yellow mandarin (Prosartes maculata)

KNPS: 2019 In Review

As we begin a new year and a new decade, anticipating the year ahead, it can be fun and informative to look back and reflect on the Society’s activities in 2019. Beginning in early April and ending in November, with events and activities across the Commonwealth, KNPS had another great year spreading the message of the value, importance, and beauty of the native plants and ecosystems of Kentucky. We hope you enjoy these images and descriptions of the Society’s 2019 activities and that you will be able to join us in the field in 2020.

Wildflower Weekend, April 12 & 13

rock garden trail
Wildflower Weekend participants exploring the native plants along the Rock Bridge Trail at Natural Bridge State Resort Park

On Friday, April 12, and Saturday, April 13, over 100 lovers of Kentucky’s native plants joined with some of the best botanists in the state to explore Natural Bridge State Park and the Red River Gorge in search of spring wildflowers. Besides wildflower hikes on Friday and Saturday, there was a Friday night social where folks had the opportunity to meet other KNPS members. Saturday evening had educational talks, a book-signing (by Dan and Judy Dourson, Wildflowers and Ferns of Red River Gorge and the Greater Red River Basin), live music by the Forest Fiddleheads, and a panel discussion on recreational uses and impacts of the Red River Gorge.

Wildflower Weekend in 2020 will be on April 3 & 4 at Natural Bridge SRP. Hope to see you there.

Field Trips

Dwarf sundew (Drosera brevifolia)

As part of its educational mission, each year KNPS organizes field trips to explore Kentucky’s natural areas. Trip leaders are knowledgeable about the area being explored and the native plants and plant communities that are found in that area. In 2019, there were several field trips, at natural areas across the Commonwealth.

The Field Trip season began at the Hazeldell Meadow Nature Preserve in Pulaski County on April 5, in search of Kentucky’s rarest carnivorous plant, the dwarf sundew (Drosera brevifolia).

Botanist Tara Littlefield, one of the field trip leaders at Hazeldell Nature preserve, discussed rare plants and the rare wet meadow community along with current conservation activities such as management, research and volunteer opportunities. Dr. Jim Krupa discussed the long term monitoring and research of the rare dwarf sundew (Drosera brevifolia).
Old growth oak at Griffith Wood WMA

On May 11, Dr. Julian Campbell led the trip to Griffith Woods WMA, in Harrison County, to explore this iconic bluegrass woodland with old growth oaks and hickories, cane thickets, and remnant mesic herbaceous flowers, such as bear grass and running buffalo clover. Julian has been studying bluegrass woodland vegetation for over 40 years and is the authority on past and present plants and communities in the region. Go to http://bluegrasswoodland.com/Griffith_Woods.html for information on Griffith Woods compiled by Julian.

Shaker Village prairie restoration
Photo © Don Perkins

On a rainy June 22, Laura Baird, assistant preserve manager and naturalist, at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, in Mercer County, led several KNPS members on a hike to view the prairie restoration, as well as the adjacent forests, at Shakertown. Although a bit damp, the participants enjoyed many prairie flowers, trees and shrubs, and woodland flowers.





Field trip leader, Devin Rodgers, discussing one of the native prairie species found along The Trace in the LBL.

On July 6, Devin Rodgers, botanist at Kentucky Nature Preserves, led the group of KNPS members to several botanically important sites at LBL from prairies to wetlands. Devin has worked extensively at LBL conducting floristic surveys, rare species surveys and habitat characterizations. The participants learned about ongoing efforts to protect rare species and communities at botanical sites at LBL and how to help by assisting with monitoring, management, and restoration projects.




Sedge Identification and Diversity Workshop, May 21 & 22, 2019

Workshop instructor, Rob Naczi, points out the characteristics of a species of Carex.

Many of the grass-like plants one may encounter in our natural areas in Kentucky are not actually grasses. Although similar, they are members of an entirely different family of plants, the sedge family (Cyperaceae). With close to 150 species in the Carex genus found in Kentucky, the diversity of sedges is astounding and they can tell us a lot about the natural communities upon which they are found.

On May 21 & 22, Rob Naczi, curator of the New York Botanical garden and North America’s Carex expert, taught 17 KNPS members about sedge diversity and how to identify this notoriously difficult group.  The workshop combined classroom instruction with work in the field over two days. Due to the success of this event, more workshops are in the works.




Invasive Plant Cleanup Days

Volunteers removing invasive bush honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.)

In November, several KNPS members volunteered to remove invasive plant species in Fayette and Franklin Counties with partners from Kentucky Nature Preserves. On Nov. 2, members joined Heidi Braunreiter, with Kentucky Nature Preserves, to help pull winter-creeper (Euonymus fortunei) from populations of running buffalo clover populations at Ashland, The Henry Clay Estate in Lexington. Running buffalo clover (Trifolium stoloniferum) is a federally-endangered plant that requires periodic disturbance and a partially shaded canopy.

Federally-endangered plant running buffalo clover

On several weekends in November, KNPS worked with Kentucky Nature Preserves to organize several work days at state nature preserves and natural areas in Franklin County. Volunteer activities involved manually removing invasive shrubs, such as bush honeysuckle and privet. Members who assisted in invasive species management at these sites had a direct impact on rare plant recovery as the sites are designated as critical habitat for federally listed plants.



Mantle Rock Preserve Floristic Inventory, July 13

Botanists at the end of a long day botanizing.
L to R: Kendall McDonald, Tara Littlefield, Julian Campbell, Mason Brock, and Chris Benda
Photo © Christopher Benda

The Nature Conservancy’s Mantle Rock Nature Preserve, in Livingston Co., is a fascinating part of Kentucky. The centerpiece of the Preserve is a 30-foot high natural sandstone bridge spanning 188 feet (the longest sandstone arch east of the Mississippi) embellished by bluffs, shelters, honeycomb formations, fluorite deposits and a rock-lined stream. The nature preserve also contains extraordinary biological diversity, with spectacular springtime wildflowers and an upland forest interspersed with the best example of rare and fragile sandstone glades in all of Kentucky. Kentucky’s only known occurrence of June grass thrives here along with other glade species such as prickly pear cactus, rush foil, hairy lipfern, little bluestem, pinweed and poverty grass. Scattered deep soil pockets are dominated by gnarled and stunted post oak, blackjack oak, farkleberry and red cedar.

On a hot and humid July 13, the Kentucky Native Plant Society conducted a detailed floristic inventory of the sandstone glades, barrens, woodlands and mesic forests at this botanically fascinating site. Several of the region’s preeminent botanists spent much of the day locating, identifying, and documenting over 200 native plant species. The data collected will be used by The Nature Conservancy as they develop long range  management plans for this site.


Fall Membership Meeting, Oct. 12

KNPS members browse the native seed and plant exchange table.

For this year’s fall membership meeting, KNPS partnered with West Sixth Brewing to have a Native Plant Day at the West Sixth Farm in Frankfort, KY. Native plant enthusiasts, young and old, heard a review of KNPS 2019 activities and plans for 2020. A new and exiting activity that was enjoyed by everyone was KNPS’s very first native plant and seed exchange. West 6th Farm is one of the few locations in the world where Braun’s rock cress (Arabis perstellata) is found. At the end of the day some members took a hike to view this species led by Heather Housman of the Woods and Waters Land Trust.

Student Research Grants

Since 2012 the Kentucky Native Plant Society has been awarding annual grants to undergraduate and graduate students that are researching native plants and plant communities in Kentucky. Since 2012 we have awarded over $6,000 in grants. In 2019, the Society awarded three, $500 grants. The recipients and their projects were:

  • Bailey King
    Canopy gaps and light availability in running buffalo clover (Trifolium stoloniferum) patches
  • Jonathan Kubesch
    Forage approaches to native clover conservation
  • Jordan Winkenbach
    Restoration of native woodland flora in response to mastication and prescribed burning in an upland hardwood forest
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2020 Wildflower Weekend

Join us for this year’s Wildflower Weekend, April 3 & 4 in partnership with Natural Bridge State Resort Park. This event offers wildflower hikes Friday and Saturday, led by some of the best botanists in the state. These hikes will explore the region’s rich natural history and resources in the state park and the Red River Gorge. Hikes topics include wildflowers, ferns, woody plants, bryophytes, fire ecology, plant identification 101, and more.

Friday evening, there will be a social to meet your fellow native plant enthusiasts. Saturday morning, we will have a book signing for a recently published children’s book, Wake Up, Woods, with author Mike Homoya present for signing. Directly after the booking signing will be a kid’s creek walk. We are also offering an outdoor yoga class Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening, talks will be given in the Woodland Center. Click on the link below to see the full schedule.

Our keynote speaker Saturday evening is Mike Homoya. Mike is a recently retired botanist and plant ecologist who worked for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Natural Heritage Program since 1982. He discovered, inventoried, and assessed natural communities and surveyed for rare species. He shared his knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm about plants by authoring several books, teaching at the collegiate level, and serving as president of professional science associations.

His most recent publication is a children’s book titled Wake Up, Woods. Mike will give a presentation Saturday evening on the rare plants and natural communities along the Ohio River, from Cincinnati to the Mississippi River. You will also hear from three of our student grant recipients who will present on their graduate research projects.

This event is open to the public and kid-friendly. Registration is on-site at the Hemlock Lodge in the lobby. Admission is $10.00 for adults, $3.00 for ages 12-17, free for ages 12 & under. Discounted KNPS memberships will be available.

If you would like to volunteer and help out with the registration desk, please sign-up here: Volunteer Signup Sheets for the 2020 Wildflower Weekend.

To see full schedule: https://sandbox.knps.org/2020/02/24/2020-wildflower-weekend-agenda/

One Hill In Peaks Mill Saved

By Deborah White

Betty Beshoar and Mark Roberts

Betty Beshoar and Mark Roberts always wanted to live in the country and moved to their land on Elkhorn Creek in the Frankfort area over 30 years ago. They love walking through the woods watching and hearing frogs leaping into the pond as they go by and enjoying spectacular views. Recently, they partnered with Woods and Waters Land Trust to ensure that over 57 acres of their land will be wildlands forever. Land trusts have sprung up all over the nation (there are more than a thousand) to help people interested in conserving land.

The forest on the slopes of the stream on the conserved land are covered with wildflowers in the spring. One of those wildflowers is Braun’s rockcress (Arabis perstellata), an endangered plant.

Arabis perstellata

Roughly 90% of populations of this plant worldwide are in Franklin County, Kentucky. Because of the unique geologic similarity (and historical links) to the Nashville area, a few populations of Braun’s rockcress also occur in that area. The limited range of this plant and the threats to forest health, like invasive plants and animals, make every population of this rare plant important to its long-term persistence in the Bluegrass forests. And this hill conserved in the Peaks Mill area helps.

There are 10 federally listed endangered or threatened plants in Kentucky. In addition to the rockcress, globe bladderpod is also limited to forests in the Bluegrass and has a disjunct distribution in the Nashville area. It occurs in drier more rocky forests, often on upper slopes.

Deborah White is the Director of the non-profit Woods and Trust Land Trust. You can contact her at Deb@woodsandwaterstrust.org to learn more about donating funds or property.

Wildlife in Your Garden: A book review

A bit of everything for the Kentucky naturalist

Kentuckian Karen Lanier’s Wildlife in Your Garden is a bountiful resource for Kentuckians hoping to turn their property into a wildlife heaven. This book provides an overview of how to leave the old paradigm of monoculture yards behind and cultivate your property for the benefit of wildlife—flora, fauna, and human. In the author’s own words:

“The purpose of this book is to help you reconnect with your wild side and the green space just outside your door by discovering the importance of the patch of earth that you tend and the creatures who find sustenance there.”

That’s a big promise, and Lanier delivers. This book won’t turn you into a landscaper, but it will whet your appetite for change and offer sound advice for implementing that change. Lanier encourages you to observe and learn about the surrounding ecosystem. She advises you to use natives and explains their importance in the big picture—indeed, without natives, there is no big picture. On the practical side, there’s advice on a myriad of gardening topics, from improving your soil, choosing the right plants, solving specific garden-related problems, and much more. Each page is packed with encouragement, advice, and gorgeous pictures.

Wildlife in Your Garden isn’t a step-by-step gardening manual. Rather than how-to, this book helps you see why you should—and then helps you evaluate your green space differently, so you can implement a plan for change. Lanier assures you that becoming a good steward will change your life, and that of the surrounding wildlife, for the better.

Karen Lanier, naturalist and educator, currently lives in Kentucky. She has worked as a park ranger from California to Maine in national and state parks and in wildlife rehabilitation, wildlife education, and even made a documentary on deforestation in Brazil. Lanier holds degrees in photography, foreign language, conservation studies, and documentary studies as well as a professional environmental educator certificate. She is actively involved with the Lexington, Kentucky chapter of Wild Ones.

President’s Message

With the passing of summer 2019, we are noticing stress on plants flowering or fruiting, dropping of leaves early from drought and heat, but still cooler mornings signaling the start of fall. The lush spring and summer have turned to a drought stricken landscape. But still the asters, goldenrods and ironweeds have bloomed magnificently. I can only hope for some fall colors, but with the record heat and drought for September I’m not holding my breath. My usually late summer/early fall ladies’ tresses orchid studies have been somewhat disappointing this year. Last year at this time we saw an abundance of ladies’ tresses, but this year they have declined possibly due to the drought conditions.

My colleagues and I have been lucky to have botanized in some spectacular natural areas this season, studying the riparian vegetation on the Green River, surveying remnant grasslands in the big barrens and southern Cumberland plateau, studying bogs and seeps in in the mountains of eastern Kentucky, and conducting forest biodiversity assessments across the state. And I know many of our KNPS members have also been seeking out their own botanical refuges to see familiar (plant) faces and places, and venturing out across the state to meet some new ones. It never gets old studying our native plants. There are so many interesting botanical areas in Kentucky that need further exploration, conservation and management. We still have a tremendous amount of underexplored and overlooked botanical diversity in the state.

Recently we have seen promising results in some of our restoration projects where our unique natural communities and rare plants are returning from the brink of extirpation. This gives us hope. But that does not mean that there are not troubles presently in our plant communities, and major threats on the horizon. Many of the best botanical sites in Kentucky were lost before we even knew they existed. The continuing work of groups like KNPS, Kentucky Nature Preserves, USFWS, land trusts, and others are critical to document and protect plant communities and intact forests before more sites are permanently lost.

Significant reports are emerging weekly predicting rapid climate changes, with oceans warming, melting glaciers, ice sheets, and permafrost contributing to sea level rise of possibly one meter by centuries end, flooding coastal areas and impacting coastal vegetation in enormous ways. Forests are being burned and cleared in the Amazon, Indonesia, and the Congo with excessive pesticide and fertilizer likely to occur on agricultural lands that will follow. Temperatures rise, storms increase in strength, and precipitation becomes unstable with wetter winters and hotter summer droughts. The Louisville area is projected a 7-12 degree f. increase by the end of the century. The changes in our plant communities will be substantial. If these predictions are true, the children today will see a much different natural landscape in Kentucky 2080. Species extinction is also expected to rise, with recent studies predicting as many as 1 million species lost globally by centuries end? Our challenges are great, but that does not mean that we cannot be better stewards of our botanical diversity. KNPS must continue our mission to study and conserve our flora, act locally, think globally, and work diligently to further the existence of Kentucky’s native plants in the present and for centuries to come.

I’m proud of events that KNPS coordinated this year so far. From our annual spring wildflower weekend at Natural Bridge, to our popular sedge workshop, and the many hikes both formal and informal that further our deep connections with plants. We want to send a big THANK YOU to all the teachers and instructors who help us provide these programs to Kentuckians from all walks of life. We also have many people to THANK for leading hikes to Land between the Lakes, Hazeldell Meadow, Shakertown, and beyond. We organized an event to create the first updated botanical inventory in nearly 30 years of Mantle Rock in Livingston County, a unique property known more for its tragic history than the spectacularly rare sandstone glades and rock outcroppings protected on this site. As usual, there is never enough time to visit all the sites, so some have slipped through the cracks and will have to wait unit next year.

The KNPS board has been busy planning our fall meeting at the West Sixth Farm in Frankfort on October 12. We are holding our first native seed exchange and preparing for that has been exciting! In addition, we will have a membership meeting and hike around the farm to view any late summer flowers and to learn how to find the federally threatened Braun’s rockcress in a dormant state. I hope to see many native plant enthusiasts there.

We are partnering with Kentucky Nature Preserves this fall on several stewardship workdays, with bush honeysuckle removal on state nature preserves and natural areas to protect critical habitat for several globally rare plants in Franklin County. So please, if you have some free time in November and December, join us on those days and help us recover and conserve the federally listed Braun’s rockcress and globe bladderpod. Stay tuned for announcements of location and time.

And as always, if you would like to volunteer to help with any of our programs, please contact us! Check out the announcement for our native plant stewardship certification coordinator position with KNPS for 2020. Fingers crossed we will still get rain and some fall colors at least in our interior forests. Happy fall!

For the love of Kentucky Plants,

Tara Rose Littlefield

KNPS and West Sixth Brewing Present Native Plant Day at West Sixth Farm in Frankfort, KY

When: Saturday, Oct. 12, 11:00AM to 3:30PM

Where: West 6th Farm, 4495 Shadrick Ferry Rd. Frankfort, Kentucky

For this year’s fall meeting, KNPS and West Sixth Brewing invite you to Native Plant Day at the West Sixth Farm in Frankfort, KY. Join other native plant enthusiasts to hear updates about the society, partake in a native plant and seed exchange, and join us on a hike to see a globally rare plant.

Event Schedule (subject to change):

  • 11:00AM to 11:30AM – Register for Native Plant/Seed Exchange; meet other native plant enthusiasts.
  • 11:30AM to 12:30PM – Lunch and review of KNPS 2019 activities and plans for 2020. West 6th Farm has food trucks and beverages on site. You can also bring your own lunch.
  • 12:30PM to 1:00PM – Break
  • 1:00PM to 2:30PM – Native Plant & Seed Exchange
    Bring native plants and/or seeds you can exchange for other plants or seeds.
    Guidelines:
    • Must be native and pest-free.
    • Please label plants (label tags and markers will be available at event).
    • No endangered species.
    • Keep seed packets at roughly 15 seeds/packet.
    • Maximum 5 entries.
  • 2:30PM to 3:30PM – Native Plant Hike
    West 6th Farm is one of the few locations in the world where Braun’s rock cress (Arabis perstellata) is found. We will take a short (optional) hike to view this species. The hike will be led by Heather Housman of the Woods and Waters Land Trust.

This should be a great event. It is open to KNPS members and non-members alike. If you are a member, you can renew your membership for 2020 at a discounted rate. If you are not a member, you can join at the discounted rate. We will be also selling KNPS T-shirts, stickers, and native orchid posters.

There is no cost for the event, but in order to plan effectively, we are requesting pre-registration. If you are likely to attend, please fill out this REGISTRATION FORM. Thanks, hope to see you there!

Wanted: KNPS Native Plant Stewardship Certification Coordinator Position for 2020

KNPS’s native plant stewardship certification program is making a comeback in 2020! KNPS organized this successful program for 7 years but has put the program on hold since 2017. But now, KNPS is planning to offer this series again for professionals, students, landowners, citizen scientists, and anyone interested in learning more about native plant identification and stewardship. This 6-part program will train you on native plant ID basics, Kentucky’s botanical and natural community diversity, invasive species ID and management, rare and native plant management, seed collection, native plant gardening, and more. The goal of the program is to train more botanical stewards/guardians in the state and ultimately connect these graduates with native plant stewardship projects across Kentucky. If you are interested in the coordinator position or would like to help with the program by participating as an instructor, please contact us at KYPlants@knps.org!

Duties of the coordinator position include:

  • Emailing class participants and instructors a few times a month prior to classes
  • Distributing/mailing program packets to class participants
  • Emails and phone calls about general program logistics