September 14th, 2012. We
took off up to Stephens County and explored two separate areas: the Lake
Russell Wildlife Management Area and Currahee Mountain. After we left
the Lake Russell WMA, we drove north to Currahee Mountain.
Currahee Mountain, the highest mountain in
Stephens County at 1,735 feet above sea level, rises steeply approximately 800
vertical feet (240 m) above the surrounding area and allows a view for
many miles around on a clear day. The mountain lies to the southeast of
Georgia's Blue Ridge Mountain crest and is part of the Georgia Piedmont or
"foothill" province. It’s a popular place for rock climbers.
The road wound up a relatively
gentle incline until it started up the ridge to the summit of the mountain
itself. As we rounded a fairly steep bend in the road, I spotted several
different wildflowers growing on the top of an gravel embankment. The
embankment was too high and steep to climb but several of the flowers were
hanging down.
Physostegia angustifolia
(Narrowleaf False Dragonhead)
There were several physostegia plants
growing in the grass on the top of the embankment. One stalk was hanging down
over the edge of the embankment.
Two Physostegia species – P.
angustifolia and P. virginiana (Obedient Plant) grow in
Georgia. P. angustifolia has narrow
leaves compared with those of P. virginiana.
Liatris microcephala (Narrow-leaf Blazing Star, Small-head
Blazing-star, Appalachian Blazingstar)
Boltonia
species (White Doll's Daisy)?
This is my best guess but I could be far off. Any
assistance in identifying this flower would be appreciated.
The
flower
The
leaves
Coreopsis
major (Great Tickseed)
The
flower
The
leaves make it easy to identify this species at a distance
Further
along the ridge, we found…
Parthenium
integrifolium (Common Wild Quinine)
The
flower
The
leaf
Pityopsis
graminifolia (Narrowleaf Silkgrass) is differentiated easily from Pityopsis
aspera (Pineland or Carolina Silkgrass) by the grass-like leaves at the base of
the plant.
The
plant
The
flower
This
was a beautiful stand of plants that begged to be photographed
Next: Currahee Mountain - at the summit
Click on an image to view a larger image
Southeastern
Flora:
Name
that Plant: Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia:
Alan
Cressler: Liatris microcephala
Distribution:
United
States Department of Agriculture Plants Database:
Related
post:
No comments:
Post a Comment