Vascular Flora of the Elk and Bison Prairie, Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area, Trigg County, Kentucky.

A floristic survey was conducted of the Elk and Bison Prairie, Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area during the growing seasons of 2003 and 2004. The 265.5 ha fenced enclosure lies 1.0 km from Golden Pond, Kentucky, in western Trigg County within the Western Highland Rim of the Interior Low Plateau Province. Seven major plant habitats are: cool season grassland, warm season grassland, oak-hickory forest, loblolly pine forest, corral gravel, corral pasture, and wet pond borders. Vascular plants consist of 497 specific and infraspecific taxa in 273 genera from 93 families. Ninety-four (18.9%) were exotics. Plant representation is seven Polypodiophyta, four Pinophyta, and 486 Magnoliophyta (129 Liliopsida, 357 Magnoliopsida). The largest families in species richness were the Poaceae (75), Asteraceae (71). Fabaceae (46), Cyperaceae (25), Lamiaceae (20), and Rosaceae (15). The largest genera were Carex (17), Panicum (15), Lespedeza (9), Desmodium (8), Eupatorium 18), and Juncus, Quercus, and Solidago (7 each). Carex gravida, Uvularia sessilifolia, and Vulpia myuros were documented for the first time from the Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]