Return to Pearson Falls Road, Polk County, North Carolina — 2014-04-26

On Saturday, April 26, Walter Ezell and I made the 1-hour trip to Pearson Falls Road in Polk County, North Carolina. It’s a little, winding mountain road that takes you to Pearson’s Falls — a wonderful nature preserve set aside for the enjoyment of the public. It is located in the mountains of western North Carolina between the towns of Saluda and Tryon. Pearson’s Falls is owned and maintained by The Tryon Garden Club. The Tryon Garden Club is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization.

However, I seldom pay to visit the falls, since most of the wildflower show is along Pearson Falls Road. On this trip, I especially wanted to photograph the beautiful yellow flowers of Uvularia grandiflora or Large-flower Bellwort. I had visited this same spot about this time last year, and most of the flowers of this plant species were past peak bloom. Today, however, there were many hundreds (perhaps thousands) of them lining the edge of the gravel road:

We parked the truck on the side of the road and unloaded our camera gear. Soon, we were busy finding just the right flowers to photograph, which wasn’t difficult, since there were so many good ones in front of us:

I did happen to notice, but was unable to get a clear photograph of a tiny (~3/8 inch or 10 mm) bee that was very busy pollinating the Large-flower Bellwort. It would land on the flower and immediately find a way between the petals to the inside of the flower. It would spend up to 20 seconds doing it’s thing, then brush itself off and fly to another flower. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen the natural pollination of this species.

Anyway, those big yellow flowers were not the only ones in the area. Just up the hill, were hundreds of Trillium simile also known as Gleason’s Trillium, or Sweet White Trillium, or Confusing Trillium. This is a fairly tall Trillium, and it shows itself quite well on the steep hillside. Sometimes it grows in clumps of up to 8 or 9 flowering stems:

There was also another Trillium species in great profusion on the hillside, but it was just about past peak bloom. This species is Trillium grandiflorum or Large-flower Trillium. We had to search diligently to find flowers that were photographable. Many of the flowers had suffered during the recent heavy rain storm in the area:

That one pictured on the right is turning pink due to “old age”. That’s what happens with several of the white Trillium species. Sometimes, however, this makes for some interesting patterns on the petals.

I was hoping that I’d run across the “double” Large-flower Trillium that I saw in this location last year. I had just about given up when Walter said, “Is that a double one up there?” Sure enough, it was:

This aberration is caused by a mycoplasma-like bacteria which is responsible for the mutation. These infected plants are not expected to live a long life, but they are certainly a pleasure to see and are sought after by Trillium enthusiasts.

After photographing the Trillium flowers, I wandered down the road and managed to find several Asarum canadense or Wild Ginger plants. Unfortunately, they were high on the steep hillside, and I just could not get close enough for a good shot. I did manage to set up my tripod so that I could get a shot or two using fill flash:

Little did I know that there were several plants at shoe-level on the other side of the road. I’d soon find them and set up my camera to photograph them:

Along that same stretch of gravel road were dozens of Polygonatum biflorum or Solomon’s Seal with the tiny greenish-white flowers hanging down from the stem like little bells:

All along, I could hear the splash of water from numerous, small waterfalls on the North Pacolet River, just down the hill next to the road. So, I managed to find a spot to navigate the steep hillside, and I walked down to the edge of the river. There were several convenient places to photograph the river and I set up my camera just as a kid with a rod and reel came up to me and asked if he could fish where I was photographing. I thought that was respectful of him, so I said yes. While he went back to his dad’s car to get his fishing gear, I snapped a couple of shots of two of the little waterfalls:

I was really enjoying the cool air spraying up from the river, so I walked downstream a bit along a narrow path. After a while, I found a large boulder to sit on, but I had to go behind it to find a place to reach the top. On the side, next to the boulder, was an old dead tree that had fallen and was covered with a fungus. The light was filtering through the tree limbs just right to light it up from behind:

It just seemed to glow as if it were lit from within. I walked to the other end of the log and saw that there was an entirely different picture, since the fungus was lit from the front:

I’m glad I saw the other end first, since I probably would not have given it a second glance having seen the silvery side first…

As I was making my way back to the truck, I noticed a large and beautiful Arisaema triphyllum or Jack-in-the-Pulpit just next to the road. I’ve photographed many of them, but each one is slightly different in coloration. This one was quite nice, since it had strongly contrasting stripes:

I finally reached the truck and noticed the masses of Viola canadensis or Canada violet that were just up the hill. Although I had photographed them a few days ago at another site, these were too pretty to pass up:

It’s now time to head back home after several hours of photography. I decided to take the long way home to see if there was another photographic opportunity around the corner. Talk about corners! The road turned out to be like a snake with curves, but for no apparent reason:

Just try to figure that one out!

I kept seeing flashes of red beside the road. So I stopped to check it out. Turns out it was Aquilegia canadensis or Wild Columbine by the hundreds! Can’t pass that one up…

Wow! Another great Spring day with lots of wildflowers and lots of sunshine. Walter and I were famished at this point, so we headed to the nearest Mexican restaurant as we were nearing home. I don’t know why, but I never cease to be amazed by the beauty of the Spring ephemerals, and we are so fortunate to have many different species so close to home…

–Jim