Visit to Polk and Transylvania Counties, North Carolina — 2016-04-24

On Sunday, I met my photographer friend, Bill Robertson, for another foray into North Carolina. This time, we went to Polk and Transylvania Counties. Each of these counties are within a couple of hours drive for both of us, and they hold many excellent locations for Spring wildflowers. The first place we visited is one that I had not heard about, but it was one that Bill had visited a week earlier. Well, I wish I had been on that trip, because the wildflowers were just about spent when we saw them. However, there were still a few scattered patches of beauty hidden in the crooks and crannies of this mountain gorge site. The most prevalent wildflower, by far, was the Viola Canadensis or Canada Violet. It literally covered the ground in places, especially by the narrow trail that wound through the property. Here is a close-up of the white flower with a splash of color and some streaks in the center:

Canada Violet

When I met Bill at the site, I was a bit worried that it was too sunny for photography, but actually, this is a heavily wooded location, and the trees had already leafed out. So, if anything, it was dark and gloomy. But, as I said, we managed to find a few things to shoot. More Canada Violets, for example:

The major attraction at this location was the thousands of the white form of Trillium erectum or Erect Trillium. There were drifts and drifts of them up and down the damp hillsides. Unfortunately for me, most of them were well past blooming. However, I did manage to find a few that were still in good enough shape to photograph, even though I had to scramble up a steep bank to get close enough for the shot:

I even found one with variegated sepals that were trying very hard to be white petals:

This is not terribly unusual, but it is always a surprise to find one like this.

There was also another interesting wildflower in good numbers at this location. It is Phacelia bipinnatifida or Fernleaf Phacelia. It was just at the very end of its bloom season with just a few open flowers on each stem:

A fairly frequent plant to this type of habitat is Tiarella cordifolia or Heartleaf Foamflower. As with the other Spring wildflowers, it was nearing the end of its bloom cycle. But we did manage to find a few of them hidden in the deep recesses next to a stream:

Having pretty much struck out of the “mother lode” of Trilliums at this spot, we decided to head up the road to our next location. This is a spot that we had both visited in the past. I was thinking that if the first spot was spent, then this next one might be, as well. It is a habitat for many of the same species. The first plant I look for when visiting this location is the bright yellow flower of Uvularia grandiflora or Large-flower Bellwort. Upon arriving, we could see many hundreds of plants along the roadside, but no flowers. I was just about to give up when Bill spotted one that was still in bloom. After gathering our camera equipment and having our way with the one flower, I found another couple of flowers. So we were not completely skunked at this location:

The bright yellow, 1+ inch-long (2.5+ cm) flowers, dangling from the lime green foliage is quite handsome, and I’m glad we could enjoy at least a few of them.

At this point, the day was still young, so we decided to head toward Brevard, North Carolina and the Pisgah National Forest where I promised Bill I would show him the Showy Orchis site I had photographed last week. But, we would be getting there via the Blue Ridge Parkway — a length of mountain highway that always offers a surprise in just about any season. Off we go! We drove up Intestate 26 and joined the Parkway southwest of Asheville, North Carolina. Once on the Parkway, we had a drive of about an 15 miles (24 km) before we reached the junction of Highway 276 — our access to the Pisgah National Forest where the orchids grow. What would we find in between? Well, Bill knew of a place where Erythronium umbilicatum or Dimpled Trout Lily had been seen recently, so we decided to check it out.

There are dozens of overlooks along this part of the Parkway. As we passed Big Ridge Overlook, I had to turn around and go back to see if I could record the flush of Spring greenery that was just taking over at this elevation (about 4000 feet or 1219 meters). Down in my home town, Greenville, South Carolina, the trees are about fully leafed out. Here is the shot I got at Big Ridge Overlook:

Soon, we were heading back down the Parkway toward Looking Glass Rock Overlook:

To get there, we had to pass through a series of tunnels. The flank of one of these tunnels provided habitat for a wonderful population of Trillium grandiflorum or Large-flowered Trillium. This is one of the largest Trillium species in the region, and it puts on a good show. It is a widespread species, and it is found in the eastern United States from the Carolinas and Georgia up through New England into Canada. We have only a site or two at its southern range in South Carolina, so it’s always a pleasure for me to see them in full bloom. And these were at their peak. I had photographed these Trillium at this location about 10 years ago and was gratified to see them still thriving at this location. Here are a few of the many shots I took:

The flowers are really quite large — some up to about 3 inches (7.5 cm) across. I even found a pink one. The flowers of this species begin to turn pink as the flower ages, so it is common to find pink ones growing with the white ones:

Mixed in with the Trilliums were the last flowers of Caulophyllum thalictroides or Blue Cohosh. It gets its common name because of its blue berry-like fruits and bluish-green foliage. According to one website, “Blue Cohosh is considered to be one of the best herbs to bring on menstruation, and is one of the traditional herbs used to induce labor in natural childbirth. It contains the phytochemical calulopsponin which actively stimulates uterine contractions and promotes blood flow to the pelvic region. Blue Cohosh is generally used in combination with other herbs, often Black Cohosh, to treat menstrual disorders. The herb’s powerful antispasmodic properties are helpful in relieving the menstrual cramps of a painful period. The Iroquois used it to treat arthritis – research also suggests the plant possesses some anti-inflammatory and anti-rheumatic properties. Preparation Methods & Dosage :Blue Cohosh can be prepared as a tea or a tincture. The brew is dark, bitter, but a powerful remedy for the woes of menopause, arthritis pain. Blue Cohosh extract is widely available in capsule form.”

Here is what the flowers look like:

We finished at this spot and headed to the Trout Lily site Bill had mentioned.

We arrived at the overlook across the road from the trailhead to Skinny Dip Falls. The place was packed! Remind me never to go to the Parkway during a Spring weekend. We could hardly find a place to park. But we finally did, and we headed across the road and down the trail not knowing what to expect. After about 50 feet (15 meters) we began to see large patches of Trout Lilies, but no flowers! It’s not that they were bloomed out, but there were no flowers present, at all. What’s going on? We decided not to give up and to plod ahead. Soon, we began to see a few flowers here and there — some of them were pretty nice, so I set up the tripod and took a few images:

We finished up with the Trout Lilies and decided to continue on down the Parkway past our turnoff toward a place called Graveyard Fields. It was at this spot that I had seen many thousands of Trout Lilies a couple of years ago. Since Bill didn’t get the Trout Lily shot he wanted, I figured he would surely be able to get a good shot at this next stop.

As you can probably imagine, this popular overlook parking lot was also crowded beyond being full, so we turned around and found a roadside shoulder large enough to pull off right next to the Trout Lily hillside population. This is truly a huge population, and it stretches up from the roadside ditch to the top of the mountain. We unpacked our camera gear and I pointed out a few good spots for Bill to find his perfect shot.

When we finished at this site, we headed on back to the Highway 276 turnoff and made our way down this twisted mountain road to the orchid location in the Pisgah National Forest near Brevard. I knew the flowers would be in pretty good shape because I had photographed them a few days before. Even if they weren’t perfect, I wanted Bill to know about this location.

We reached the turnoff and made our way down that dusty, gravel road. Fortunately, the dust that covered most of the plants earlier in the week had been washed off by a gentle rain the area needed in a bad way. Mountain forest fires had started burning because of the dry forest floor, and hopefully the rain put an end to that, at least temporarily. We parked, and I walked Bill to the area for the best of the Galearis spectabilis or Showy Orchis plants, Here is an image of Bill all stretched out in the leaves with his camera pointed toward a very nice orchid plant:

Here is the plant he was photographing:

Here are a couple more:

While I was finishing with the orchids, Bill was talking to a young lady who was waking up the road from a nearby camping area. She asked what we were photographing and he pointed out a couple of the orchid plants. Unexpectedly, she mentioned that there was another group of Showy Orchis plants just up the road along a creek-side trail. We thanked her and wasted no time getting there. We found the spot, but the orchid plants were a good bit smaller than the ones next to the road. However, it was good to know where this other population can be found in the future. But, to add icing to the cake, there was a very nice Arisaema triphyllum or Jack-in-the-Pulpit growing just next to one of the orchid plants. It was one of the dark-striped forms which I find so pleasing. Here is the flower from two angles:

What a day out in the field! I enjoyed taking Bill to a few of my favorite spots, and in return, he showed me a few locations that were new to me. I’ve known him for quite a few years, but until recently, I had not botanized or photographed with him. It’s a small world, and I look forward to spending more time with him in the Southern Appalachian Mountains.

–Jim