Friends of the Arboretum Lecture
"A New Flora for the Southeastern United States"
Alan Weakley, Ph.D., University of North Carolina Herbarium, North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina
- Thursday, April 5, 2007 – 7:30 pm–9:00 pm
The Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Albert E. Radford, Ph.D.; Harry E. Ahles; and C. Ritchie Bell, Ph.D.) has been the standard flora for the Carolinas (and much of the Southeast) since it's publication in 1968. Alan Weakley, Ph.D., is nearing completion of a new flora covering the approximately 6,500 species south of the Mason-Dixon line, east of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, and north of the Florida peninsula. The very extensive changes in our understanding of the rich Southeastern flora over the last 40 years are the result of new taxonomic research (including new methods including gene-sequencing), increased botanical inventory and exploration of specialized and unusual habitats with high potential for disjunct and endemic plants, and naturalization of additional alien species. For the Carolinas alone, 4,500 taxa are recognized, compared to 3,500 in Radford, Ahles, and Bell (1968), with about 450 new aliens considered naturalized or potentially so, 200 new natives discovered to occur in the Carolinas, 100 newly named species, and a net increase of 250 as a result of "splitting" and "lumping." These changes have serious implications for plant identification, education, conservation, biogeographic and ecological research, and sharing of floristic information. The new flora is available online and in draft printed copies.
- Cost
- Free for Friends of the JC Raulston Arboretum members, NC State University students (with ID), and Department of Horticultural Science faculty and staff, all others $5.00. Bring your membership card to check in quickly, but as always, we will have a membership list at registration.
- Registration
- Advance registration is not available.
- Location
- Ruby C. McSwain Education Center at the JC Raulston Arboretum.
- Directions
- Need directions? Click here.
- Parking
- Free parking is available at the JC Raulston Arboretum and along Beryl Road.
- Questions
- Please call (919) 513-7005 for more information about this event.