Virginia Native Plant Society Blog

• A Parasitic Lifestyle: Beechdrops and Their Relatives December 17, 2020
  By Marion Lobstein Two primary characteristics of plants are a light-capturing pigment, chlorophyll, which gives most plants a green color, and the use of this pigment to capture light energy to carry out photosynthesis to produce energy-rich food from carbon dioxide and water. This kind of plant lifestyle is known as autotrophic or self-nourishing. Indian…
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• Red Chokeberry Shines in All Seasons November 9, 2020
  By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Chapter Red Chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia) is a versatile landscape shrub that shines in all four seasons of the year. In spring, showy clusters of up to 25 pristine white, or pink-blushed flowers light up the garden. Throughout summer the foliage is a lustrous dark green, then ignites in fall with shades…
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• Goldenrod Glows in the Fall October 1, 2020
  By Richard Stromberg Along with Asters, Goldenrods are the dominant flowers in September. Some of them continue flowering into October, and you will see their fluffy seed heads all winter. Goldenrods have small-flowered, yellow spikes and sprays. Twenty goldenrod species are frequent in the Piedmont Chapter area. Note that the large leaves at the base…
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• The Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly and its Native Host Plants September 10, 2020
  By Mary Lee Epps, Jefferson Chapter I decided to write this article for our chapter Newsletter, The Declaration, because of an experience I had two years ago. On a family outing to the Dripping Rock area of the Blue Ridge Parkway, we explored a trail that leads from the west side of the Parkway. After…
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• All About the Stamens September 2, 2020
  By Betty Truax, Jefferson Chapter Years ago, when I lived in Northern Virginia, my mom gave me a Mock Orange plant that had no scent. It was a shared plant from her friend Anna Davis in Rochelle, Virginia. The plant was important to my mom because it reminded her of being young. With this particular…
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• Purple Passionflower Pops in Summer July 30, 2020
  By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Chapter Driving along sandy roadsides and fields of the coastal plain in summer, it is always a delight to find our native Purple Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata), a deciduous vine with dark green, three-lobed leaves and exquisite, showy flowers and edible fruit. This vigorous vine is native to the southeastern United…
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• Early Explorations of Elephant Ears (Magnolia macrophylla): A Personal Note May 26, 2020
  By Marion Lobstein From the age of 9, I grew up as Marion Louise Coble in Stanley, NC from 1955 through 1968. As a child I explored the woods about my home on North Peterson Street. An intersecting street was East Poplar where I found a woody plant with very large leaves. I even pressed…
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• The First 10 Years of VNPS: How We Began May 12, 2020
  By Ed Ballard, 1992 This retrospective account of VNPS and Potowmack Chapter beginnings shows that volunteers can make a difference with knowledgeable leaders, willing associates and continuity of purpose. In April 1982, District Naturalist Susan Allen (now long-range planner) with the Fairfax County Park Authority enlisted plantsperson Mary Painter to conduct three meetings at County…
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• Pinxterblooms: Performing Now April 23, 2020
  By Betsy Washington, Northern Neck Chapter As I write in mid-April, the lovely Pinxterbloom Azaleas (Rhododendron periclymenoides) are blooming along our roadsides, stream-sides and on forested slopes around Northern Neck. Found from New York to Georgia, these graceful deciduous shrubs flaunt eye-catching clusters of tubular rosy pink flowers at the tips of their branches. If…
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• Elizabeth Rawlinson: Virginia Plant Pioneer April 7, 2020
  By Nancy Sorrells Almost a century ago, a bright, intelligent woman named Elizabeth Rawlinson roamed the Augusta County countryside in the southern Shenandoah Valley looking for plants and writing about her observations of the natural world. She was a well-known horticulturalist and writer and, and I would also categorize her as an early Shenandoah Valley…
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