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CONTENTS Design works
01 Coastal Migration ..........................................04 Mobile, AL Teamwork Studio Project
02 Soil Factory ...................................................32 Birmingham, AL Individual Studio Project
03 Neighborhood Revitalization .........................48 LaGrange, GA Individual Studio Project
04 Columbus Riverwalk ......................................64 Columbus, GA Individual Studio Project
05 Plant Ephemerality ........................................76 Auburn, AL Individual Design Project
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Research works
06 80.................................................... Dirty Bama Alabama Individual Research Project
07 90............................................ Public Sediment San Francisco Bay, CA Graduate Research Assistant Project
Appendix: plant sketches
Contact yuna.gaoyuan@gmail.com +1(334)275-1892
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01 COASTAL MIGRATION
Year 2017 Type Studio Project Location Mobile, AL Course Studio Teammate Rui Wang The design focuses on coastal resilience issues that the state of Alabama is facing. This project takes Fort Morgan Peninsula as an example, uses design as a methodology, and engages complex and messy situations to help build better futures for coastal areas. Although the design is grounded in Alabama, the work does not stop at the state line, we believe that coastal resilient issues resonate with communities across the southeast, and beyond. 5
SEA LEVEL RISE The impacts of climate change are dramatic and everywhere, but nowhere are they more visible than in our dynamic relationship with the coastline. One of the most affected areas are the peninsulas. It is projected that sea levels will rise two feet by midcentury and six feet by 2100. The rising sea level will transform the landscape of coastal areas and decrease the land of the peninsula. We are talking about the time scale of hundreds of years, but we have to work on a shorter scale of several years to decades. The proposal frames the project work in a timeline that can happen within a reasonable period but also impacts the next hundreds of years.
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Mobile bay Vulnerable developed areas and wildlife 7
FORT MORGAN PENINSULA Although all of the beaches on the Fort Morgan Peninsula is public, access can be difficult to find. Unless one has their own accommodations with access to the beach, the peninsula is nearly impossible to reach, with currently only two public access points with parking lots. Both of these access points are inside separate units of the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge. Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge is “home” to a variety of wildlife. Many of these animals are threatened by losing habitat because of sea level rise. The refuge encompasses some of Alabama’s last remaining undisturbed coastal barrier habitat, including beach dunes and rolling pine-oak woodlands. With over 360 different species of birds documented on the refuge, Bon Secour is a birder’s paradise. Spring and fall bring an array of color with spectacular migratory bird populations traveling between their breeding and wintering grounds. There are endangered species in this region. The Alabama beach mouse that can be found in coastal dune ecosystems is one example. Its existence has been threatened by man’s steady development of the coast, as well as habitat loss and fragmentation. Thriving beach mouse populations are an indicator of healthy dune ecosystems which help protect coastal habitats, especially during hurricanes. Three different species of sea turtles have been documented nesting on the Gulf Coast. While Loggerhead’s are the most common, Green and Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles have also been known to nest on refuge beaches. Habitats on the peninsula have been cut into fragments because of human development (communities, recreational facilities, roads, etc.). When sea levels rise, wildlife lose their habitats and have to migrate inland. These developed areas can be constraints on their migration routes.
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Site analysis Fort Morgan Peninsula 9
MIGRATION CONCEPT The typical community can adapt to become more helpful to migration, improving both peoples’ experiences at a site scale and natural migration at a regional scale.
Concept diagram
People and wildlife migration 10
Responsible strategies Goals corresponding strategies in different situations 11
CONSTRAINTS AND PHASES New experiences will emerge within the island. A once homogenous way of living transforms into a dynamic and ever-changing migrating system, offering new experiences for the residents, students, and visitors. The design is divided into three phases. The first is link, which helps to reserve the critical beach habitat. The second is cohabit, makes people capable of living with wildlife. The third is grow, which strengthens the migratory corridor. These three phases are based on the time frame of sea level rise and vulnerability of land, from what people can achieve now to future development on the peninsula.
Site analysis Main constraints for the migration
Master plan Three phases and new experiences 12
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LINK Education is important. People need to know about migration. The link proposes to host tours and wildlife watching along the beach in collaboration with students, volunteers, and educators. The aim is to build on the idea that people engagement and persuasion plays a role in the design process.
Creating beach ridges Corridor and habitat for wildlife and provide volunteer and education opportunities along the beach 14
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COHABIT Beach ridges can be seen on the peninsula. A beach ridge is a wave-swept or wave-deposited ridge running parallel to a shoreline. A decline in water level (or an uplift of land) can isolate a beach ridge from the body of water that created it. Three major habitats are distributed as linear shape along the beach ridges - beach, marsh, and forest. The typical communities are organized cut through the beach ridges, which blocks the natural migration routes. The design proposes to reorganize these communities, make the construction orientation respond to the shape of beach ridges, and encourage natural migration routes. Under these circumstances, animals will not be disturbed by human dwellings, which can achieve the goal of cohabitation.
Community in different environments Beach/ marsh/ forest 16
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Community on the beach Community is parallel to the linear beach
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Community near the marsh Community is parallel to the linear marsh
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Community in the forest Community is parallel to the linear forest 20
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GROW To deal with future potential threats from climate change, it is necessary to change the way that people are dwelling. The future community will float on the sea, which can deal with sea level rise and expand the natural corridor. It will supplement the land people and wildlife lost. People who lost their home can have a choice to move to the new community. The community provides a new and safer way people living near the shore.
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Section Community responds to sea level rise
Site plan Floating community 23
ADAPTABLE COMMUNITY Functionally speaking, the community provide dwelling community and natural habitat. Constructionally speaking, the floating house and green board can be adaptable to sea level rise. Instead of giving up homes before being submerged by sea water, the active structure of the community can rise and fall with the sea level, and thus preserve peoples’ homes.
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0’ sea level rise Elevated house
6’ sea level rise Floating structure provide additional green space
6’+ sea level rise Floating house 25
Oyster farm Oyster production and education 26
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Community Bridge leads people to the sea 28
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Marsh Provide habitat and prevent shoreline erosion 30
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02 SOIL FACTORY
Year 2017 Type Studio Project Location Birmingham, AL Course Studio Healthy soils are essential for healthy plant growth, human nutrition, ecosystem services such as water filtration and supporting habitat for underground creatures. Soils host a quarter of the biodiversity in the world which proves the vitality of them. The Soil Factory design project aims to improve the clay soil’s permeability and nutrition on the site. By enhancing the rhizosphere process, Birmingham would create a thriving landscape supporting ecological function and community activities.
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Demolished and condemned properties in Birmingham 385 demolished properties 34
Street corner
No construction / small scale / residential area
Single area
Residential / small scale / occupied by house
Beside railway
Residential / small scale / railroad
Junction
Central city / residential / multi-function
Riverside green
No construction / medium scale / riverside
Riverside residential
Woodland
No construction / dense canopy
Cluster
Riverside / small scale / double houses
Residential / multiple / interval space
Riverside residential
Residential beside woodland
Riverside / small scale / single house
Central city
Central city / medium scale / public space
Residential / woodland
Beside railway
Railroad / commercial 35
TAX DELINQUENT PROPERTIES The Soil Factory launches a pilot project to reformulate tax delinquent properties in Birmingham to create healthy soils. The soil health is the basis of a healthy ecological landscape. Thus, enhancing the quality of soils would create more green spaces in the city. After the transformation of the soil, it would be possible to improve the biodiversity in the city, enhance ecological connections within natural areas, and create recreational green space for surrounding neighborhoods.
Strategies applied in different typologies Central city / community / forest
Biodiversity
Increase biodiversity in the city
Connection
Ecological connections within natural areas
Recreation
Provide recreational green spaces 36
Demolished and condemned properties in neighborhoods 65 demolished properties 37
SOIL COMPACTION The pilot site is located roughly five miles west of downtown Birmingham. Eighty percent of the site is in the flood plain. The site used to be a residential neighborhood. After the properties were demolished, the site was covered by the grasses: in the sandy soil, between cement gaps, between joints of concrete and asphalt, no matter what the condition, these grasses root in places where they can grow. Soil compaction is the most serious problem in urban area. According to Web Soil Survey, There is 42 inches’ clay soil beneath the silt loam. Most plants can not do well in clay soil. Clay soil has a strong structure due to the stickiness. Poor drainage and lack of sufficient aeration makes it hard for plants to take hold and grow. The building foundations within the site also make the soil compact.
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Healthy soil versus compacted soil Moisture, air and nutrients can retain in soil pores
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PLANT-BASED STRATEGY Without using man-made fertilizer, the proposal uses certain plants that can permeate compact soils to breakdown the existing foundations and pavements, improving porosity. The choice of plants being used can adapt to heavier, harder soils that do not drain water as well. They have strong roots that are not affected by excess moisture as they push their roots through the hard soil, they make it more permeable, and thus better at sustaining life. The biological process of microorganisms that live in soils also contribute to soil fertility. Based on multiple natural conditions, three kinds of landscape would be designed — woodland, shrub and flowering prairie. Different areas would have a variety of moments through the seasons, providing a colorful place for neighborhoods to admire. Also, different conditions with certain types of plant species may come up with multiple impacts on the soil. That could appear as some new species growing in some certain areas or animals and insects selecting more appropriate habitats. Instead of improving the property by artificial or chemical methods, the city could use this new ecological strategy and reallocate the money to maintain the site. The flowering prairie would be mowed regularly by city to keep it healthy. The woodland and the shrub area would be unkempt and allowed to overgrow to let succession happen spontaneously.
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Site plan The site would be a representative that brings green space to neighborhoods
Section With the soil improvement process happening, new species would settle down 41
Plant ephemerality Plant species and their seasonal change 42
Woodland Construction and seasonal color change
Shrub land Construction and diversity color
Flowering prairie Bare land transforms to flowering prairie 43
COMMUNITY It is important to create healthy soil because it supports life and is central to either ecosystem or social perspective. By integrating soil with landscape design, the site can achieve the transformation from previously constructed and compacted area to an ecologically valuable place with better soil quality.
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Community engagement The site will eventually serve the local community
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CHANGING THROUGH TIME As time passes and the soil is improved, new species will come into the site. The site will attract more people to come and visit as well as increase biodiversity.
Time Line Process through time 46
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03 NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION
Year 2017 Type Studio Project Location LaGrange, GA Course Studio Hillside is minutes away and easily accessible to Downtown LaGrange and the Lukken Industrial Park and sits adjacent to the West Georgia Medical Center, LaGrange College, Milliken and Company Hillside Plant, LaGrange Academy, and Tredegar Industries. This central location, accessible to many key area employers, makes Hillside a prime location for investment and growth.
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HILLSIDE GENERAL PLAN The Hillside neighborhood is an old mill village in LaGrange, Georgia. The neighborhood is approximately 275 acres in size and is bounded by Forrest Avenue (Panther Way) to the east, Brownwood Avenue to the south, Jenkins Street to the west, and the railroad tracks to the north. The neighborhood consists of 400 households, 330 single-family homes, and 70 apartment units. .
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Master plan Make use of existing condition, provide sidewalk, provide recreational nodes 51
ENHANCE CONNECTION Make the site a new bridge connecting Hillside neighborhood and LaGrange College, an energetic public green space for both residents from neighborhood and students from college. Reorganize the vegetation pattern according to its current situation to create usable spaces for multiple functions. The final goal is to improve the daily life experience of neighborhood residents and college students.
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Forest Avenue Park design The park provide recreational place for Hillside residents and students in La Grange College 53
LOCAL MATERIALS Most of the vegetation in the site currently grows wildly. The canopy is so thick that there’s nearly no sunlight to support grasses. The shrubs also grow irregularly, blocking the boundary on the west side, which kind of avoids people to enter the space. In some specific areas, the slope is too steep for walking or any activities. Some interesting things also happened in site. Some trunks were cut into pieces and used as comfortable seats. Though there are lots of unusable slopes in the site, the dramatic topography also provide opportunities for some activities like cycling or grass skiing. The thick canopy can cool down this area in summer; since 80% of species in site are deciduous, they still allow sunlight to come in winter. The neighborhood doesn’t have large budget for the Neighborhood Development Plan. Thus recycling materials from neighborhood is necessary to reduce budget.
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Park section Tilted terrain with different materials 55
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Permeable platform Using permeable paving enhances water infiltration 57
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Trail with seating area People can access into the original unused area after providing trails 59
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Deep slop with stairs Stairs with platforms are used at deep slop area 61
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Rainstorm event Stairs with vegetation can help slow and contain the water 63
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04 COLUMBUS RIVERWALK
Year 2016 Type Studio Project Location Columbus, GA Course Studio The Chattahoochee River is the boundary of Columbus in Georgia and Phenix City in Alabama. The project goal is to provide a public space which visually connects two cities. The site is possible for recreational activities and water-related activities which promote the interaction between people. The development of the river bank area makes the Chattahoochee River not a separation but a connection between two cities.
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Topographic section Different impression of Columbus and Phenix City
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River walk Wood deck extended out the shoreline 68
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CHOREOGRAPHING SUCCESSION The planting design proposal reestablishes the terrain and provides open space at the top of the mounds, while providing either canopy trees or dense herbaceous and shrubby plants near the river area. During the first three years of the project, new fertilized soil will be covered at the top of the original bare land to support the planting design in that area. The design uses strip cropping. Fast growing species (which are also species that can endure tough condition and help to fertilize soil) are planted on the slope following the contours, which helps to strengthen the soil from erosion and also increases the organic content of the soil. Also, the strip pattern of the plant will add aesthetic value to the bare site. Plant species: Standing milk vetch (Astragalus Adsurgens Pall.); Sudan grass (Sorghum sudanense (Piper.) Stapf ); Verbenaceae; Smooth Rattlebox (Crotalaria mucronata Desv. )
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Early succession Grass land and prairie in early succession 71
CHOREOGRAPHING SUCCESSION After several years of planting, the boundary of different of species will disappear because of natural spread. At the moist area which is adjacent to the river, some shrub species will occur and ultimately diversify the grassland. Plant species: Small cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccos); Inkberry (Ilex glabra); Sweet woodreed (Cinna arundinacea); Rusty peat moss (Sphagnum fuscum); Dense cotton grass (Eriophorum vaginatum); River birch (Betula nigra)
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Mid succession Shrub land and primeval trees in early succession 73
CHOREOGRAPHING SUCCESSION To prevent the succession process on the top of the mounds, mowing is needed every year to keep that area a grassland. But at the lowland, new species will be chosen to be planted and encouraged to have successional process. The highland will continue to be mown while the lowland will become a woodland which has a vertical diversity of plants. Plant species: Sassafras (Sassafras albidum); Wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera); Black cherry (Prunus serotina); Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda); Fothergilla (Fothergilla gardenii)
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Late succession Canopy trees in early succession 75
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05 PLANT EPHEMERALITY
Year 2017 Type Phenology Project Location Auburn, AL Course Plant Ephemerality Plants contribute tremendously to the perception and experience of the landscape. They can not only provide visual interest throughout the seasons. Landscape architects have the opportunity to extend our understanding beyond the visual simulation of flower sequences and fall color into intentional, ecologically-rich spatial relationships that evolve and transform through the seasons. In this project, landscape rooms defined by deciduous shrubs and perennials are able to emerge and vanish within the cycles of the season. The project utilizes the parking area between buildings in downtown Auburn to provide a space that people will admire the spatial and textural qualities that formed by plants through an entire year. 77
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February/March
April/May
Miscanthus Sinensis: cut down Deschampsia Cespitosa: start growing Molinia Caerulea: start growing Festuca Glauca: cut back to 3”
Miscanthus Sinensis: start growing Deschampsia Cespitosa: dark green grass Molinia Caerulea: continue growing Festuca Glauca: continue growing
June/July
August/September
Miscanthus Sinensis: continue growing Deschampsia Cespitosa: gold flower steam Molinia Caerulea: start growing Festuca Glauca: cut back to 3”
Miscanthus Sinensis: bloom Deschampsia Cespitosa: yellow flower Molinia Caerulea: bloom in mid-summer Festuca Glauca: blue green foliage
October/November
December/January
Miscanthus Sinensis: flowers turn red Deschampsia Cespitosa: turn darker Molinia Caerulea: yellow foliage Festuca Glauca: about 1’ tall
Miscanthus Sinensis: foliage remain stand Deschampsia Cespitosa: blasted Molinia Caerulea: blasted Festuca Glauca: keep color 79
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06 DIRTY BAMA
Year 2017 Type Research Location Alabama Course Regenerative Technologies Alabama is globally recognized for the variety of plants and animals that live in the over 145,000 miles of rivers and streams that flow within its borders. However, these bountiful waters are threatened by the unregulated disposal of coal ash, a waste product produced by burning coal for electricity. Studies show that this waste is highly toxic, yet current law allows industries to store it in unlined landfills or lagoons that have been known to release their toxic contents.
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COAL ASH STORAGE SITES Alabama has nine coal-fired power plants with at least 46 coal ash ponds resting on rivers and creeks throughout the state. These plants produce 3.2 million tons of coal ash every year, and because of the high quantity of toxic heavy metals, Alabama houses the most toxic coal ash of any other state in the US (information from EPA).
Coal Ash Spill Event Coal ash spill event in Alabama 82
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Existing Coal Ash Storage Techniques Two basic coal ash storage methods using today 84
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WIDOWS CREEK POWER STATION Widows Creek Power Plant was a major 1600-MWe coal-fired power station, 4.8 miles east of Stevenson, Alabama. The plant, operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, generated about nine billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year. On January 9, 2009, the plant experienced a dam break on a gypsum slurry pond, and spilled up to 10,000 gallons of waste (including boron, cadmium, molybdenum and selenium) into the creek of the same name on the property, inundating it with an ash-like substance.
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Widows Creek Power Station Functional areas of Widows Creek Power Station 87
COAL ASH CONTAMINATION Coal ash often contains arsenic, mercury, chlorine, fluorine, lead, copper, and selenium. These elements are hazardous to both human health and ecosystems. The coal ash ponds are located on the banks of rivers. The EPA estimates that these ponds can hold over 24.1 billion gallons of toxic coal ash. This quantity of coal ash on the rivers presents a grave threat to the communities and waterways. As seen in recent disasters in North Carolina and Tennessee, a spill into the water can happen at any time. The coal ash contaminants can be transported by air and water, which then influences bird species, aquatic animals, mammals, aquatic animals, insect, etc. Through the pathways and the biological chains, the contaminants can finally be taken into human body.
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Pathway Toxic chemicals broadcast 89
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07 PUBLIC SEDIMENT
Year 2017 Type GRA Project Location San Francisco Bay, CA PUBLIC SEDIMENT is a multidisciplinary design team that views sediment as a core building block of resilience in San Francisco Bay. The team is led by SCAPE Landscape Architecture with Arcadis, the Dredge Research Collaborative, TS Studio, the UC Davis Department of Human Ecology and Design, the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, and the Buoyant Ecologies Lab. The team will further compete in the Bay Area Challenge. 91
DREDGE RESEARCH The team believes in ecological infrastructure and its protective value. Yet the Bay Area’s ecological infrastructure- its marshes, mudflats, and coastal edgesare at risk. The slow and methodical subsidence of the Bay’s tidal wetlands is a catastrophe of tremendous proportion not just for ecosystems, but for communities. Combined with sea level rise, this subsidence exposes hundreds of thousands of residents and the region’s critical drinking water, energy, and transportation infrastructure to tremendous risk. To creatively adapt to this challenge, our team proposes to focus on sediment, the building block of resilience in the Bay. In short, we propose to design with mud.
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WILDCAT & SAN PABLO CREEK
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ALAMEDA CREEK
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APPENDIX: PLANT SKETCHES Water Oak Family: Fagaceae Genus: Quercus Species: Nigra
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Southern Red Oak Family: Fagaceae Genus: Quercus Species: Falcata
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Virginia Sweet Spire Family: Grossulariaceae Genus: Itea Species: Virginica
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American Beauty Berry Family: Verbenaceae Genus: Callicarpa Species: Americana
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Willow Oak Family: Fagaceae Genus: Quercus Species: Phellos
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Purple Corn Flower Family: Asteraceae Genus: Echinacea spp. Species: multiple spp.
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