Chris and Jim visit the Pisgah National Forest, Transylvania County, North Carolina — 2016-07-26

Chris Evans (my good friend from south Florida, not the movie star) loves orchids. So do I. It was a perfect pairing for a summer trip to the innards of the Pisgah National Forest in Transylvania County, North Carolina to study and photograph orchids. Chris and his family visit the Brevard, North Carolina area each summer, not only because they own property up there, but because it’s such an interesting place to visit. He was hoping to escape the hot and humid weather of south Florida, but this week it was in the mid-90s (F) mid-30s (C) with afternoon thunder showers that did little to ameliorate the temperature. So, we got an early start while the morning temperature was reasonably mild, and the skies were clear.

We met at the Pisgah Ranger Station and were soon on our way. Our first stop was at my favorite site for Triphora trianthophora or Three-birds orchid. I knew they would not be in bloom today, but I wanted him to be familiar with the site, so that he could visit later when they, perhaps, might be in bloom. Chris and I had photographed the orchids at this site a couple of years ago, and he noticed how it had changed. The forest floor was littered with limbs from the Tsuga Canadensis or Canadian Hemlock trees that were once so plentiful in the Southern Appalachian mountains. Almost all of the towering Hemlock trees in the region have died due to attack from the tiny Adelges tsugae or Hemlock Wooly Adelgid. There is little hope for a wide-spread and effective treatment for this pest invasion before all of the Hemlock trees in the area are gone.

As I suspected, the Three-birds orchid plants were coming along nicely, but they were still in tight bud. It would probably be at least a week before any of the flowers will appear. However, there were a few Tipularia discolor or Crane-fly orchids in bloom nearby. This is an exceedingly difficult orchid to see and to photograph, since its coloration blends in with the leaf litter. Here is a shot of one of the plants in flower:

Crane-fly orchids

After doing a bit more scouting around the site, we made it back to the truck and proceeded to our next location. But, on the way (as is typical for my adventures), we made a side trip to a site that Chris and I had visited on separate occasions to check out the status of the large, Cypripedium acaule or Pink Lady’s-slipper orchids that grew on the hillside. When we arrived at the site, it was evident that it had been a fairly good pollination year, because about 20% of the plants were forming seed capsules. Here is a shot of a Pink Lady’s-slipper seed capsule with the withered remains of the flower still attached:

This particular orchid has its species name “acaule” which means “without stem”. This name refers to the fact that the leaves are not attached to a stem or trunk as with many of our other native orchid species. The flower, however, sits topmost on a tall, very hairy stem. The plants at this site are growing in an open woods, so they are quite visible as one approaches the area. Not only that, but each of the two leaves of the plants at this particular site are huge — about 12 inches (30 cm) long. Here is a wide-angle shot of just a portion of the area:

Finishing up here, we got back on track and headed to our next destination which was a power line cut/clearing along the gravel road. I had visited this spot last week, but did not find any sign of what I was looking for: Spiranthes lacera var. gracilis or Slender Ladies’-tresses orchid. I’ve photographed them at this site for the past few years, so I was puzzled as to why I did not see them last week. As we approached the pull off, I held my breath, hoping that by some miracle we would find at least one plant for Chris to photograph. This would be a new “life list” orchid species for him.

When we got out of the truck, I told Chris to leave his camera gear in the truck just in case we did not find them here. We began walking down the road, checking the edge of the embankment for any signs of the orchids. We had gone just a short distance when he exclaimed, “There’s one!” Sure enough, there it was in full flower. I was so pleased that we had actually found one, especially since I saw no sign of them last week. We quickly ran back to the truck to get our camera gear. On my way back to the truck I found a couple more of them in flower. This was going to be a good day, for sure. We proceeded to photograph the plants, all the while locating additional ones, and being quite careful not to trample any that we might not be seeing. There were two, quite slender plants growing next to each other. Here is a shot of one inflorescence and the tip of the one below it:

We spent a good bit of time photographing these delicate, 1/8-inch (3-mm) long orchid flowers. Fortunately, we were early enough in the day for the wind not to be a problem. These flowers are borne on a very thin stem that sways back and forth, even in the slightest hint of a breeze. Here are some additional shots of a few of the more than two dozen Slender Ladies’-tresses orchids we saw at this site:

And here is a picture of Chris photographing one of the plants that was growing at the edge of the roadside:

Along this same road, there were many Platanthera ciliaris or Yellow Fringed orchids, but only one was in flower — the rest were in bud. Next week should bring quite the spectacle for Chris to photograph. Here is the image I made of the only Yellow Fringed orchid that we found in flower at this site, followed by a close-up of one of the fringed flowers:

From here, we drove back down the road and visited another site that required a bit of a hike. Most of the flowers in this blog post are roadside plants — drive to the spot, park your vehicle, walk a short distance, and there they are. I am not lazy, but if I can find beautiful wildflowers to photograph without undue exertion, especially in this heat and humidity, that’s what I prefer. In the Pisgah National Forest, there seem to be lots of drive-by-flora to photograph. However, Chris wanted to hike into a spot he had visited a couple of years back, so that’s what we did. The hike took us along an old forest service road which is currently used to access campsites that are well within the forest. When we approached the spot where he had found some Yellow Fringed orchids, we were reminded that native orchids sometime take a break from showing up. There are some good years and some not-so-good years. This was one of those not-so-good years — we didn’t see any at this spot.

He remembered that up the road a bit, was a site for Gymnadeniopsis clavellata or Club-spur orchid. Although I had photographed some good specimens just last week, I was excited to be able to see some more. We walked up the road, and saw about a dozen blooming plants in the roadside grasses. Here is a sample of what we saw:

We finished photographing the Club-spur orchids and turned back down the trail toward the truck. As we crossed a bridge over one of the several creeks we encountered, I spotted what looked to me like a Marchantia species or Liverwort in fruit. After returning home, I posted an image of the plant on FaceBook, and immediately got several replies that what I saw was, in fact, Rhodobryum ontariense or Rose Moss. My FB friends are so smart! What a neat little plant. The little “florets” are only 1/3-inch (8 mm) across and were found at the base of a tree and beginning to slowly grow up the tree trunk:

We eventually made it back to the truck and decided to explore a forest service road that was new to me, but one Chris had driven a few years before. The drive was exhilarating, taking us into and through dense forest with an overhanging canopy of dark green foliage. It was like driving through an exotic jungle in some far-off land. This is the kind of place I could spend days in even if I didn’t find any wildflowers to photograph. Occasionally we would turn a corner and find ourselves coming into bright light that managed to filter through the trees. Here, we would see a number of different grasses and sedges lining the edge of the road. In one spot, I found a plentiful supply of almost glow-in-the-dark, Cantharellus cinnabarinus or Cinnibar-red Chanterelles. This is a native fungus that some (me, for instance) consider a delicacy. I think they run around $50/pound whenever you can find them for sale. I tried to get Chris interested in collecting some, but he was quite skeptical. So I gathered enough for one meal of eggs and mushrooms — Yummmmmm!!! Here is the spread of the cleaned Chanterelles in my kitchen before they were sautéed in butter in the skillet:

We also spotted quite a few large groups of an orchid species that is quite common to the area: Goodyera pubescens or Downy Rattlesnake Plantain orchid. I had recently photographed a number of the inflorescences, but these large groups of plants were quite interesting, so I’m including a few shots here:

A few minutes before these shots were taken, we had experienced a heavy downpour of rain from one of those afternoon, summer thunderstorms that are an expected part of summer in the mountains. That’s why the ground is wet in the above images.

It was getting late, and I had experienced a full day of driving those twisty, mountain roads, so we decided to call it a day. I returned Chris to his family at the vacation rental home, and I headed back toward Greenville. There was a roadside spot that I remembered used to host several Yellow Fringed orchids, so I decided to check it out. It was only a short detour from my homeward drive, and I made it there in just a few minutes. When I arrived, I saw about 8 robust flowering orchids. Several of them were close enough to each other that I was able to get a “group” shot of one in focus and the others in the background:

These were some of the largest, most floriferous plants I had ever seen. I won’t even hazard a guess as to the number of flowers on the largest of the bunch. Here is a shot of that flowering orchid:

As I have said on numerous occasions, it’s always great to take a field trip with a friend who shares my passion for wildflowers in general, and native orchids in particular. It’s fun to share photography tips and new locations, as well. We had a super day, and I was fortunate enough to visit a few new places in the forest, thanks to Chris. I hope one day soon, he will be able to show me around his neck of the woods in the Everglades National Park and the Fakahatchee Strand.

Until next time…

–Jim