Summer Native Flora ID

This class, taught by Naturalist Scott Dean, blends four botanizing walks (3 hours long) with two convenient online sessions (1.5 hours long) to give participants practice identifying native mountain flora and learning the characteristics of plant families. While the focus is on summer wildflowers, participants can also pick up a wealth of information on the natural and cultural history of the native flora of the Blue Ridge. Also included is an asynchronous introduction for an overview of the non-technical keying system Scott uses for teaching how to recognize and accurately identify wildflowers. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide and Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley and the Southern Appalachians are recommended as references.

Schedule of class dates:

Tuesday, July 9, 2024 | ONLINE - Zoom 10am - 11:30am

Wednesday, July 10, 2024 | FIELD 10am - 1pm

Saturday, July 13, 2024 | FIELD 10am - 1pm

Tuesday, July 16, 2024 | ONLINE - Zoom 10am - 11:30am

Wednesday, July 17, 2024 | FIELD 10am - 1pm

Saturday, July 20, 2024 | FIELD 10am - 1pm

Scott Dean was born and raised in the mountains of southern Appalachia, specifically the coalfields of West Virginia and southwestern Virginia. He developed the original Ecology, Botany, and Zoology curricula for the Blue Ridge Naturalist Program, and has been both a classroom and field instructor with the program since its inception. He has led walks for UNC Asheville and the Cullowhee Native Plants Conference, been a featured speaker at the Great Smoky Mountain National Park Wildflower program, and spoken at various social and civic events in the Asheville area over the last twenty years.

Host or Publisher The NC Arboretum Adult Education Programs