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.
We thought the middle of September might be cooler than the middle of July. Maybe, but not by much. At least we were armed with our parasols this time! We had intermittent interruptions when runners from the Third Annual Brevard Cross Country Classic, hosted by Brevard College & featuring runners from Brevard, Columbia, Greensboro, Johnson & Wales University Charlotte, Milligan University, and USC Upstate, came dashing past us. Good thing the paths were nice & wide & it gave us an excuse to examine the plants that were a little further from the trail edges.

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 Cindy Carpenter, Sarah King, & Penny Longhurst. Click on any picture to zoom & enter the slide show.