Hosted by Joe Standaert, local historian and member of the Western Carolina Botanical Club. Our virtual wildflower event will begin with a discussion on wildflowers and the plant communities found in the Swannanoa Valley of western North Carolina. We will focus on the ecology and structures of these communities with emphasis on their characteristics and their associated native wildflowers. We will do a short “Botany 101” overview of flower parts and then look at wildflower photos for each environment type. Next, we’ll do an overview of the various basic, intermediate, and advanced field guides available for use in wildflower identification and how to use them. Finally we will do a “virtual” wildflower tour of a hike here in our valley, with flower identification and some items of natural history, cultural uses and interesting “factoids” about some of the plants.
About Joe Standaert: Joe holds a BS in Biology from Rutgers, a Masters from the Yale School of Forestry, and is Vice President of the Western Carolina Botanical Club.