4/13/2011
Margaret Denison walked miles of trails in her lifetime. Many of those miles were at Kanawha State Forest near Charleston and other state park areas in West Virginia. The book "Flora of Kanawha State Forest: Wildflowers, Trees, Shrubs, Ferns and Grasses” is based on the notes, journal and work of Margaret Denison and explains the best times to find blooming flowers, trees and shrubs within the forest. Complete with illustrations and descriptions, index and color photographs, the spiral bound volume is an interpretive resource for the casual or avid hiker. The guidebook contains 154 pages printed on heavy, water-resistant stock paper at a convenient size of 6 by 8.5 inches. It is spiral bound for easy reference in the field.
"Flora of Kanawha State Forest" is available at the Kanawha State Forest office or during the Osbra Eye Memorial Hike at Kanawha State Forest on April 23 and the Margaret Denison Fall Nature Walk on September 10. The guidebook, produced with volunteer labor, costs $14.95, with proceeds benefiting the Kanawha State Forest Foundation.
For more information about Kanawha State Forest, visit
www.kanawhastateforest.com or Kanawha State Forest Foundation at
www.ksff.org.
About Margaret Denison
Margaret Denison taught science and botany in Kanawha County schools for a number of years and was well known in the forest community. From the first Spring Wildflower Walk in 1991, she was one of the most knowledgeable and dependable leaders. Denison did not concentrate on botanical terminology, but rather on the flora including ferns, grasses and sedges. These were identified by their common names and origins and further elaborated with delightful folklore. Margaret was a Life Member of the Kanawha State Forest Foundation and a generous monetary donor to Forest projects.
Margaret spent countless hours in the 1960s identifying and cataloging the flora of Kanawha State Forest in collaboration with then-Superintendent Osbra L. Eye. Denison and Eye compiled the booklet, "Flowering Plants of Kanawha State Forest," published in 1967. In 1975 she received an award from the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources for the listing of 710 flowering plants, 42 ferns and their allies, and 138 grasses and sedges in the Forest.
Margaret suffered a debilitating stroke in 2002 and moved to Arizona to be near her family. Sadly, she died on January 2, 2003. As a tribute to Margaret in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the Forest and the Foundation, the Fall Nature Walks were renamed in 2003 in her honor. With permission of the Denison and Eye families, "Flowering Plants of Kanawha State Forest" has been updated.
Contact Information
Kevin Dials, Asst. Supt, Kanawha State Forest
304-558-3500
Kevin.A.Dials@wv.gov