Welcome to the "Trees and Shrubs of the University of Richmond" project website. The project was begun in the summer of 2001 at the University of Richmond Biology Department. It is the original idea of Tihomir Kostadinov, the author of this website, and is guided by Prof. W.J. Hayden, professor of botany and chair of the biology department. The project is funded by the Undergraduate Research Committee at the University of Richmond.
Goals and Opportunities for Further Development
The primary goal of the project is to document fully the woody species
growing presently on the University of Richmond campus. Currently, the
project has focused on woody dicot species, including trees, shrubs and
lianas. Ginkgo biloba has also been included. The inventory
claims completeness in describing and cataloging those. However,
it is always possible for a new species to be discovered on campus, both
in the wild and cultivated areas, and/or some corrections/verifications
to be added. Conifers have not been included. They comprise
an area of suggested further development. Some plants have been identified
to the genus only, and need further study to be identified completely (see
Statistics).
Also due to the nature of the project -- a summer research -- most
plants have been documented in early spring and summer stages of development.
Further development would comprise an addition of photographical images
of plants in early and late autumnal and winter stages, as well as more
complete spring images in order to represent a full year-round developmental
cycle. Dissecting microscopy of buds and flowers is also recommended
in order to enrich the project. Students interested
in developing the project further are strongly encouraged to contact the
webmaster and author of the project, Tihomir Kostadinov, or the supervising
botanist Dr. W.J. Hayden, or the Biology Department at the contact
information given below.
Description of the University of Richmond Campus: Location, Climate,
Plant Communities
Location: The University of Richmond Campus is located about
7 km northwest of the city of Richmond, the state capital of Virginia,
United States of America. The distance to the national capital Washington,
D.C. is 153 km to the north, and the distance to Virginia Beach, on the
Atlantic Ocean coast, is 161 km southeast. The campus is located
on the border of the Atlantic Coastal Plain and Eastern Piedmont.
The campus covers a total area of about 1.4 km2, or 1,400 daa
(1 daa = 1,000 m2), or 350 acres. The rough shape of the campus
is a quadrangle, the long sides of which are oriented northeast-southwest.
Both diagonals of that quadrangle are about 1.8 km. A detailed plan of
the campus, with the location of the five largest trees indicated, is available
here
(Warning: Big file, 523 K). The locations of the approximate center and
four extreme points of the campus according to map datum WGS84 are as follows:
| Point | Latitude, deg/min/sec | Longitude, deg/min/sec | Elevation above Mean Sea Level, meters |
| North Extreme | 37o35'03'' N |
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| East Extreme |
|
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| South Extreme |
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77o32'07'' W |
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| West Extreme |
|
|
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| Approximate Center |
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Climate: The nearest permanent and sophisticated weather station with continuous long-term climatological records is located at the Richmond International Airport (RIC). According to the general description of the climate of the region, provided by NCDC, the National Climatic Data Center, the climate of the University of Richmond is "modified continental." The latitude of the University falls within the mid-latitude global atmospheric circulation cell. Therefore, primarily western air mass drift is the climate-forming factor. Winters are mild, and summers are hot and humid. The long-term monthly and annual average temperatures and precipitation, in tabular and graphic form for RIC, are available here. The long-term average first occurrence of frost (0 oC) in the fall is in late October, and the last occurrence in spring is early to mid-April. According to data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory Resource Assessment Program, the long-term average annual solar energy in the area of the University of Richmond is 4-5 kWh/m2/day. The January average is 2-3 kWh/m2/day, and the July average is 5-6 kWh/m2/day. A horizontal flat panel facing south has been used for these measurements.
Plant Communities: The campus of the University of Richmond is in a suburban area and encompasses a considerable woody plant species diversity. There are more than 170 species of woody dicotyledonous plants on campus, of 44 angiosperm families. The major factor contributing to that diversity is the presence of highly landscaped, manicured areas in close proximity to a lot of wild, relatively natural areas within the campus. The landscaped areas are characterized by decreased species diversity, but the introduction of a large number of exotic species throughout the years. The wild areas are characterized by high species diversity, including native plants and escaped and invasive exotics. Some identifiable natural and artificial plant communities include the dry, open, landscaped areas, the dry deciduous forests with their specific undergrowth, the wild shrubby patches along roads, and the vicinity of Westhampton Lake and its streams, which is home to some wetland species. The Westhampton Forest provides unique habitat to many species which comprise its undergrowth and are not encountered elsewhere on campus. Being a highly urbanized suburban area, all the plant communities of the University of Richmond are modified by the intentional or chance introduction of exotic or native plants whose natural habitat range does not normally include the area in which the University is located. That fact makes the task of inventorying and correctly identifying all woody plant species on campus a challenging one.
Materials and Methods
The species were photographed using a Nikon CoolPix 950 Digital Camera.
All of the images presented on this website come exclusively from within
the boundaries of the University of Richmond campus. The images were
vouchered with herbarium specimens, which were
pressed,
fan-dried and preserved at the
University of Richmond
Herbarium, URV, the curator of which is the aforementioned Dr. W.J.
Hayden. It should be noted that the individual plant photographed is not
necessarily the individual plant vouchered, although in most cases that
is true. The voucher number(s) is indicated on the page for each
species. The brief descriptions provided are modified excerpts from
the botanical literature descriptions for the species identified. (see
Bibliography)
The family classification used is the Gleason and Cronquist (1991) classification,
with the realization that there exist other and more recent classifications.
For a detailed classification hierarchy excerpt for all the families encountered
in this project, click here.
Instructions for Navigation
The website is organized around each species, and a separate page has
been dedicated to each species. The species list has been sorted by family
name, genus name, and common name to ease users in finding a species of
interest. A narrow horizontal black navigation bar with all important
links is always present at the top of the page, facilitating navigation.
Each species' page may contain links to more images, which open full-size
in a new browser window. To return to the page viewed before, just close
the browser window with the image. To view the image on the page itself
full-size, either right click on it and choose "View image (*.jpg)" (Netscape),
or download it (right click on the image and choose "Save Image as..."),
(Internet Explorer), and view it in any image viewing/editing program available.
Copyright Notices:
This website is the sole property of the authors and the University
of Richmond, except for: (1) the brief descriptions provided for each species,
which are modified excerpts from the cited
botanical literature; (2) climatic data, which were obtained from National
Climatic Data Center and National
Renewable Energy Laboratory Resource Assessment Program. Copying
or distribution in any form, in part or in whole, of materials presented
on this website, is strictly prohibited unless permission is granted by
the authors. Academic use of the materials for non-profit purposes that
does NOT involve duplicating the content as a whole, is hereby granted.
Author, Webmaster:
Tihomir Kostadinov
e-mail: tkostadi@richmond.edu
URL: http://www.student.richmond.edu/~tkostadi
Co-author, Supervising botanist, Chair of the Biology Department
at the University of Richmond:
Dr. W.J. Hayden
Gottwald Science Center
University of Richmond, VA 23173
Phone: 804.289.8232; 804.289.8229
FAX: 804.289.8233
e-mail: jhayden@richmond.edu
URL: http://www.richmond.edu/~jhayden
Department of Biology, University of Richmond
Administrative assistant: Joan Pietras
Gottwald Science Center, E-105
University of Richmond, VA 23173
Phone: 804.289.8871
FAX: 804.289.8233
URL: http://www.richmond.edu/academics/a&s/biology
