Botany and Forestry

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Officials at the W.Va. Division of Forestry are urging West Virginians to be cautious of burning amid dry, windy winter conditions. Assistant State Forester Jeremy Jones said high winds, warm temperatures, and a lack of rain and snow have conspired to create inflammable conditions. “Our winter hasn’t seen as much precipitation as … Read more

BEAVER, W.Va. — Say what you will about groundhogs, their ability to predict the arrival of spring is nowhere near as accurate as that of frogs: like clockwork, spring peepers will herald the return of light and warmth in central Appalachia in late February and early March. Triggered by rising temperatures, the tiny frogs (Pseudacris … Read more

SAINT ALBANS, W.Va. — One of the best things about living in West Virginia is the opportunity to experience its cycles of growth. Whether in the lush forests along the Ohio and Potomac rivers or among the balding peaks of the Alleghenies, few places on Earth are as seasonally differentiated as the Mountain State. Biologists … Read more

SUNSHINE FARM, W.Va. — Winter and spring may be the best time of year to sing the praises of Symplocarpus foetidus, a.k.a. “Eastern Skunk Cabbage,” because this is when this unusual plant performs a magic trick. Before I tell you about the magic, let’s dispel an obvious negative. First of all, this plant does not … Read more

HINTON, W.Va. — You might not think a West Virginia town of fewer than 3,000 residents would be the ideal location for a booming tropical plant store. But then, you might not have met its owners or visited the southern reaches of America’s newest national park where nothing ordinary is happening. Botany Tropicals, owned by … Read more

INSTITUTE, W.Va. — West Virginia State University and Diversified Energy Co. are partnering to plant more than 10,000 trees around West Virginia in the coming year, thanks to a $125,000 donation Diversified made to fund the initiative. University President Ericke S. Cage said the project will engage many Mountain State communities, for which he is … Read more

SUNSHINE FARM, W.Va. — When it became my turn to present my current story proposal at our regular editorial board meeting, my pitch was resoundingly well received. Half of the editorial board had no idea that there was a geranium native to the U.S., and the other half couldn’t praise this plant highly enough. Just … Read more

MULLENS, W.Va. — Ginseng harvest season is open in West Virginia and will continue through Wednesday, November 30, according to the W.Va. Division of Forestry. Harvesting pulls up the ginseng root, ending the plant’s ability to replace itself with new generations. To help the herb’s last seeds grow, the hunter must, by law, plant them … Read more

When botanist Thomas Meehan died in 1901, I’m sure he went to the big forest in the sky feeling proud that Nathaniel Lord Britton had named a genus of plants in his honor. I’d also bet that he didn’t know how wonderful his namesake plant was. In fact, most people don’t know how wonderful Meehania … Read more

If you’ve read any of my past diatribes, you know that I favor scientific botanical nomenclature above common names. That’s caused many readers to come to think of me as a snob or know-it-all. That’s not the case! But, I’m going to save the “plant name” discussion for a later date. I just wanted to … Read more