In search of Aplectrum hyemale, Puttyroot orchid — 2014-05-21

While searching through my image archives, looking for pictures I took on this date last year or the year before, I found images of Aplectrum hyemale or Puttyroot orchid also known as Adam-and-Eve orchid. Since there are several locations for this species within a couple of hours of home, I decided to head out early in the morning to see if I could re-locate them.

My plan was to head up US Hwy. 276 toward the Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, North Carolina. US Hwy. 276 climbs the Blue Ridge Escarpment with an elevation gain of a couple of thousand feet, and it therefore provides a range of species that are not found at lower elevations. But, before I headed up the mountain, I wanted to check out Persimmon Ridge Road, a favorite botanizing location in upper Greenville County, South Carolina. Many beautiful and unusual species can be found just along the side of that winding gravel road. In addition, there are two state Heritage Preserves that either border Persimmon Ridge Road or are split by it.

The first wildflower I saw was Asclepias variegata or Redring Milkweed. It is a neat plant to see, because it looks like a popcorn ball on a green stick. Milkweeds have always been some of my favorite wildflowers, and this one fits the bill. Here is an image of one of the several plants I saw along Persimmon Ridge Road:

Here’s a closeup shot showing more detail of the flowers, and making evident the reason for calling it Redring Milkweed:

As nice as these plant were, I could not afford to spend very much time with them if I wanted to reach the final location for the Puttyroot orchids before the daily breezes picked up. So, I packed my camera equipment and headed on up the road. There was one spot, however, I needed to check for Matelea carolinensis or Maroon Carolina Milkvine. I had seen it there for the past couple of years, but the roadside had been cleared last year, and I didn’t know if it made it through the clearing process. When I got to the spot, there it was, trailing up a large Rhus or Sumac tree:

It took me a while to position the tripod, since the plant was growing on a steep uphill grade. It was in dappled shade, so I had to use a fill flash for some of the shots. I’d rather use available light for my images, if at all possible, but sometimes it is not possible.

Finishing up with these maroon beauties, I headed farther up Persimmon Ridge Road to the next stop: Eva Russell Chandler Heritage Preserve. Located deep in the woods well off the trail, is a location for Cleistesiopsis bifaria formerly known as Cleistes bifaria. It is the mountain version of the Small Spreading Pogonia orchid. There are two similar species of this orchid, one found in the mountains and the other found along the Atlantic Coastal Plain. The botanists who described the species recently found enough difference between the two to separate them into two distinct species. I suppose there are those who think that splitting them was an error, but I’m OK with it.

When I finally reached the site, I found three plants that were in bud. That’s good news and bad news. I was hoping to find them in flower, but I was too early in the season. The good news is that the plants are apparently healthy enough to produce flower buds; the bad news is that they are open for deer predation. That’s a problem for many of our orchid species, since the deer population in the South has increased many-fold over the past decade. I suppose I should have brought an exclosure to protect them, but I didn’t think of it beforehand. Anyway, I did photograph two of the plants in bud:

I hope that I will be able to report back to you on the flowering of these plants in two weeks or so.

On the way back to the truck, I saw a number of tiny white flowers growing on the ground. A close inspection revealed that they were the flowers of Mitchella repens or Partridge berry. This plant is a vine that runs across the forest floor. It has small, opposite, shiny green leaves spaced along the stem. In the late summer and fall, its flowers produce tiny, bright red fruit. Here are the flowers:

The strange thing about this particular plant is the fruit: The single fruit has two “navels” where the flowers were blooming. This is easy to see in the image below:

Now, it really was time to get back on US Hwy. 276 and head toward the Pisgah National Forest. Persimmon Ridge Road connects at its northernmost point with Hwy. 276, so in a short time, I was back on the highway. Now this is one of the most twisting mountain roads in the upstate, and if you’re not accustomed to its many curves, it can be a bit unnerving. About half the way up the Escarpment, I stopped at a site where I have seen Aplectrum hyemale or Puttyroot orchid in the past. It is a nice hillside site that has a number of wildflowers in season. I parked the truck on the ample shoulder and proceeded on foot up the hill to try to locate the orchids. What I found was a bit disappointing: three of last year’s seed capsules and two small flowering plants. I decided not to take the time to photograph them, since I felt that I’d find better ones later on. I’m usually a “bird in the hand” sort of guy, and I don’t usually pass up a sure thing, but I knew I’d be heading back this way on the trip home, and I could photograph them then, if needs be…

So, I headed on toward Brevard, where I’d be entering the Pisgah National Forest. This is one fantastic place: more than 500,000 acres of mountain forests, trails, waterfalls, rivers, rock faces, bogs, etc. I’ve not even scratched the surface of what is available up there. But I do have a list of my favorite places to look for specific orchids in season, and so I headed to one of them which is off of Forest Service Road 475 past the Fish Hatchery and the Education Center.

I found this location after spending a good bit of time walking the roadside several years ago. Puttyroot orchid is one of the several native orchid species in our area that has green, winter leaves. Searching for leaves on the ground is much easier in the winter, since there is not any ground cover to hide the orchid leaves. We don’t have enough snow to cover the orchid leaves either. If it does snow, its usually gone in a few days.

By the time the orchid blooms, its single leaf is mostly dead, and it blends into the normal leaf litter in the forest. Last year, this particular site produced about a dozen blooming stems when my buddy, Alan Cressler, and I paid a visit. Today, there were eighteen blooming stems in a 6-foot (2-meter) circular area. I really wanted to be able to photograph the entire population in one shot, but there were ferns and small shrubs scattered among the plants, making that particular shot impossible.

I ended up spending a little more than an hour at that spot, concentrating mainly on the two or three best blooming plants. I don’t like to disturb the orchid sites any more than is absolutely necessary, so I took my time placing my tripod and my reflector to get the best shots possible. Here are the results I got at that site:

Here is a feeble attempt at showing you an entire plant, with withered winter leaf and last year’s seed capsules:

After wrapping up this shoot, it was still too early for lunch, so I decided to head north on Hwy. 276, past Looking Glass Falls where I photographed it in ice this past winter. So, I retraced the route back down FSR 475 to its junction with Hwy. 276.

About halfway back down FSR 475, I saw a water-filled ditch, and next to it was a huge gathering of butterflies! These turned out to be Battus philenor or Pipevine Swallowtail butterflies. They were taking off and landing (I suspect this was a mating ritual of some sort), so I thought it would be nice to get a video of the frenzy. While standing in the center of the narrow gravel road, a sports car came rushing around the corner. I held up my hand to ask them to stop, and thankfully they did. I photographed the video for about 20 seconds more, then waved them through. I think they were pissed off at me, because they drove right through the butterfly gathering. Only a few were killed, but it managed to scatter them so that I could not get another group shot like this one:

Taking this as a sign that I should move on, I continued on down the gravel road to the junction with Hwy. 276, took a left, and headed north. A thought occurred to me: Why not try to find the food source for the butterfly larvae… A few miles up the road, I found just what I was looking for: Aristolochia macrophylla or Dutchman’s Pipe. This is the plant that the larvae of those Pipevine Swallowtail butterflies feed on. The heart-shaped leaves of the Dutchman’s Pipe vine are rather large – 8 inches (20 cm) wide, making them easy to spot while driving down the road. The problem with photographing them arises due to the absence of suitable places to park along the road. At this point along Hwy. 276, the shoulders are pretty much non-existent — steep cliff walls on the right and a drop-off down to the river on the left. Fortunately, there are a couple of pullouts every few miles, and I made use of one of them.

Next to the edge of the pullout were some trees that provided needed support for the vines. I managed to get close enough to one to photograph the very strange flowers of this plant:

Here is what the masses of vines looks like as it climbs a supporting tree:

Finishing up with the Dutchman’s Pipe vine, I packed up my gear and headed back down Hwy. 276 toward Brevard where I would have a satisfying lunch at my favorite Mexican restaurant.

This is the end of another great day botanizing in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. It helps to know where to go, of course, but just about any foray into the Pisgah National Forest and its trails will always provide unexpected delights. This has to be one of my favorite spots to visit, and it is within only a few hours of home…

–Jim