As far as botanizing goes, 2016 was an extraordinary year. I saw almost four dozen new-to-me species of flowering plants in Death Valley, more than six dozen species of in Iceland, and about two dozen in southwestern Colorado. You can read about these finds by scrolling through the archives for March and April (for Death Valley), and June and July (for Iceland).
Even though all this travel cut into my time in the Potomac gorge, I got out to other locations in the piedmont. And so I found even more new species. Here’s a 2016 retrospective, a hit-parade of the best new finds.
Galearis spectabilis
showy orchis
Orchidaceae
Galearis spectabilis, white form
Obolaria virginica
pennywort
Gentianaceae
Rhododendron periclymenoides
pinxter azalea
Ericaceae
Hypoxis hirsuta
yellow star grass
Hypoxidaceae
Aralia nudicaulis
wild sarsaparilla
Araliaceae
Viola palmata
three-lobe violet
Violaceae
Cypripedium acaule
pink lady’s slipper
Orchidaceae
Baptisia australis
blue wild indigo
Fabaceae
Goodyera pubescens
downy rattlesnake plantain
Orchidaceae
Hypericum gentianoides
orangegrass
Hypericaceae
Cunila origanoides
common dittany
Lamiaceae
Diodella teres
poorjoe
Rubiaceae
Polygala sanguinea
purple milkwort
Polygalaceae
Sabatia angularis
rosepink
Gentianaceae
Trichostema dichotomum
blue curls
Lamiaceae
Euthamia graminifolia
grass-leaved goldentop
Asteraceae