On Sunday, July 6, my husband and I explored Penny’s Bend in northeastern Durham. As a native Midwesterner, I especially enjoy visiting this unique preserve because I can find a little piece of home there, in the form of prairie.
Penny’s Bend is an 84-acre preserve, surrounded on three sides by the Eno River. It is underlain by diabase rock, which not only deflects the Eno River—thus accounting for the characteristic “bend”—but is also responsible for the unusual, high pH soil at Penny’s Bend. This soil supports a rare remnant of Piedmont prairie, one of the highlights of the site.
The preserve is located off Snow Hill Road at the intersection of Old Oxford Road. Trash litters the gravel parking area, but a small path to the right leads to a true North Carolina gem: Piedmont prairie. At the beginning of July, one can expect to see the fading white blooms of wild quinine (Parthenium integrifolium), the bright yellow disks of rosinweeds (Silphium spp.), and the stunning purple heads of the federally and state-threatened smooth purple coneflower (Echinacea laevigata). The dark seed pods of wild blue indigo (Baptisia australis) also make a strong impression. We paused often—drawn in by the smooth purple coneflower’s sculptural blooms, the softening wild quinine, and patches of whorled rosinweed (Silphium trifoliatum) catching the sun.
After taking in the beauty of the prairie, visitors can continue to hike through floodplain forest along the Eno River. Be on the lookout for eastern box turtles, black racers, butterflies (e.g., common wood nymphs—Cercyonis pegala; red-spotted purples—Limenitis arthemis), and dragonflies (e.g., widow skimmers—Libellula luctuosa). A red-spotted purple flashed past us like a moving shadow with iridescent edges, and along the wetter openings we found a female widow skimmer—dark-winged and poised—holding her ground over the water.
For more information regarding Piedmont prairie, please refer to:
Davis JE, McRae C, Estep BL, Barden LS, Matthews JF. 2002. Vascular flora of Piedmont prairies: evidence from several prairie remnants. Castanea 67(1):1–12.
Taecker EM. 2007. Identification and prioritization of lands for restoration of Piedmont prairie in North Carolina. Master’s Thesis: Duke University. 44 p.
Sense of Place 