This Land, Your Land

A prescribed burn at Hanging Rock State Park in the next couple of months will protect the endangered Schweinitz's sunflower, the Division of Parks and Recreation said this morning.

The burn in 2.5 acres containing the Schweinitz's sunflower is scheduled for this winter or early spring, as weather permits.

The Schweinitz's sunflower is endemic to the Piedmont of North and South Carolina, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. It is a perennial herb that grows from 1 to 2 meters tall from a cluster of tuberous roots (see below).

Regular fire cycles are necessary for the flower to survive, the state parks news release says, and the burn is to remove competing Virginia pines and other shrubby vegetation shading the sunflowers.

Schweinitz's sunflower (Helianthus schweinitzii)