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