The vascular flora of Fall Creek Falls State Park (FCFSP), Van Buren and Bledsoe Counties, Tennessee, was documented during the 2001–2002 growing seasons. This site encompasses ca. 8,900 ha on the western escarpment of the Cumberland Plateau. The majority of the park lies on the upper surface of the plateau with the rest located in numerous rugged gorges that dissect the plateau surface. Numerous plant communities and unique microhabitats occur on the upper plateau surface, in the deep gorges, and along the many streams that fuel the waterfalls for which the park is named. A total of 2,224 accession numbers and 47 previous collections from the site housed at TENN and VDB yielded 131 families, 445 genera, and 879 species. The non-native flora consisted of 110 species or 12.5% of the total flora. Sixteen species with either a state or federal listing were encountered or documented during this study with the most notable ones being: Spiraea virginiana, Thuja occidentalis, Nestronia umbellula, Pilularia americana, Hydrocotyle americana, and Berberis canadensis. Voucher specimens were deposited in the Herbarium of The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (TENN).

Plant cover, density, and standing crop biomass were measured and compared in a created wetland and an adjacent freshwater marsh (reference wetland) in Charles City County, Virginia. No significant difference was observed between monthly standing crop in the created wetland and the reference wetland. Species composition differed between sites (mean SI < 0.50) with no significant relationship between species composition and distance from adjacent seed source. Dominant species in the created wetland (Eleocharis obtusa, Juncus acuminatus) were dissimilar to those of the reference wetland (Dichanthelium dichotomum var. dichotomum, Scirpus cyperinus). Results suggest that if both standing crop and composition are going to be used to establish short-term goals for a created wetland, these two measures should not be considered interdependent. Further, the high relative importance of perennials within the created wetland does not fit primary succession predictions, indicating that certain wetland perennials utilize “annual” strategies when substrates are available. Management alternatives should accommodate establishment of these species, which are important in early successional development of created wetland sites.

A vegetation study was conducted within central Pennsylvania's Ridge and Valley Province at the Mohn Mill natural area, an area that harbors the federally endangered northeastern bulrush, Scirpus ancistrochaetus. A non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination identified two gradients of species replacement distinguished by differences in forest canopy species and groundcover. Basal-diameter histograms for red maple (Acer rubrum), eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), and witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) showed distributions indicative of populations recruiting new individuals, whereas basal-diameter distributions for white oak (Quercus alba), chestnut oak (Q. montana), and red/black oak (Q. rubra/Q. velutina) indicate declining populations with limited recruitment. Consequently, as current populations of overstory oaks age and ultimately die, they will be replaced by red maple and eastern hemlock. This transition has major implications for herbaceous plants, including the persistence of the northeastern bulrush, given that ground-level light levels will decrease due to the denser canopies of red maple and eastern hemlock recruits.

In this study, we used multilocus allozyme markers and maternity exclusion analysis to estimate dispersal distances in an old-growth population of a wind-dispersed conifer, Pinus palustris. Of 2,618 seeds analyzed, 11.3% did not have maternal parents within 75 m, 7.8% had a single possible maternal parent, and 80.9% had more than one possible maternal parent within 75 m. Using a variety of methods, a consensus dispersal curve was obtained and can be described as a broad mono-modal curve with peak dispersal at a distance of 35–60 m from the parent. Total gene flow beyond 75 m was calculated to be 54%, suggesting that a substantial percentage of gametes dispersed beyond 75 m. Results indicate that seeds of longleaf pine have the potential to disperse greater distances than previously reported, which may explain, in part, the low levels of genetic structure in this old-growth population.

Stenanthium gramineum (Ker-Gawl.) Morong (grass-leaved lily) is known historically from 19 populations in 13 counties in Illinois. Seven populations in the southern one-third of the state are extant and three extirpated; nine could not be located. Population size ranged from 106 plants at the Richand County site to 611 at a Pope County site. All of the populations occupied an area of 75 m² or less. Flower production was not observed at any of the sites in 2002. The populations occurred on acid soils in a floodplain forest, in upland forests with north- and east-facing slopes, and a gravel wash of an intermittent stream.

A survey of myxomycetes was conducted at three sites within Cedars of Lebanon State Park, Wilson County, Tennessee from May 1 to September 30, 1993. Fructifications that developed on samples of bark and plant debris placed in moist chamber cultures were used to supplement field collections. The present report deals with 216 specimens representing 54 species of myxomycetes. Two of these (Comatricha fimbriata and Hemitrichia intorta) are new reports from Tennessee.