SOUTHERN COMFORTS

A look at the woody plants and perennial wildflowers that make Ecoregion 8 sing with life

- JEFF COX

The brown thrasher is a year-round resident of the southeastern United States and the state bird of Georgia. This native bird relies on keystone plants like chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) for food in late summer and fall.

IN THE LAST ISSUE, we identified keystone plants of Ecoregion 5, the Northern Forests, which mingles with the upper part of the Eastern Temperate Forest, or Ecoregion 8. In the North, Ecoregion 8 runs from the Middle Atlantic states and southern New England west through the Ohio Valley to Wisconsin—roughly from the 40th to the 45th parallels.

But that's only half of the Eastern Temperate Forest region. The other half exists south of the 40th parallel, from Delaware west to Missouri, from Florida west to Louisiana, and all the land in between. In other words: the South, as distinct culturally as it is ecologically. That's our focus in this issue.

This region's keystone plants include the trees, shrubs and flowering perennials that attract the most butterflies and moths, whose larvae are caterpillars. These caterpillars are crucial food for the newly hatched chicks of spring. We'll also identify native plants that host pollen specialist bees. These bees rely on the pollen of these plants for their health—and consequently, their part of the health of the whole ecosystem.

This series would not have been possible without the work done by Dr. Doug Tallamy at the University of Delaware in identifying keystone plants and by Jarrod Fowler, who has identified the host plants of pollen specialist bees. We can all be grateful for their important work.