Botanizing the Blue Ridge Parkway in Transylvania County, North Carolina (Trillium, Rhododendron, etc.) — 2015-05-17

Being a photographer and an amateur botanist, I am drawn to places which produce rather showy flowering plants. This time of the year, the Blue Ridge Parkway (especially in its higher elevations) is home to some spectacular flowers and in large numbers. In one section of the parkway from about MM (mile marker) 418 to MM 424, there are several locations that are accessible via short hiking trails where Trillium undulatum or Painted Trillium as well as Rhododendron vaseyi or Pinkshell azalea are found. Photographs of the latter are especially prized since this lovely Rhododendron species is endemic to just a few sections of the Parkway and always at around 5000-6000 feet (1500-1800 meters) in elevation.

Painted Trillium

Pinkshell azalea

Personally, I think that the Painted Trillium is the best of the bunch. Its dark foliage and deep red chevron pattern on bright white petals make it stand out in the usually deep shade of the spruce/fir forests where it is happiest. It is not usually a “clumper” but frequently it is seen in groups of two or three plants. The first batch we found were mostly past, with wilting petals, but farther up the mountain, we found many fresh ones that were perfect for photography.

We had met our South Carolina Native Plant Society friend, Rick Huffman (Pickens, South Carolina) earlier in the day, and he took us to a place near Black Balsam Knob called the Sam Knob Trail. It winds through dense spruce/fir forests and occasionally opens up into small mountain meadows. Just into the edges of these spruce/fir forests are found the Painted Trillium. We hiked for less than a mile, I’d guess, and never saw the end of the patches of Trillium:

You can see from that last shot (above right), that we did find at least one clump of about a dozen plants that was worth photographing.

I even found a few Painted Trillium with more than 3 petals and leaves. Having seen thousands of plants along the trail, it is not surprising that I would find such an oddity. Unfortunately, it was way past peak bloom and about to drop its petals:

While we were there, I did manage to find a couple of dark red Trillium erectum or Stinking Benjamin that were not completely withered. They usually bloom a week or so earlier than the Painted Trillium, and I suppose their location deep within the forest meant that they got a later start this year.

According to Adirondack Almanack, this is the origin for the common name, “Stinking Benjamin”:

Ah, but Stinking Benjamin – surely that is a name behind which a good tale lies. Sadly, no. It turns out that it, like so many words in our language today, is a corruption of something else, in this case the word benzoin, which itself was a corruption of the earlier word benjoin, an ingredient derived from plants from Sumatra and used in the manufacture of perfume. Our trillium, however, does not smell sweet or spicy, hence the tag “stinking.”

To me, the flower emits an aroma that closely approximates the smell of a wet dog… ‘Nuf said.

To my surprise, there were hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Clintonia borealis or Blue-bead lily also known as Clinton’s lily that we saw in some of the sunnier places in the woods. It is called, “Blue-bead lily” because of the dark blue seeds that it displays in the late summer — they look like blue beads… Only a handful of the plants were blooming — most of them were still in bud. Not wanting to pass up the opportunity to photograph them, I set up the tripod next to these dainty little yellow flowers:

The glossy green leaves are easy to mistake for Galearis spectabilis or Showy orchis if the plants are not in bloom.

Another plant that was present is one that I have seen a number of times in South Carolina at the foot of wet cliffs. It is Diphylleia cymosa or Umbrella leaf. Although the leaves of these plants were only about 12 inches (30 cm) across, I have seen leaves of this species that are more than 2 feet (60 cm) across:

We also saw several large shrubs of Viburnum lantanoides or Hobblebush — its clusters of creamy-white flowers appearing on the ends of thin, drooping branches. It is called “Hobblebush” because when the branches droop over and touch the ground, they will root and create new plants. This thick maze of branches and new plants “hobbles” anyone trying to penetrate its territory.

On our way back to the truck, we came across this blooming shrub. I think it is a species of Sumac, but I don’t know which one. Thanks to my Flickr friend, Keith Bradley, I now know that this is the flower of Sambucus racemosa or Red Elderberry.

Off to the side, was a relatively large patch of a Lichen species, Cladonia cristatella, lovingly called “British soldiers” because of their bright red “uniforms”. I’ve seen these before, but not such a large patch of them. This image covers only about half of the plants in the group:

After getting back to the truck and parting ways with Rick, we drove back toward the west where we had seen a stunning population of Rhododendron vaseyi or Pinkshell azalea beside the Parkway. This display of pink rivals any other mass display of flowering plants I’ve ever seen. and it stretches for about a quarter of a mile (.4 km). The plants prefer the wet cliff faces in that area, and for that reason they are often quite difficult to photograph up close. Fortunately, a few of them do grow at eye level. As is with all my efforts to get a group shot of blooming plants, this display is no different. It is almost impossible to convey the beauty of the cliff face with all of that pink in a wide-angle photograph, but here are a couple of shots:

Here are some examples of the various shades of pink that can be found in these Pinkshell azaleas:

We stopped at several places to photograph whatever caught our eye. One plant that I kept noticing along the side of the Parkway had lot of blue flowers in clumps or cushions in the grassy roadside. It was also quite prevalent growing on damp cliff faces. I believe these are Houstonia serpyllifolia or Creeping Bluet also known as Mountain Bluet. I could be incorrect about this identification since I have not keyed it out, but it seems to fit the general description:

Eventually we rounded a corner and I saw the unmistakable purple color of Rhododendron catawbiense or Catawba Rhododendron. I did not expect it to be blooming so soon at this high elevation, but there it was:

It was getting to be late on the afternoon, so we decided to head back home. Just at the turnoff to Hwy. 276 on the Parkway, I noticed a number of yellow flowers on the hillside. These turned out to be Pedicularis canadensis or Canadian Lousewort also known as Wood Betony. What was odd about this group of plants was the wide variation in flower color. Usually, they are bright yellow, but this group included reddish-brown and a red/yellow bi-color:

The common name, “Lousewort” derives from an old belief that these plants, when ingested, were responsible for lice infestations in livestock.

Finally, lingering under some Rhododendron branches, was our final wildflower of the day — Uvularia puberula or Mountain bellwort. I was somewhat surprised to find it still in pretty good shape, since most of its bellwort neighbors were well past:

Another day of fun shared with friends who love to photograph nature, especially wildflowers. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a good location to drive in about any season except winter. I use the word, “location” loosely, since the parkway is a 469 mile-long ribbon (755 km) that stretches from Virginia thru North Carolina. It’s the longest National Park in the country, but it is only a few miles wide in places. It was built in 1936 to connect Shenandoah National Park to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The speed limit is 45 miles per hour (72 kilometers per hour), so it is rather easy to spot photographic opportunities while driving. Although there are paved, designated overlooks, they don’t usually coincide with patches of photographable wildflowers. So the problem is finding a suitable place to pull off the road. In many instances, there is either a soaring, vertical cliff in your way or a precipitous drop off. In either case, it is wise to drive on a bit until there is a wide enough shoulder on which to park. So here we end our Blue Ridge Parkway adventure… at least for a little while.

–Jim