Our walk was on the late Charles Pickelsimer’s private airstrip in Brevard. Mr. Pickelsimer left the 55 acre property, which lies in the French Broad River floodplain, to Brevard College and it was purchased by Transylvania County in 2020 for use as a recreational park.
With apologies to Noel Coward, apparently “Mad Dogs and Botanists Go Out in the Midday Sun”! It was HOT and not a cloud around, reaching 88 degrees by the time we crawled back to our cars.  But we saw some new and unusual plants, so maybe it was worth it.

Botanical plant names seem to change almost every day, but for now we use those approved by ITIS, the Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Plants that are non-native to North America are indicated by an asterisk (*) placed after the species name. Photography by Penny Longhurst & Joe Standaert. Click on any picture to zoom & enter the slide show.