Visit to two spectacular wildflower sites in the foothills of the Carolinas — 2021-04-11

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Recently, Walter Ezell and I visited two special wildflower sites in the foothills of the Carolinas. They could be considered to be in the “mountains”, but technically they are at the base of the Blue Ridge Escarpment. The first of these sites is in the uppermost portion of Greenville County, South Carolina — spitting distance from the state border with North Carolina. It is a small site which has recently been added to Jones Gap State Park. This site is one of two or three locations for an odd Trillium species. It has been known about for a number of years, but only recently has work been done to nail down its true identity. Locally, it is known as the “Jones Gap Trillium”, but basically it looks like Trillium catesbaei or Catesby’s Trillium except that its flower is erect to mostly erect above the leaves/bracts rather than hanging below the leaves/bracts as does the typical Catesby’s Trillium.

My neck of the woods, the extreme northwestern portion of South Carolina (called “the Upstate”), is right in the middle of one of the richest Trillium regions of North America. I hesitate to enumerate the Trillium species in our region, but it is in the several dozens. And, as botanical progress moves onward, “new” species and forms are being identified.

This Upstate site is also home to a large population of Aplectrum hyemale or Puttyroot orchid aka Adam-and-Eve orchid. About a year ago, I posted a blog detailing the orchid plants from this site, HERE. Since they aren’t in flower until mid-May, all that was present on this visit is the large, single leaf, which generally withers before bloom time. There were also several other typical Spring ephemerals in flower at the time of our visit. But again, the target species was the Jones Gap Trillium.

Jones Gap Trillium

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Tiny white Trillium in the eastern Piedmont of North Carolina — 2021-04-03

A few years ago, my good friend, Kelvin Taylor (aka “KT”) posted some excellent images of Trillium pusillum or Carolina Least Trillium which he had been studying at a preserve called Turkey Creek Preserve near the small town of Middlesex, Nash County, North Carolina. This is not a Trillium species that I see with any frequency at all. In fact, it had been many years since I had been fortunate enough to photograph it, or ones like it. We also found a number of Neottia bifolia or Southern Twayblade orchids. This orchid has been renamed from Listera australis a bit ago as all of the plants in the genus, Listera had been moved to Neottia for reasons known only to the taxonomists… In a minute, I’ll attempt to explain the problems associated with naming the Trillium species we saw, but for now, here are examples of the two target species:

Carolina Least Trillium

Southern Twayblade orchid

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