A Gathering of “Sedge Heads”

December 18, 2019

For those of you not hip to botanical slang, “Sedge Heads” refers to a group of plant enthusiasts that specialize in identifying sedges, a type of graminoid. Jenny Adkins, Lead Botanist, fancies herself as one, and Jim Palus, Restoration Specialist, as well. In May, they had the unique opportunity to train with Dr. Rob Naczi, the Arthur J. Cronquist Curator of North American Botany at the New York Botanical Garden. During this workshop, held at the Edge of Appalachia (EOA) in Adams County, they worked through detailed botanical text to identify herbarium specimens, as well as observed a variety of State, Federal, and Globally rare species within the EOA Preserve. This workshop was aptly timed, as their recently honed skills were applied to several rare plant surveys this year, resulting in the identification of four rare sedge species across Ohio!