September 13, 2022
By Dan Witten
The beautiful day brought out a pretty good crowd of 13 plus a neighbor that tagged along for a while. Susan Jordan began the day by talking about the history of Bald Rock beginning when the highway US276 was built and then when in 2001, Bald Rock was added to the Heritage Preserve program and continuing into what may happen in the future to restore and protect the natural qualities of the area.
During our walkabout, we saw a newly named species, Ambrosia porcheri, McMillan & Provost. We also saw one of the 6 listed species, Packera millefolium or Blue Ridge Ragwort. And we saw a not yet named plant, Viola emarginata var. ? or a new variety of Swordleaf Violet. Plenty of fall asters were flowering as well as Appalachian Milkwort, Polygala curtissii which is pictured here.
It always makes me happy to get out in nature to see what is happening now. And it is very exciting to be a part of what is going on by working with a survey team to help understand what grows there.