Learn which plants are native to the area where you live

The first step in learning about native plants is to learn what plants are native to the area where you live and how to identify them. The Virginia Native Plant Society regional guides are a good place to start. The guides can be downloaded for free or purchased as paperback books. The Native Plants for the Northern Piedmont guide covers the City of Charlottesville and surrounding counties including Albemarle and Nelson counties.

Many plant identification apps are now available to help you identify trees, shrubs, or perennial plants. The Discovery iPad program at the Rockfish Valley Foundation (RVF) allows you to check out an iPad at the Natural History Center (NHC) at Spruce Creek Park. The NHC is just a short distance from the Camille Memorial Trailhead. Each iPad has two plant identification apps loaded on it– Picture This and Seek by iNaturalist. You may use the iPad at Spruce Creek Park, but not on the other trails. The iPad needs to be returned before the center closes.

You can also download Seek by iNaturalist for free to your own phone – it helps you identify not only plants but also animals and fungi. Picture This also can be downloaded to your phone. There is a free one-week trial, but you will be charged a small annual fee if you decide to subscribe.

Once you know the name of a plant, the Flora of Virginia app is an excellent resource to identify whether a plant is native to where you live. The app provides color photos and descriptive characteristics about each plant including its natural habitat. It is available for a charge. Some of the same information can be found at no cost online at the Digital Atlas for the Flora of Virginia.

 Trees and Shrubs

You will see many native trees and shrubs on the Rockfish Valley trails. The Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) has provided white signs on wooden posts to help identify some common native plants in our area including trees (e.g., dogwood, walnut, Virginia pine) and shrubs (buttonbush, silky dogwood, smooth sumac). The QR codes on the signs link to information from Virginia Tech about each tree or shrub.

All the trees or shrubs with these signs are native to the Rockfish Valley except for the red-osier or red twig dogwood. This dogwood is native to nearby states but was planted along the river because of its value as a riparian buffer species.

The Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards provide additional resources about the benefits of trees and how to identify them.

Wildflowers

You will also see a variety of native wildflowers on the trails. The Virginia Master Naturalists have developed signs that are placed beside ten interesting wildflowers. Each sign has a QR code linking you to information, including fun facts about the plant.

Five of these plants are spring ephemerals, meaning that they bloom in the winter or spring before the trees get leaves. The plants die back and are not visible during the summer, only to reappear again the following winter or spring. These plants are skunk cabbage, mayapple, Dutchman’s breeches, golden ragwort, and bloodroot. The other five plants bloom in the summer or fall. They are milkweed, great blue lobelia, white turtlehead, common Joe-Pye weed and hairy leafcup.

Can you identify the wildflower from the list above that matches each fun fact below? Click on each question to see the answer.

Ferns, Vines, and Grasses

Other types of plants that are an important part of native plant communities include ferns, vines, and grasses. Ferns are one of the oldest plant families, as they were present over 300 million years ago. Some native ferns  (e.g., Christmas fern) stay green all winter and are known as evergreen ferns.  Other native ferns (e.g., sensitive fern) die back in the winter but emerge again in the spring.

Some common native vines include Virginia creeper and poison ivy. Poison ivy is not something you would plant in your garden due to the allergic reaction it causes when touched. However, poison ivy is beneficial to wildlife. For example, birds eat the berries and deer and rabbits browse the leaves. You will see poison ivy vines along the trails at RVF, as it does support wildlife. Learn to recognize its three leaflets and look but do not touch!

Virginia creeper looks like poison ivy but has 5 leaflets instead of 3. It is also beneficial to wildlife. The leaves can irritate your skin, but it is not as problematic as poison ivy. The red leaves in the fall provide beautiful fall color. Unlike invasive vines that can kill trees by strangling them or overloading them, native vines have evolved to live in relative harmony with trees in this area and do not normally kill them.

Some native grasses include woolgrass and Indian grass.  Native grasses have deep root systems that help prevent erosion. These grasses provide food and nesting sites for birds and small mammals such as rabbits.  

How many of these native plants can you find as you walk along the RVF trails?