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Uncommon Beauty

Arthur’s gauge of diversity served me well as I wandered the Appalachian woods in my  early teens.  But by the time I reached college biology, I was ready for a bit more hard data.  I had heard about the vast number of rare species that can be found in southwest Virginia, but now I began to wonder --- what makes a species rare?

A few of our region’s rare species have been hunted nearly to death.  Ginseng and Goldenseal have been dug by herb gatherers for centuries, and even deer had become uncommon in our area by the middle of the twentieth century due to hunting pressures.  Other species are rare due to habitat destruction --- plants and animals that require old growth forest are finding fewer and fewer places to call home as we cut down forests for wood and paper or just to claim the land for houses.

Some species are rare because their habitat is naturally rare.  Two counties west, The Cedars Natural Area Preserve is home to several rare species that can live only in the uncommon limestone glades habitat.  In many areas of The Cedars, thin soil and exposed bedrock prevent the growth of trees, resulting in patches of grasses and other herbs.  The habitat itself is considered globally rare, as are many of the species living there.

Scientists are less concerned about a third type of rarity --- species that are rare in one region, but common in other parts of their range.  For example, many northern species like Canada Violet find cool pockets to call home high in the southern Appalachian mountains.  These species are only locally rare.  Even though only a hundred individuals of some of these species may be found in the state of Virginia, tens of thousands are spread across the New England states.

Sugar Hill is home to six plant species that the state of Virginia lists as rare.  These species have no legal protection and most are secure on a global scale.  On the other hand, all are threatened in Virginia by habitat loss.  Most of them depend on the mature forests that can be found on Sugar Hill but that are less and less frequently seen in the rest of the region.

The numbers following the name of each rare plant in this book and website refer to the level of rareness of each species both globally ("G" followed by a number) and in the state of Virginia ("S" followed by a number.)  In each case, species are given a numerical rank ranging from 1 (extremely uncommon) to 5 (secure.)  The rank of each species is based on Townsend (2005), which includes the following explanations of the listed ranks: