tulip poplar planted to honor anderson · tulip poplar planted to honor anderson way," noted...

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Tulip poplar planted to honor Anderson way , " noted Nicky Staunton, herself a past VNPS president. ' Sally is about people , our plants , and the apprecia- tion of our plants . " Kim Strader , assistant curator of the native plant trail, gave further ex - planation as to why the tulip poplar was such an appropriate tree. " Our tallest eastern native is dedicated to our longest serving native plant vol - unteer . The tulip poplar can live up to 200 years and grow 200 feet tall. It was important in America s history be- cause it was used to build houses and line wells. Daniel Boone ' s canoe was made from tulip poplar . George Wash - ington and Thomas Jefferson both ad- mired tulip poplars , " she said . Jocelyn Sladen brought a message from Katherine Kennedy of the Center for Plant Conservation, which was the recipient of two plant sponsorship fundraising efforts led by Sally and VNPS . " Much of what an organiz - ation achieves is due to its leadership. To Sally we say Congratulations and job well done ! " The cost of the tree was shared equally by Blandy and VNPS with extra donations from VNPS going to - ward the native plant trail restoration. Nancy Sorrells, VNPS Bulletin editor Planting the country ' s tallest October 26 ceremony . The tree plant- eastern native tree, tulip poplar ing and dedication, held at Blandy , ( Liriodendron tulipifera ) , in honor of her marked Sally ' s retirement from the long service to the Virginia Native Plant VNPS presidency after nine years . The Society and The Blandy Experimental tree label noted that the presentation Farm and State Arboretum of Virginia of the tree to honor Sally was a part- was a fitting tribute to Sally Anderson nership of VNPS and Blandy . according to all in attendance at the The planting of the tree on the Nancy Larrick Crosby Native Plant Trail is particularly appropriate be- cause of Sally s long volunteer service on the trail. She is the arboretum ' s long- est serving volunteer on the native plant trail , since at least 1996, and has logged over 3 , 000 hours of trail work. " She has led our band in a mighty Tulip poplar Liriodendron tulipifera Magnolia family Magnoliaceac Eastern United States To honor in appreciation Salty Anderson. VNPS President 2003 - 2012 Virginia Native Plant Society & Blandy Experimental Farm Sally Anderson waters the young tree she just helped plant at Blandy. The special label, above, marks the tree . ( Thanks to photographers Marie Marjarov and Nancy Sorrells ) Save the Date! The 2013 Winter Workshop will focus on the Virginia Pied - mont and will take place Saturday , March 16 at the University of Richmond . Two confirmed speakers are Tim Spira and Chris Ludwig . Registration is expected to open February 15 . Watch www. vnps. org for more details.

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Page 1: Tulip poplar planted to honor Anderson · Tulip poplar planted to honor Anderson way," noted Nicky Staunton, herself a past VNPS president. ' Sally is about people,our plants,and

Tulip poplar planted to honor Andersonway," noted Nicky Staunton, herself apast VNPS president. ' Sally is aboutpeople, our plants, and the apprecia-tion of our plants."

Kim Strader, assistant curator ofthe native plant trail, gave further ex-planation as to why the tulip poplarwas such an appropriate tree. "Ourtallest eastern native is dedicated toour longest serving native plant vol-unteer. The tulip poplar can live up to200 years and grow 200 feet tall. It wasimportant in America s history be-cause it was used to build houses andline wells. Daniel Boone's canoe wasmade from tulip poplar. George Wash-ington and Thomas Jefferson both ad-mired tulip poplars," shesaid.

Jocelyn Sladen brought a messagefrom Katherine Kennedy of the Centerfor Plant Conservation, which was therecipient of two plant sponsorshipfundraising efforts led by Sally andVNPS. "Much of what an organiz-ation achieves is due to its leadership.ToSally wesay Congratulationsand jobwell done!"

The cost of the tree was sharedequally by Blandy and VNPS withextra donations from VNPS going to-ward the native plant trail restoration.

Nancy Sorrells, VNPS Bulletin editor

Planting the country 's tallest October 26 ceremony. The tree plant-eastern native tree, tulip poplar ing and dedication, held at Blandy,( Liriodendron tulipifera ), in honor of her marked Sally's retirement from thelongservice to the Virginia Native Plant VNPS presidency after nine years. TheSociety and The Blandy Experimental tree label noted that the presentationFarm and State Arboretum of Virginia of the tree to honor Sally was a part-was a fitting tribute toSally Anderson nership of VNPS and Blandy.according to all in attendance at the The planting of the tree on the

Nancy Larrick Crosby Native PlantTrail is particularly appropriate be-cause of Sally’s long volunteer serviceon the trail.She is thearboretum's long-est serving volunteer on the nativeplant trail, since at least 1996, and haslogged over 3,000 hours of trail work.

"She has led our band in a mighty

Tulip poplarLiriodendron tulipifera

Magnolia family MagnoliaceacEastern United StatesTo honor in appreciation

Salty Anderson. VNPS President 2003- 2012Virginia Native Plant Society &

Blandy Experimental Farm

Sally Anderson waters the young tree shejust helped plant at Blandy. The special label,above, marks the tree.(Thanks to photographers Marie Marjarovand Nancy Sorrells )

Save the Date! The 2013 Winter Workshop will focus on the Virginia Pied-mont and will take place Saturday, March 16 at the University of Richmond.Two confirmed speakers are Tim Spira and Chris Ludwig. Registration isexpected to open February 15. Watch www.vnps.org for more details.

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Bulletin of the Virginia Native Plant Society

From the presidentsVehrs ready to continue strong presidential leadershipT A That do Mary Painter; Mary Pockman, Nicky Staunton, FrankV V Coffey, Marie Minor; am/ Stf //y Anderson have in common?

Well, they all have had the distinction of leading the Virginia Native PlantSociety during our 30-year history. / am honored to succeed those leaders as yournew president , and I thank Sally Anderson for her nine years ( three terms) ofservice. Both Sally and Nicky remain on the board and the executive committeeso I can rely on their wisdom and guidance in the years ahead.

VNPS and our beloved native plants face many challenges today. Ourmembership has reached a plateau, chapters have difficulty securing officers andother leaders, and our members are aging. Botany is becoming a lost discipline inacademia. Plants are threatened by habitat loss, invasive alien species, deer; andclimate change. Funding is always a challenge as well.

Is our future bleak? Mais, non! We have you,our loyal members, asadvocates for the plants and our society. VNPS has many talented professionaland amateur botanists, ecologists, biologists, horticulturists, landscapers ,gardeners, photographers,and writers amongst its ranks.With no formaltraining in science, / consider myself a native plant enthusiast , and I am surethat many of you fall in the same category. Working together, we can strive toprotect and conserve our native plants by sharing our knowledge and passionwith our friends, neighbors, and elected leaders.

Since the September election, I have already had the great fortune ofattending the annual meetings of the three chapters in the Northern Virginia area. Two included walks in delightful fallsettings, Scott's Run Nature Preserve in Great Falls and Sky Meadows State Park in Delaplane. I look forward to the termahead as I seize the opportunity to travel around our great Commonwealth and meet many of you at your upcoming

Your ( incoming) VNPS President, Nancy Vehrs

Newly elected VNPS President NancyVehrs presents retiring President SallyAnderson with information about atree to be planted in her honor. Thepresentation took place at the V N P SAnnual Meeting in September. ( Photoby Richard M o s s )

chapter gatherings and walks.

Parting words and thoughts from AndersonBy the time you read this, you will have a

new president , but I couldn't resist saying a fewparting words because I’ve got a couple of weeks to go. Iwant to tell all of you how much I’ve enjoyed servingV N P S, and that it has been great getting to know so manyof you. At the annual meeting, l received a wonderful gift—a framed award telling me that a tulip poplar tree(Liriodendron tulipifera) would be planted in my honorat the Nancy Larrick Crosby Native Plant Trail at BlandyFarm. I volunteer on the trail every Wednesday morning(with our Horticulture Chair Kim Strader who is theAssistant Curator for the trail ), so I recently helped tochoose a planting site. 1 will see the tree often and willalways be reminded of being so honored.

I'll continue to be involved in V N P S because there isstill so much to do. just as past president Nicky Stauntonand many other long-time board members gave me the helpPage 2

I needed to do the president's job, I hope to be able to be ofservice to our new president , Nancy Vehrs.

We all had a great time at the annual meeting! Thankyou Catharine Tucker, and your committed chapter board,for the nice time, /ts we saw and heard , the James River andenvirons have many interesting botanical places in spite ofthe many changes in the last few hundred years. Plants canbe tough and resilient as well as beautiful. Being a moun-tain resident , I appreciated seeing something we don't havehere, the tall , airy, yellow blooms of wild rice ("Zizaniaaquatica). It has just been made official that the JeffersonChapter will host our next meeting,around mid-Septemberof 2013. I’m already looking forward to that.

Thanks again everybody, and I'll see you on the trail!Your (outgoing) VNPS President, Sally Anderson

Winter 2012

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Bulletin of the Virginia Native Plant SocietyVNPS to visit theSmoky Mountains

Butch and Betty Kelly of the BlueRidge Wildflower Society are doingthe planning for a VNPS trip to theSmoky Mountains this spring. Datesfor the trip are April 7-13. The groupwill spend part of the week inGatlinburg, Tenn. and the rest ofthe week in Townsend, Tenn. Fiveof the days will be spent touringwildflower sites in the Great SmokyMountains National Park, one ofthe most biologically diverse andbeautiful national parks. If you areinterested, but need more informa-tion, e-mail [email protected]. Ifyou are certain that you want to go,send a $200 deposit to: VNPS,"Smokies Trip," 400 Blandy FarmLane #2, Boyce, Va. 22620 to reserveyour space.

VNPS.org: Your portal to Virginia’s native plantsDo you know ...?...you can learn about and share withothers VNPS'sposition on conserva-tion of native plants in their naturalhabitat?

On the VNPS home page, click on' Conservation” and choose Conserva-tion Policies or Plant Rescues.

News and Gallery Archives” to viewthe 2012 PWWSGarden Tour Gallerv.

...you can access VNPS lists forNative Plant Nurseries, InvasiveAlien Plant Species, and Laivn CareOperators on VNPS.org?

From the home page, click on" Resources" at the main menu, thenchoose a specific list.

...you can read the latest Bulletin—incolor—weeks in advance of yourmailed copy?

Coming soon, you will receive anautomaticemail announcing the post-ing of each new issue of the Bulletin.Until then, notices will go out to allchapter presidents when the new is-sue is available.

...you are "one-click" away from dis-covering what other nature-loving folksin North America are doing?

Direct links to over 125 nature-related organizations, regional nativeplant societies, invasive plant sites,andlistservs are aggregated on VNPS.orgunder "Resources." Choose the"Links" button to directly link to theorganization's web presence. Alsoavailable is a special insert on "WebSites for Invasive Plants and NativePlants/' which can be found under"Growing Natives."

...you can make aVNPS donation online?It'seasy!Just click on the blue-and-

white "Donate ” button on theVNPS.org home page. ...you can access archived issues of the

Bulletin dating from 2010 and the fulltext with color photos and illustra-tions o/Wildflowers of the Year bro-chures/row 1989 to the present?

Look under "Archives" on thehome page,or for WOY,click on "Wild-flowers of the Year"on the home pagemenu.

...you can learn about upcoming chapterand stateivideevents onVNPS.org?

The "Events” calendar has the in-formation you need on upcoming VNPSand chapter meetings,conferences, fieldtrips, plant sales, and more, includingRSVP instructions when required.

...you can view photogalleries of VNPSfield trips and meetings atVNPS.org?

Photo and image galleries can beposted and viewed at state-level orchapter-level websites. For examples,see 2012 and 2011 Annual Meetingphotos galleries under "Archives” onthe VNPS.org main menu or click onPrince William WildflowerSociety un-der "Chapters” and then on "Wild

Winter 2012=— • =

...you can access contact information forVNPS officers, board members, andchapter presidents?

Just click on the "Contact Us" but-ton on the main menu of VNPS.org.

...you can link directly to chapter websites from VNPS.org?

Chapters with discrete or con-nected websites or Facebook pagesaredirectly linked from the "Chapters"button on the main menu of the homepage. Plus, contact and other informa-tion for each of the 13 chapters ofVNPS is available under "Chapters."

...you can learn which VNPS Registrysites are open to the public?

From the VNPS.org main menu,( Do you know?, page 7)

Page 3

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Bulletin of the Virginia Native Plant Society

VNPS Annual MeetingThen & Now Along

the James

Annual Meeting full of successesFrom all reports, the 2012 VNPS Annual Meeting was a rousing success.

VNPS President Sally Anderson expressed "sincere thanks and high praise" tothe PocahontasChapter for a "perfectly planned annual meeting."

On Friday night, folks gathered to register under the 18th-century-stylechandeliers while membersof the VNPS Board met in theSpotsylvania Room.After dinner, we gathered upstairs in the Hanover Room to enjoy Leonard|9!Adkins' beautiful photos and hear his inspirational narrative "Wildflowersof the Blue Ridge and Appalachian Trail."This introduced much of the florathat is also found in areas downstream through the Piedmont.

Those up early Saturday morning were greeted with bright, warm sunand cool breezes, promising a perfect day afield. There were many good re-ports afterward. Nicky Staunton said it best: "The field trips had somethingfor everyone. I enjoyed the Point of Rocks with Richard Moss and the widerange of beautiful autumn plants.... And again our visit to the butterfly exhibitand gardensat the LewisGinter Botanical Garden with Nancy Arrington andDeanna High gave us morecomparison of the botanical beauty landscapes onSaturday. The bonusat Ginter wasa visit with members of their staff.

Getting back from the field trips in time to dress for dinner took some( See Annual Meeting, page 5 )

Photos from top left , clockwise: JamesRiver Park; Aisle of View; Point ofRocks boardwalk with wild rice; andrattlesnake plantain at Aisle of View.Thanks to photographers NancyVehrs and Deanna High.

Winter 2012Page 4

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Bulletin of the Virginia Native Plant Society

Photos from top left, clockwise: John Clayton visits from the past; hiking on the UpperCoastal Plains hardwood field trip; wild rice (Zizania aquaticaj; pitcher plant at LewisGinter Botanical Garden; and Larry Wilhite on the Point of Rocks trip. Thanks to photogra-phers Richard Moss, Catharine Tucker, Mary Ann Lawler, Deanna High, and Jan Newton.

•Annual Meeting of his latest trip to the mountains col-lecting plants. His appearance helpedus celebrate the fact that the new Floraof Virginia was sent to the printer theday we began the annual gathering.Special guests from the Flora of Vir-ginia Committee joined the crowd in-cluding Tom Smith and Chris Ludwigfrom the Virginia Department of Con-servation and Recreation, NaturalHeritage Program. Ludwig broughtspecial thanks to VNPS members fortheir long and strong support for theVirginia Flora Project.

Robert Wright's presentation onthe flora of the James around Rich-mond demonstrated his thorough andintense research that started in child-hood. He has generously offered to

send a CDcopy of his talk on the floraof the James River. You may requestit from him directly at [email protected].

Sunday ended with more trips.This day was overcast and cool mak-ing it perfect for hunting flowers in thewoods without strong contrastingshadows. Tired but enthusiastic, noone wanted to be left off a trip. Somewere surprised that there is so muchwild area and so many interestingplaces to explore around Richmond-on-the-James. One person was over-heard telling a friend she"didn't thinkI'd find anything interesting there, butlearned a lot!" Discovery and learning— that was the whole idea!

Catharine Tucker, Pocahontas President

(Continued from page 4 )

effort, but weall made it.We had muchtocelebrate. In recognition of the 30thanniversary of VNPS, Nicky Stauntongave a brief history of the organiza-tion, called attention to the list of ac-tive charter members in the banquetprogram, and introduced all of thecharter members who were present.Outgoing president Sally Andersonreceived a surprise gift of a tulip pop-lar to be planted at Blandy in herhonor to recognize her nine years ofservice as VNPS President.

One of the evening highlightswas the surprise visit of "Mr. JohnClayton" who regaled us with tales

Winter 2012 Page 5

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Bulletin of the Virginia Native Plant Society

From the founderA message to native plant gardenersThirty years ago , in 1982 , theVirginia Native Plant Societybegan as a small group in North-ern Virginia that was focusedmostly on plant rescues in theface of rapidly expanding devel -opment pressures . Eventually theVirginia Wildflower PreservationSociety became the Virginia Na-tive Plant Society , and todaythere are 13 chapters spreadacross the state . In this issue welaunch a series of articles writ -ten by founder Mary Painter asshe looks back over the past threedecades . Today the organizationshe started goes far beyond justplant rescues by looking deeplyat the connections between plantsand the entirety of the naturalworld .

those species that do not belong inour natural areas.

On your own open property ar-eas, please consider the cultivationof native plants—using local-gene-pool seeds or propagated stock. Ourbugs, birds and butterflies have ge-netic memories tied to your propertyand specific nutritional links to na-tive plants that would occur there.As founder of our VNPS, 1 wish toencourage our valuable members togarden in a way that, while enjoyingthe beauty of those plants we har-bor, we foster ones that effectively fig-ure into a positiveconnectivity of life.

Let me remind you (those whoare computer-friendly or not), thatour www.VNPS.org site provides aregularly updated list of native plantgrowers and numerous sales eventsthroughout the year. The list includeschapter sales events in your respec-tive areas. Sourced of local nativeseeds are also featured.

Our site also provides a list ofplants invasive within our Common-wealth.

ons who are no longer with us. It is tothem that I dedicate this, the first ofmy series of articles for our Bulletinissues.

I ask that the following consider-ations be taken by our valuable on-going members, especially nativeplant gardeners. As we traveled 1,400miles from my Virginia farm to a newlife in the southwest Florida GulfCoast region in 2009, the only plantpassengers were cuttings from my"Queen of the Night" (Epiphyllumoxypetalum ). This night-bloomingCereus, a Brazilian beauty, was relo-cated from a Virginia bay window toa southern lanai enclosure. Were sheever released from my new home'slong expanse of her screened prison,she would seriously gate-crashFlorida (and beyond) with her ag-gressive, clambering habit.

From its inception, our VNPS hasnever held strictly to a "plant-only-natives" policy. Many of us, along ourgardening way, have been enchantedby the lovely non-natives availablefor sale. Please just remember that torelease from prison such pretty"Jezebels" is absolutely counter toresponsible gardening and counter tothe protection of our wild plants andwild places. Please contain or restrain

No doiTbt that it would nowprobably take a pick ax and flash-light to unearth my VNPS archivesfrom the Blandy Farm basement. Yetthat file box contains the many namesof the selfless and talented memberswho led in the early development ofour organization at every level.While quite a number of us do stillcarry on, I'm aware of those champi-

Lastly, I worked as a native plantnurserywoman for more than 20years. 1 want to share just a smallportion of classic growers' bibleswritten by previous colleagues. I in-vite you to visit—or re-visit:•Growing and Propagating WildFlowers, Harry R. Phillips, UNCPress, 1985•Gardening with Wildflowers ,Frances Tenenbaum, CharlesScribner 's Sons, 1973•Native Alternatives to InvasivePlants,C. Coleston Burrell, Brook-lyn Botanic Garden, 2006•Growing & Propagating Showy Na-tive Wooden Plants, Richard E. Bir,UNC Press, 1992From our VNPS Piedmont Chaptercome two brochures as well:"Hedgerows," and "Do I Have ToMow All That?"

DVD of 2012 Winter Workshop availableVNPS education chair Jan New-

ton recorded the VNPS WinterWorkshop that took place on March10, 2012, and has distributed DVDcopies of the recording to everychapter for the purpose of sharingwith members and others. Membersshould contact their chapter presi-dents to view their chapter 's DVD.The quality of the recording is not asgood as we intended due to usingolder equipment. As a result, the im-ages of the slides are a bit fuzzy. Thesound is clear and the overall resultis still very educational. As a re-minder, the workshop was Virginia's

Ecosystems: Fields, Forests and Fresh-water. Workshop speakers were Mar-tin Ogle ("The Big Picture: Under-standing Virginia's Ecosystems"),Mike Hayslett ("Ecology of FloweryWaters"), Tom Dierauf ("The Forestand the Trees: Ecology and History"),and Benjamin Tracy ("The Impor-tance of Native Grasses"). We thankour speakers for allowing us torecord their presentations for distri-bution among our chapters andboard of directors. The workshop canalso be watched on the John ClaytonChapter's website on the "AboutVNPS" page: www.claytonvnps.org.

Mary Painter, VNPS founder

Winter 2012Page 6

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Bulletin of the Virginia Native Plant Society

Virginia Currents films segment on Flora of VirginiaThe new Flora of Virginia was in

the spotlight Oct. 19 as Virginia Cur-rents cameras rolled in the HanoverCounty countryside for a feature be-ing produced about the manual.Chris Ludwig, a co-author of theFlora and executive director of theFlora of Virginia Project, and MarionLobstein, a founding member of theVirginia Native Plant Society and amember of the Flora Project board,were filmed in a fall field talkingabout native plants, nonnatives, di-versity, and the new Flora in a 10-minute segment that will air in early2013. Virginia Currents, the award-winning newsmagazine that cel-ebrates Virginia and Virginians, justbegan its 22nd year. It is produced inthe studios of Commonwealth Pub-lic Broadcasting in the Richmondarea and is now hosted by DaphneMaxwell Reid.

Speaking of the book, if you'rereading this on the website, youshould have your Flora by December8. If you're reading this in print, youprobably already have your copy! Ifyou haven't yet ordered one,go to theFlora Project homepage at

( See Flora news, page 8 )

m Marion Lobstein and ChrisLudwig discuss plant diver-sity for the Virginia Currentscameras, with videographersPaul Adams,left ,and CarrollSmith, with producer PattyNevadomski.( Photo courtesyof Bland Crowder )

\ .

'4

•Did you know?(Continued from page 3 )

click on "Conservation," then on"Know Your VNPS Registry Sites."Open sites are noted and linked.

Whether you need information foryourself or for distribution,VNPS.orgcontainsa range of native plant-relatedinformation, images, and articles inaddition to current news and eventsoccurring in the society....you can access a wealth of informa-

tion about natives, alternatives toinvasives,cultivation of meadows andhedgerows,and a brochure about wild-flowers for butterfly and woodland gar-dens onVNPS.org?

VNPSbrochures, including a soon-to-be updated "Native Plants for Butter-fly Gardens" are accessible anddownloadable as PDFs. Click on"Bro-chures" under the"Resources"button.Plus,there's more.

Coming soon...VNPS members will be able to re-

new their membership and updatetheir membership records online. Newmembers will be able to join the societyonline, and moderated discussiongroups will be able to post commentsor content on topics of interest.

Deanna LaValle High, former VNPSDirector-at-large and website coordinator

See the address label for your membership expiration date The BulletinI S S N 1085-9632

is published five times a year(Feb., April, June, August, Nov.)

by the

Virginia Native Plant SocietyBlandy Experimental Farm

400 Blandy Farm Lane, Unit 2Boyce, VA 22620

VNPS Membership/Renewal FormName(s)AddressCity State Zip

Individual $30Family $40Patron $50

Student $15Associate (groups) $40*

Sustaining $100Life $500

•Please designate one person as delegate for Associate membershipTo give a gift membership or join additional chapters: Enclose dues, name,address,andchapter (non-voting memberships in any other than your primary chapter are $5)

(540) [email protected]

www.vnps.orgI wish to make an additional contribution to VNPS oramount of $10 $25 $50 $100 $(Other)

Check if you do not wish your name to be exchanged with similar organizationsCheck if you do not wish your name to be listed in a chapter directory

Which chapter do you wish to join? (See www.vnps.org)

Visa Discover Exp. dateSignature

Chapter in theNancy Vehrs, PresidentNancy Sorrells, Editor

Original material contained in the Bulletin may bereprinted, provided credit isgiven toVNPSand theauthor, if named.Readersare invited tosend letters,news items,ororiginal articles for theeditor scon-sideration.Itemsshouki betyped,ondisk in MicrosoftWord ore-mailed to:Editor,3419ColdSprings Rd.,Greenville, VA24440,or k*svvife@comcaknetThe deadline for the next issue is Jan.15, 2013.

Paying by credit card? MCCard # Security code.

Make check payable to VNPS and mail to:VNPS Membership Chair, Blandy Experimental Farm, 400 Blandy Farm Lane, Unit 2,Boyce, VA 22620Membership dues are tax deductible in the amount they exceed S5 Contributions are tax deductible in accordance with IRS regulations

Winter 2012 Page 7

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Bulletin of the Virginia Native Plant Society

Good news, bad news for Tech' s Stadium Woodscampus policy says no one is allowedto park on grassy areas.

One small victory is not what isneeded here. Letters to the athleticdepartment and Virginia Tech Univer-sity President Charles Steger areneeded. Letters to the editor innewspapers statewide would alsobe helpful. Any VNPS memberswho are Virginia Tech alumni shouldlet your voices be heard. For moreinformation on the issues at Stadi-um Woods, see the March 2012 issueof the VNPS Bulletin.Butch Kelly, Blue Ridge Wildflower Society

The disturbing news is that neither theuniversity president nor the athletic di-fbctor will allow an audience with pro-woods preservationists.

Recently one healthy yet hollow85-foot oak was cut down. The reasongiven was safety concerns. The treestood 115 feet from the walkway in thewoods. The members of the footballteam are allowed to park in the edgeof the woodlot on game days. Thisadds to compaction of the tree rootsystems. Requests to change this prac-tice have fallen on deaf ears. It isstrange that this is allowed because a

Adjacent to Virginia Tech's LaneStadium in Blacksburgstandsa 20-acreold-growth forestcontainingmany largeand ancient white oaks. Many of thesetrees were on the campus site long be-fore the town of Blacksburg and theschool were even in anyone's plans ordreams.Someof the trees predate Euro-pean settlement in the region.One whiteoak is believed to be 346 years old, andothers are believed to exceed 400 yearsinage.The forest ishome toa statecham-pion chokecherry, Primus virginiana.

Thestadium woods is home to 600trees whosediametersexceed 12 inches.Thereare57specimens with a diameterof 36 inches or more. It is home to 80bird species and many wildflowers in-cluding bloodroot,May-appleand largewhorled pogonia.

The imminent threat to the woodswas a plan to construct an indoor foot-ball practice facility. The good news isthis plan has been changed. The prac-tice structure will be located elsewhereon campus.

The bad news is that the schoolrefuses to make a long-term commit-ment to preserving the woods or mak-ing it off limits to future construction.

•Flora news(Continued from page 7)

floraofvirginia.org for a link to theorder page. The price is right!

At the Flora Project,since the bookhas been in press, we have been able toturn our attention to other aspects ofour work, like the Flora app, educa-tional projects based on the manual,and the Flora Talks, a series of get-togethers we're planning across thestate in 2013-14 about topics rangingfrom modern plant systematics tobotanical illustration.Our friend John

Clayton will appear at many of thoseevents. The character based onClayton—the Colonial Virginia bota-nist whose work was the backbone ofthe 18th-century Flora Virginica, ouronly other flora—was researched andcreated for the Flora Project by RichardCheatham of Richmond 's LivingHistory Associates with partial fund-ing bv the Virginia Foundation for theHumanities.Bland Crowder, associate director, Floraof Virginia Project

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