Botanizing in upstate South Carolina’s wildflower preserves with Lee Casebere — 2014-04-21

Recently, I received an email from a Flickr friend, Lee Casebere, who is the retired Assistant Director of the Division of Nature Preserves in Indiana. At the time, he was making plans to participate in The 64th Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in mid-April. Since he was going to be down this way, he suggested that we meet and check out the wildflowers in my area of South Carolina after the Wildflower Pilgrimage was finished.

I met him early in the morning at his motel in Brevard, North Carolina, and we headed out to see what we could find. The first place we visited had to be somewhat of a disappointment for Lee. I took him to our premier site for Helonias bullata or Swamp Pink. It is both the largest and the southern-most site for this rare plant in North America. I had visited the site a week earlier to make sure the plants would be in bloom, but I found that the recent sub-freezing weather had zapped the existing flowers. When we arrived at the site, the succulent flower stems were blasted and there were no flowers worth photographing. Fortunately, there were unaffected flower buds that were still in the basal leaf rosettes, and they should be extending and flowering in a couple of weeks. Good for me, but not so good for Lee…

Here is a shot of Lee photographing what is left after the hard freeze:

We spent some time checking out the site and looking for plants that may have avoided the freeze, but found none. At least Lee got to see the site and could appreciate its value. We then headed to a second Helonias bullata site where I hoped that there might be some blooming plants. There were a few that somehow avoided the freeze damage, but they were not at peak flower:

So, I decided that we would head down to Persimmon Ridge Road, where I had recently photographed a number of wildflower species along the road. The road takes us to a state heritage preserve, Eva Russell Chandler Heritage Preserve, that has a fine example of the rare, cataract bog. This is one of the few extant cataract blogs in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. I wanted to make sure Lee had the chance to see this rare habitat. The main attraction of this bog is Sarracenia jonesii or Mountain Sweet pitcher plant. However, it was much to early in the season to see and appreciate this special species, since it doesn’t flower until mid-May.

While in the Heritage Preserve, I pointed out to Lee that if he squinted his eyes just right, from this spot on the Southern Blue Ridge Escarpment, he could see the skyline of my home town of Greenville on the distant horizon:

Not having much more to photograph here, I suggested that we go to another site. Along the trail back to the truck, I found some fairly fresh Iris cristata or Dwarf crested Iris to photograph:

After we packed our gear and headed off down Persimmon Ridge Road, I remembered the unusual, white Viola pedata or Bird’s-foot violet that I had photographed last week. I managed to locate it again, and we stopped so that Lee could get some shots. We had just finished, when I spotted a SCDNR (South Carolina Department of Natural Resources) truck heading up the road toward us. I couldn’t make out the driver, but I hoped it was Mary Bunch, the manager of the 18 upstate Heritage Preserves in the state. Turns out, I was right!

She stopped her truck and got out, thinking we had spotted a snake in the ditch. After showing her what we were interested in, we had a long conversation about the status of the Heritage Preserves and about Lee’s involvement in preservation and conservation in Indiana. Here is a shot of Lee and Mary standing at the edge of the road:

So, I’m trying to figure out where I can take him to show off more of our floristic diversity. Then I thought of an unusual site, Boggs Rock, in Pickens County, South Carolina. I had taken some folks there just about this time last year, and they really enjoyed the visit. It is a Precambrian, metamorphic flat-rock environment where a number of strange plant species thrive. These species have carved out a unique niche in this harsh setting where almost nothing else can survive.

Upon arriving at the site, it was apparent that the bright red Diamorpha smallii or Elf orpine was just coming into bloom:

It’s easy to see how it grows in the low spots of the rock outcrop where sand gathers from erosion. These plants will last only a few weeks until they set seed, then they will wither and virtually disappear from sight until next spring. Here are some close-ups of the tiny white flowers and juicy red leaves:

After we got our fill of these beauties, we headed back to the truck. But on the way out, there was another flowering plant that I just had to photograph. It is the low-growing, brightly colored Tradescantia hirsuticaulis or Hairystem Spiderwort:

Apparently, I managed to catch a Bombus or Bumblebee species hovering over one of the flowers. I didn’t know it was there until I returned home and processed the images.

Another site that I wanted Lee to see was Devil’s Fork State Park, home of the rare Shortia galacifolia or Oconee Bells. In mid-March of 2014, I had paid a visit and created a blog entry for that visit here. Today, since the Oconee Bells had already bloomed out and were in seed, at least Lee could appreciate the unusual habitat. I also showed him a population of Monotropsis odorata or Pygmy Pipes, which were pretty much past bloom. Too bad he could not have visited a month earlier…

On the way back out to the main highway, I spotted something different along the side of the road. It was Baptisia cinerea or Carolina wild indigo. Although I wasn’t expecting to see it, it would have been hard to miss with its bright yellow flowers sticking out on spikes like little torches:

Continuing to head westward, I decided that we should visit a site that was recently (around 2007) acquired by The Nature Conservancy called, Nine Times Preserve. I had recently been fortunate enough to hear from my Flickr friend, Ali van den Broek, that there were some interesting plants currently in bloom at Nine Times.

We arrived, followed her flawless directions, and soon found what we were looking for. This was a relatively small area, but it had a wealth of beautiful wildflowers. The first one we saw was Trillium discolor or Faded Trillium. I had recently photographed it and written about it in last year’s trip to Whitewater Falls. Here are a couple of closeups of this Trillium species:

It’s easy to see how it got its common name, Faded Trillium, since it does appear to resemble a faded, Trillium luteum.

Just spitting distance from the Trillium discolor was a white violet whose identification I was not sure of:

After getting back home and doing a brief perusal of the Internet and a few wildflower books, I think it is Viola striata or Striped white violet. As usual, if I’m wrong Dear Reader, please correct my taxonomic failings.

Again, just a short distance away, Lee found a large Arisaema triphyllum or Jack-in-the-Pulipt in perfect bloom:

As usual, it was positioned such that I had to crouch under a tree limb on the side of a hill to get this perspective. I often wonder why this particular species always faces in a direction that makes it difficult to photograph?

Another rather common species that I have photographed at several locations this year is Thalictrum thalictroides or Rue Anemone. I can never seem to get enough of this dainty little white flower, and it was there in abundance:

I even spotted one growing among a group of Viola sororia or Common wood violets:

Close to a nearby creek, we found hundreds of the delicate Tiarella cordifolia or Foamflower just coming into full bloom:

There were also many specimens of a beautiful blue Phlox stoloniferaa or Creeping Phlox:

Soon, Lee exclaimed that he had found an orchid in bloom — Galearis spectabilis or Showy orchis. It must have been the one that Ali had found a few days before. But while he was busying himself with the orchid, I had found another lovely Trillium species, Trillium catesbaei or Catesby’s Trillium in perfect shape:

In a few minutes, we switched locations, so that I had a chance to photograph the Showy orchis:

There were other wildflowers in the immediate area, as well. One was a huge Trillium that I’m guessing is Trillium vaseyi or Vasey’s Trillium. It was in tight bud, which is expected since it is a later bloomer. But it was time to start heading back to Brevard, where I’d return Lee to his motel room.

Walking back to the truck, I spotted a number of Sisyrinchium angustifolium or Blue-eyed Grass growing in a wet area beside the road. This is not a grass, but it is related to the Iris family, and is always a welcome sight to see:

Well, we eventually reached the truck and stowed our gear for the ride back to Brevard. I had just pulled out of the parking area when I spotted something on the edge of the road that caused me to slam on the brakes! It was a flash of rosy-pink. So I backed back into the parking lot and told Lee that this was something I needed to check out. I gathered my camera gear and headed across the road. It turned out to be a very nice clump of Trillium catesbaei:

This is the perfect example of how a single population of this Trillium species is able to demonstrate the variability in color and morphology within the species.

Well, that was the last of the photographic sessions for the day. I tried not to examine the roadsides as I drove Lee back to Brevard. It was getting late, and I was a bit weary from being on the road all day, but I still had one more site to show Lee — that is a fantastic Galearis spectabilis or Showy orchis site in the Pisgah National Forest, just north of Brevard. It was one that I had shown my friends Alan Cressler, Steve Bowling, and Kelvin Taylor around this time last year. I had checked it out just prior to Lee’s visit and saw that the flowers were still in tight bud. On today’s visit, we could see a bit of color peeking out, but the flowers would be a week to ten days from putting on a spectacular show. Stay tuned to this blog for an update…

Another day spent with a great botanizing friend. The flowers that we saw were spectacular, and they left us with visions and hopes for more to come. I live in an area of great floristic diversity, and I really appreciate that fact. I was happy to share a few botanical sites with my Flickr buddy Lee, and we parted knowing that this is not the last time we will get together and share our mutual interests of wildflowers and photography…

–Jim