall Meeting is for you. If you have any questions, email us at KYPlants@knps.org.

    Meeting Agenda

    4:00PM to 4:25PM – Welcome and Review of 2021

    • Welcome – Tara Littlefield
    • Wildflower Week 2021 – Heidi Braunreiter
    • 2021 Field Trips – Tara Littlefield
    • The Lady Slipper – Susan Harkins
    • Student Grants – David Taylor
    • Financial Report – Steele McFadden
    • Membership Report – Jeff Nelson
    • KNPS Board Secretary – Tara Littlefield

    4:25PM to 4:40PM – Botanical Symposia – Tara Littlefield

    • Review of Dec. 2020 Symposium
    • 2021 Botanical Symposium – Dec. 9, 9AM

    4:40PM to 4:55PM – KNPS Activities for 2022

    • Wildflower Weekend 2022 – Heidi Braunreiter
    • Wildflower Week Botany Blitz 2022 – Heidi Braunreiter
    • Field Trips

    4:55PM to 5:00PM – Short Break

    5:00PM to 5:30PM – Standing Committees & Member Engagement – Jeff Nelson

    Registration

    As the meeting will be virtual, registration is required. Complete the registration form at this link and you will receive a link to the virtual meeting.

  • The Barrens Before Sunset Field Trip

    Date of trip: 10/12/2021
    Start time: 5:30PM Eastern Time
    Location: Pine Creek Barrens Nature Preserve
    Difficulty of hike: Moderate – hike should last 1.5 to 2 hours so we can be finished before dark.

    Great Plains Ladies Tresses (Spiranthes magnicamporum)

    Join Kentucky Native Plant Society member Alan Abbott on an informal, evening walk to see populations of Great Plains ladies tresses at Pine Creek Barrens Nature Preserve in Shepardsville. Owned by the Nature Conservancy, the 158-acre property was featured in Thomas Barnes’ book, Kentucky’s Last Great Places.

    Within this open woodland, large prairie-like openings host a diversity of flora native to grasslands and glades. Other natural communities at Pine Creek Barrens include the dry upland woods which surround the glade. On the southwest boundary, scenic Pine Creek flows through a beautiful mesic ravine forest lined with small limestone cliffs.

    In addition to the Great Plains Ladies tresses (Spiranthes magnicamporum) that we will be viewing, a number of other rare or infrequent plants grow here, and most years, visitors can also see Barrens Silky Aster (Symphyotrichum pratense) and Stiff Gentian (Gentianella quinquefolia) bloom in October.

    At least eight rare and endangered plant species have been identified at the nature preserve, including the globally threatened glade cress (Leavenworthia exigua var. Laciniata), which has adapted to grow in small depressions on the exposed bedrock. This plant is found only in select areas in Bullitt and Jefferson counties.

    This trip was limited to 11 participants. It is now filled. Sorry.