Spring Ephemerals at Oconee Station State Historic Site — 2014-03-15

This past Saturday, I was expecting to meet a couple of friends from Atlanta and head off to another upstate site for rare wildflowers, but I knew they would not be heading this way until after lunch. So, I decided to drive west from my home base in Greenville, South Carolina to check out the Spring ephemerals at Oconee Station State Historic Site in Oconee County, South Carolina.

Wishing for a cloudy day, I was a bit disappointed that the sun was already out, bright and steady. Most of the nature photographers I know prefer to shoot on a cloudy day, because clouds diffuse the strong sunlight making for more pleasing images with less harsh shadows. Anyway, we often have to make lemonade from the lemons we are given, so I set out down the trail to see what is waiting for me.

It is not long before I begin seeing signs of the most plentiful wildflower there — Trillium cuneatum or Little Sweet Betsy:

They can be found in the tens of thousands at this location, and the flowers appear in a variety of colors such as yellow, yellow-green, bronze, maroon, and deep purplish-black. But it is the foliage that tends to excite most viewers. The pattern on the foliage is mottled into a mosaic of greens, grays, and silvers — always a treat to see.

I tend to pick out the odd-colored ones to photograph, since I’ve gotten used to the typical maroon color. Here are a couple of yellow-green flowered ones:

This yellow or yellow-green flower color, although not “rare”, is present in only a small percentage of the blooming plants. It’s probably just a naturally-occuring mutation.

Continuing down the trail, I spotted a very unusual Trillium cuneatum. This partiular one had five leaves instead of the usual three. I’ve seen plants with four leaves or six leaves, but this is the first one I had seen with five leaves. Next to it, and probably springing from the same rhizome was a double-stemmed plant with ten leaves and two flower buds! The stems were naturally joined for their entire length, and it will surely provide quite a show when the flowers open in a week or so:

It was also good to see that there were a lot of crowded groups of young plants showing for the first time. Not all of them will survive in such a crowded state, but seeing groups like this does say to me that the habitat and environment for these plants is in great shape:

Here is another example of the typical Trillium cuneatum plants found at this location:

As I mentioned earlier, there are a number of different wildflowers here in mid-March than just the Trillium. Soon, I was seeing examples of another Spring ephemeral, Sanguinaria canadensis or Blood Root. They are not in great numbers here, but they are in perfect shape for photography:

I especially like the way that the single leaf clasps the flower as it pops out of the forest’s leaf litter. Soon, the leaf will begin to spread, acting as a beautiful backdrop to the short-lived flower. The name, Blood Root, comes from the bright red liquid that oozes out of the rhizome when it is crushed or broken. It is said that early native Americans used this as a dye or stain.

Here and there, were splashes of yellow on the forest floor. These daintly flowers are Viola hastata or Halberd-leaf violet:

Occasionally, I’d see one of the purple violets, Viola sororia or the Common Wood violet:

Nearer the waterfall and its creek, there is greater humidity, and the soil is more condusive to growing another one of our pretty Spring ephemerals, Hepatica acutiloba or Sharp-lobed Hepatica. In several sites in South Carolina, this species exhibits bright purple flowers, but at this site in Oconee County, the flowers are generally all white or white with a blush of pinkish purple:

Only infrequently are the three-lobed leaves visible on top of the leaf litter. It is still a bit early for the new leaves to be growing, but I did find a clump of this plant on the stream bank, and last year’s leaves were clearly visible in their bright maroon colors:

In large numbers just next to the trail are the dimutive Thalictrum thalictroides or Rue Anemone. Sometimes they can be seen in groups of a dozen or more plants, but usually they are seen as single plants with several white flowers. The flowers very closely resemble those of the Sharp-lobed Hepatica. But for the difference in the size and shape of the leaves, it is difficult to tell them apart:

In late spring, you cannot venture into this area without seeing the ground literally covered by another Spring plant, Podophyllum peltatum or May Apple. Its leaf resembles a tiny umbrella, and the plant will have a single, very fragrant flower during April and May. The common name, May Apple, comes from the edible fruit that appears in late spring. All other parts of the plant, including the flowers, are quite toxic. On this trip, the leaves were just beginning to poke out of the ground — a few were beginning to unfurl:

Finally, I couldn’t wrap up this blog post without showing you the winter leaves of the three native orchids in our region that have winter leaves. Fortunately, I was able to photograph all three of them on this visit: Aplectrum hyemale or Putty-root orchid, Tipularia discolor or Crane-fly orchid, and Goodyera pubescens or Downy Rattlesnake plantain orchid. Of these three species, only Goodyera pubescens has evergreen leaves that last several years. The other two species have only a single winter leaf that withers before the plant sends up a spike of flowers later in the year.

The four-inch, blue-green, pleated leaf of Aplectrum hyemale or Putty-root orchid:

Several leaves of Tipularia discolor or Crane-fly orchid. Notice that they are green on the top side and dark purple on the underside. Those two tall stalks with seed capsules are last year’s fruit from the Crane-fly orchid:

The beautifully reticulated, evergreen leaves of Goodyera pubescens or Downy Rattlesnake plantain orchid:

I was set to meet up with my buddies from Atlanta in less than an hour, so I had to wrap up my photo adventure and head back to the truck. This site is visited by many local families who picnic at the falls with their children. It’s fortunate for them that there is an easy-to-reach, wildflower “hot-spot” where folks can gather and enjoy nature’s bounty…

–Jim