Did you know?

Did you know that the ancient Upper-Cambrian Age Ketona Dolomite, found in the Bibb County Glades, could be anywhere from 500 to 544 million years old? This ancient rock formation is from the Paleozoic era which had three different periods: upper, middle and lower. The term Cambrian is an epoch, which is a particular period of geologic history considered remarkable or noteworthy. This extraordinary era began 544 million years ago and lasted about 291 million years. The name Paleozoic was compounded from Greek palaios, which means old, and zoon, which means animal. The Cambrian Epoch represents an important point in the history of life on Earth because it was when most of the major groups of animals first appeared in fossil records. This epoch is known to many as the "Cambrian Explosion," because of the short time span in which diverse life forms appeared. Not only are the Bibb County Glades home to rare plants previously unknown to science, the area also features ancient rock formations that have been present on Earth for hundreds of millions of years.

Related links

• Jim Allison, botanist
• The Nature Conservancy - Alabama
• Cahaba river National Wildlife refuge
• Alabama Nature Center
• The Cambrian Period
• Yuprocks.com - Mineral and rock photography
• Gentian Pinkroot
• EPA in Alabama

Definitions

Biodiversity
The number and variety of organisms found within a specified geographic region in the United States.

Congressional appropriation
Funds set aside for a specific purpose.

Endemic
Native to or confined to a certain region.

Flora
Plants considered as a group, especially the plants of a particular country, region or time.

Hydroelectric power
The generation of electricity by using the motive power of water.

Hypothesis
An educated guess.

Taxa
Plural of taxon, a taxonomic category or group, such as phylum/order/family/genus/ or species.

Variety
A taxonomic subdivision of a species representing usually geographically isolated populations of organisms.

Unveiling event: Botanical "Lost World" Revealed in Alabama

Alabama SuperGraphic Unveiled at the 17th Annual Cahaba Lily Festival

U-Haul Company of Alabama and the U-Haul Media and Public Relations Department teamed up with the Cahaba Lily Center in West Blocton, Alabama during the 17th annual Cahaba Lily Festival to unveil the latest SuperGraphic, representing the state of Alabama on May 27, 2006. Marketing Company President (MCP) Scott Fall, UHC of Alabama (Co. 775), spoke to an excited crowd of more than 300 people before the veil was drawn and the Alabama Gentian pinkroot and the Bibb County Glade SuperGraphic were officially revealed to the public.

Fall presented a special plaque to Jim Allison, a botanist in the Georgia Department of Natural Resources with the Georgia Natural Heritage program and the man who made the amazing discovery, and lent his expertise and guidance to help create this vibrant image of the Alabama Gentian pinkroot. Fall also presented plaques to 10 other special guests who attended the unveiling: U.S. Representative Spencer Bachus; state senator Hank Erwin; state representative Cam Ward; Mayor Jesse "Jabo" Reese, mayor of West Blocton; Chris Oberholster, who represented state senators Richard C. Shelby and Jeff Sessions, and is also director of Conservation Programs for the Alabama Chapter of the Nature Conservancy; Dr. Larry Davenport, professor of biology, Samford University; Myrtle Jones, West Blocton Town Council – West Blocton Improvement Committee and Charles Allen, coordinator of the 17th annual Cahaba Lily Festival.

U-Haul selected the Alabama Gentian pinkroot and the Bibb County Glades to represent the state of Alabama because the glades of Bibb County are the only location in North America where the Alabama Gentian pinkroot can be found. This "botanical lost world" in the Bibb County Glades of central and northwestern Alabama harbors more than 61 rare plants, eight of which were entirely "new to science."