Gattinger’s Cedar Glade & Barrens State Natural Area
🏆🏆 Named for Nashville’s Pioneer Botanist — Cedar glade honoring Augustin Gattinger, Tennessee’s first great naturalist
Gattinger’s Cedar Glade & Barrens State Natural Area is named for Augustin Gattinger (1825–1903), a German-born physician who became Tennessee’s pioneering botanist and published the state’s first comprehensive flora. This natural area preserves a cedar glade ecosystem in the Nashville Basin, protecting the kind of habitat that Gattinger first described to science in the 19th century. The glade supports multiple endemic species that Gattinger himself collected and documented.
Visitor Information
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Location | Nashville Basin, TN |
| Entry Fee | Free |
| Namesake | Augustin Gattinger (1825–1903), pioneer botanist |
| Habitat | Cedar glade & barrens |
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Augustin Gattinger?
Augustin Gattinger was a German-born physician who immigrated to Tennessee and became the state’s most important 19th-century botanist. He published “The Flora of Tennessee” (1887) — the first comprehensive catalog of the state’s plants.
About Gattinger’s Cedar Glade
Gattinger’s Cedar Glade and Barrens State Natural Area in Rutherford County is named for Augustin Gattinger — an Austrian-born botanist who documented Tennessee’s flora in the 1880s. The glade preserves globally rare limestone outcrop habitat with endemic species including the Tennessee coneflower, which was once on the federal endangered species list.
Things to Do
Observing rare and endemic cedar glade plants (including the recovered Tennessee coneflower), botanical study, photography, and learning about 19th-century botanical exploration in Tennessee.
Insider Tips
Named for a botanist: Augustin Gattinger was a 19th-century Nashville physician and botanist who first documented Tennessee’s cedar glade flora. Pro tip: This glade is one of the best-studied in Tennessee — decades of botanical research have documented every plant species. Limestone fame flower: The glade supports the limestone fame flower (Phemeranthus calcaricus) — a tiny succulent endemic to Tennessee cedar glades that blooms for only a few hours on hot summer afternoons.
Best Time to Visit
June-July: Fame flower blooms on hot afternoons. May: Tennessee coneflower begins blooming. Spring: Early glade wildflowers. Fall: Late-season botanical interest.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does the fame flower bloom?
The limestone fame flower opens for only 2-3 hours on hot summer afternoons — typically between 2-5 PM on days above 90°F. Each individual flower blooms for a single afternoon, then drops its petals. The entire population synchronizes blooming — creating brief but spectacular displays on the bare limestone.
🌼 Visit Gattinger’s Cedar Glade SNA
Named for Tennessee’s pioneer botanist — endemic wildflowers on Nashville Basin limestone.
