A Guide to the Wildflowers of South Carolina

by Richard Dwight Porcher Jr., Douglas A. Rayner

Overview

More than 680 species of flora in full color, for desk or field use

Admired by plant enthusiasts, botanists, and nature lovers of all ages, wildflowers comprise one of the most beloved—and diverse—groupings of flora in South Carolina. Although relatively small in size, the Palmetto State hosts a remarkable variety of wildflower species, from the trillium and bloodroot that brighten its forests to heliotrope and common toadflax that dot the state's roadsides and fields. With color photographs (all by Richard D. Porcher) and extensive descriptions of more than 680 species, A Guide to the Wildflowers of South Carolina offers a complete and indispensable reference for finding and appreciating these natural treasures.

Employing the same innovative approach Richard D. Porcher used in Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry, he and Douglas A. Rayner simplify the task of identification by grouping species according to habitat. For each species identified, Porcher and Rayner include interesting facts—many of which are not widely known or readily available—about rarity, suitability for garden cultivation, and origin of common and scientific names.

Of added interest, the botanists share itineraries for more than fifty wildflower expeditions and short essays on a variety of topics, including carnivorous plants, Carolina bays, native orchids, medicinal plants and folk remedies, poisonous plants, edible plants, and the role of fire in natural communities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781570034381
Publisher:	University of South Carolina Press
Publication date:	01/31/2002
Pages:	596
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.25(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Richard Dwight Porcher is a professor of biology and director of the herbarium at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. An authority on the flora of South Carolina, he is the author of Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry and Lower Pee Dee and a co-author of Lowcountry: The Natural Landscape. He was born in Berkeley County, South Carolina, and received his B.S. from the College of Charleston and Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina. Porcher trained under Dr. Wade T. Batson and serves on the South Carolina Heritage Trust Advisory Board and the Scientific Advisory Board of the South Carolina Nature Conservancy. Porcher lives in Mount Pleasant.

Table of Contents

	List of Figures	xiii
	Preface	xv
	Acknowledgments	xvii
	Introduction	xix
	Purpose and Scope	xix
	Physiographic Regions of South Carolina	xxi
	Nature of the Flora	xxiii
	What are Wildflowers?	xxiv
	Conservation of Native Wildflowers	xxv
	Collecting Native Wildflowers	xxvii
	How to Use this Field Guide	xxviii
	Origins of Plant Names	xxxi
	Notes on Wildflower Photography	xxxiv
	Rarity of Vascular Plants	xxxv
	Pronunciation Guide to Scientific Names	xxxvii
	Natural History of Selected Groups of Vascular Plants	1
	Carnivorous Plants	1
	Native Orchids	5
	Poisonous Plants	7
	Woody Vines	8
	Epiphytic Vascular Plants	10
	Saprophytic Vascular Plants and Mycotrophy	11
	Parasitic Vascular Plants	12
	Medicinal Plants and Folk Remedies	13
	Edible Wild Plants	17
	Naturalized Plants	19
	Duckweeds	21
	History of Field Botany in South Carolina	23
	The Colonial Period: 1670-1785	24
	The Antebellum Period: 1785-1860	26
	The Civil War and the Postbellum Period: 1860-1900	31
	1900-1952: the Beginning of Modern Field Botany	33
	1952-1983: the Wade Thomas Batson Era in South Carolina	36
	Field Botany Today in South Carolina	38
	Selected Topics on Natural History and Ecology	39
	Succession in Natural Communities	39
	Fire in the South Carolina Landscape	41
	Carolina Bays of the Coastal Plain	43
	Reproductive Strategies of Vascular Plants	46
	Economic and Cultural Notes	50
	Longleaf Pine and the Naval Stores Industry	54
	Agriculture and Forestry: Effects on South Carolina's Physical Landscape	56
	Marshes, Swamps, Peatlands, Bogs, and Fens	65
	South Carolina's Natural Wildflower Communities	69
	The Mountains	69
	The Granitic Dome Community	69
	Granitic Domes	69
	The Spray Cliffs Community	70
	Spray Cliffs	70
	The Seepage Communities	71
	Cataract Bogs	71
	Montane Bogs	71
	The Rocky Streamsides Community	72
	Rocky Streamsides	72
	The Deciduous Forest Communities	73
	Cove Forests	73
	Chestnut Oak Forests	74
	Woodland Margins	75
	Montane Oak-Hickory Forests	76
	The Evergreen Forest Communities	76
	Canada Hemlock Forests	76
	Pine-Oak Heaths	77
	The Piedmont	78
	The Granitic Flatrocks Community	78
	Granitic Flatrocks	78
	The Rocky Shoals Community	79
	Rocky Shoals	79
	The Deciduous Forest Communities	80
	Basic-Mesic Forests	80
	Beech Forests	81
	Oak-Hickory Forests	82
	Piedmont Xeric Hardpan Forests	83
	The Piedmont Springhead Seepage Forest Community	84
	Piedmont Springhead Seepage Forests	84
	The Bottomland Forest Communities	85
	Bottomland Forests	85
	The Fall-Line Sandhills	86
	The Xeric Communities	86
	Longleaf Pine-Scrub Oak Sandhills	86
	Longleaf Pine-Turkey Oak Sandhills	87
	The Sandhills Seepage Communities	88
	Streamhead Pocosins	88
	Herbaceous Seepages	88
	Atlantic White-Cedar Forests	89
	The Coastal Plain	89
	The Pine Communities	89
	Longleaf Pine Flatwoods	89
	Pine/Saw Palmetto Flatwoods	90
	Longleaf Pine Savannas	91
	Longleaf Pine-Turkey Oak Xeric Ridges	92
	The Sandy, Dry, Open Woodlands Community	93
	Sandy, Dry, Open Woodlands	93
	The Calcareous Forest Communities	93
	Calcareous Bluff Forests	93
	Wet, Flat, Calcareous Forests	94
	The Bottomland Forest Communities	94
	Bald Cypress-Tupelo Gum Swamp Forests	95
	Hardwood Bottom Forests	95
	Levee Forests	96
	The Peatland Community	97
	Pocosins	97
	The Pond Cypress Communities	98
	Pond Cypress Savannas	98
	Pond Cypress-Swamp Gum Upland Swamps	99
	The Freshwater Marsh Communities	99
	Tidal Freshwater Marshes	99
	Inland Freshwater Marshes	100
	The Freshwater Floating Aquatics Community	100
	Freshwater Floating Aquatics	100
	The Depression Meadow Community	101
	Depression Meadows	101
	The Maritime Strand	102
	The Maritime Communities	102
	Coastal Beaches	102
	Coastal Dunes	102
	Maritime Forests	103
	Salt Marshes	104
	Salt Flats	104
	Maritime Shell Forests	105
	Species Descriptions and Color Plates	107
	The Mountains	107
	The Piedmont	170
	The Fall-Line Sandhills	225
	The Coastal Plain	245
	The Maritime Strand	343
	The Ruderal Communities	365
	Field Guide to Natural Plant Communities	409
	The Mountains	409
	Greenville County	409
	Caesar's Head State Park (Raven Cliff Falls Trail to Raven Cliff Falls Overlook)	409
	Eva Russell Chandler Heritage Preserve	409
	Watson Heritage Preserve (Mathews Creek Bog)	410
	Mountain Bridge Trails	411
	Table Rock State Park	414
	Oconee County	416
	Buzzard Roost Heritage Preserve	416
	Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens District	417
	Pickens County	420
	Foothills Trail (Laurel Valley-Laurel Fork Falls)	420
	Jocassee Gorges (Lower Eastatoe Creek Bluffs)	422
	The Piedmont	422
	Abbeville County	422
	Sumter National Forest: Long Cane-Edgefield Districts	422
	Aiken County	424
	Savannah River Bluffs Heritage Preserve	424
	Chester County	425
	Landsford Canal State Park	425
	Greenville County	426
	Bunched Arrowhead Heritage Preserve	426
	Lancaster County	427
	Flat Creek Heritage Preserve (Forty Acre Rock)	427
	Laurens County	428
	Sumter National Forest: Tyger and Enoree Districts	428
	McCormick County	430
	Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve	430
	Sumter National Forest: Long Cane-Edgefield Districts	431
	Pickens County	432
	Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve	432
	Union County	434
	Sumter National Forest: Tyger and Enoree Districts	434
	York County	435
	Rock Hill Blackjacks Heritage Preserve	435
	The Fall-Line Sandhills	436
	Chesterfield County	436
	Cheraw State Park (Hudsonia Flats)	436
	Sandhills State Forest (Sugarloaf and Horseshoe Mountains)	436
	Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge	437
	Lexington County	439
	Peachtree Rock Nature Preserve	439
	Shealy's Pond Heritage Preserve	439
	The Coastal Plain	440
	Aiken County	440
	Aiken Gopher Tortoise Heritage Preserve	440
	Bamberg County	441
	Cathedral Bay Heritage Preserve	441
	Barnwell County	442
	Craig Pond	442
	Beaufort County	442
	Victoria Bluff Heritage Preserve	442
	Berkeley County	443
	Francis Marion National Forest	443
	Old Santee Canal Park	444
	Wadboo Creek Calcareous Bluff Forest	445
	Charleston County	445
	Francis Marion National Forest	445
	Santee Coastal Reserve	446
	Clarendon County	447
	Bennett's Bay	447
	Dillion County	447
	Little Pee Dee State Park	447
	Dorchester County	448
	Francis Beidler Forest	448
	Georgetown County	448
	Samworth Wildlife Management Area and Great Pee Dee River	448
	Hampton County	449
	Webb Wildlife Center	449
	Horry County	449
	Cartwheel Bay Heritage Preserve	449
	Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve	450
	Little Pee Dee River Heritage Preserve (Vaughan Tract)	450
	Jasper County	451
	Tillman Sand Ridge Heritage Preserve	451
	Kershaw County	451
	Savage Bay Heritage Preserve	451
	Lee County	452
	Longleaf Pine Heritage Preserve	452
	Orangeburg County	452
	Santee State Park	452
	Sumter County	453
	Woods Bay State Park	453
	The Maritime Strand	453
	Charleston County	453
	Accreted Beach at Sullivan's Island	453
	Beachwalker County Park	454
	Colleton County	454
	Edisto Beach State Park	454
	St. Helena Sound Heritage Preserve (Otter Island)	454
	Glossary	457
Appendix 1	South Carolina Herbariums	471
Appendix 2	Keys to Heartleafs, Rhododendrons, and Trilliums of South Carolina	473
Appendix 3	Illustrations of Plant Structures	477
	General References	481
	Literature Cited	491
	Index of Scientific Plant Names	495
	Index of Common Plant Names	509
	General Index	531

Editorial Reviews

Useful and informative.

the Journal of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Castanea

A most comprehensive state plant field guide and an excellent resource for the natural history of plants in South Carolina and surrounding states.

Choice magazine

"A most comprehensive state plant field guide and an excellent resource for the natural history of plants in South Carolina and surrounding states." Choice magazine

From the Publisher

After 100 pages of text detailing the history of field botany and ecology in the state, the species descriptions begin, divided by region: Mountains, Piedmont, Fall-Line Sandhills, Coastal Plain, and Maritime Strand. Two or three species are featured on each page (711 species in all), with a color photo, genus and species name, description, range, habitat, and comments. Authors Porcher (biology, The Citadel in Charleston) and Rayner (biology, Wofford College in Spartanburg) have included a field guide to natural plant communities, describing various preserves and national forests where wildflowers may be found. Three indices let readers search by general plant name, scientific name, and general topic. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)