Flowers Everywhere

BRDC Whitetop Mtn. wildflower walk participants.

“They’re everywhere!”

Over and over I heard various wildflower enthusiasts repeat this phrase as they viewed the unending masses of early spring blooms that decorated the forest floor on Sunday, May 1.

Twenty-three of us joined Blue Ridge Discovery Center’s hike along the segment of the Appalachian Trail from Virginia’s Whitetop Mountain to Elk Garden two and a half miles below.

The never-ending flowers we witnessed on the mountain created an artist’s mosaic of colors.

Frilly chartreuse green rose above deep night green. Bright magenta and dark burgundy pointed skyward above cushions of rounded, green triangles. Soft pink nestled against protecting boulders and fallen trees. Speckles of white winked throughout the rolling mountainside. Sunny, golden yellow outshined its creamy, buttery cousin. Brilliant blue randomly broke the mosaic.

My camera captured personal glimpses of what we saw.

We saw Dutchman's breeches and squirrel corn

which are sometimes difficult to tell apart unless they grow near each other. Both of the flowers hang upside down on the flower stem. Think of the legs of the Dutchman's breeches as looking like those of a saddle-sore cowboy with pointed legs. His breeches have a yellow waistband. The top of the squirrel corn looks like the rounded top of a Valentine, and the whole bloom looks a bit like a baby's pacifier.

The fringed phacelia is listed as "imperiled" by the state of Virginia and is quite uncommon. It blooms in innumerable abundance on Whitetop Mountain.

The bright, hot pink blossoms of the wild geranium added a striking contrast to the white fringed phacelia.

Spring beauty is a dainty plant whose flowers are usually pale, but this one has lots of color.

The golden, yellow trout lilies, whether they grew as single plants or as part of large colonies, stood out on Whitetop Mountain.

The colors of various trillium blended with the other wildflowers.

We also saw many foam flowers, and their spikes swayed gently in the breeze.

As we continued down Whitetop Mountain to the end of our hike at Elk Garden, we saw what a difference elevation could have on bloom time. At the top, there had been no yellow mandarin blooms, but near Elk Garden the blooms had begun to unfurl.

Text and Photographs by Cecelia Butler Mathis

Whitetop Wildflower Walk

BRDC wildflower walk.

April 17, 2011

Those attending were:

Lee and Smadar Chaffee,

Cathy and Ernie Wheeler, and Treton and Gabriel,

Scott and Debby Jackson-Ricketts.

Guides:

Cecelia Mathis and Carol Broderson.

The sunny Sunday after the raging storm of April 16 was high-season for spring wildflowers on Blue Ridge Discovery Center's first wildflower walk of the season. There were ten of us who shared our enthusiasm and curiosity in a free-flowing and lively exploration along a portion of the New River Trail State Park near Fries, Virginia.

As we walked the easy trail, we enjoyed a profusion of blooms and informally shared knowledge of edibility and medicinal uses, Latin names along with multiple common names, and other sites for some of the less common plants.

The first flowers observed were dandelions, whose uses are many. One of the participants talked about using the early leaves in salads and the golden heads to make wine. As we continued, we noted that the common blue violet, Viola sororia, is another plant with multiple food and medicinal uses. Other violets found along the trail were Viola canadensis, Canada violet, and a white violet, Viola blanda, or sweet white violet.

Dutchman's breeches and bloodroot were still blooming, and we were treated with early red fire pink and the first of the columbine flowers that often grew from crevices in the boulders that protruded from the hillside. There were also masses of early saxifrage, Saxifraga virginiencis, growing all along the rocks. We saw two species of chickweed and the two species of spring beauty, Claytonia virginica and the more distinctly petioled and colorful Claytonia caroliniana.

Two bright yellow blooms that one of the hikers scrambled down the hillside to photograph gave us the opportunity to discuss the plant's two common names, dogtooth violet and trout lily. We flipped through one of our wildflower books to discover that this speckled-leaf species, Erythronium americanum, a member of the Lily family, blooms near the beginning of trout season in many states. Consequently, trout lily is an apt name.

Cutleaf toothwort and yellow corydalis were common. The larger, purple-blooming form of the blue cohosh was standing tall on the side of the trail. The inconspicuous hooked buttercup was the only member of that varied family blooming on our walk. Ground ivy, garlic mustard, and pink to purple-blooming dead nettle were everywhere.

Even inconspicuous wildflowers did not escape us. For those willing to crawl on the ground, the bishop’s cap, Mitella diphylla, offered the sight of dainty, white blooms along its single stem. The fresh green leaves of wild ginger, Asarum canadense, hid the maroon flowers that peeped from the forest floor of dead leaves and moist soil.

A shady, damp hillside carpeted with the trillium known as wake robin led us into a discussion of this prominent, three-leafed, woodland wildflower. With the pollen intact, the blooms ranged from yellowish to mottled/stripped pink and the more numerous maroon burgundy. We debated whether these different hues of wake robins are different species. If you have thoughts or information on this issue, we invite you to leave comments below.

We examined the umbrella-shaped leaves of mayapples to find the buds that would soon open, and realized that blooms of Solomon’s seal, false Solomon's seal, and bellworts would also soon color the slopes above the old railroad bed.

If you enjoy wildflower explorations, please join our next walk on May 1 as we explore early spring in another part of the mountains. Write carol@ls.net for details.

Written by Carol Broderson and Cecelia Butler Mathis; photos by Scott Jackson-Ricketts

Wildflower Walk on the New River Trail

Wildflower Walk on New River Trail

Join us on April 16!

See below for details.

Join us on the New River Trail on Saturday, April 16 at 9 A.M., sponsored by Blue Ridge Discovery Center.

Carol

Broderson

and Cecelia Mathis will lead the very easy, flat, five-mile walk. Carol is a Mt. Rogers Appalachian Trail Club volunteer, and she also works with the Trails to Every Classroom program. "What one of us doesn't know about wildflowers, the other one does," Carol says. Cecelia's passion is wildflower photography. She is currently working with two others on a project to identify and photograph the flora and fauna of the Matthews Historical Farm, and she is also a volunteer for the Blue Ridge Parkway. The 57-mile New River Trail, the state's most narrow park, is a showcase of early spring wildflowers: spring beauty, violets, trillium,

Dutchmen's

breeches, saxifrage and many others.

Email carol@ls.net or call 276 773-3513 before 7 P.M. to join this spring celebration. Bring lunch, water, raincoat.

The Summer "horn of plenty"

In walking around our farm in this late Summer period I am struck by the exuberant production of Nature including flowers, fruits, seeds, green vegetation, etc. I especially notice the fruits of the hackberry (likely Celtis occidentalis), which grows along one of our fence lines. This is not a species I see often although it is touted as a bird-friendly plant because of its fruits. We have tried planting it and its more southern relative the sugarberry, without a great deal of success. I think it requires a richer soil and more moisture than our sites generally provide.

Another beautiful and bird-friendly plant is the relatively rare cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) which is highly specialized for pollination by hummingbirds. It has a very interesting ecology since it is a poor competitor with grasses and thus is found most often along streams, disturbed by occasional floods, or in wet areas of pastures where competition is reduced by grazing. It appears to be poisonous, as is ironweed, and is thus not eaten by horses. Ironweed is also one of our favorites due to its wonderful flowers and attraction to butterflies, and later to seed eating sparrows, such as the white crowned which spends Winters here on the farm.

Of course we should not ignore the growth of grasses and their abundant seeds which provide food for many animals. Indeed some herbaceous plants that farmers may consider weedy and less than desirable can be highly beneficial for wildlife. For example consider the foxtail (various Setaria species), grasses that flourish in Summer if the competition from cold-season grasses such as fescue is removed by cutting in mid-June. If you allow this to grow (we have a patch next to our garden) it will attract resident indigo buntings and even migrating bobolinks to harvest its seeds.

In contrast to this late Summer explosion of plant growth, most birds are past their breeding periods and are relatively quiet, many have begun migration, or are filling their bellies with the "horn of plenty" available all around them from the natural foods that have sustained them for eons. Given the luxury of such natural foods, it is very hard to justify artificial feeding of birds in the Summer. Let's try to balance our desire to enjoy birds in a backyard setting at feeders, with the best interests of the birds themselves. There is an alternative that can serve both the best interests of birds and their human watchers, namely the planting of appropriate native and exotic plants around our houses that provide foods in a manner consistent with natural patterns of behavior.

Bill Dunson

Galax, Va & Englewood, FL

Another Beautiful Mystery Flower

Do you know what this flower is?

If you have a guess, let us know!

While hiking north of Elk Garden (between Whitetop & Mt Rogers) along the Appalachian Trail performing a bird survey, a group of us noticed quite a few flower stalks in the forest at about 5000 feet elevation, perhaps 7-10 inches high with a tuft of white flowers at the end. But there were no leaves evident.

I am not familiar with this strange plant and cannot find it in any of my books. It reminds me in some ways of a mountain lily (Clintonia) without leaves, and vaguely resembles book photos of a false asphodel, which I have never seen.

Any help will be appreciated.

Bill Dunson

Galax, VA

Whitetop Wildflower Walk

Whitetop Wildflower Walk

Despite rainy weather, 13 intrepid wildflower enthusiasts joined Master Naturalist, Judith Foster, and hike leader Carol Broderson for the Blue Ridge Discovery Center's outing to Whitetop Mountain. The hikers met at Elk Garden, where the fault line divides the two 750+ million-year-old volcanic rock types that make up Mt. Rogers and Whitetop, Virginia's two tallest mountains. Whitetop has Virginia's highest road and one of the few mountaintop balds. In Native American stories, the bald was the devil's footprints or the Great Spirit's revenge on the Green Hornet that kidnapped children. Scientists hypothesize that a Pleistocene glacier scoured the top and that mastodons and woolly mammoths were the first of many grazers that kept it clear.

The usually northern red spruce/yellow birch forest flanks the meadow and gradually gives way to mixed hardwoods down the trail. Whitetop does not have the Fraser fir that normally accompanies the red spruce and that covers Mt. Rogers. WHY? The conifers on the top of the mountain were not logged, due to their smaller size, but some of the hardwoods were.

The high meadow had thorn less blackberries, colonies of bluets, and the first of many wood anemones we saw. The rare three-leaf cinquefoil was near the usual kind with five leaves, and we also noted the rare umbrella leaf. We saw this plant we could not identify:

Many late spring flowers were still blooming in the woods: red trillium, clintonia, rosy twisted stalk, saxifrage, sweet Cecily, Indian cucumber root, wild geranium and columbine.

We also saw Solomon's seal and false Solomon's seal blooming, and both blue and black cohosh that Jenny, a midwife in our group, sometimes uses in her practice. We discussed the medicinal properties of many plants, like the bountiful mayapple. Canada mayflower, Jack in the pulpit and foamflower were also abundant. We saw the rare fringed phacelia

(Photo taken May 1).

We also saw another waterleaf family member, purple blooming Virginia waterleaf. Non-flowering lycopodia lined the path, club moss, ground pine and running cedar, miniature representatives of ancient tree-size plants. We have a fossil of one in the New River Valley.

We discussed the viburnum family and the plentiful witch hobble and noted the difference between mountain maple and striped maple.

After the first walk, a group traveled to the other side of the mountain to see the pink ladyslippers.

We stopped at a meadow, wondered what kind of tall iris we saw, and decided once and for all the difference in various fleabanes, thanks to Jane for counting numerous petals. She also took us to her special spot for another orchid, the large whorled pogonia. Though we found many, none were blooming. Something for later! Thanks to the Hoffmans for interpreting bird song. We heard wood thrush, both the black-throated blue and the black-throated green warblers, junco, field sparrows, and a towhee. We saw a raven frolicking on high.

-Carol Broderson

PARTICIPANTS: Chloe Dalton, Sara Fennell, Jane Floyd, Jenny and Sara Fox, Carol Glodowski, David and Sherry Hoffman, Fran Levin, Harriet Locke, Cecelia Mathis, Inga Lisa Peterson, Taryn Rubin

PHOTOS AND PHOTO EDITING: Cecelia Mathis, and Jane Floyd and Sara Fox, photos

Rowland Waterfall

Rowland Falls, Thomas Bridge, VA.

May 23, 2010

Mike and I found the falls today, looooong and winding road getting there! My goodness!...but, we did it, and we found the bleeding heart!!!!! I don't recall ever having seen them before in the wild so it was so very exciting for me. I wish my pictures were better (makes me want a better camera!)....the falls were wondrous...we took off our shoes and climbed around.

One thing that struck me was this saxifrage, by the falls. The light was doing a wonderful thing on the water droplets collecting on these teensy tiny translucent moss-like plants behind the saxifrage on the rocks. Mist off the falls was collecting on the tiny leaflets of the moss and magnifying and shining this electric green that just sparkled. I'll have to go back when I get that good camera. Mike tuned into pink on the massive rock wall across the falls and recognized there were lots of bleeding heart running in the cracks...we viewed those with binoculars.

2 Mystery Plants...Do you know?

1) Is this some kind of clubmoss? You said YES.

You have chimed in unanimously with:

Shining Clubmoss

(Huperzia lucidula)

2) Could this be a type of Aster?? : ???

Four very knowledgable individuals have chimed in on this one, and consensus was not reached. The two ID's offered were:

2. Oxeye Daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum)

4. Robin’s Plantain (Erigeron pulchellus)

Do you have a guess? Or, is there not enough information in the photograph to allow for an accurate ID?

Detail:

Help with this ID!!!

What do you think these plants are?

***Please provide your best guess in the comments section below.

Grindstone Scream

You know you're in a wondrous place

when you simply step out of your car and you need not move because it's all around. "Hear that ? Canada Warbler ? ". We haven't even made it to the trail from the parking area, and we've had a dozen or more reason's to stop and look. "This is going to take forever!", says one... "that's what we're here for !", says another.

Our location for the wildflower hike

was in the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area at Grindstone Campground, on May 2nd.We walked a designated 1/2 mile wildflower loop trail, at far end of camping area, on the north facing slope of Mount Rogers.

We were just past the bloom

of Dutchman's Breeches, the very tail end of Squirrel Corn and Trout Lily's. Purple and Painted Trillium were abundant and delicate, along with Jack in the Pulpits, the smallest I've seen. This is a beautiful meandering trail through a deciduous forest, rhododendron thickets, large rock outcroppings, and a swift moving stream that the trail crossed twice with bridges. The upper reaches of the trail were moist where we found the largest abundance of plants.

The excitement of our finds escalated with a "SCREAM!" at the discovery of a plant that one participant had been wanting to see. It was a rather inconspicuous plant amongst it's similar looking relatives, the Solomon's Seal, and Yellow Mandarin's . There were the delicate pink bells hanging beneath alternate leaves of the Rosy Twisted Stalk. The scream came, then the drop down to get a quick close look, resulted in getting stuck amongst rocks in an awkward position that she needed help out of ! Three of us sat a while to take it in.

We spent 2 hours covering 1/2 mile

, could have spent much longer. All plants were not exactly identified, but we did our best, being the novices that we all are ! A few of us are left with a continuing study, via "google" and sharing findings near our homes of similar specimens, of the proper identification of the "Ground Cedar" and the " Ground Pine" .We intend on returning to the site to see if we can figure it out ! Enjoying the mystery!

The following is a list that was compiled while walking:

Canada Mayflower, Wild strawberry, Bluets, Solomon Seal, False Solomon Seal, Partridge Berry, Jack in the Pulpit, Sweet White Violet, Whirled Loosestrife, Purple Trillium, Painted Trillum, Groung Cedar, Ground Pine, Downy Yellow Violet, Wood Anemone, Foam Flower, False Hellebore, Large Flowered Bellwort, Blue Cohosh, Trout Lily, White Wake Robin, Squirrel corn, Mayapple, Spring Beauty, Mountain Lettuce, Rosy Twisted Stalk

-Jane Floyd

Spring Wildflowers, Mouth of Wilson, Va.

April 27

As you turn right onto Shady Shack Rd. (in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia), a right across the bridge at the old dam where parson's grist mill used to be... looking up you can see

trillium

, columbine, a white flower not

identified

, jack-in-the-pulpit, coming on

fiddle head

ferns and a host of other plants and flowers on the rocks and on the steep banks along Wilson Creek right before it opens up into the New River.

For all you flower lovers, all along the New River you can locate and identify a large variety of woodland wildflowers and plants. This should continue for at least another month.

-Michael wildflower

Wildflowers at Grindstone Campground

• A list of wildflowers seen:

• Painted Trillium

• Purple Trillium

• White Anemone

• Squirrel Corn

• Yellow Violet

• White Violet

• Purple Violet

• Trout Lily

• Ramps, thousands of them