Plants
Wildflowers in bloom at Manassas National Battlefield Park
NPS Photo; Courtesy of Gregory Perrier
NPS Photo Virginia Spring Beauty Several different types of plant communities occupy the 5,000 acres of land at Manassas National Battlefield Park. Hundreds of acres of the park are maintained as the historic agrarian landscape that existed in 1861. Agricultural hay leases preserve an authentic cultural perspective for the enjoyment of the public. The native, warm season grasses also provide an excellent habitat for wildlife. Open fields are covered in native grasses, wildflowers, and shrubs. The woodlands are made up of basic oak-hickory forests, acidic oak-hickory forests, mesic forests, mountain bottomland forests, mountain swamp forests, upland depression swamp forests, eastern white pine hardwood forests, and Virginia pine- Easter red cedar successional forests. The park hosts over 700 kinds of vascular plants; 186 monocot angiosperms, 500 dicot angiosperms, 16 pteridophytes, and 4 gymnosperms carpet the premises. The abundance of multiple plant communities within the park represents a healthy ecosystem that is capable of supporting a diverse range of wildlife. |
NPS Photo CommonBlueViolet Click on the Blue violet for a list of the vascular plants in Manassas National Battlefield Park. 
Manassas National Battlefield
NPS Photo
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Did You Know?
Confederate troops destroyed the Stone Bridge over Bull Run in March 1862 before falling back to a more defensible position fifty miles to the south near Fredericksburg. The current structure was completed in the 1880s, on the site of the war-time bridge.