Herbarium Hike to Piney Point

The community of plants that grow on the sandstone outcrops along the trail to Piney Point, including the rare elf orpine, is a special one. Meet Sewanee Herbarium curator Yolande Gottfried at 1:30 p.m., Saturday, May 2, at the tennis courts at St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School, beyond the football field, for this moderate one-to-two-hour walk. 

Wear appropriate shoes. Risks involved in hiking include physical exertion, rough terrain, forces of nature and other hazards not present in everyday life. Picking flowers and digging plants are prohibited in all of the natural areas where these walks take place. 

For more information call the Herbarium, 598-3346, or email <ygottfri@sewanee.edu>. 

Directions are available on the Herbarium website, <lal.sewanee.edu/herbarium/, under the calendar of events.

Explore Shakerag

This is a great time to visit Shakerag Hollow for a last look at winter botany and a first glimpse of wildflowers, which might include bloodroot, trout lily, Dutchman’s breeches and spring beauties. 

Meet Jon Evans at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 29, at Green’s View, and get an introduction to winter botany, as the woody plants will still mostly be bare of leaf. 

Mary Priestley will lead a walk in Shakerag Hollow starting at 10 a.m., Saturday, April 4; her focus will be on wildflowers. Shakerag’s early spring wildflowers are considered to be the most beautiful in the region.

Both hikes will meet at the Green’s View parking lot (past the golf course). The hike is a moderate-to-strenuous two miles, with one fairly challenging incline.

For more information call Yolande Gottfried at the Sewanee Herbarium, (931) 598-3346, or email <ygottfri@sewanee.edu>. Directions are available on the Herbarium website, <lal.sewanee.edu/herbarium/>, under the calendar of events.

Yeatman Award Winners Announced

Yolande and Robin Gottfried will be awarded the 2015 Harry C. Yeatman Environmental Education Award from the Friends of South Cumberland on April 11 at Trails & Trilliums. Robin is executive director of the Center for Religion and Environment at Sewanee, a University professor of economics, emeritus, and has published widely on the subject of eco-theology. Yolande, one of two curators of the Sewanee Herbarium, leads wildflower walks and is the author of a trail guide to Shakerag Hollow.

Walk Through Abbo's Alley

Take part in a Sewanee Family Weekend tradition. Meet at 7:45 a.m. at the corner of University and Georgia Avenues to join professor emeritus George Ramseur for an easy one-hour walk in the Abbott Cotten Martin Ravine Garden. All are welcome.

Sewanee Herbarium Hosts Wildflower Walk at Lake Cheston on Oct. 11

Join Yolande Gottfried at 1:30 p.m., Sat., Oct. 11, to look at some of the last wildflowers of the season. 

Meet at the picnic pavilion for this easy one-hour walk around the lake’s shores. Falls colors will be showing, and the group will look for blooming ladies’ tresses and perhaps turtlehead. 

The Sewanee Herbarium is sponsoring other noteworthy events this fall. 

On Saturday, Oct. 18, George Ramseur will guide a one-hour walk through the Abbott Cotten Martin Ravine Garden. This event has become a tradition of Sewanee’s Family Weekend.

Looking ahead: On Sunday, Nov. 9, Gottfried will lead an easy, two-hour walk on the paved section of the Mountain Goat trail.

The nature journaling group coordinated by Mary Priestley continues to meet, 9–11 a.m., every Thursday. In nice weather, they gather at Stirling’s Coffee House; otherwise, they meet in room 171 of Spencer Hall.

The Sewanee Herbarium is involved in education, research and conservation. It acquires and maintains plant specimens with emphasis on the flora of the Sewanee Domain and the four-county area. For more information go to <sewaneeherbarium.wordpress.com/>.

Explore the Memorial CrossTrails

The Sewanee Herbarium is sponsoring a hike of the trails adjacent to the War Memorial Cross. The group will take short forays in the most interesting directions, as well as talk about the trees and other plants near the Cross itself.

Meet at the Cross (at the end of Tennessee Avenue) at 4 p.m., Wednesday, July 9, to join Yolande Gottfried on this moderate one-hour walk.

The War Memorial Cross was built in 1922 as a memorial to all who died in World War I. Since then, its scope has been expanded to honor the students and citizens of Sewanee who also served in our nation’s armed forces during World War II, the Vietnam War, the Korean War and Desert Storm.

The Sewanee Herbarium is involved in education, research and conservation.
It acquires and maintains a collection of pressed plant specimens with emphasis on the flora of the Sewanee Domain and adjacent counties.

For more information go to < http://lal.sewanee.edu/herbarium>. 

So Many Ways to Enjoy the Mountain!

There are a multitude of activities on the Mountain this weekend: Family Weekend at the College, Taizé (see p. 4), readings at IONA: Art Sanctuary (p. 15), art exhibits in Carlos Gallery in the Nabit Art Building and in the University Gallery, the Fannie Moffitt Stomp (p. 14), the Sewanee Arts and Crafts Fair (p. 12), as well as an abundance of athletic contests. 

Here are two great ways to see the Domain offered by the Sewanee Herbarium.

Walk Through Abbo’s Alley—A Family Weekend tradition. Meet Mary Priestley at 7:45 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 12, at the Quadrangle for this easy one-hour walk in the Abbott Cotten Martin Ravine Garden. There are a surprising number of things to see and learn on this familiar trail.

Tour Sewanee’s newly-designated arboretum—Meet Margaret Woods at 1:30 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 13, at the arboretum map kiosk at the corner of University and Georgia avenues, near Convocation Hall. 

Woods, a George Washington University-trained landscape designer whose practice focuses on the use of native plants and the importance of environmental stewardship, will lead a leisurely and informative stroll around campus.

Wear appropriate shoes on all of these walks. Picking flowers and digging plants are prohibited.

For more information about Herbarium events call 598-3346. 

For a full calendar of events across the Plateau, as well as information about restaurants, services and shopping, go to <www.TheMountainNow.com>.

Hike Foster Falls with Priestley

Foster Falls has long been a favorite spot for fall wildflowers, but this is a first as a herbarium-sponsored walk. Meet at 1:30 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 29, at the Foster Falls parking area for this one-to-two hour easy walk with Mary Priestley in the power line right-of-way above the gorge. 

Contact the South Cumberland State Park Visitors’ Center for directions at (931) 924-2980.

Wear appropriate shoes on this walk. 

Risks involved in hiking include physical exertion, rough terrain, forces of nature and other hazards not present in everyday life. 

Picking flowers and digging plants are prohibited in all natural areas.

For more information call the Herbarium at 598-3346.