In search of a rare native Azalea in the Piedmont region of South Carolina — 2016-05-14

My good friend and photography buddy, Alan Cressler, has been bugging me for some time about taking him to see the rare, Rhododendron eastmanii or May White Azalea. I have photographed it in mid-May in previous years, so it was time to visit the site again. Rhododendron eastmanii is a relatively new Azalea species and was named and documented by Kathleen Kron and Mike Creel in 1999. It is quite similar to another native Azalea species, Rhododendron alabamense or Alabama Azalea, but differs from it with one significant distinction: when R. alabamense blooms, it is not fully leafed out, while R. eastmanii is fully leafed out when it blooms. Otherwise, the shape, size, and coloration of the flowers is quite similar.

Alan met me at my house in Greenville, and we set out down I-26 toward Newberry County, South Carolina. The plants can be found scattered around in Lynch’s Woods Park in downtown Newberry. It is a 276-acre (111-hectare) city park which is probably most well-known for its horse trails (we saw a number of riders while we were there). We arrived at the site in early morning, parked the truck on the side of the road, and gathered our camera equipment. As soon as we entered the woods, I could smell the heady fragrance of this rare, native Azalea, and I knew they were in bloom. It is a strong, floral fragrance, and you can’t miss it if you are anywhere near the flowers.

After a short walk into the woods, we saw them. Even in the darkness of the woods, the bright white flower with yellow markings on one of the petals is very striking. Here is a good example of a small cluster of those beautiful flowers:

May White Azalea

The particular plants we photographed were actually large shrubs from 6-10 feet (2-3 meters) tall, and most of the flowers were at about eye level or higher. So, I devised a make-shift mechanism to use to make the flowers a bit easier to photograph. I straightened out an old wire coat hanger and attached a small water bottle full of rocks to it at one end with a length of twine. By hanging it on the branch behind the flower clusters, it would lower them enough to allow easy access for photography. Here are some images of the flowers we saw in the park:

We hung around the area for quite a while enjoying the beautiful flowers and their sweet fragrance. Alan even found one plant whose flowers did not have the distinctive yellow blotch on the petal. Here is a shot of that oddity:

As I was packing up my camera equipment to leave, I spotted a cluster of flowers that had just been lit up by a ray of sunlight that made its way through the dense forest canopy. I had been avoiding this type of sunlit shot, but I figured it might be interesting with the flower petals backlit by sunlight:

We made our way back to the truck and stowed our gear. It was now close to lunch time, so we headed off to the nearest Subway Sandwich Shop. During lunch, we discussed whether to head back to Greenville or strike out for other botanical quarry. Alan had thought he might head to a site for the Hymenocallis coronaria or Shoals spider-lily on his way back home to Atlanta. We still had a full half day of sunlight remaining, so I suggested that we head west from our current location to see if we could find them in bloom. It is an Endangered plant species that is endemic to Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. It grows only in the shoals of broad, shallow river systems in just eleven counties in those states.

It took us about two hours to reach the spot that Alan had visited several years ago. These Shoals spider-lilies grow in a place called Anthony Shoals on the Broad River in the Lower Broad River Wildlife Management Area in Elbert County, Georgia. The plants line the shallow places around exposed rocks and along the river banks. Here is a wonderful newspaper article about one man’s adventures on Anthony Shoals. Here is a link to a map of the area showing how the river spreads out at this point and becomes relatively shallow in places.

The sandy area where I parked the truck was at the end of a rather tortuous dirt road that was interrupted here and there by huge potholes that would be sheer terror in the rainy season. However, we made it to the edge of the river and gathered our gear. While I was getting my act together, Alan made a beeline to the river to see if he could spot the lilies which should be growing along the edge and in the shoals. I soon caught up with him and we discovered that there were not any that we could see on this side of the river. Now, keep in mind, that the river is very wide at this point. From one vantage point on the river bank, we could see a couple of drifts of white lilies, but they were all the way across the river — I would guess about 300 yards (275 meters). I have experience of crossing smaller rivers of a similar type, and that was not easy. However, Alan, being the strapping and intrepid adventurer that he is, decided that he would give it a try. Not me! I spent the next hour or so watching him navigate the treacherous rocks to make it to the other side. I did take a couple of shots of him in the middle of the river. This first shot is of him doing a zig-zag from exposed rock to exposed rock, sometimes finding himself almost chest deep in the river:

This second shot shows Alan almost across the river headed toward the smaller of two populations of the Shoals spider-lily:

And yes, you are correct, Alan is easy to spot in the field because he is always surrounded by a red halo… 😉

Even though I didn’t attempt a river crossing, I do have a link to one of Alan’s excellent images of the Shoals spider-lilies that he took on this trip.

While Alan was busy with his adventure on the west side of the river, I busied myself with the interesting array of wildflowers laid out before me on the east side of the river. The first one I noticed is the strange little Clematis viorna or Leather flower also called Vasevine. This species comes in a few different varieties, but I believe this one is Clematis viorna var. viorna. It is a vine that has curious little bell-shaped flowers. They are pinkish purple, and the petals are joined together except at the end of the flower where they separate and reflex or curl back on themselves. These .75-inch (18 mm) flowers are not delicate by any means — they are thick and fleshy.

There were dozens of these vines, draping themselves on low-growing shrubs and bushes. And they were loaded not only with open flowers, but they also had numerous buds and seed heads. Here are some shots of these wonderful, bell-shaped flowers:

Earlier, I mentioned that some of the flowers had already gone to seed. Here are a couple of shots of the bizarre, exploding-fireworks-shaped seed heads of Clematis viorna var. viorna:

Nearby, growing low to the ground among the Poison Ivy, I spotted the fanciful, half-inch (6 mm), pom-pom flowers of Mimosa (formerly Shrankia) microphylla or Littleleaf Sensitive-briar:

It’s called “sensitive-briar” because when the leaves are touched, they immediately close or fold in on themselves.

By this time, Alan was almost back to my side of the river, so I had just a short time to photograph another plant called Polygala polygama or Racemed Milkwort:

After Alan dried out a bit (he was soaking wet up to his chest) he changed clothes, and we headed back up the trail to the truck. On the way back, I spotted some flashes of bright red next to the trail. These bright red flowers turned out to be Spigelia marilandica or Indian Pink. I believe I have seen only one other flower species that can even come close to being as red as Indian Pink, and that is Lobelia cardinalis or Cardinal flower. Wow! What color! The deep red corolla tube topped with vivid yellow petals is unlike any other wildflower I’ve seen. Here are a few images of this brightly colored beauty:

We finally made it back to the truck where we stowed our gear for the trip home. As we drove away from the river toward the main highway, Alan talked at length about what he had seen across the river, and I reveled in the thoughts of the other sights we had experienced during the day. Our Southeast section of the country is possibly the most botanically diverse area of the nation, and it is filled with strange and beautiful plants. I am constantly puzzled why others aren’t as excited about this amazing botanical diversity as I am. In any case, I’m happy to be able to share my passion with you, especially if you are unable to see such sights for yourself.

So until next time, when I hope to report my adventures along the Carolina Coastal Plain, take care and enjoy what nature has provided…

–Jim