Curious about the unique plants treasured by our low country neighbors? Join us on July 18 in Landrum as Keith Bradley shares “Rare Plants and Botanical Oddities of Low Country Wildlife Refuges.” The program at the Landrum Depot begins at 7 p.m.; refreshments at 6:30.

Keith was recently asked by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services to survey and map the rare plants of the national wildlife refuges in the low country, including the Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve in Horry County, S.C. According to Keith, there was not a lot of previous botanical work done in these reserves.

“They didn’t really know what they had,” he says, “so I was starting from scratch.”

In his talk, he will highlight some of the unusual finds he discovered during his work surveying rare plants in the low country. He hopes that by attending the meeting, people will enjoy learning about some of the unique plants he has discovered in the wildlife refuges. He is especially passionate about the rare plants that aren’t usually given much attention. Some plants, such as the dwarf spring lily (or pygmy spider lily), are “under the radar in the conservation community,” according to Keith.

Keith Bradley has been a research botanist for over 25 years, with expertise in plant taxonomy and conservation, and has authored southeastern US plant identification guides.

– article submitted by Jessica Harwood