Natural Highlights: Rare Plants of the Walker Tract

The Wolf River Conservancy recently hosted its first hike into a part of the Ghost River State Natural Area formerly known as the Walker Tract.  The highlight of the trip was a visit to a unique upland plant community which supports several unusual and rare plant species.  There are four species in particular which are known to occur here and are designated by the state of Tennessee with S1 status, i.e., species with five or fewer known occurrences in the state and at risk of extirpation.  

The most famous of these S1 species is a tree, the Sand Post Oak (Quercus margaritiae), identified at this location back in 2001 by naturalist David Smith and botanist Claude Bailey. This small oak dominates the Sand Post Oak Woodland plant community but, while  abundant on the Walker Tract, Sand Post Oaks are not known to occur anywhere in Tennessee except the southeast corner of Fayette County where the Walker Tract is located.  These tough little trees do occur in the sandhills of Alabama and other more southern states, well-adapted to the sandy outcroppings where they grow and likely to benefit from occasional fire.

The other three S1 species are grasses (graminoids): the Capillary Flatsedge (Bulbostylis coarctata), Plukenet’s Flatsedge (Cyperus plukenetii), and Chapman’s Redtop (Tridens chapmanii), all recently found in the Sand Post Oak Woodland openings where trees and leaf litter are sparse, along with other more common plants such as Prickly Pear Cactus.  Painstaking field work and a careful, trained eye are required to spot these obscure species and understand their significance.  

It is quite possible that more rare plants are waiting to be discovered in the Sand Post Oak Woodland community of the Walker Tract, but why stop there? Unusual plant communities tend to support unusual animal species as well, such as the Yucca Giant Skipper, a butterfly, which lays its eggs on the yucca plants in the area and was the first county record for this species several years ago.  A team of herpetologists led by Dr. Steve Reichling is currently investigating the snake and amphibian species in the tract, hoping to add a rare species or two to the uncommon species like the Eastern Coachwhip already known to occur here.  A host of opportunities await for learning more about this rare community.

The 96-acre Walker Tract was protected by the Wolf River Conservancy in 2022 in partnership with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation which added the land to the Ghost River State Natural Area.

We recommend this great article on the Walker Tract by TDEC Stewardship Ecologist Allan J. Trently in the July/August 2024 issue of The Tennessee Conservationist.

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