Day 1 – Carolina Coastal Plain – Orchids and Wildflowers in the Francis Marion National Forest — 2015-08-14

On Friday morning (August 14, 2015) I left home for what would be a 1,047-mile (1,685-km) round trip to the coastal plain of both South Carolina and North Carolina. That does seem to be a lot of mileage for traveling within my home state (South Carolina) and a neighboring state (North Carolina), but consider that a great deal of traveling back and forth on forest service roads in each of three national forests adds up very fast. In addition, one of the national forests was in a very remote and distant section of eastern North Carolina. On this first leg, I was by myself and would be meeting seven other people in North Carolina on Saturday.

My first stop would be in the Francis Marion National Forest in Berkeley County, South Carolina. This large parcel of land is about 250.000 acres (101,00 hectares) of longleaf pine savannahs, flatwoods, bottomlands, and mixed forests. It is the longleaf pine savannahs and the bottomlands down there that interest me the most, since this is where the summer orchids grow. Mid-August is always good for the fringed orchids as well as a few other orchid species. These summer orchids include but are not limited to: Platanthera ciliaris or Yellow fringed orchid, Platanthera conspicua or Southern White fringed orchid, Platanthera cristata or Crested fringed orchid, and Malaxis spicata or Florida Adder’s-mouth orchid.

I knew from past trips to the Francis Marion NF, that there was one fairly reliable site for Platanthera conspicua or Southern White fringed orchid. So that’s where I drove to for my first images of the morning:

Southern White fringed orchid

Incidentally, that wide, dark stripe in the center of the above image is not an out-of-focus tree in the background, but it is the shadow of a tree on the grass in the background. I intentionally positioned the tripod so that the shadow would be directly behind the orchid’s inflorescence, providing a bit more contrast to the image.

Here are a few additional images of the Southern White fringed orchids I was able to photograph:

Just across the forest service road were about a dozen Platanthera cristata or Crested fringed orchids. The flowers on this orchid species are relatively small, measuring about 1/4 inch or about 6 mm. Even though they are small, having up to 100 flowers on the stem is quite impressive. A few plants were growing in the ditch, but the rest were in another depression in the woods. Here are a few of shots of the Crested fringed orchid flowers:

Since I’m showing this orchid species, I’ll include a couple of shots from a site toward the eastern end of the Francis Marion NF on Hwy. 45. I found these last year when I was showing George Baird and Erica Obey (from New York) the wonders of the Carolina coastal plain. We were finishing up our day in the field and heading to get something to eat when I spotted these yellow beauties growing beside the highway. I slammed on the brakes and had to make a U-turn in the road to find a place to park. These were some of the nicest Crested fringed orchids that we found that day — and we found them just by accident. There were about a dozen plants growing in the ditch on my recent visit, and I had to stop to photograph them:

Another site I enjoy visiting in the Francis Marion NF is along Dog Swamp Road. There is a rather large grassy savannah which provides a home for several orchid species as well as Lilium catesbaei or Pine Lily. This wildflower is quite spectacular even though the plant has only a single flower. Its distribution range is along the Atlantic coastal plain and Gulf coastal plain from Virginia through Florida to Louisiana. The plants are usually less than 2 feet (60 cm) tall, but the brilliantly colored flower can be as large as 5-6 inches (12-15 cm) wide. The color varies from deep scarlet red to bright orange:

Some stunning mutations within this species occur rarely from time to time. Last year, I found the one below on a roadside in southeast Georgia. Notice that it has no spots on the petals or sepals and is missing the red coloration:

In the same savannah with the Pine lilies I found about a dozen Platanthera ciliaris or Yellow fringed orchids. It is also known as Orange fringed orchid. This is a wide-spread species that also can be found in good numbers in the mountains of the Carolinas. In fact, I have seen and photographed this orchid species recently in the North Carolina mountains — my blog entries for these can be found here and here. Its distribution range covers 28 states and the province of Ontario, Canada. It can be found from New York to Texas — almost all of the states east of the Mississippi River. Here are some images of the Yellow fringed orchid:

In the same area were hundreds of a plant species that I have seen all up and down the Atlantic coastal plain — Zigadenus glaberrimus or Sandbog Deathcamus also known as Fly Poison. What a name! It is highly poisonous to animals and to people. As one author states, “Like all the species previously included in this genus, all parts of Z. glaberrimus are toxic, due to the presence of alkaloids. Grazing animals, such as sheep and cattle, may be affected and this or related species have caused human fatalities.” The flowers, though, are especially interesting. They are a creamy white with a double green spot on each of the tepals. The protruding stigma and anthers gives a nice 3-dimensionality to the flowers:

After I finished photographing the orchids and lilies in the savannah, I headed toward a bottomland area where I have previously seen Malaxis spicata or Florida Adder’s-mouth orchid. On my way back out to the main highway, I spotted a purple colored flower on the edge of savannah next to the gravel road. I had seen Centrosema virginianum or Spurred Butterfly Pea in this area several years ago, but not recently. I was happy to stop and photograph it again — it was like seeing an old friend after several years absence:

This species is often confused with Clitoria mariana or Butterfly Pea (not Spurred Butterfly Pea). One of the differences is the presence of a narrow, green spur that is found at the base of the petals of Centrosema virginianum. It is visible in the rightmost image, above.

In 2010, I actually found an alba form of Spurred Butterfly Pea with a little crab spider perched on top. The narrow, green spur is visible beneath the legs of the spider:

Beside the Butterfly Pea plants were a couple of Asclepias lanceolatum or Few-flowered Milkweed. This species of Milkweed has a lengthy bloom season from early summer to early fall. It is so brightly colored that it is very easy to spot as I travel along the dusty gravel roads in the forest. In some locations, it hybridizes with Asclepias rubra to form hybrids with striking color pairings. However, most of the ones we see in the Francis Marion NF are usually some shade of red and orange:

There was also an Asclepias tuberosa or Butterfly Milkweed nearby:

It was just a short drive to the rather swampy area for the Florida Adder’s-mouth orchids. I have to admit that I’m always anxious when I return to a site where I have found an orchid species, because sometimes they don’t show up as expected. For the past three or four years, I have found Florida Adder’s-mouth orchids in the shallow ditch-like depressions in the middle of the woods. However, this is one place in the southeast where I will always wear a mosquito net over my head. It’s difficult to describe the density and ferocity of the mosquito swarms at this site. Upon entering the mucky woods, it is even possible to hear the insects swarming toward anything that moves. I had sprayed my arms and torso with a 30% Deet insect repellant, but I have come to believe that these suckers have evolved to love the stuff! Enough said…

Anyway, I walked the requisite 200 feet (60 meters) into the swamp until I found the survey tape I had place on one of the trees a couple of years ago. The tape was tied to a tree that is next to a shallow ditch that runs for quite a distance. In fact, there are several of these shallow ditches that run parallel to each other — I can only speculate that at one time, someone wanted to drain this portion of the swamp. It didn’t work. Just below the tape were a couple of fine Florida Adder’s-mouth orchids in full bloom. I cleared away some of the leaves so that I could get a better shot of them. Like other Malaxis species, the leaves are glossy and deep green. Unlike the more common Malaxis unifolia, this species has two leaves — one just above and opposite the other:

Even with the mosquito net and what I thought was ample spraying of my exposed body parts, the mosquitoes were almost unbearable. I hastily took some shots of several of the plants and got the heck out of there. I can take a hint…

As with other Malaxis species in North America, the flowers are exceedingly tiny and are probably pollinated by fungus gnats or mosquitoes.

I was quite relieved to get back into the truck and away from those buzzing and biting insects. Over the years, I seemed to have developed an intense reaction to mosquitoes and chiggers. Even though I don’t like to use insect repellent, I find that sometimes there is just no alternative if I want to go into an area like the swampy one I just left.

It was time to head north 4 hours toward Jacksonville, North Carolina, where I would be spending the night. I had many dozens of pictures to download and batteries to recharge, as well as lens cleaning and reorganizing of my camera equipment. The next day’s adventure would take me to a place I had heard about but never had the opportunity to visit — the Croatan National Forest in Carteret County, North Carolina. I had arranged to meet seven other people there — two old friends and five others that I had not yet met. From what I had read about the place, it looked like it was going to be an exciting adventure. Stay tuned…

–Jim