The flora of Mammoth Cave National Park

Mckinney, Landon; Evans, Marc; Nicely, Kenneth

The purpose of this study was to update and document the vascular flora of Mammoth Cave National Park while paying particular attention to rare species and unique communities. A checklist of the known flora of the park is presented. This represents a total of 866 species and four varieties known to occur within the park's boundaries. These taxa represent 117 families and 434 genera. The largest families include Asteraceae (136 spp.), Poaceae (75 spp.), Fabaceae (44 spp.), and Cyperaceae (41 spp.). The largest genera include Carex (27 spp.), Quercus (15 spp.), Aster and Solidago (14 spp. each), and Viola (13 spp.). Of these, 21 species are currently listed as endangered, threatened, or of special concern for the Commonwealth by the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission. Four are under review by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for possible endangered or threatened status. While most of the park's acreage consists of second-growth woodlands, a number of unique communities such as cool mesic ravines, wetlands, and open barrens contribute much to the park's overall biological diversity and harbor many of the known rare species. The paper recommends that these important communities should be monitored closely to help insure their continued existence.