South Carolina Native Plant Society - Lowcountry Chapter News

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Lowcountry Chapter News

Find us on Facebook! New board member April Bisner has created a SCNPS Facebook page. Search for “South Carolina Native Plant Society Lowcountry Chapter.” Hope you “Like” our page.

In an effort to provide increased opportunities for Lowcountry native plant conservation, the Lowcountry Chapter will be sponsoring community projects. Community projects must be directed at protecting, preserving, restoring, and/or educating the public about native plants or plant communities in the Lowcountry of SC. Individual award amounts will not exceed $500. Priority will be given to those projects involving: public land, cultural significance, rare species, and the removal of invasive species. Application deadlines: Fall proposals will be accepted until October 1st and awarded by Nov 1st. Spring proposals will be accepted until February 1st and awarded by March 1st. Click here for application details.

The SCNPS now owns a PowerPoint projector that any Lowcountry SCNPS member may use for educational outreach events for the organization. We also have template PowerPoint presentations to help educate garden clubs, Home Owners Associations and other groups about the benefits of planting natives and avoiding invasive plant species. To borrow the projector and/or PowerPoint presentation, please contact Lisa Lord, llord@tnc.org.

The Lowcountry Chapter traveled to the Lisa Matthews Memorial Bay and Canby’s Dropwort preserve in Bamberg , SC. The field trip was lead by John Brubaker, SCNPS State Issues Chair, who has been actively involved in the management of the Bay. The population of Oxypolis canbyii at the preserve has grown from two stems to thousands of stems in just a short time. This is one of the many success stories that emerged from the innovative management techniques implemented by John and others scientists, including Tall Timbers researcher Jeff Glitzenstein, at the Bay. We were also joined by SCAN (South Carolina Amateur Naturalists) who traveled down from Columbia to enjoy the Bay. Here are a few pictures highlighting the trip:

Saturday, September 19, 2009 - Field Trip to Ambrose Family FArm and Wadmalaw Island

We were pleased to welcome Tradd Cotter and Olga Katic, mushroom experts, from Mushroom Mountain, in Liberty South Carolina, to the Lowcountry. Tradd gave an informative presentation at The Citadel about mushroom biology and discussed some of his latest research projects. Saturday morning Tradd, Olga, and John Brubaker led a field trip in the Francis Marion National Forest to hunt for fungi. In two hours, over 30 varieties of fungi were observed and many were edible, including delicious chanterelles. Along the trail, we noted Trillium maculatum, Arisaema triphyllum, Woodwardia areolata and many other species of vascular plants. Species List (Excel file).

Richard Porcher, accompanied by an assemblage of other native plant enthusiasts, strolled through the lush and abundant native plant species now populating the longleaf / pond pine savannah at Bonneau Ferry, which was control burned two years ago. A few of the plants identified include: Platanthera orchids, Eriocaulon decangulare (Hat Pins), Lilium catesbaei (Pine Lily), Sarracenia minor (Pitcher Plant), Ctenium aromaticum (Toothache Grass), Lachnanthes caroliniana (Redroot), Rhexia of multiple species, Marshallia graminifolia (Barbara’s Buttons), Pteridium aquilinum (Bracken Fern), Osmlunda cinamomea (Cinnamon Fern), and Osmunda regalis (Royal Fern). A good time was had by all!

We spent the morning touring fifteen exhibit areas, including a prairie with native wiregrass and wildflowers, a native azalea garden, and the Loop Trail in one of the most beautiful and unusual properties in Columbia. The topography is highly diverse with an upland forest in the highlands and a bottomland forest in the valley http://zebra.biol.sc.edu/arboretum/. Photos from the field trip can be seen on PicasaWeb coursey Laura Moses.

Jeff Jackson, Lowcountry chapter member, designed a wonderful eco-friendly display for the Charleston County Earth Day Event, Saturday April 18th. All wood materials were recycled from discarded furniture.

View photos from our trip to Botany Bay Plantation November 22, 2008. SC Department of Natural Resources naturalist Billy McCord gave us a tour of the hammock islands, wildlife, and rare plants on Botany Bay Plantation on Edisto Island. Photos courtesy of Laura Moses.

We had a fabulous Fall day visiting the isolated Dewees Island on the SC coast near Charleston. It began with a 9am ferry ride from Isle of Palms. Lori Sheridan Wilson led the trip and pointed out sea birds and identifying land features along the way. During this time of year the salt marshes look especially green, and it was refreshing to sail among them while searching for dolphins. Once on the island we hopped aboard a comfortable wagon, and Lori drove us through the hidden residents and gave us an overview of how she and other naturalists were protecting the natural features on the island and promoting environmental education to the home owners here. Some of the programs they are working on include: Monarch tagging, Chinese tallow tree removal, and sea turtle nest monitoring. We had the opportunity to taste sea pickle, view gulf frittilaries and monarchs enjoying the autumn flowers, collect pristine sand dollars on the isolated stretch of beach here, and witness a large yellow rat snake skirting up a tree. It was a wonderful day among the maritime forests here. Thanks Lori!

The Michaux Conservancy hosted 25 members and friends of the Lowcountry Chapter of the Native Plant Society for a morning of education and recreation. The roughly hour-long tour took participants through the former Naval officer housing district, Chicora Gardens, Riverfront Park and portions of the Noisette Creek Preserve. Botanists and arborists in the group provided information about the variety of plants and trees observed and Jim Augustin continued to explain the cultural and historical context of the area. At the conclusion of the walk, some participants stayed for a bag-lunch in Riverfront Park and enjoyed the sunny day. For a complete re-cap of the day's events... including photographs... take a look at our trip report (.pdf).

John Martin led us on a historic and ecological journey through the wonderful grounds at Mepkin Abbey. We learned about the restoration projects occurring on site, and gave them help in collecting native seeds for their Native Propagation project. We also took time to see their famous crèche exhibit.

Photos from May 18-19 overnight field trip to the Nature Conservancy's Green Swamp

We saw an abundance of wonderful orchids and carnivorous plants at the Green Swamp TNC preserve during our overnight field trip May 18-19, 2007. Thanks to Diane Lauritsen for organizing it and thanks to Jeff Jackson for the photos!
Photo page >> (.pdf file)

The Lowcountry Chapter of The Native Plant Society, SCDOT, and the City of Walterboro are working together to preserve a unique stretch of highway found on the south exit interchange in Walterboro. Longleaf pine/wiregrass communities are considered rare and endangered, and given that very few good quality intact longleaf pine savannahs still exist in SC, it is extremely important to preserve and properly maintain this area. It is also a very wet savannah, adding to the exceptional nature of this site and lending itself to incredible species richness and diversity. Management of this site will include annual mowing in May to simulate burning, promote wiregrass flowering, and discourage woody growth. The use of herbicides will be discontinued following one treatment to eliminate invasive plant species. The Walterboro site hopefully will provide a continuing seed source for the Lisa B. Matthews Memorial Bay restoration and potentially other restoration projects. Thank you to Jeff Glitzenstein, John Brubaker, and Thomas Angell for recognizing the importance of this area and their hard work to protect it. A sign (see picture) will be placed in the area to recognize the collaborative effort of the Lowcountry Chapter, SCDOT, and the City of Walterboro. Please contact Lisa Lord llord@yeamanshallclub.com for more information.

Native Plants in High Demand! Our first Lowcountry plant sale held at Charles Towne Landing in Charleston was a huge success with our inventory of 1500+ plants selling out within a few short hours. None of the 100's of copies of handouts including: native plant lists, membership brochures, and state newsletters were left by the end of the event. We also had to conduct an additional hike demonstrating differences between native and invasive plants due to demand. It was wonderful to see the interest and have folks traveling from Greenville, Aiken, Beaufort and Georgetown to participate in the sale. We plan to hold these sales bi-annually (October and March), and provide even more to the public in the future.

Field Trip Report: October 15, 2006 - Restoration of a Carolina Bay and other native communities

We enjoyed a wonderful October day visiting Richard Porcher's property near Manning, SC adjacent to the Pocotaligo River. Richard gave us a tour of the different habitats on the 1100 acre property including bottomland hardwoods, Longleaf, and depression wetlands. He explained his nearly 20 years of planting, burning, mechanical work and other maintenance on the property to enhance the natural communities that were originally here. Many beautiful herbaceous species were blooming including Solidago sp., Monarda punctata, and native grasses. We spent extra time in Richard's Carolina Bay which had been significantly impacted by agriculture. Richard has come a long way in plugging up the ditch to restore a healthy hydrology, removing sweetgums and other woody species, and burning the bay to stimulate native seed sources. If only the rain would return to fill the bay... What Richard has accomplished here is truly a new venture for a landowner. It was inspiring to see his dedication to the land. We also learned some of the important details of protecting property by utilizing easements and how the landowner can benefit with certain tax credits and other incentives from government agencies. It made many of us pause and think about the possibility of land investments of our own.

Porcher’s Carolina Bay: My first field trip with the NPS, October 15, 2006 - by Ruth Miller

A great turnout from the four corners (or should that be four angles?) of Carolina congregated for Richard Porcher’s tour of his Clarendon County property. Billed as the “Restoration of a Carolina Bay”, we learned, we saw and we hiked through so much more. There was discussion of easements and conservancy, a new understanding for many of us. There was give-and-take on the best way to re-establish long-leaf pine in the fields of long-leaf, where newcomers saw the tree and its candle stage for the first time.

We learned the mystery of the Carolina (bay) and then there it was. First from the distance, then the bay up-close and personal as we made our way into its depths and out again. All of the work Richard has put into the property was most apparent here. The entire site had been cleared of trees except for the central pond cypress. With a clear view of the embankment and the tremendous size of Porcher’s Bay, we actually saw the great shallow crater as we walked into it. Only the plant-life placed us on earth, rather than the moon.

The weather was perfect and lunch was enjoyed at Richard’s hunting lodge which sports a necessary serviced by running water. What more could you ask for? Well there was more. My favorite of the day was the immense field of native wildflowers. Richard said had all emerged from the “seed bank” still harbored within the soil after years of farming the field. I chose my plant to learn for the day, Monarda punctata, saw native indigo, flowers of yellow, blue, magenta, a natural rainbow of native plants. The field was so beautiful, a feast for my soul; I forsook some of the lunchtime camaraderie to return to the wildflower field on my own. Thank you Richard and the NPS for such a welcome.




	Chris Crolley with Cottonmouth

Our trip to Bulls Island fell on a beautiful, sunny October day. We enjoyed a half hour boat ride watching the Spartina wave in the wind across the Bulls Bay estuary within the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge. Chris Crolley, captain of the ferry to Bulls Island, spoke to us during our trip over about the forces of nature in this part of the world. Then he led us on a short hike across the island pointing out native vegetation, the exotic popcorn tree, and changes in the natural communities on the island that occurred from the massive hurricane Hugo in 1989. Many in the group said he reminded them of a young Rudy Mancke as he pointed out everything from a still preying mantis to a defensive Cottonmouth he picked up off the trail. We didn't stay long in the interior of the island as the mosquitoes were fierce and many of us wanted to see the famous boneyard beach.

The beach contained wonderful sites including horseshoe crabs, starfish, sand dollars, and many beautiful shells. Magnificent skeletal remains of ancient live oaks and red cedars lined the boneyard beach on the southeast corner of the island. In the background, maritime forest spread across the landscape. This was truly a unique place to wander through, and some of us were lucky enough to see a group of dolphins feeding close to shore. Before we knew it, it was time to return to the ferry dock for the ride back to Awendaw. For more information about visiting the island on your own, you can visit http://www.coastalexpeditions.com/ferry.htm. Thanks to Coastal Expeditions for making our trip such a great experience.

Lowcountry Chapter Newsletters

Lowcountry Chapter News