The Antioch Pines Natural Area Preserve is a Natural Area Preserve

Virginia Natural Area Preserve System

The Virginia Natural Area Preserve System is a system of protected areas in the state of Virginia. It was established in the late 1980s to protect sites that were designated as among the most significant natural areas in the state...

 located along the Blackwater River near Zuni, Virginia

Zuni, Virginia

Zuni is an unincorporated community in Isle of Wight County in the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia in the United States.Zuni is home to a dentist's office, a Ruritan club, a general store, a gas station, and two churches and is served by its own Post Office. The name is properly...

. It contains growths of loblolly pine

Loblolly Pine

Pinus taeda is one of several pines native to the Southeastern United States, from central Texas east to Florida, and north to Delaware. It is particularly dominant in the eastern half of North Carolina, where there are huge expanses consisting solely of Loblolly Pine trees...

 and turkey oak

Turkey Oak

Quercus cerris, the Turkey oak is an oak native to southern Europe and Asia Minor. It is the type species of Quercus sect. Cerris, a section of the genus characterised by shoot buds surrounded by soft bristles, bristle-tipped leaf lobes, and acorns that usually mature in 18...

, and supports various species that are rare in the Commonwealth, including Plukenet's flatsedge, sandy-woods chaffhead and viperina; in addition, swale

Swale

Swale is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. Its council is based in Sittingbourne. The borough is named after the narrow channel called The Swale, a channel that separates the mainland of Kent from the Isle of Sheppey, and which occupies the central part of the...

s support various species of wildflower

Wildflower

A wildflower is a flower that grows wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. Yet "wildflower" meadows of a few mixed species are sold in seed packets. The term "wildflower" has been made vague by commercial seedsmen who are interested in selling more flowers or seeds more...

, including orchids, trillium

Trillium

Trillium is a genus of about 40–50 species of spring ephemeral perennials, native to temperate regions of North America and Asia....

s, bellworts and lilies. Also on the property are a pair of longleaf pine

Longleaf Pine

Pinus palustris, commonly known as the Longleaf Pine, is a pine native to the southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from eastern Texas to southeast Virginia extending into northern and central Florida....

s which represent some of the last of the species in Virginia; they are currently the subject of a breeding program by the Virginia Department of Forestry

Virginia Department of Forestry

The Virginia Department of Forestry is the department of the government of Virginia responsible for the maintenance and oversight of Virginia state forests....

 designed to restore the pines to their former habitat.

Antioch Pines is located adjacent to the Blackwater Ecological Preserve

Blackwater Ecological Preserve

The Blackwater Ecological Preserve is a Natural Area Preserve located in the area of Zuni, Virginia and run by Old Dominion University. It is home to flatwoods of longleaf pine and turkey oak and savannas of longleaf pine, two of the rarest plant communities in Virginia. The longleaf pine is the...

 run by Old Dominion University

Old Dominion University

Old Dominion University is a state university located in Norfolk, Virginia, United States, and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools...

, being located to its north.