b. 1944
Bruce Sorrie with Taxodium ascendens in Moore County, North Carolina in 22 November, 2011.
Photo by Kathy Ann Walsh.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium (NCU) is Bruce Sorrie’s primary repository for specimens collected for the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program and for other botanical projects throughout the southeastern United States. He has deposited over 5,000 specimens at NCU, and has been an Associate of the Herbarium since 2003. He usually signs his specimens as “B. A. Sorrie”. He is the author of several taxa including Crocanthemum suffrutescens (B. Schreib.) Sorrie, Crocanthemum greenei (B.L. Rob.) Sorrie, Crocanthemum scoparium var. vulgare (Jeps.) Sorrie, Gaylussacia bigeloviana (Fernald) Sorrie & Weakley, Lycopus cokeri H. A. Ahles ex Sorrie, Lechea pulchella var. ramosissima (Hodgdon) Sorrie & Weakley, Lilium pyrophilum M. W. Skinner & Sorrie, Smilax bona-nox L. var. littoralis Coker ex Sorrie, Carex austrodeflexa P.D. McMillan, Sorrie, & van Eerden, and Lobelia batsonii A. B. Pittman & Sorrie.
Other herbaria curating specimens collected by Sorrie include Harvard University Herbaria (GH, NEBC, A), Smithsonian Institution (US), Florida State University (FSU), Florida Museum of Natural History (FLAS), Auburn University Museum of Natural History (AUA), North Carolina State University (NCSC), Duke University (DUKE), University of Mississippi (MISS), Mississippi Museum of Natural Science (MMNS), Delaware State University (DOV), Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT), Delta State University (DSC), George Mason University (GMUF), Missouri Botanical Garden (MO), New York Botanical Garden (NY), University of North Carolina at Pembroke (NCZP), Northern Illinois University (DEK), Southern Weed Science Research Unit of the USDA/ARS (SWSL), University of Colorado, Boulder (COLO), University of Georgia (GA), University of Michigan (MICH), University of South Carolina, Columbia (USCH), University of Vermont (VT), University of Wisconsin (WIS), Valdosta State University (VSC), Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve (WEWO), and William & Mary (WILLI).
Bruce Sorrie was born in Andover, Essex County, Massachusetts on 11 July 1944, graduated from Phillips Academy in 1963, and earned a
B.S. in Vertebrate Zoology from Cornell University in 1967. “After military service as a photographer and various positions as an ornithologist, it became clear that my deepening interest in plants was pointing towards a career in botany. In 1979 I accepted a position as a Botanist with the Natural Heritage Program in Boston, Massachusetts and remained there for 12 years, studying the rare flora of the state. In 1999 a colleague and I published the first complete catalog of the flora of Massachusetts. Increasing interest in the flora of the southeastern United States coastal plain led to a move to North Carolina in 1991. Through natural areas inventories and rare species surveys, I have studied coastal plain phytogeography from Virginia to Texas, primarily within the Longleaf Pine ecosystem. The North Carolina natural areas which I have inventoried include Fort Bragg and Camp Mackall (military facilities), Sandhills Game Land, Holly Shelter Game Land, and the counties of Richmond, Cumberland, Hoke, Tyrrell and Dare.” Sorrie retired from the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program in April, 2014.
In September, 2011 Hexastylis sorriei was named in his honor by L. L. Gaddy. Sandhill Heartleaf “is noteworthy in its ability to withstand and prosper in an ecotonal habitat exposed to frequent, hot fires… Hexastylis sorriei can generally said to be rare and local. Fort Bragg and Camp Mackall [in North Carolina], where annual burning is widespread, are the only locations where the Sandhills Heartleaf can said to be common.”1
In 2011 the University of North Carolina Press published Sorrie’s “A Field Guide to the Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region: North Carolina,South Carolina and Georgia.” The book is available for purchase at the North Carolina Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
Sorrie, B.A. 2020. Eremochloa ophiuroides (Poaceae) –– Distribution and collection chronology in the United States. Phytoneuron 2020-18: 1–7.
Pittman, A.B. and B.A. Sorrie. 2020. Lobelia batsonii (Campanulaceae), a new species from the sandhills of the Carolinas. Phytoneuron 2020-79: 1–9.
Weakley, A. S., D. B. Poindexter, R. J. LeBlond, B. A. Sorrie, E. L. Bridges, S. L. Orzell, A. R. Franck, M. Schori, B. R. Keener, A. R. Diamond, Jr., A. J. Floden, and R. D. Noyes (2018) New combinations, rank changes, and nomenclatural and taxonomic comments in the vascular flora of the southeastern United States. III. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 12(1): 27-67.
Weakley, A. S., D. B. Poindexter, R. J. LeBlond, B. A. Sorrie, C. H. Karlsson, P. J. Williams, E. L. Bridges, S. L. Orzell, B. R. Keener, A. Weeks, R. D. Noyes, M. Florez-Cruz, J. T. Diggs, G. D. Gann and A. J. Floden (2017) New combinations, rank changes, and nomenclatural and taxonomic comments in the vascular flora of the southestern United States II. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 11: 291-325.
Sorrie, B. A. and A. S. Weakley (2017) Stenanthium leimanthoides and S. densum (Melanthiaceae) revisted, with the description of two new species. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 11: 275-286.
Sorrie, B. A. and A. S. Weakley (2017) Reassessment of variation within Polygala cruciate sensu lato (Polygalaceae). Phytoneuron 2017-37: 1-9. Published 1 June 2017. ISSN 2153 733X.
Sorrie, Bruce A. (2016) Reinstatement of Diodia harperi (Rubiaceae), as southeastern USA coastal plain endemic. Phytoneuron 2016-3: 1-13.
Noss, R. F., W. J. Platt, B. A. Sorrie, A. S. Weakley, D. B. Means, J. Costanza and R. K. Peet (2015) How global biodiversity hotspots may go unrecognized: lessons from the North American Coastal Plain. Diversity & Distributions 21: 236-244.
Sorrie, B. A. and R. J. LeBlond (2014) Eleocharis fallax (Cyperaceae): Recent collections and morphological comparison with E. ambigens and E. montevidensis. Phytoneuron 2014-7: 1-7.
Sorrie, B. A. (2014) The maritime variant of Smilax bona-nox (Smilacaceae). Phytoneuron 2014-16: 1-3.
Sorrie, B. A., R. J. LeBlond and A. S. Weakley (2013) Identification, distribution, and habitat of Coreopsis section Eublepharis (Asteraceae) and description of a new species. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 7: 299-310.
Sorrie, Bruce A., Wesley M. Knapp, L. Dwayne Estes, and Daniel D. Spaulding (2012) A new Sisyrinchium (Iridaceae) from Cedar Glades in northern Alabama. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 6(2): 323-329.
Weakley, Alan S., Richard J. LeBlond, Bruce A. Sorrie, C. Theo Witsell, L. Dwayne Estes, Kanchi Gandhi, Katherine Gould Mathews, and Atsushi Ebihara (2011) New combinations, rank changes, and nomenclatural and taxonomic comments in the vascular flora of the southeastern United States. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 5(2): 437-455.
Sorrie, Bruce A., Patrick D. McMillan, Brian van Eerden, Richard J. LeBlond, Philip E. Hyatt, and Loran C. Anderson (2011) Carex austrodeflexa (CYPERACEAE), a new species of Carex sect. Acrocystis from the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 5(1): 45-51.
Sorrie, B. A. (2011) A field guide to the wildflowers of the Sandhill Region: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC.
Sorrie, B.A. (2010) A new variety of Eutrochium purpureum (Eupatoriaeae: Asteraceae). Phytoneuron 2010-43: 1-6.
Straub, S. C. K., B. A. Sorrie and A. S. Weakley (2009) A new name for an old Amorpha (Fabaceae). J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 3: 151-155.
Sorrie, B. A., A. S. Weakley and G. L. Nesom (2009) Pyxidanthera. Pp. 336-337 IN Flora of North America Editorial Committee. Flora of North American North of Mexico, volume 8: Magnoliophyta: Paeoniaceae to Ericaceae. Oxford University Press, New York.
Sorrie, B. A., A. S. Weakley and G. C. Tucker (2009) Gaylussacia. Pp. 530-535 IN Flora of North America Editorial Committee. Flora of North America North of Mexico, volume 8: Magnoliophyta: Paeoniaceae to Ericaceae. Oxford University Press, New York.
Sorrie, Bruce A. and Richard J. LeBlond (2008) Noteworthy collections from the southeastern United States. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 2(2): 1353-1361.
Sorrie, Bruce A. and Alan S. Weakley (2007) Notes on the Gaylussacia dumosa complex (Ericaceae). Journal of the Botanical Research Insitute of Texas 1 (1): 333-344.
Sorrie, Bruce A., Brian R. Keener, and Adrienne L. Edwards (2007) Reinstatement of Sagittaria macrocarpa (Alismataceae). Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas 1 (1): 345-350.
Sorrie, Bruce A. and Alan S. Weakley (2007) Notes on Lechea maritima var. virginica (Cistaceae). Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas 1 (1): 367-368.
Sorrie, Bruce A. and Alan S. Weakley (2007) Recognition of Lechea pulchella var. ramosissima (Cistaceae). Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas 1 (1): 369-372.
LeBlond, Richard J., Edward E. Schilling, Richard D. Porcher, Bruce A. Sorrie, John F. Townsend, Patrick D. McMillan and Alan S. Weakley (2007) Eupatorium paludicola, sp. nov. (Asteraceae): A new species form the coastal plain of North and South Carolina. Rhodora 109 (938): 137-177.
Schilling, Edward E. , Richard J. LeBlond, Bruce A. Sorrie and Alan S. Weakley (2007) Relationships of the New England Boneset, Eupatorium novae-angliae (Asteraceae). Rhodora 109 (938): 145-160.
Sorrie, B.A., J.B. Gray, and P.J. Crutchfield (2006) The vascular flora of the longleaf pine ecosystem of Fort Bragg and Weymouth Woods, North Carolina. Castanea 71: 127–159.
Sorrie, Bruce A. (2005) Alien vascular plants in Massachusetts. Rhodora 107 (931): 284-329.
Sorrie, Bruce A. (2004) The status of rare vascular plants that bear Michaux’s name. Castanea Occasional Papers 2: 158-168.
LeBlond, R. J. and B. A. Sorrie (2003) Status survey for Thorne’s beaksedge (Rhynchospora thornei Kral). Report to North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, Raleigh, and to Endangered Species Office, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Raleigh, NC.
MacRoberts, M. H., B. R. MacRoberts, B.A. Sorrie, and R. E. Evans (2002) Endemism in the west Gulf Coastal Plain: importance of xeric habitats. Sida 20: 767-780.
LeBlond, R. J. and B. A. Sorrie (2002) Status survey for Carolina bog-mint (Macbridea carolinaina (Walter) Blake). Report to North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, Raleigh, and to Endangered Species Office, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Raleigh, NC.
Skinner, M. W. and B. A. Sorrie (2002) Lilium pyrophilum M. Skinner & B. Sorrie, a new species in Liliaceae from the Sandhills of the Carolinas and Virginia. Novon 12: 94-105.
McMillan, P.D., R. K. Peet, R. D. Porcher, and B. A. Sorrie (2002) Noteworthy botanical collections from the fire-maintained pineland and wetland communities of the coastal plain of the Carolinas and Georgia. Castanea 67: 61-83.
LeBlond, R. J. and B. A. Sorrie (2001) Additions to and noteworthy records for the flora of the coastal plain of North Carolina. Castanea 66: 288-302.
Sorrie, B. A. and A. S. Weakley (2001) Coastal plain vascular plant endemics: phytogeographic patterns. Castanea 66: 50-82.
Sorrie, B. A. (2000) Status survey for southern three-awned grass (Aristida simpliciflora) in Florida. Report to Florida Natural Areas Inventory, Tallahassee.
Sorrie, B. A. (2000) Rhynchospora leptocarpa (Cyperaceae), an overlooked species of the southeastern United States. Sida 19: 139-147.
Sorrie, B. A. and S. W. Leonard (1999) Noteworthy records of Mississippi vascular plants. Sida 18: 889-908.
Sorrie B. A. and P. Somers (1999) The Vascular Plants of Massachusetts: A County Checklist. Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program. 187 pp.
Kral, R. and B. A. Sorrie (1998) Proposal to conserve the name Eriocaulon lineare (Eriocaulaceae) with a conserved type. Taxon 47: 741-742.
Sorrie, B. A. (1998) Distribution of Drosera filiformis and D. tracyi (Droseraceae): phytogeographic implications. Rhodora 100: 239-260.
Sorrie, B. A. (1998) Noteworthy collections from Georgia. Castanea 63: 496-500.
Sorrie, B. A., B. Van Eerden, and M. J. Russo (1997) Noteworthy plants from Fort Bragg and Camp Mackall, North Carolina. Castanea 62: 239-259.
SOURCES:
- Gaddy, L.L. (2011) A new species of Hexastylis (Aristolochiaceae) from the Sandhills of North and South Carolina. Phytoneuron 2011-47: 1-5.