PAC’s land protection specialist, Pam Torlina, took Dr. Zack Murrell to several sites in Polk County where the state and federal-listed (threatened) dwarf-flowered heartleaf (Hexastylis naniflora) grows, some of which are on PAC-protected properties. Murrell is associate professor, curator of the herbarium and director of the SouthEast Regional Network of Expertise and Collections (SERNEC), department of biology, Appalachian State University. He is conducting a study for the N.C. Department of Transportation, looking at the genetics of H. naniflora and its relatives. Murrell will give a presentation for PAC at Walnut Creek Preserve this fall, where he will talk about some of his findings. At left: Dr. Zack Murrell looks at dwarf-flowered heartleaf (Hexastylis naniflora) on a PAC-protected property. (photo by Pam Torlina)