The first access to photograph the Oconee Bells was near the interpretive sign (to the lower left in this photo.) Most of the plants had finished blooming but we found…
a few clusters of plants that allowed us to photograph…
specimen flowers and leaves.
The trail
followed the creek
The trail
then ascended to the top of a ridge where we had our first evidence of
Monotropsis odorata but couldn’t find the plants. before it descended again to
the creek at the southernmost end of the trail and more Oconee Bells…
Along the creek bank.
Oconee
Bells or Southern Shortia (Shortia galacifolia) is found only in a few counties
in South and North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Virginia. The best time to
see these flowers is during March.
From here
the trail followed the hillside up to the top of the ridge where we began the
search for Pygmy Pipes
Identification
resources:
- Native
and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Shortia galacifolia (Oconee Bells, Southern Shortia)
- Flora of
the Southeast: Shortia falacifolia var. falacifolia
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