Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve, Grady County, Georgia. Images taken on 2014-02-24

After visiting the Trillium decipiens location, we drove back in an eastward direction to visit Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve in Grady County, Georgia. This is the home of one of the largest populations of Erythronium umbilicatum or Dimpled Trout Lilies in the world. This is what they look like close up:

We had pretty good directions to the location, and had little trouble finding the plants. After several inches of rain in the past couple of days, it was quite muddy on the foot path, but we managed just fine. All of the best visuals are from the trail, so there is no need to leave the trail at all for photographs. In fact, there are numerous small signs reminding us to stay on the trail.

This species differs from Erythronium americanum in a few subtle ways. The best way to tell them apart is to inspect the seed capsule. Erythronium umbilicatum has a significant “dimple” where the style attaches to the ovary. This can be seen best at www.carolinanature.com website. Look for the third and fourth images down from the top of that website. At the time we visited Wolf Creek, the plants had not yet begun to produce seed capsules.

Dimpled Trout Lily makes for some nice groups of flowers if you can manage to find any that are segregated from the masses of blooming plants down there:

As I mentioned, most of the flowers were seen in mass along the sloping hillside:

This is the best I could do to capture the rolling hillside covered with flowers:

Another wildflower I was on the lookout for was an orchid species: Neottia bifolia, formerly known as Listera australis or Southern Twayblade orchid. All of the Listera genus had been moved to Neottia several years ago, but it’s still hard for me to quit using the genus name, Listera. Once the genus name had changed, there was a problem since the name, Neottia australis had already been used. So, another epithet had to be devised — bifolia is quite suitable since the plant has two distinct leaves. But I digress…

Fortunately, the orchids were just next to the trail, and they were marked with a sign! How accommodating can one be? Just in case, I had a map that was previously drawn by the person who put me on to this location. Map and sign matched up (for a change)! Often, that is not the case.

Here is a shot of the orchid flowers (not showing the two leaves toward the base of the plant):

I had been told years ago that “twayblade” referred to the single pair of opposite leaves toward the base of the plant. Lately, I’ve read that the term refers to the two lobes of the lip of each of the orchid flowers in the genus, Listera. In any case, it is an interesting flower, to say the least. There were about a dozen plants in bloom in an area of about a square meter.

In the image above right, you can see the pair of opposite leaves toward the base of the stem of each plant.

The color of the one-half-inch (5 mm) flowers was not as varied as in some locations I’ve visited. They were mostly pink to tannish-pink as seen in the following images:

Finally, we saw many specimens of a Trillium known as Trillium maculatum or Spotted Wake Robin. I believe the term, “spotted” refers to the various blotches on the leaves. The leaves of this species, however, do not appear so different from the leaves of some of the other Trillium species found in the Southeast.

While walking along the trail, I spotted a strange Trillium maculatum plant. But first, I have to give you a short lesson on the name, “Trillium”. It got its name because the plant has three leaves, three sepals, three petals, tree stigmas, and three pairs of stamens — thus the name, “Trillium”. So, what was odd about the plant I found?

It has 4 of everything! I call it Trillium maculatum forma “quadrillium“. I have seen a few of these during my many years in the field, but it is still quite a rare occurrence.

Here are a few more examples of the Spotted Wake Robin that we came across:

This species also exhibits other color forms as well. One, in particular, is quite attractive and is sought after by Trillum enthusiasts. It is Trillium maculatum forma simulans. For illustrative purposes, I’m including some images I took in 2006 at a wooded site in Summerville, SC. I believe this site has since been built over — it was in a budding housing development. Here are some sample images of this beautiful plant:

So, this wraps up another wonderful day in the woods, photographing wildflowers and enjoying nature. Without the help of friends who trusted me with these locations, I would not have been able to photograph the flowers and share them with you. Stay tuned for more wildflower adventures in the Southeast…

— Jim