Bay View Plays a Role in Updating the Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora

By Anne Parker

Anne Parker, a neighbor of Bay View and a Certified Virginia Master Naturalist with the Northern Neck chapter, is using her efforts towards recording the biodiversity at Bay View to serve a greater purpose. The Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora is an online reference which lists plant species occurring in Virginia and the counties in which those plants can be found. Northumberland, like some of our other local counties, is wonderfully rural and off the beaten path for many people, apparently also including botanists. As a result, there are many species that exist in Northumberland that have never been officially recorded for the county. For a species to be officially recorded, a proper specimen of the plant needs to be collected, pressed and dried. That specimen is then sent to an herbarium to be officially identified, mounted on archival paper, labeled and cataloged. Anne has been working with the University of Richmond Herbarium, but there are many other herbariums in Virginia, mainly housed at our universities and colleges.

So where does Bay View fit in? As Anne takes photos and identifies various species at Bay View, she checks to see if those species are officially recorded for Northumberland County. If not, Anne has received permission to collect samples and send them to the URV Herbarium. Once these samples are verified at the herbarium, the information will be passed along to the Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora, thus updating the official county record for Northumberland.

Anne is quick to say that she is not a trained botanist, but an enthusiastic amateur. “I love exploring the natural world, finding species new to me and seeing familiar ones in a new location. And as my friends often hear me say, ‘Every day I learn something is a good day!’”