A walk in the Winter Woods — Eva Chandler Heritage Preserve, Greenville County, South Carolina — 2015-01-25

While you folks in the Northeast are fanny-deep in snow, I have a chance to take a winter walk in the woods of upstate South Carolina where it is a sunny, 55 degrees (F) or 13 degrees (C) — perfect weather for a woodland stroll. Woods are a special place for me. As a kid, whose family lived on the edge of town, I would go back behind our house into a large area of deep woods to sing my head off and build make-believe forts. It is also where I smoked my first cigarette. But I digress…

One of my favorite spots to botanize, especially in the spring, is Eva Chandler Heritage Preserve in upper Greenville County. It is about 300 acres of mixed pine/hardwood forest, but the interesting thing about it for me is the fact that it sits squarely on the Southern Blue Ridge Escarpment — that special place between the Piedmont and the Mountain sections of the state. According to www.blueridgeoutdoors.com, it is “…the meeting place of two tectonic plates, where the Blue Ridge Mountains end and the land tumbles into the foothills.” Here, the land rises abruptly several thousand feet, showcased by waterfalls and a stunning cliff of granite. It is here that the state has set aside several large tracts of land that are home to many rare plants, animals, and ancient historical sites. One of these tracts is the Eva Chandler Heritage Preserve.

In season, one can find a dozen orchid species, rare pitcher plants, sundews, and other carnivorous plants. But today, the season shows us only dormant and evergreen plants, and the evergreen plants are what I want to showcase.

As I walk down the trail, I hear only the fallen leaves crunch under my feet. It reminds me that most of the forest is sleeping, waiting for warmer weather and stronger sunlight to awaken it. Apparently, not much of botanical interest is going on above ground. Although the deciduous trees and shrubs have lost their leaves, there is much that is still green. One of the first things I notice is the Polystichum acrostichoides or Christmas fern that sprawls on the ground. Normally, its fronds are seen as more upright, but autumn’s leaf fall has caused their fronds to droop. They will soon be replaced by new growth, adding a touch of bright green to the forest floor:

As I am photographing the Christmas ferns, I notice some green leaves poking out of the ground between the fallen leaves. These are the 2-inch to 3-inch (5-cm to 7.5-cm) winter leaves that belong to one of our native orchids, Tipularia discolor or Crane-fly orchid. It is one of only three native orchids in our area that have a winter leaf. This single leaf will wither and die before the plant sends up a bloom stalk of up to 60 flowers:

Often, the leaves have what looks like dark spots or warts, but I understand that this is just a normal genetic characteristic of some of the leaves. Both the spotted and the plain leaves can be found growing in the same populations:

Near the orchid leaves are the leaves of Erythronium americanum or American Trout lily also known as Dogtooth Violet (although it is not a true violet). I am always taken by the marble-like quality of the pattern on the 2-inch (5-cm) leaf. I have been told that the plant got its common name from the similarity of the leaf pattern to the pattern on the sides of one of our native trout species. In any case, these lilies should be in full bloom by the end of February. It is one of the earliest blooming wildflowers in our region:

Looking into the forest, I see the tranquil scene of a second/third growth woods. Over the past couple of hundred years, this area was probably cleared of timber on a number of occasions, but it has come back and is now protected:

As I hike farther down the trail, I see a deciduous tree species that keeps its leaves through the winter until spring — Fagus grandifolia or American beech. The light tan-colored leaves are an attractive sight in the winter woods. There are some sections of forest in the area that are predominately beech trees, but here, there is just a single one on the edge of the trail:

Just at my feet, I see several rosettes of the leaves of another one of our native orchids that has a winter leaf — Goodyera pubescens or Downy Rattlesnake Plantain orchid. The reticulated pattern on the leaves make this one of the most attractive plants in the forest. This particular group of plants still has last season’s bloom stalk loaded with seed capsules:

Nearby, there are additional clusters of greenery. The leathery, white-veined leaves of Hexastylis heterophylla or Variableleaf Heartleaf are always a welcome sight. They will send up additional leaves and those strange, bell-like, ground-hugging, purple flowers in early spring:

Piled up and cascading over rotten logs, are a couple of species of ground moss. I admit that I am not versed in moss identification, but I do know that they are handsome species. I believe one of these is called Plume moss:

In the distance, I see little mounds of white. These are a Cladonia or Reindeer moss species. Beside it is the little, tree-like, Polytrichum commune or Common Haircap moss:

Among my favorite groups of plants are the club mosses. Today, I see two different species. One of these is Huperzia lucidula or Spiked clubmoss. It is a low-growing, evergreen plant that does not produce flowers, rather it reproduces by creating little gemmae or plantlets at the intersection of the leaves and stem. It also reproduces by rhizomes and by shedding spores in the fall.

The second club moss species is Diphasiastrum digitatum or Running Cedar also known as Ground Cedar. In some places, it covers nearly an acre of ground, spreading by runners and by spores:

Along the upper edge of the trail, especially where it carves into the hillside, I see the vining Epigea repens or Trailing arbutus. In the spring and early summer, it produces clusters of strongly fragrant pink or white flowers. Today, all I see are the leathery, green leaves and a few feathery buds at the terminus of the stem:

Growing next to the Trailing arbutus, is a cluster of shiny green leaves belonging to Galax urceolata or Wandflower. Around Christmas time, I have seen people with arm-loads of the leaves to be used for wreathes and decorations. Personally, I think this is a bad idea, but the plants do not seem to suffer if this harvest is not done in the same area in successive years:

Finally, I see a bit of color! It’s the bright red berries of Mitchella repens or Partridge berry. I’ve mentioned this ground-hugging vine in several previous blog entries. There, I pointed out how the twin flowers result in a single fruit, creating a berry with two “navels”. It is an edible fruit, but it is pithy and rather tasteless to most humans:

Eventually, I reach the end of the trail where it stops at an open, granite bald — the top of the escarpment. At this location, the bald is rather level and provides habitat for several species of ground moss. Thanks to my friend Christopher David Benda, the mosses are now identified as Grimmia laevigata or Grimmia dry rock moss (the darker green one) and Leucobryum glaucum or Pincushion moss (the lighter-colored one):

After sitting down for a short while and appreciating the view of the mountains in the distance, I return to the trail and head back toward my truck. On the way back, I notice some of the taller shrubs and trees. One evergreen that is common to the area is Rhododendron maximum or Rosebay Rhododendron. In mid-summer, this species will have many dozens of clusters of white to pink flowers. During the winter season, all we can see is the tightly closed flower buds and strap-like, leathery leaves:

Another shrub that is often confused with Rosebay Rhododendron is Kalmia latifolia or Mountain Laurel. These plants have smaller, shiny green leaves, and produce clusters of white or pinkish, bell-shaped flowers in late spring:

There are three main tree species with green leaves in the Preserve. The first of these is Tsuga Canadensis or Canadian Hemlock. In the past decade, most of the larger trees have succumbed to a nasty little critter called the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid. It sucks the life out of the tree where the needles grow out of the tree branches. A few of the fuzzy white critters won’t do very much damage, but when they multiply to large numbers, they can kill a mature, 100-foot (30-meter) Hemlock in just a couple of growing seasons. Quite a few smaller Canadian Hemlock trees still survive, but their future is not so bright, I think:

One of the conifers that is commonly found in the area is Pinus strobus or Eastern White Pine. The easy way to determine if you are looking at an Eastern White Pine is to inspect the needles. If they occur in 5 needles per fascicle (bundle or cluster), then it is an Eastern White Pine. Another easy way to remember this is to count the letters in W-H-I-T-E — five letters:

Lastly, I come across the easily recognizable Ilex opaca or American Holly. As it turns out, these particular trees don’t have any berries. Either the berries have all been eaten by woodland critters, or they may just be male trees which don’t have berries:

Making it back to my truck, I decide to capture my silhouette, which is just a shadow of my former self… (I know, pretty lame…)

Since I’m doing selfies, here is one of me in the flesh, enjoying being in my happy place — the outdoors:

BTW, I’m not winking at you… the sun is in my eye and I’m squinting.

I head back down the road toward home and realize I’m really hungry. It’s about lunch time, so I decide that I’m going to see if my favorite roadside barbecue place, Miss Janice’s newly refurbished BBQ Hut, is open. It is! So I finish the day with a fine meal of barbecued pork, baked beans, and potato salad, washing it all down with a Yahoo chocolate drink. Yummmm… A fine way to end a day trip to the woods in upstate South Carolina. I wish all of you could have been with me on this wonderful day — too special not to be shared…

–Jim