Red Top Mountain high:Georgia aster found

Published 3:36 pm Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Submitted by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources



Several large populations of Georgia aster, a candidate for the federally threatened list, were found in September at Red Top Mountain State Park and on adjacent U.S. Army Corps of Engineers property near Cartersville.

This colorful, fall-blooming plant has eye-catching deep purple flowers with white centers. “I’d never had the chance to see this plant blooming in the wild. It is gorgeous – no other flower has such a distinguishing deep velvet purple color,” said Lisa Kruse, a Georgia Wildlife Resources Division botanist.

The discovery indicates that forest management practices including deer hunting and prescribed fire are working at Red Top Mountain. The find is the first on record for Georgia aster in Bartow County. The species is recovering steadily at nearby Pickett’s Mill Battlefield Historic Site, where prescribed fire has been used to restore open prairie habitat.

The Wildlife Resources Division and the Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance are working to help restore Georgia aster to its native habitat. The discovery of these populations is important because the plants are in their natural habitat on state lands, making them easier to protect and manage. Georgia aster requires open, grassy meadow habitats, so most remnant populations persist along roadsides or in utility right of ways.