| |
| |
| Botany |
| |
|
|
|
| Native Plants
of the Mid-Atlantic Region |
| Several
dozen species of globally rare plants and
hundreds of state-rare plants occur in diverse
habitats within 200 miles of Washington,
DC. Some of these vegetation communities
or ecosystems include pitch pine-scrub oak
sandstone barrens above 3,000 feet elevation;
limestone and dolomite glades, calcareous
seeps and fens, and shale
barrens in the Valley and Ridge; cold
air vents at West Virginia's Ice
Mountain; riverside prairies along the
Potomac and James Rivers; diabase and granite
flatrock communities and serpentine barrens
in the Piedmont; Chesapeake Bay ecosystem;
New
Jersey Pine Barrens; Coastal Plain bogs
and
swamps; and dune wetlands along the
Atlantic coast. The greatest threat to native
plants and wildlife is habitat destruction
by people and by phytoterrorists.
Invasive
non-native plants like Japanese Honeysuckle,
Kudzu, and Purple Loosestrife kill or suppress
the growth of native plants and wreak havoc
on declining bird populations. |
| |
| The Washington-Baltimore
area plays host to about 2,800 species of
vascular plants (ferns, conifers, flowering
plants), which are kept online on the DC
Herbarium. The Potomac
Gorge, which extends along the Potomac River from Great
Falls to Theodore
Roosevelt Island, contains 15
globally- and 100
state-rare plants in 30
different vegetation
communities. Frequent flooding has created
a variety of habitats, the most significant
being rare riparian (floodplain) and terrace
communities. Northern and southern species
overlap along the Potomac River. Western
species survive in rare prairie habitats.
In the spring, there are spectacular displays
of nearly 100 wildflowers along the C&O
Canal. My favorite area along the C&O
Canal for wildflowers, rock scrambling, and scenery is the Billy
Goat Trail on Bear Island. Other favorite areas in the
region with a profusion of spring ephemerals
include Ball's
Bluff, Difficult
Run, Great
Falls, VA, Scott's
Run, and Turkey
Run. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
