DOBSON – Schweinitz’s Sunflower, or Helianthus Schweinitzii if using its scientific name, is an endangered, native perennial plant that is only found in a few populations in Surry County. There was a time when it grew naturally at Pilot Mountain State Park, and Park Superintendent Matt Windsor wants to re-establish it there.
Windsor contacted Jeff Jones, the Science Division chair at Surry Community College, and a partnership was formed.
“Several of our classes and students have worked to propagate the plant with the goal of the park being able to reintroduce,” says Jones. “Cuttings were collected in previous seasons, and seed has been collected several times for germination trials.”
The fall 2019 Applied Plant Science (HOR-162) class and the spring 2020 Introduction to Botany (BIO-120) class were involved in researching techniques and germination protocols. Work-study student Brandan Shur was instrumental in the success of the most recent round of seedlings, getting the seed started and monitoring their culture.
Jones says, “Plants have been donated on a couple of occasions, and hopefully, the project will continue when we can get back to using the greenhouse after the COVID-19 stay-at-home order is lifted.”
Winsdor added, “We greatly appreciate the efforts of Jeff, Brandan, and Surry Community College in providing the time, expertise, and greenhouse space for this partnership to occur and look forward to more collaborative projects in the future.”
“Schweinitz’s Sunflowers are only left in one place in the world: a small part of the Piedmont between Surry and Stokes counties and northern South Carolina, and only then are they found in a few small scattered populations,” Windsor said. “At one time, they thrived in an ecosystem that was called the Piedmont Prairie. This open sunny landscape with scattered trees would have looked familiar to the ancestors of many people in Surry County, but now is just a part of our natural heritage that we are working to restore at Pilot Mountain State Park.”
Schweinitz’s Sunflower is a perennial wildflower native to the piedmont of North Carolina. It is in the Aster Family and can grow anywhere from 3 to 12 feet. It prefers areas that have sun and part shade and has yellow blooms in August through October. It prefers woodlands or roadsides, and doesn’t do well in residential yards. To learn more about this flower, or other wildflowers in our state, visit www.ncwildflower.org.
Surry Community College is registering for summer and fall classes. Summer classes are scheduled to begin May 18, and fall classes begin Aug. 17. For more information, go to www.surry.edu.
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
Be First to Comment