Lecture: Revisiting F.P. Porcher’s 1863 Resources of Southern Fields and Forests: Insights into Forgotten Medical Botany of the Southeast
George Hanna, Research Assistant Professor of Public Health Sciences, MUSC Center for Environmental and Biomedical Panomics
In 1863, Dr. Francis Peyre Porcher, an MUSC Physician, was commissioned by the Surgeon General of the Confederacy to produce his seminal work, “Resources of Southern Fields and Forest, A Medical Botany of Southern States”—a body of knowledge now relegated to the status of “forgotten books.” However, the time of its publication was the height of the American Civil War and the South had been under a brutal blockade since 1861, which became famously referred to as “Scott’s Great Snake.” Here, at a time of dire need, Porcher describes the practical and medicinal uses, with direct clinical reports, of nearly 500 species of plants, focusing on those native to the Southeast US. Thoughtful reappraisal of this extensive body of knowledge through the lens of modern medicinal chemistry may reveal unutilized sources of life-saving therapeutics growing in our own yards, parks, farms, and forests. The goal of this project is to carefully annotate Porcher’s reports, prioritize species for collection, and initiate the creation of a living research herbarium throughout South Carolina.
Lectures are typically held the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 6:30 PM, and tasty snacks will be provided during post-lecture socializing (BYO non-alcoholic beverage or water bottle). We will meet in The Citadel’s Duckett Hall Auditorium, 2 Jones Ave, Charleston, SC 29403. (This is next door to our 2024 location, Byrd Hall). Enter Duckett Hall from Jones Ave and go up the short steps to the Auditorium on your left. Free parking is available after 5:00 PM in the parking lot south of Richardson Street, accessible from Mims Ave.
Lowcountry Field Trip: Medicinal Native Plants of Sullivan’s Island
April Punsalan, Ethnobotanist & Herbalist, Wild Herb Academy
Join us Saturday, March 22 for a walk through the maritime forest with April Punsalan of Wild Herb Academy. She will guide us along the Sullivan’s Island Nature Trail at Station 16 and lead a discussion of the many uses of native plants in the medicine cabinet! Parking is available at Battery Logan, located at the corner of Poe Ave and Station 15 on Sullivan’s Island. From there we will hit the Station 16 beach access path and the associated nature trails through the beautiful Maritime Forest. Registration is required and will open two weeks prior to the date of the trip.
Saturday, April 19, 2025 ~ 10 am to 1 pm
Boone Hall Farms – Willie’s Roadside Market
2434 Highway 17 North, Mt Pleasant, SC 29464
Join us for our Spring Native Plant Sale which will be farmer’s-market-style with colorful perennials, shrubs, trees, grasses, ferns, and edible plants. Co-hosted with Willie’s Roadside Market at Boone Hall Farms. Vendors include:
Shoppers and volunteers, please bring extra boxes and/or a wagon to carry plants to your car!
For more info, or to volunteer before or during the sale, please contact Eddie Bernard at edlbernard@aol.com.
Plant Sale volunteers and SCNPS members will have early access to shop prior to the market opening to the public. Members must join or renew by April 12.
The Lowcountry Chapter will be participating in several native-plant-related events this Spring and we need volunteers to help table at these events! It’s a great way to get involved with the Chapter and meet community members who are learning more about the importance of native plants and habitats. Tabling events are simple – we have a booth set up for a few hours with information about the Society and our activities and we share information about native plants and the chance to purchase some of our fun merchandise. We have events in February and April so far and would love to have some Lowcountry members represent us at these events! If you’re interested in volunteering, please contact Paula Carr at paulabcarr@gmail.com.
ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING OF INTEREST
75th Annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
This event features professionally-guided walks, exhibits, and other learning opportunities to explore the region’s rich natural and cultural resources. Pilgrims from more than 40 states and several countries make the pilgrimage each year to learn more about fungi, ferns, wildflowers, trees and shrubs, medicinal plants, insects (terrestrial and aquatic), salamanders and snakes, birds, mammals (bats to bears), journaling, art and photography, and park history. https://www.wildflowerpilgrimage.org/
Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC
Registration for the 2025 conference will open April 1. Don’t miss out on registering as soon as it opens as field trips fill up usually the first day of registration!
The Scholarship Program has been an important part of the Cullowhee Conference since the conference began in 1984. Approximately 20 scholarships to the Cullowhee Conference are annually awarded to students, interns at botanical gardens, nature centers and/or parks, and to beginning professionals in a native plant-related field. Also, the Scholarship Program is open to applicants with careers in environmental and science education. Any individual in these categories who can demonstrate an interest in native plants and their use in the landscape – through horticulture, botany, ecology, landscape architecture/design, education, or a related field – is encouraged to apply for a scholarship.
The deadline for scholarship applications is midnight, Sunday, April 14th, 2024. Applications received after this time will be considered only after punctual and complete applications have been judged and awarded. Applications without the information requested, which includes recommendations, are incomplete and will be considered late. NOTE that this deadline is right at the end of the semester, so factor in the time needed writing your application and asking for your letter of reference. Scholarship awards will be made by email in May.
