State Botanical Garden of Georgia

October Native Plant of the Month: Georgia Aster

GEORGIA ASTER

Symphyotrichum georgianum

Our October native plant, the Georgia aster, Symphyotrichum georgianum, is a threatened perennial that grows in the prairies of the Southeast and on the edges of woodlands where there is enough sun to mimic a prairie environment. Prairies aren’t commonly associated with the Georgia landscape, but they make up an important part of our ecosystems. There are many native species of plants found in prairies, but these habitats have been vastly reduced due to highway construction, herbicides, development and suppression of natural fires.

Up until the 1900s the Georgia aster was found in nearly 40 Georgia counties, but since then its population has dwindled dramatically as its habitat has been reduced.

It is no longer found in Florida. Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina have fewer than 15 populations in each.

The Georgia aster, the signature plant of the Mimsie Lanier Center for Native Plant Studies, is distinguished by its dark purple ray flower surrounding a center disk of small white flowers which turn lavender once pollinated. It grows well in acidic soil that can range from sand to heavy clay and can even compete for resources, unless it loses its necessary sunshine. Georgia aster are pollinated by bees collecting nectar.

Most of the remaining populations are adjacent to roads, railroads, utility rights of way and other openings where land management mimics natural prairies. We are working with property owners to prevent impact to the native plant populations and reintroducing the plant into newly restored prairie lands across the state. Find out what you can do to help the Georgia aster and all of Georgia’s native plants.

September Native Plant of the Month: Pondberry

Lindera melissifolia

Pondberry is an endangered shrub found on the coastal plain of Georgia and around the South. Its name comes from the bright red berries that form along the stem and its tendency to form dense thickets around the edges of natural ponds.

One reasons the Pondberry is rare is because it produces female flowers and male flowers on separate plants and colonies of a single gender can be widely separated by many miles, leading to lack of pollination. This challenge in pollination, combined with habitat loss due to ditching and draining of wetlands and destruction by feral hogs, led to its endangered status.

The Pondberry plays a crucial role as the larval host plant for spicebush swallowtail butterfly Papilia troilus, which lays its eggs on the lower surface of the leaves. When the eggs hatch, the caterpillars eat the leaves before forming a cocoon.

Sponsor the Pondberry to help increase numbers and chance of survival. About 20 populations are known, but less than half are protected on conservation land. Most of Georgia’s colonies have only male plants, which means they cannot set fruit or produce seed.

Found in: Baker, Calhoun, Effingham, Emanuel, Jenkins, Miller, Taylor, Wheeler and Worth counties.

August Native Plant of the Month: Dwarf Sumac

Rhus michauxii

Dwarf Sumac is an endangered shrub with sharply toothed leaves and clusters of tiny, greenish-yellow flowers. It produces tiny dark red fruit in dense clusters which birds sometimes eat. It is found only in two counties in Georgia and in a few populations in North Carolina and Virginia.

Since it was first discovered, half of all known locations have been lost. The habitat of Dwarf Sumac is commonly destroyed for conversion to development and pine plantations, and by clear-cutting and herbicide use. It is pollinated by bees who feed on the flower nectar. But natural pollination is difficult because female and male flowers are on separate plants and plants may be separated at great distances.

You can help by sponsoring the Dwarf Sumac to help increase numbers and chance of survival. It was on brink of extinction in Georgia because the male plants were separated from the females by more than 70 miles. In a coordinated restoration effort several years ago, partners in the Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance managed the habitat and brought together male and female plants on conservation land. The effort is paying off, but the site must be continually monitored and maintained.

July Native Plant of the Month: Royal Catchfly

ROYAL CATCHFLY

Silene regia

Royal Catchfly is an endangered perennial with sticky-hairy stems and bright red flowers in an open cluster at the top of the stem. Though found across the southeast and midwest, it is very rare throughout its range. There is only one population known in Georgia, in Dade County, and it is not protected on public land.

Found in limestone cedar glades, rocky, sunny openings in woodlands, Royal Catchfly finds its habitat threatened by clearing and conversion to pine plantations, pasture and development. This plant is designed to benefit from wildfires and fire suppression and the resulting encroachment by woody species is limiting growth. The flowers are pollinated by hummingbirds.

The State Botanical Garden of Georgia Mimsie Lanier Center for Native Plant Studies is growing this plant and working to ensure its survival. Find out more about what is happening at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia to Preserve Georgia’s Imperiled Native Species and how you can help.

June Native Plant of the Month: Hairy Rattleweed

HAIRY RATTLEWEED

Baptisia arachnifera

Hairy Rattleweed is an endangered plant now only found in two counties in Georgia, Brantley and Wayne, and nowhere else in the world. It is a pine flatwood perennial and is named for the white, cobwebby hairs that cover the stems.

Most of the pine flatwoods habitats that support Hairy Rattleweed have been converted to pine plantations. As the pines mature, they block sunlight from reaching the ground and without sunlight Hairy Rattleweed cannot flower and reproduce.

Hairy Rattleweed has an extensive root system that helps it survive fire, which once was a frequent occurrence in pine flatwoods. Fire is needed to keep down competition from shrubs, which will also shade out the plant. It is a “tumbleweed” type of plant – seeds are dispersed when stems break off at ground level and are blown, tumbleweed-style, across the ground.

Only 13 populations of Hairy Rattleweed have been seen in the last 20 years and only one of these is protected on conservation land.

The State Botanical Garden of Georgia Mimsie Lanier Center for Native Plant Studies is growing this plant and working to ensure its survival. Find out more about what is happening at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia to Preserve Georgia’s Imperiled Native Species and how you can help.

Commitment to historic land preservation and education earns national award for UGA donors

Longtime UGA supporters and alumni Craig and Diana Barrow were awarded the prestigious Margaret Douglas Medal by The Garden Club of America (GCA) for their commitment and service to conservation education at their Wormsloe estate near Savannah, Georgia.

The national award was given to the Barrows in recognition of their “thoughtful stewardship and generous donation of both land and resources,” said Dede Petri, president of The Garden Club of America.

The Barrows are the ninth generation to live at Wormsloe, located on the Isle of Hope outside of Savannah, since the property was claimed and developed by Craig Barrow’s ancestor Noble Jones in the mid-1730s. Wormsloe is the oldest property in Georgia to be held continuously by the same family.

Wormsloe was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. That same year, the Barrow family donated 822 acres of the property to The Nature Conservancy, which transferred the land to the state of Georgia to be managed by the Department of Natural Resources as a historic site. The Barrows retained Wormsloe House and the surrounding 50 acres of the property.

In 2007, the Barrows founded the Wormsloe Institute for Environmental History to conserve the undeveloped land on the estate and to promote research and education programs there.

More than a dozen units across the university have engaged in research and education at Wormsloe. Among them are the College of Environment and Design, the Odum School of Ecology, the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Engineering, the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and the State Botanical Garden of Georgia.

In 2013, the Barrows, through their Wormsloe Foundation, donated 15 acres of the property to the University of Georgia to establish the Center for Research and Education at Wormsloe (CREW). The center provides opportunities for UGA faculty and students to study cultural history and historical land use practices, among other topics, under the direction of Sarah Ross, a member of the faculty of the College of Environment and Design and executive director of CREW. In 2016, UGA dedicated two new cabins built on the property to house visiting students and faculty. The cabins were partially funded by the Wormsloe Foundation as well.

In its recognition of the Barrows, The Garden Club of America highlighted CREW’s research with 400 varieties of vegetables in the UGA Heirloom Demonstration Garden at Wormsloe. Some of these plants, such as peanuts, blueberries and cotton, are leaders in Georgia’s robust agriculture industry. Heirloom vegetable trials on site contribute to profitability for coastal Georgia’s family farms by measuring plant productivity, pest and disease resistance, and flood and drought tolerance as well as documenting the preferred flavor profiles.

GCA also recognized the Barrows’ significant backing of landscape stewardship, habitat restoration and sustainable agriculture research on their historic property—all supported largely by UGA programs on site. In addition, GCA cited the significance of the transdisciplinary approach to education provided by CREW.

“Craig and Diana are certainly deserving of this national recognition,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “The University of Georgia is grateful for its enduring partnership with the Barrow family and the many ways they are helping us to expand our reach and impact across the state of Georgia and beyond.”

Craig Barrow credits Ross and College of Environment and Design Dean Dan Nadenicek for the work that led to the award.

“Diana and I were overwhelmed with humility and appreciation to be the recipients of such a prestigious award,” Barrow said. “However, we well know that the vision, leadership and hard work of Sarah Ross were largely responsible, as was the work of Dr. Dan Nadenicek and many others at the University of Georgia. The Margaret Douglas Medal not only endorses the university’s work at Wormsloe but also conveys a huge message of support for our many programs.”

Craig Barrow’s ties to UGA are deep. His great-great-great-grandfather, Alonzo Church, was president of the University of Georgia from 1829 to 1859, the longest-serving UGA president in history. Ten generations of the family have attended UGA. In 2010, the Barrows were named Family of the Year by the UGA Alumni Association.

Craig and Diana Barrow were recognized in 2013 as members of UGA’s 1785 Society, which acknowledges donors who have given more than $1 million in cumulative gifts to the university. In addition to the initiatives and research associated with CREW, the Barrows’ support has benefitted the UGA Libraries, the University of Georgia Press, the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, the Graduate School, and the State Botanical Garden of Georgia.

Craig Barrow is the current chair of the University of Georgia Press Advisory Council. Diana Barrow is a member of the Board of Advisors for the State Botanical Garden of Georgia.

The Wormsloe State Historic Site is open to visitors and includes a museum and theater, picnic area, gift shop and walking trails. Visitors enter the site through an allée of live oak trees draped with Spanish moss. Events there include exhibitions of the tools and skills of colonial Georgians, led by demonstrators in period dress. Guided tours are offered daily. For more information, go to http://gastateparks.org/Wormsloe.

Writer: Kelly Simmons, simmonsk@uga.edu, 706-542-2512

Contact: Sarah Ross, svross@uga.edu, 912-414-2940

May Native Plant of the Month: Canby’s Dropwart

Canby’s Dropwart

Oxypolis canbyi

Canby’s Dropwort is an important endangered perennial. It’s essential to the lifecycle of the black swallowtail butterflies who lay their eggs on the stems. When the larvae (caterpillars) emerge, they eat the stems and leaves before forming cocoons. These stems can be up to 5 feet tall and the flowers are in flat-topped clusters at the top of the stems, with many tiny white, five-petaled flowers.

Due to loss of habitat from conversion to pine plantations and agriculture by ditching, draining, and destroying wetlands, Canby’s Dropwort is only found in small populations in the Coastal Plain of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, and Delaware. About 15 populations have been seen in the last 17 years in Georgia’s Burke, Dooly, Jenkins, Lee and Screven counties. Only six of these populations are on conservation lands.

The State Botanical Garden of Georgia Mimsie Lanier Center for Native Plant Studies is working with this plant and by sponsoring Canby’s Dropwort you can greatly impact the garden’s work to increase numbers and chance of survival. Find out more about what is happening at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia to Preserve Georgia’s Imperiled Native Species and how you can help.

Connect to Protect garden grows in downtown Athens

This fall, downtown Athens gained some biodiversity with the installation of Connect to Protect flower beds at corners of Washington St. and College Ave. The featured native plants were grown at the garden’s Mimsie Lanier Center for Native Plant Studies and were planted by garden staff. The beds have now reached full spring bloom and are enhancing the visual space downtown while also providing an inviting space for pollinators. SBG’s presence downtown was made official last week with the installation of our interpretive sign which explains the importance of native plants in urban spaces. The plant beds feature attractive native plant species favored by native bees, butterflies and birds as well as colorful annuals to beautify our cityscape. This project was completed with the support of Athens Downtown Development, UGA Extension Master Gardeners and the Athens-Clarke Co. Unified Government.

See More Connect to Protect projects

April Native Plant of the Month: Georgia Trillium

Georgia Trillium

Trillium georgianum

The species formerly known as Trillium pusillum was renamed in 2017 to Trillium georgianum. It was recognized for being genetically and physically unique from other similar dwarf trillium and it only occurs in one place in the wild, Georgia’s Whitfield County.

Georgia Trillium is an endangered perennial herb with erect stems and 3 petaled white flowers with wavy edges and it blooms in the spring. It thrives in seasonally wet swamps with calcium-rich, clay soils and takes 5 – 7 years to produce the first flowering stalk. Once mature, it can be very long- lived, perhaps living hundreds of years, since the rhizome continues to lengthen and produce shoots on one end, while the other end decays. But it’s habitat is being destroyed by logging and clearing in floodplain forests. It is also in competition from exotic pest plants for habitat space.

The State Botanical Garden of Georgia Mimsie Lanier Center for Native Plant Studies is working with this plant and has reintroduced it into new Georgia sites to preserve and grow the population. Find out more about what is happening at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia to Preserve Georgia’s Imperiled Native Species and how you can help.

March Native Plant of the Month: Georgia Rockcress

Native plant of the month: GEORGIA ROCKCRESS

Arabis georgiana

The Georgia Rockcress is a threatened perennial found in very few locations along rocky slopes in Georgia’s Chattahoochee, Clay, Floyd, Gordon, Harris and Muscogee counties. Its delicate, erect stems hold flowers with four white petals. The Georgia Rockcress is unique because it grows in thin, rocky soils that discourage many other native plants, but it is not a strong competitor. Aggressive exotic plants, such as Japanese Honeysuckle and Chinese Privet, are invading the habitat and competing for sun and nutrients. The plant is also suffering because clearing and quarrying of rocky bluffs, hardwood slopes, and riverbanks destroys its habitat.

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