Blog Post

Kayaking Through Dragon Run

Ben Potts '22 • May 29, 2024

I jumped on an opportunity offered by the Virginia Native Plant Society to take a three hour guided paddle through Dragon Run on May 15. At one time Dragon Run was determined to be second in ecological significance out of 232 areas studied in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Our short paddle only included a very small portion of the 40 mile bald cypress/tupelo swamp that lies about 80 miles north of Norfolk near West Point, VA.


We didn’t get to see much of the fauna that calls Dragon Run home on this trip. There were butterflies and dragonflies but I can see them in the marsh behind my home. What I don’t see or experience at home are Prothonotary Warblers that seemed as curious about us as we were about them and the numerous beaver dams, some that we passed by and some that we had to paddle over. There were no mosquitos as we paddled. Our guides theorized that the abundance of dragonflies, birds and fish in the area keep the mosquito population low.


Of course during the entire three hours we were surrounded on both sides by water loving plants. The most interesting to me was the areas of Hottonia inflata (American Featherfoil). Like an iceberg, part of the plant is submerged and some extends above the surface of the water. In this flowing stream it is dependent on beaver dams to provide it with the environment it needs to survive: stable shallow pools and stable water levels. It is also thought that beavers help distribute the seeds when they build their dams. 


The banks of Dragon Run were full of blooming Itea virginica (Virginia Sweetspire), a plant that is familiar to gardeners in our area. Another shoreline plant that we saw was Pleopeltis polypodioides (Resurrection Fern). This fern attaches itself to the bark of large trees. This is an air plant (epiphyte), collecting nutrients from the water and nutrients on the bark of the tree and from the air. A plant that I originally thought might be Spanish Moss was actually Usnea lichens (Old Man’s Beard). Smaller but similar in appearance, it seemed to be attached to many of the branches that hung out over the water.

Persicaria glabra (Dense-flowered smartweed) was another plant that we saw along our paddle. Through the years parts of the plant have been thought to have many medicinal purposes. It is similar to Zanthoxylem clava-herculis (Toothache Tree) in that chewing the leaves causes numbness in the mouth. It has been used by some to treat hemorrhoids. Nuphar advena (Spatterdock) stood out among the aquatic plants we saw because of its bright yellow blooms and broad green leaves.


A sharp eyed guide spotted wild rose wasp gall on the bank and cut it off for us to have a better look. The odd bright red spiked balls are caused by the wasp larvae feeding on the plant stimulating excess growth of the plant tissue. It doesn’t harm the plant and it is definitely eye-catching.


I’m hoping to take more trips through Dragon Run to experience the plants in different seasons. If you own a kayak I recommend you paddle there!

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