After leaving the Hwy. 25 road cut (previous blog entry), I drove west to Whitewater Falls in Transylvania County, North Carolina. It is located near the South Carolina border in the Nantahala National Forest. The National Forest Service says, “The word “Nantahala” is a Cherokee word meaning “Land of the Noonday Sun.” The name is appropriate as, in some spots, the sun only reaches the floors of the deep gorges of the national forest when directly overhead at midday.”
This sign told me that I was near to my quest to see the unusual Trillium discolor or Faded Trillium:
I wasn’t sure that I’d find this Trillium species in bloom, since we had expeienced a very cool and wet spring, so I was not surprised when I checked out the nearest location to the parking lot. All were in very tight bud, showing no color whatsoever. So I decided to walk the half mile to the Whitewater Falls overlook. A few hundred yards down the trail to the overlook, I noticed some pale yellow color on the steep slope beside the trail. Surely enough, it was Faded Trillium in full bloom. I immediately left the trail and climbed over the huge boulders to find the best flowers. There were many hundreds of plants at this spot, so finding perfect ones was not a problem:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Growing beside and among the Trillium were a number of Actaea pachypoda known as Doll’s-eyes or White baneberry. It’s common name of Doll’s-eyes comes from the plant’s fall fruit which are round and white with a black dot in the center. I’ll have to wait until fall to photograph the berries, but here are the flowers:
 |
 |
There were other species of Trillium on the slope, but they were not yet in bloom. So, I decided to finish the short hike to the Whitewater Falls overlook. I could actually hear the roaring water and feel the cool breeze way before I arrived. It is said that Whitewater Falls is the tallest falls east of the Rocky Mountains, but I supposed it is all in the way that the height is measured. There is an upper falls and a lower falls with a torrent of white water in between. In any case, the cloudy day provided good light for photography. Here a shot of the upper portion of Whitewater Falls from the overlook — the lower falls are downstream and outside of this shot:
On the drive back out to the main highway, I noticed a huge collection of Faded Trillium covering the side of the mountain. I should have stopped there first, since many of them were in full bloom:
I was very pleased to find the plants blooming, but I had to finish the day’s trip by heading on to a place I visited a few weeks previous — Oconee Station State Historic Site. Many wildflowers, including two additional Trilliums species, should be in full bloom…
— Jim