Pink Day – Upstate Greenville County, South Carolina — 2016-04-16

This post is for my friend, Lee. He came down from Indiana for a visit around this time in 2014, because he wanted to see the botanical sights in the area. Unfortunately, we had experienced a hard freeze a few nights before, and we didn’t find things in very good shape. Today, I drove up to a state Heritage Preserve in the northern part of Greenville County where this rare plant grows and blooms. It is not easy to get to, and I won’t divulge the specific location, because the habitat is quite fragile. So, you will just have to be satisfied with some pictures.

I titled this blog post, “Pink Day”, because it features only pink flowers – two species to be exact. After driving up Hwy. 276, I arrived at the location about an hour after I left home. The road (if you can call it that) is narrow, and it is tortuous and filled with potholes and washouts. Someone attempts to maintain it, but it is a loosing game in the long run. A high-clearance vehicle is a must, and my truck suits the bill.

I really had no certain idea that the plants would be in bloom. I have been to the area around this time of year to find the plants still in tight bud, but today I hit it just right. Here is a shot of one of the many dozens of flowers that were in full bloom:

Swamp Pink

This species of the Lily family is found in scattered locations from the mountains of South Carolina and Georgia up to New Jersey, with the vast majority of populations being in New Jersey. It is so rare in the other states because of its habitat requirements. Its federal status as well as state status in most states in which it grows is Threatened. In the Carolinas and Georgia, it requires what is called a montane fen/bog environment. According to one definition, a montane fen/bog is a broadly defined peatland community that occurs in small depressions in exposed montane settings. We have only a handful of these in the Carolinas due to land development and forest degradation. This is not a habitat you can create over night, and once it is destroyed, it is virtually impossible to reconstruct. So, this montane fen/bog setting in upstate Greenville County is very precious, indeed.

Back to the story… I parked the truck, gathered my camera equipment, and hiked the ridge to the site. I held my breath as I got near to the fen, wondering if I would find the plants in bloom. But, I was not disappointed — there were several dozen of them in bloom. Here are a few habitat shots showing the associated plant community:

In the last two shots, you can easily see the bed of Sphagnum (peat) moss that these plants grow in. You can also see the long, strap-like leaves from last year’s growth. The newly sprouting, bright green leaves represent a new growth from the large, underground rhizome. At this point, the flower stems are about 12 inches (30 cm) tall. As they mature, they will continue to grow, and when the seed capsules are ready to split open, the stem will be about 3 feet (1 meter) tall.

This shot was taken a few years ago of a couple of rhizomes as they were just sprouting new growth. They had been exposed by very heavy rains in the area:

Early in the year, around mid-March, a bud will form in the center of the leafy rosette. This does not form on every plant growth, but when it does, it is obvious. This will become the flowering stalk in a few weeks:

As the bud grows, it pushes through the protective sheath. At this point, the separate unopened flowers can be seen, although their color is still green but with a bit of color beginning to show on the topmost buds:

Over the next few weeks, the stem extends and the buds take on more color:

From this point on, the flowers are very susceptible to frost or freezing temperatures. We commonly have a hard frost in early April, and inevitably, some of the early flower stems are zapped and turn brown. However, most of them will survive unless there is a very late frost, then all of them will be injured in some form or another. That is what happened when Lee made plans to come down. We had a very late killing frost, and he was able to see only one or two flowering stems.

This year, we did have an April frost, but it was not severe, and although a few of the earlier flowering stems were damaged, most of them made it through OK. Here are some shots from the first of two closely connected Swamp Pink sites I visited on this trip:

From a distance, the flowers appear to be a pinkish-purple, but that is due to the anthers being blue and white. The flower petals are a bright, bubble-gum pink, and the combination of colors make them appear to be more blue than the flower petals:

While I was busy setting up shots and trying not to get my feet too wet, I saw a couple of pollinators visit the flowers. The rightmost image, below, shows a small bee, literally covered in pollen, going from flower to flower getting nectar and pollinating the flowers in the process. The leftmost image shows a Bombus species doing the same thing:

It was now time to head over to the second Swamp Pink site. It is closely connected (probably by the same stream), but to get to it requires either bushwhacking through Rhododendron Hells or driving a short distance and hiking in via a narrow foot path. But first, I wanted to check out a nearby site for some pink Epigaea repens or Trailing Arbutus. This is a very common plant in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, with plants growing on almost every dirt embankment. The large majority of the flowers are white or very light pink, but I was looking for some nice, shell-pink flowers; some of which I had seen in this area a few years ago. So I left the Swamp Pink fen and retraced my steps past my truck to the gravel road. I walked up the road a bit, seeing more white Trailing Arbutus flowers, and then I spotted a plant with nice, pink flowers. Many of the flowers on the other plants were going past, but these were in pretty good shape, so I set up my tripod and took a few shots. Here is the best of the lot:

Feeling good about finding that beautiful, pink Trailing Arbutus added a spring to my step. Now, I could head off to the second Swamp Pink site.

After driving a short distance, I parked the truck, gathered my camera gear and headed off into the woods. I eventually reached the second site and found about two dozen Swamp Pink plants in full bloom. I neglected to mention earlier that the flowers produce a heady fragrance that can be smelled from quite a distance. Once I was at the second site, I was struck by the strong, sweet fragrance of the Swamp Pink. What a way to spend the day!

I settled in to photographing the flowers, being very careful not to trample on the new growth just coming out of the ground. Here are some shots from the second site:

And, yes, the stems do look like asparagus… but they are hollow, and I don’t think they would taste very good. 😉

Here are a couple of habitat shots from the second site. The first image represents a group of flowering plants within a few days of being in full bloom:

The second shot is of a group of plants whose center flowers show signs of frost damage. The remaining flowers survived the frost and continued to grow and are now in full bloom:

Well, I can take only so many shots of these beautiful wildflowers, so it was time to pack up and head back to the truck. Smiling all the way back, I pondered how I could be so fortunate to live so close to this precious wildflower site. When I reached the truck, I was expecting to drive back to my favorite Bar-B-Que shack in the little town of Cleveland, South Carolina for a hearty meal of pulled pork with baked beans and potato salad, all washed down with a Yahoo chocolate drink. With these thoughts in my mind I headed, with some trepidation, back down that twisty, mountain road.

At some points in the road, the road embankment is almost within touching distance of my hand out of the truck’s window. As I passed one tight curve and continued on the narrow trail, I spotted a splash of pink as it whizzed by me. I knew I had photographed Trailing Arbutus at this point years ago, but I didn’t remember it being that pink. So I slammed on the brakes and backed up until I saw that pink color. It was Trailing Arbutus, but it was the most unusual color I had ever seen. It was almost picotee — a light-colored flower with dark-colored edges. Here are a couple of shots of two flower clusters from this amazing plant:

Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather! I had never seen such. I walked down the road a few feet to see if there were any more like these, and this is what I found:

OMG! I had to sit down for a minute to gather my thoughts. This was the prettiest color variation of Trailing Arbutus I had ever seen. I’ve Googled Trailing Arbutus and can not find anything even close to this. I just hope it blooms next year so I can see it again.

Well, that brings a close to my latest wildflower adventure. I hope it has brought you some pleasure and given you a bit of insight into the variety of wildflower diversity that is found in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, one of the most botanically diverse regions in North America. The Spring wildflower season is still young — stay tuned for more botanical treasures…

–Jim