Dr. Larry Pounds Dr. Larry Pounds earned his doctorate in plant ecology from the University of Tennessee. Since then he has been fortunate enough to make a living mostly “hiking around” looking for rare plants. He has worked as a botanical consultant for several organizations, currently TVA and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He serves on the boards of the Tennessee Native Plant Society, Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning and Cumberland Trails Conference. He often leads wildflower walks for the public.…

Description: We will caravan from the Exxon to the Lower Piney River Trailhead to start a shuttle leaving some cars there. We will then carpool to the Stinging Fork Falls Trailhead. From there we hike back to the Piney River Trailhead. This section of the Cumberland Trail was completed in the fall 2018. What spring flowers we will see is hard to predict. The route is definitely scenic. Total walking distance will be about 6 miles. The trail is up…

Description:  We will explore the Chestnut Mountain and Polly Branch Trails where we hope to see large stands of pink lady’s slipper (Cypripedium acaule) and mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia), and if we’re lucky, we might be able to catch the end of the bloom season for other spring ephemerals such as dwarf ginseng (Panax trifolium). A few woody perennials may be in bloom, too, including Dutchman’s pipe (Aristolochia macrophylla) and nine-bark (Physocarpus opulifolius) Directions/Meeting Place: In De Rossett 8 or…

Our second Board meeting of the year will be held online via Zoom at 6:00 pm Central Time (7:00 pm Eastern Time). Karen will email the meeting link to Board members. All TNPS members may attend, but must contact Karen via info@tnps.org for the link.

Milo Pyne Milo Pyne serves as NatureServe’s Senior Regional Ecologist at the Durham, North Carolina office. He is well-versed in the flora and vegetation of this region, and has worked with NatureServe, its member programs, and The Nature Conservancy for over 20 years on vegetation, Ecological Systems classification, and mapping issues in the southeastern United States. Milo’s geographic area of focus is the coastal plains, piedmont, and interior low plateaus of the southeastern United States. He was one of the…

Description: For those that missed the 2019 trip, this is your opportunity to again see orchids and other rare plants. The “Oak Barrens” of Coffee County provide some of the best examples of TN rare plants that also occur in the Gulf Coastal Plain and the prairies of the Midwest. As a result, Coffee County is one of only three counties in Tennessee with 50 or more rare plant species. We will visit the AEDC first to see native orchids:…

Cooper Breeden Cooper Breeden is the Conservation Coordinator of the Tennessee Plant Conservation Alliance, a initiative that connects university programs, botanical gardens, government agencies, land managers, environmental consultants, and botanical experts to facilitate the conservation of rare plants across the state. Cooper is also Conservation Coordinator of the Southeastern Grasslands Initiative. Both positions are through Austin Peay State University. Seminar The Tennessee Native Plant Society is hosting monthly Native Plant Seminars during 2021. These seminars are held via Zoom on…