Fall botanizing along the Blue Ridge Parkway (including the Pisgah National Forest) — 2015-09-11

The morning broke with an overcast sky. That is good for photography — overcast diffuses the light and reduces strong shadows. However, my destination was about 2 hours away, and one can never tell exactly what the weather will be like up on the Blue Ridge Parkway of North Carolina. I headed up Highway 276 toward the Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, North Carolina. My first stop would be at my favorite Triphora trianthophora or Three-birds orchid site in the National Forest. I was hoping to find the plants in fruit. But, on the way into the site, I had to skirt the mowed roadside for about 100 feet (30 meters). I started seeing some tiny white flowers in the mowed grass. Looking at the shape of the leaves, I recognized the plant as a Geranium species, but I did not know which one. Then it dawned on me that I had a recent conversation with a photographer friend, Liz Fox, and it was just possible that what I was seeing was Geranium thundbergii or Thundberg’s Geranium. I had never photographed it before. Liz had given me a location for this species along the far western edge of the Blue Ridge Parkway. To get there would add an additional 50 miles (80 km) to my planned trip, and I didn’t know if I would have enough time to do that portion of the trip today. But, here they were in all of their tiny glory! I must have seen them before but not noticed them because they are smaller than 1/2 inch (10 mm). Here are a couple of shots of these pretty wildflowers:

Thundberg’s Geranium

Thundberg’s Geranium

I have later discovered that this particular species is common in New England and is even on the Invasive Species List for Connecticut. It does not winter over and relies on its prodigious seed production to maintain a hold in a particular area. I believe North Carolina is its southernmost range.

Back to the Three-birds orchids — here is an image of the seed capsules of this orchid species:

In another month or so, these capsules will ripen, split open (dehisce), and release their seed.

After finishing up at this site, I headed up the road toward its intersection with the Blue Ridge Parkway. There was one place along the road where I had seen Chelone obliqua or Pink Turtlehead in previous years, and I wanted to find them again. I reached the spot and parked in a paved parking area next to the road. There were a number of these plants growing next to the road at the foot of a wet cliff face. In previous years, the flowers were very dark reddish-purple, but today, they were light to medium pink:

However, I knew of another spot for them a couple of miles farther up the road, so after I photographed these, I packed my gear and headed north up Hwy. 276. Upon reaching the location, I parked at another paved parking pull-off and got my camera gear. BTW, it’s nice to have these plants so near a good place to park, since most of Hwy. 276 had just a narrow roadside shoulder, and it would be very unwise to park along this twisting highway except on an “official” pull-off. Walking across the road, I saw about a dozen plants blooming in the shallow, roadside ditch. These particular ones had deep, rose-purple flowers — the color I was expecting:

Here is one being visited by a member of the ever-present bumble bee population. They have to struggle to fight their way into the flower, so there must be a generous reward for them inside:

A short distance up the road, I saw some bright red berries which I knew to be from the wildflower, Arisaema triphyllum or Jack-in-the-Pulpit. Here is how the flower appeared in the early spring:

Here are the red berries I saw:

These are called berries and not seeds, because each berry contains 6 or 7 seeds.

It was time to get onto the Parkway, so I repacked my gear and headed out. The highway becomes very curvy just before it joins the Parkway and there are only one or two places to pull over. About a mile (1.6 km) before the intersection, there are usually several nice patches of Impatiens or Jewelweed just next to the road. Jewelweed is a very common wildflower in this part of North Carolina, but what makes this particular spot exceptional is that there are two different species of it and a fairly rare color form growing within feet of each other. The most common of the two species is Impatiens capensis or Orange Jewelweed also known as Spotted touch-me-not. Here are a couple of shots of its richly colored flowers:

The common name, “touch-me-not”, comes from the warning that if you touch the seed capsule after it is ripe, it will explode, sending the seed in every direction for about 6 feet (two meters)!

Here is a shot of the bright yellow flower of Impatiens pallida or Pale Jewelweed. It is less common than its orange sister, but still seen fairly frequently along mountain roads:

Growing among the yellow and orange version, is a creamy-white version called Impatiens pallida forma speciosa. I’ve seen it in only a few places along the Parkway, but here it is quite plentiful:

Just a short drive, and I was on the Parkway. I headed south on the Parkway (actually in a westerly direction) toward my final destination, Wolf Mountain Overlook, one of the many overlooks along the Parkway. But first, there were about 15 miles (25 km) of promising botanical areas between me and the final destination.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is actually a National Park — one of the longest (469 miles or 755 km) and narrowest (in places, as narrow as 100 feet or 30 meters) on either side of the highway. And pull-offs are at a premium. The drop-off is precipitous in some places without guard rails. The roadside shoulder is deceiving in that the grasses are mowed flat for up to six feet (2 meters) from the road, but there may be (and usually is) a steep drop-off after about three feet (1 meter) from the road. It is usually unsafe to pull off (and probably illegal) anywhere except for the “official”, marked and paved overlooks. Having said that, I have pulled to safe spots along the Parkway and have never been reprimanded for it by Parkway patrol. The speed limit is 45 mph (kmh), and it is strictly enforced. It is easy, however, to exceed that speed limit on some of the straighter stretches…

The first place I stopped (actually, I passed it then had to do a U-turn and come back to it), hosted a large population of Chelone obliqua or Pink Turtlehead. What was a bit strange about these plants was the color of the leaves — more yellow than green. I suspect it has something to do with the minerals that leach out of the cliff face above the plants.

I’ve seen this same coloration in other plants along certain parts of the Parkway. Here, I managed to catch another bee working its way into a flower for the reward:

Walking back to the truck after the photography was done, I noticed a Gentian species growing in the ditch. Now, I really have a hard time with some of the Gentians I see on the Parkway. To me, this one looks like an intermediate between Gentiana decora or Showy Gentian and Gentiana saponaria or Harvest Bells. It may even be a hybrid between one of those and Gentiana latidens or Balsam Mountain Gentian, which also grows in the area. My plant keys fail me when it comes to some of these mountain Gentians. It seems to have characteristics of both species, so who knows… I’ll have to get my friend, Jim Drake, author of the book, “Gentians of the Eastern United States” to help me out with this puzzle. Are you listening, Jim? Anyone else that has any ideas, please chime in with a comment. Anyway, here are some images of this strange plant:

I had to cross the road on the way back to my truck, and I noticed the vines of Aristolochia macrophylla or Dutchman’s Pipe hanging from a tree limb close to the road. This plant is the preferred food source of the larvae of the Battus philenor or Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly. It was not until last year that I was able to get a few good shots of the flower of this plant, because the vines stretch up to 30 feet (10 meters) in the tree tops where the flowers bloom. Today, I was lucky to see the fruit hanging from the vine as it has caused the limb to bend over with all of its weight. Here is a profile shot of the strangely shaped flower and the 5-inch (12.5 cm) fruit:

Time to pack up and head to the next site, whatever it may hold…

Just down the road, I found a site where I did easily recognize the species, Gentiana decora or Showy Gentian — some with open flowers:

I had one more stop before arriving at Wolf Mountain Overlook — a roadside hill with lots of Gentians and orchids. In previous years, I’ve seen hundreds of Spiranthes ochroleuca or Yellow Ladies’-tresses orchids in bloom on this rather dry hillside. Today, the flowers were just beginning to open with only one or two flowering stems in good bloom. In another week, they will all be in perfect bloom. Here are a couple of shots of the orchids:

So the best bloomers at this particular spot were the Gentianopsis quinquefolia or Stiff Gentian. This one loves the higher elevations of the Parkway — this spot being at about 5000 feet (1500 meters). The color varies from a pale lavender to a deep purple with every shade in between. Typical of most of our Gentian species, the flowers remain closed throughout its flowering cycle. This must make it difficult for insects to pollinate the flowers, but they seem to manage with just a bit of work. I did photograph a deep purple Gentianopsis quinquefolia or Stiff Gentian being pollinated by a Phoebis sennae or Cloudless Sulphur butterfly. It really had to work at getting its proboscis into the flower:

I usually do a bit of landscaping around the plants that I photograph. But with the butterfly actively working the flowers, I figured I could not get away with removing the grass from around the plant this time. Here are a couple of additional shots of Stiff Gentian to give you an idea of the color range:

The image on the above left also contains a Yellow Ladies’-tresses orchid just beginning to open its flowers.

Less than 1 mile (1.6 km) down the road was Wolf Mountain Overlook. This is a botanical treasure almost any time of the growing season, but especially during September when several spectacular wildflower species are in full bloom. When I arrived, I saw another couple of cars parked at the overlook. There were several people at the foot of the wet cliff face, one with a camera and tripod. I knew this was a serious photographer. I parked and walked up to the western end of the wide cliff face. I walked the entire length of the cliff face to get a good idea just where the best plants were to be found. I went back to the truck, got my camera equipment and headed toward a large expanse of Parnassia asarifolia or Kidney-leaf Grass-of-Parnassus. This is not a grass at all, but it is a wonderfully delicate, 1.5-inch (3.7 cm) flower with veined petals. It must have gotten an early start this year, because a number of flowers had already dropped their petals. They were somewhat difficult to photograph, because the water was dropping off the cliff face onto some of the flowers. Here are some shots of this delicate flower:

A short distance away, was a nice group of Chelone obliqua or Pink Turtleheads — they seem to be at a number of sites along the Parkway. These were in perfect shape (thus the larger picture) ;-):

But, to me, the star of the show was the rare Gentian called Gentiana latidens or Balsam Mountain Gentian. It was fully described in 2009, before which it was thought to be a variety of Gentiana saponaria or Gentiana clausa, but the researchers found enough of a difference to bring it to species status. It is a large-flowered plant with flowers up to 2 inches (5 cm) long and of a very deep, purplish-blue color. To see the dark blue flowers against the lime-green foliage is a pure pleasure. The plants are about 12-18 inches (30-45 cm) tall, and each stem may contain several groups of flowers with each group consisting of as many as 6 or 7 large flowers. Like many of our Gentians, the flowers remain closed during the bloom cycle unless forced open by a bumble bee. Here are some images of this rare species:

As I was finishing with the Gentians, one of the group of three (which included the photographer) came over and asked if I was Jim Fowler. Turns out that he had attended the recent International Bog Day Conference (sponsored by the North Carolina group, Friends of Plant Conservation) which was held in Cedar Mountain, North Carolina this summer and where I was the kickoff speaker. I had not met him at the conference, but he remembered my face. He doesn’t want his name mentioned in a blog, but he’s quite the knowledgeable naturalist. The other two in his group were Karen Lawrence and her husband Richard Lawrence. She is a photographer, and a very good one at that. Click Here for a link to her website. She lives in Franklin, North Carolina and is a regular visitor to the Parkway. It is great to be able to put a face with a name — it doesn’t happen that often…

This turned out to be day of colorful flowers. The Blue Ridge Parkway never fails to provide wildflowers in profusion in Spring, Summer, and Fall. In winter, it is often closed due to the heavy snow that frequents the high mountains bordering the Parkway. As I have said before, I am so thankful to live within a day’s drive of such wonderful botanical sites, and I hope I’ll be able to revisit those spots for many years to come.

–Jim