Jackie Poole, Texas Parks and Wildlife botanist from Austin, will speak to the Fredericksburg Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas on “Rare Plants of Texas” on September 30 at the Gillespie County Historical Society of Texas Building, 312 West San Antonio Street in Fredericksburg, beginning at 7:00pm. Poole co-authored a book, Rare Plants of Texas, with William Carr, Dana Price and Jason Singhurst. The meeting is open to the public and there will be no charge.

Poole, a native of Kerrville, earned her B.A. and M.A. degrees in Botany from the University of Texas in Austin. She is a botanist in the TPWD’s wildlife diversity program and former curator of the University of Texas and Harvard University herbariums. She has authored numerous status reports and recovery plans for endangered plants. Poole has worked with the rare plants of Texas since 1982.

Poole will talk about various rare plants of the more than 225 species of endangered and threatened native plants found in Texas, with special emphasis on those plants found in the Texas Hill Country. She will discuss the general location and distribution, habitat, threats, management and recovery actions of plants featured in the book. Many of these plants are not covered in the numerous field guides written about our Texas’ abundant wildflower diversity.

For more information on this program and the Native Plant Society of Texas, please call Stephanie Sutton at 830-990-2942.