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MOWGLI
03-25-2005, 09:20
I'm sure I'm not the only one on Whiteblaze intersted in wildflowers. I would reallly like it if folks could report what they see out on the trails blooming over the next few months.

I'll start with a brief report from Table Rock State Park in Upstate SC from yesterday.

I didn't see all that much, but I did see Bloodroot and Trout Lily blooming in the lower elevations. I also smelled Pygmy Pipes (Monotropis odorata) - but could not find it on the ground.

Please keep those reports coming. You can help cue us wildflower enthusiasts about what is in bloom each week.

Thanks!

hikerjohnd
03-25-2005, 09:31
I know little or nothing about flowers, beyond enjoying seeing them while out hiking. Could you all maybe post photos with replies, both to share the pleasere and help me (and others I'm sure) learn what flowers I am enjoying? Thanks! :)

Dances with Mice
03-25-2005, 11:21
I know little or nothing about flowers, beyond enjoying seeing them while out hiking. Could you all maybe post photos with replies, both to share the pleasere and help me (and others I'm sure) learn what flowers I am enjoying? Thanks! :)

Click on the "Photo's" link, there is a very good wildflower gallery.

Funny there's no photo of Bloodroot that I could find.

Tha Wookie
03-25-2005, 12:36
here's a link to the flower gallery:


http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/513

Great thread. I look forward to seeing it blossom.

Mags
03-25-2005, 13:16
A bit further from the AT...

But, the past two springs in Colorado have been fairly wet. As such, MANY wildflowers. So much so, they I took many pics..and had to get a book to identify them! In less than a month, I look forward to the flowers coming out in the foothills.. I love spring! A time of renewal, a time of rebirth. A time where everything seems so full of life!

Anyway, few wildflower shots I took that actually came out well :) :

Columbine - the state flower of Colorado:
http://gallery.backcountry.net/Co03/acy

Indian Paintbrush:
http://gallery.backcountry.net/Co03/adn

A bunch of Columbine:
http://gallery.backcountry.net/Co03/aee

Pasque flower- comes out this time of the year in the foothills (7-9k feet). Hence the name... http://gallery.backcountry.net/co04/aak

Sand/Star lily..more foothills flowers from late March:
http://gallery.backcountry.net/co04/aal

Blue eye grass - ~12k feet in late June:
http://gallery.backcountry.net/co04/adp

Phlox:
http://gallery.backcountry.net/co04/aev

Nice tundra view with daisies:
http://gallery.backcountry.net/co04/ahi

More Columbine:
http://gallery.backcountry.net/co04/ahu

Butterfly on an aster:
http://gallery.backcountry.net/co04/aif

Indian Paintbrush:
http://gallery.backcountry.net/co04/aig

Fairy trumpet, found near the foothills of Denver:
http://gallery.backcountry.net/magsct04/aaz

Not quite a wildflower, but the ground cover changes as Fall rolls in:
http://gallery.backcountry.net/magsct04/adl

Mountain Gentian:
http://gallery.backcountry.net/magsct04/adx

That's all folks.. :D

hikerjohnd
03-25-2005, 15:28
Awesome Pics Mags!!! Thanks for taking the time to identify all of the flowers! I really enjoy the beauty of flowers while out hiking - but never take the time to learn what they are.

I'm thinking about packing a small guide to help me learn them while on the trail, but haven't found one with a weight I could talk myself into. Any suggestions?

Mags
03-25-2005, 16:21
Awesome Pics Mags!!! Thanks for taking the time to identify all of the flowers! I really enjoy the beauty of flowers while out hiking - but never take the time to learn what they are.

I'm thinking about packing a small guide to help me learn them while on the trail, but haven't found one with a weight I could talk myself into. Any suggestions?

What I do is take the pics and identify the flowers AFER the hike with a guidebook. Once in a great while I would take the guidebook for a short day hike.

The book I use is published locally by a CU prof. However, I suspect any good bookstore (and possbily an outdoor store) in Georgia should have the appropriate guidebook for your area. The Audubon books are nice. I like books that break up flowers into colors. Easy to thumb to a flower based on the color...look at the rest of the description (based on leaf and stem types) and away I go.

Both books I use are small and fit in a shirt pocket.

Knowing flowers opens up a whole new aspect of hiking!

LIhikers
03-25-2005, 18:06
I guess for people who enjoy the outdoors I'm an oddity. I can hardly tell one kind of plant from another. I can usually tell the difference between grass, a bush and a tree, but not always. I can't even identify poison ivy in all it's forms!

MOWGLI
04-10-2005, 18:58
Well, I took a hike today on an AMAZING wildflower trail in the Crockford-Pigeon Wildlife Management Area in NW Georgia. There were perhaps two dozen different flowers including;

two different species of trillium (Wake Robin and a White variety)
Virginia Blue Bells (beautiful!)
Phlox
Foamflower
Wild Columbine
Wild Geranium
Wild Hyacinth

There were several other flowers that I'll need a field guide to identify. Unfortunately it's in my office. It was so cool, I'm thinking about going back there tomorrow.

MOWGLI
04-10-2005, 19:19
I just posted a few photos in the gallery.

Dances with Mice
04-16-2005, 18:52
Today I went out with the GATC on their monthly work day. We repaired an eroded section of trail north of Gooch Gap. I took a few photos of flowers blooming in the woods and at the gap.

Afterwards I drove up to Cooper Gap to see if the Columbines I'd seen there last year were blooming. They were. Plants in full sun were in full bloom, others in shade were still in bud. The Columbines circling Sassafrass Moutain are the only patch of Columbines that I know about in Georgia.

Photos of Columbines, Dogwoods in full bloom, Trilliums that were just opening, Yellow Violets, and Blackberry blossoms have been added to the gallery.

MOWGLI
04-18-2005, 07:01
Went for a 10-mile hike on the Cumberland Trail and saw some nice stuff. Mayapple, Fire Pink, and Trillium was all in bloom. Lots of Phlox and foamflower too. Yellow & Purple violets...

I added a few photos to the gallery.

MOWGLI
04-18-2005, 07:10
Went for a 10-mile hike on the Cumberland Trail and saw some nice stuff. Mayapple, Fire Pink, and Trillium was all in bloom. Lots of Phlox and foamflower too. Yellow & Purple violets...

I added a few photos to the gallery.

Forgot to mention... Jack in the Pulpit, Bellwort, Bluets, and some Iris too.

Newb
04-18-2005, 10:14
I was on the trail last weekend and this weekend. Last weekend I saw a lot of BloodRoot and not much else (some Marsh marigold at the spring by the Manassas Gap shelter).

This weekend was incredible, I took some photos, too.

Stuff I saw:

ToothWort (growing all over the place)
Garlic Mustard ..just coming up, but a bumper crop expected.
Sorrel ...more than I expected to see this time of year
Trillium...I was below the area with the major bloom, but I saw some.
Chickweed (I gathered some and cooked it up like spinach last night).

I haven't seen any Ramps this year, but I'm probably not gonna here in Northern Virginia :-?

tombone
04-18-2005, 22:14
lots of flowers from 2-4000 ft range in greenbrier section of gsmnp-and the spring beauties were great yesterday south of max patch at around 4K. also bloodroot, trillium, maypops in all stages of unfurling, violets
ramps are up, jacks, and lots of great tree colors-some of the white flowering trees (other than dogwoods) are prominent 3-4K elevations-lots of pastels from reds to violets, yellows and greens-better than fall colors IMHO
and of course the dogwoods and redbuds...

Dances with Mice
05-01-2005, 18:16
I just got back from a bit of hiking and posted some photos of wildflowers and a flowering tree that I can't ID. Check the 'Wildflower' gallery.

Alligator
05-01-2005, 19:58
I just got back from a bit of hiking and posted some photos of wildflowers and a flowering tree that I can't ID. Check the 'Wildflower' gallery.
Try Halesia diptera, two-wing silverbell. I do not have my guidebooks handy, will check later.

Alligator
05-04-2005, 20:39
Groucho got it. The two-wing silverbell's range is further south.

Dances with Mice
05-04-2005, 20:48
Groucho got it. The two-wing silverbell's range is further south.

So you agree with 'Carolina Silverbell'? Good, it will stay so labeled.

http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/7040/size/big/sort/1/cat/513

I wasn't familiar with this tree and might not have even noticed it if there hadn't been an incredibly sweet smell in the air. The aroma would just be in certain areas along the ridge and each time I hit one I'd stop and look around trying to tell where it was coming from. I never ID'd the perfume source but that's how I happened to see the Silverbell.

Alligator
05-04-2005, 21:07
"Common and of largest size in the southern Appalachians, where it is known as 'Mountain Silverbell'."
Usually a bush or small tree, but grows to 80' in the Appalachians.
Fruit: 1 1/4"-2", long, oblong, podlike, with 4 long broad wings. Looks a bit to me like starfruit, with four instead of five arms.

I see that you were on a wildflower hunt, but leaves and bark are very helpful too:D .

This one was new to me. There's also a Florida silverbell. Only one of my guides [Audobon] separated the three silverbells out.

DebW
05-05-2005, 12:07
Here in Mass., the purple and painted trilliums are just starting to bloom. A few trout lilies also out. More to come.

Uncle Silly
05-05-2005, 12:36
I came across a nice book on this topic, Wildflowers of the Appalachian Trail, by Leonard Adkins w/ photos by Joe & Monica Cook. probably a bit large to carry as a field guide, but it's a nifty book and the photographs are gorgeous. the author also gives specific areas of the trail where the plant can be seen.

Newb
05-06-2005, 08:49
This weekend will be the HEIGHT of the Trillium Bloom on the trail between Manassas Gap and Dick's Dome Shelters here in Northern Virginia.