ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Officials say a rare flower has been rediscovered in Maryland after 112 years.
The riverbank goldenrod was found in Montgomery County. The state’s Department of Natural Resources officials made the announcement Wednesday.
Wes Knapp, a botanist and ecologist for the agency who found the yellow flowering plant, says the goldenrod is in Virginia but hasn’t been seen in Maryland since 1903.
“We know that the riverbank goldenrod’s seeds can easily travel by way of wind gusts and water flows,” said Knapp, in a news release.
“When I looked at the proximity of the Virginia population, I predicted riverbank goldenrod would be somewhere in the Potomac Gorge in Maryland, but there was no guarantee we’d find it. Plants don’t always show up where you expect them.”
Knapp and a team of researchers began their search in 2014. It wasn’t until a second outing in September 2015 when they found a patch of goldenrods, just west of Bethesda.
Also known as Solidago rupestris, the riverbank goldenrod is a member of the sunflower family. Officials say it’s very rare on the East Coast, and is found along river edges scoured by floods.
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