I first started teaching Biology 420 (Spring Flora) in the spring of 1974. Since the subject matter dealt with plant identification, I began to look for the basic Manual for the identification of the Virginia Flora. I discovered, sadly, that such a manual does not exist. Instead I used the Manual of the West Virginia Flora by Strausbaugh and Core. Then I used the Manual of the Flora of the Carolinas by Radford, Ahles and Bell. Obviously these did cover the basic Virginia Flora because of the proximity of these states. I began to examine why we did not have a Flora of Virginia and discovered a story which is at once long and tedius. Students hear this story through lectures in both Biology 420 and 425.

There have been attempts to compose a Virginia Flora. In 1923 the Virginia Academy of Science formed the Virginia Flora Committee. This committee was charged with the construction of a Manual. It was composed of botanists around the state. These botanists came from the academic community. The composition of the committee rotated over time. I am currently on the committee and served as its chairman for two terms. These botanists do all they can to encourage the publication of floristic studies of the Flora in a manual format. Basically you take a plant group, as I did with Aster (Asteraceae), Sisyrinchium (Iridaceae) or the Fumariaceae, and study that group at the taxonomic level. This involves taxonomic keys, species descriptions, maps of distribution and other pertinent information for that group. The committee had two versions of its own journal. The first was called Claytonia. It was eventually replaced by Jeffersonia. I edited this last journal for 8 years. Neither of these exist today. Today material relating to the Virginia flora are published in Castanea or the Journal of the Virginia Academy of Science. The former journal is the publishing arm of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Club.

The most important contribution to date concerning our state flora is the Atlas of the Virginia Flora. The major force behind that work was Dr. Alton Harvill, Jr., and his wife Barbara. The official publishing group is called Virginia Botanical Associates. Many state botanists are members of that group. Basically the Atlas is a series of distribution maps of the flora of the state. These maps are organized first by family and then by species name. Dr. Harvill and his wife contributed most of the "dots" in these maps themselves by traversing the state for many years. Other botanists have made contributions with their own collections. My work with the Shenandoah Valley flora is included in the Atlas. Dr. Harvill made some decisions as to nomenclature, and at least in terms of my own studies in this area, his decisions have been sound. No one can really do additional work on the Flora without going to that Atlas. Dr. Harvill is now retired and widowed. The major collection which formed the Atlas is kept at Longwood University, where Dr. Harvill taught in the department of Natural Sciences.

Typically an Atlas is the first major step toward the construction of a manual. You have the species list done and the geographic distribution is set. From that material you can write the keys, descriptions, etc. Many manuals started out in that fashion, as did those from West Virginia and the Carolinas. Typically a Manual is the work of one or just a few Senior authors who do the work but also include the work done by others on special groups. For instance, Strausbaugh and Core borrowed, with assignment of credit, from the botanical literature.

Work on the Manual of the Virginia Flora continues. The major resource for such an undertaking is money. Several individuals are active in this process. The cohesive force behind this is the work of Marion Lobstein, of Northern Virginia Community College at Manassas. Marion published a neat little book about the flora of the Washington, D.C. area. She is an active botanist and teacher. Through her connections with various state organizations, interest in financing a Flora of Virginia has increased significantly. Two botanists have stepped up to be the senior authors of the Manual: J. Christopher Ludwig and Alan Weakley. The process and plan of this proposed Manual is given in some detail by clicking here.

An Advisory Board of interested botanists has been structured, and I was invited to attend the first meeting in Richmond February 9, 2002.  This first gathering included 36 of the 48 who were invited.  The list reads as a "who's who" of Virginia Botany over the past 50 years.  Chris and Alan have wisely brought in these folk for advice and counsel.  The benefits were immediate.  A wide range of topics were dealt with, and in a surprising amount of detail given the shortness of the meeting.  A Listserv has been formed for the group, and once it is up, there will be a secure Website where all of us have a chance for input as the project continues.   One possibility for this particular manual is that it could be augmented by a permanent Website, or perhaps a CD Rom.  My interest in chromosome number data for the Virginia Flora, which I have been compiling for some time, either from my own counts or from the literature, could be actually summarized in some detail either at the Website or on the CD Rom.  What impressed me most about the Advisory Board was the amicability of the group.  I really believe we are going to get it done, and done right.

During my sabbatical leave, I focused on the genus Trillium (Lilaceae) in Virginia. I chose the trilliums because they will be challenging to work with, are statewide in distribution, and have chromosomes that are large enough to study beyond mere counting. This is my last sabbatical. The goal is to make this a contribution to the Virginia Flora Project. I also want to complete my studies on the chromosome numbers of Vascular Plants. As the years go by, however, I certainly want to do all I can to support the Flora project, even as I move into retirement.