Two West Virginia University professors have coauthored an atlas of more than 2,500 native and naturalized Appalachian plant species.
Checklist and Atlas of the Vascular Flora of West Virginiais written by Donna Ford-Werntz of the Department of Biology and William Grafton of the Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences. Also coauthoring the book is botanist Paul J. Harmon from the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.
Ford-Werntz is an associate clinical professor of biology and herbarium specialist and Grafton is an associate professor in the Wildlife and Fisheries Resources Program in the Division of Forestry.
The book contains lists and maps of flora from 93,000 specimens, most of which are housed in the WVU Herbarium.
The herbarium is the largest collection of preserved plant specimens in West Virginia and recently became part of a National Science Foundation-funded project to create an online plant collections network. This collection of dried, pressed plants documents floristic and taxonomic diversity, particularly in the Appalachians. The herbarium contains about 160,000 specimens, over 20,000 plant color photographic slides and a botanical library.
Herbaria can help identify species and geographical areas that need to be conserved, as well as the potential impacts of habitat disturbance and global climate change on flora, the plant life of a particular region.
The 381-page book contributes to this study by providing a detailed checklist of botanical names and classifications, indicating whether the species are native, introduced or exotic to the state. The work contains both common and technical botanical names. It is helpful for botanists, ecologists, foresters, biologists, land managers, naturalists, horticulturalists and gardeners.
For more information on the plant specimens or herbarium, contact Ford-Werntz at dford2@wvu.edu . For more information on the book or to order a copy, visithttp://fwww.wvnps.org/flora.htmor contact Janet Iseli, 304-637-0245 or janetiseli@wvdnr.gov .