April 13th, 2013. It was
clear from our trip to Boggs Creek Recreation Area in the Chestatee Wildlife Management in Lumpkin County on March 30th
that this would be an interesting place to follow through the Spring wildflower
season. Particularly, a couple of developing wildflowers – a trillium and a
plant with fern-like leaves – had piqued our interest and we wanted to identify
them.
Trillium cuneatum (Little
Sweet Betsy)
We started in the area where we had found Little Sweet Betsy trilliums (Trillium cuneatum) on our previous visit. These flowers were still present.
Unidentified trillium
Still none visible. We were a little disappointed since we’d seen buds on several plants, but then…
looking closer, evidence of a flower stalk.
Up close. The flowers on this one hang below the leaves.
We did find one plant with the bud still above the leaves, but
Most buds had dropped below the leaves. Now the question would be… ‘What color is the flower’. A white flower would be the Illscented Wakerobin (Trillium rugelii) and a maroon flower would be the Sweet Wakerobin (Trillium vaseyi). Which would it be?
As we wandered further around this area, we found yet a third
trillium…
Trillium
catesbaei (Catesby's Trillium, Rosy Wake-robin, Bashful Trillium, Rose Trillium)
These plants were scattered a little further away from the Little
Sweet Betsy and the unidentified trillium plants. A few had set buds and some
were beginning to open.
A couple of plants…
with buds, and…
and beginning to open.
Violas
The area was carpeted with violas… purple and white violas
A white viola, probably the Sweet White Violet (Viola blanda)
White Baneberry plants were scattered in the shade under the pine trees. Buds were developing or…
Just beginning to open.
This was a most unexpected find and I was fortunate to see them
since they were in a very shady area.
A convocation of three ferns in a semicircle in front of a rock.
Close up of an individual plant.
Then we crossed to the other side of the road where we had seen
the Viola hastata plants in bloom during our initial visit…
Click
on an image to view a larger image
Identification Resources:
Southeastern Flora
Natural
and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia:
Distribution:
United
States Department of Agriculture Plants Database:
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post:
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