The longleaf pine ecosystem has often been described as North America’s most diverse forest ecosystem, and longleaf, like few other ecosystems, fostered diversity within and outside its canopy. But understanding the diversity of that diversity will be critical not only to maintaining longleaf pine but also to restoring forest ecosystems that can survive the dramatic changes of the next century, while more equitably serving the people who live there.

We’re celebrating the amazing longleaf pine habitat this spring. Drop in at the discovery station for a celebration of all things longleaf pine trees! How do they grow? Why do they need fire? What animals depend on them? Find out! Try your hand at pine needle painting and cone stamping, and then enjoy a scavenger hunt for a prize.

A virtual presentation with Camille Dungy, award-winning poet and distinguished professor at Colorado State University. Camille Dungy’s most recent book recounts the role her garden played in her experiences as a university professor, author, wife, and mother, including the challenges of different ecosystems involved in moving to new home sites with the COVID pandemic as backdrop. Her story is rooted in real life events that are both insightful and inspirational.

Since its initial inception more than 30 years ago, Alan Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern United States has expanded to cover more than 10,000 plant species across 25 states. From printed books to digital PDFs, to a modernized suite of web and mobile apps, the Flora is an ever-evolving suite of tools and products that continue to facilitate and enhance botany across the southeast.

Join Alan and Southeastern Flora team members Michael Lee (Data Scientist, NCBG) and Scott Ward (Research Botanist, NCBG) as they provide an in-depth tour of FloraQuest: Carolinas and Georgia, a new mobile app designed for phone or tablet that helps users identify all wild-growing plants from North Carolina to Georgia. In this program, the flora team will demonstrate how to identify plants in FloraQuest using dichotomous keys, graphic keys, diagnostic photographs, and a botanical glossary. After their presentation, the Flora team will then show how to use botanical characters such as flower color, growth form, geographic location, and flowering month to identify plants in the diverse wildflower beds of the North Carolina Botanical Garden.