here must have flourished in scattered openings or on steep slopes in the precolonial landscape , but they now adorn extensive abandoned agricultural fields that are only mowed once or twice a year . In mid-to-late summer , you will be greeted by an abundance of colorful wildflowers , including several
species of milkweeds , mountain mint , and native sunflowers , all visited by a diversity of butterflies and other insects . Some of this was augmented by seeding native species , but many of these plants have appeared on their own .
Younger forests , regenerated after agriculture was discontinued , also have a variety of naturally occurring native wildflowers – mayapples , early saxifrage , bloodroot , toothwort and others in spring and colorful wood asters and bluestem goldenrod in late summer . Invasive shrubs such as barberry , privet , honeysuckle and burning bush may crowd these out , but remove these and the wildflowers will usually return on their own . Loudoun County ’ s Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve features a mix of these plant communities - beautiful wooded , field and wetland plant communities accessed by its extensive trail system .
All of these naturally diverse places are threatened , most acutely by land use changes and invasive species . Frequent mowing , soil disturbance and construction , both kill plants directly and decrease the ability of both plants and the animals that depend on them to adapt to ongoing climate changes . Native plants are threatened by a plethora of highly competitive non-native plants , such as garlic mustard , stilt grass , mile-a-minute weed ; Callery ( or Bradford ) pear , and autumn olive , which invade abandoned farmland before it can succeed to native trees ; and larger trees , such as tree-of-heaven and Princess tree . Non-native vines such as Japanese honeysuckle and oriental bittersweet choke trees ( though native vines such as grapes and poison ivy form part of the natural forest plant community ). Some of these invasives , such as Callery pear and burning bush , are still planted intentionally .
So , go out and enjoy Loudoun ’ s natural heritage , and join volunteers to help remove invasive plants . Be sure not to cultivate any plants that are known to be invasive , and to replace any that might be growing on your property if you can . Advice on this can be found on the VA Department of Conservation and Recreation ’ s website . And to learn more about our native plants , join the Piedmont Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society on their ( free ) monthly plant walks . Just check out the website for the schedule and to sign up , and / or join .
Black-eyed Susan and beardtongue ( Rudbeckia hirta and Penstemon sp .) and Common wild quinine ( Parthenium integrifolium ), Banshee Reeks .
Dr . Emily Southgate is a Senior Scholar at Hood College . Her book , “ People and the Land Through Time . Linking Ecology and History ” ( Yale Univ . Press , 2nd edition , 2019 ) is the primary text for the field of historical ecology . She is President of the Piedmont Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society and a member of the Loudoun County Environmental Commission .
wander I FALL • winter 2022 13