September 21st, 2012. The next
promising roads after the Coleman River Road and the Tallulah River – Tate City
roads were the Popcorn – Plum Orchard roads, still in Rabun County.
Popcorn Road drops quite steeply
from US-76 and then climbs quite steeply again. When it drops down into the next
valley, the road fords and unnamed creek and curves slightly to the left. The
road then winds its way uphill into an area dominated by rhododendrons and
crossed several times by small creeks; this area is full of springs. When
Popcorn Road met Plum Orchard Road, we continued up Plum Orchard Road.
We made the most exciting find
along these roads late in the afternoon in deep shade under a canopy of
rhododendrons. A single gentian plant with white flowers that were easy to spot.
At a distance they were pure white and more bottle-shaped than the blue-striped
flowers the Gentiana decora (Showy Gentian) flowers we’d seen at many sites in
the county.
There are two species, Gentiana
villosa (Striped Gentian) and Gentiana alba (Plain Gentian), that have
cream-white flowers. Distribution maps suggested that this was G. villosa but the
flowers appeared to be cream-white without any blue-purple stripes. Since G.
alba has been documented to occur in North Carolina and Rabun County abuts
North Carolina, it seemed plausible that this might be G. alba particularly
since plants, in general, don’t seem to have read the distribution maps and are
often found in locations other than those that have been documented officially.
Since A. L. Gibson at Natural
Treasures of Ohio is familiar with, and has posted photographs of G. alba here
and here as well as a close-up photo here. I asked him to look at these photographs. He has identified these
flowers as G. villosa. Many thanks, Andrew!
The flower head. The green veining
adds to the beauty of these flowers. There are some hints of purple that Andrew
spotted in enlargements of this photo. Since there was only one flower head and
the flowers were so perfect, I remember being consciously reluctant to even
touch them although I may have been the only person to have appreciated their
beauty this season.
Closer views of the flowers from
slightly different angles. These are, indeed, exquisitely beautiful flowers.
A leaf
There was another gentian plant in
bloom a few feet from this one. The flowers were blue and, although I
photographed them, I discounted them at the time. However, when preparing this
post, I went back to study the blue flowers only to find that they, too, were
G. villosa flowers but a uniform blue with the green veining visible in the
cream-white flowers.
The flower head with the blue
flowers. These flowers have opened slightly further than the cream-white
flowers had, and…
the blue-purple stripes are just
visible in the flower on the right.
A leaf on the ‘blue’ plant.
Originally I thought that the
cream-white flowers were the rare ones but it may be that these blue flowers
are the unusual flowers of this species.
It’s interesting that the
distribution maps for G. villosa indicate that they may be found in many
counties in Georgia, although not formally documented in Rabun County. I’m
surprised that, given the number of patches with numerous G. decora plants we
found in this county, we didn’t see more G. villosa plants during our travels
through the country. Interestingly, also, other photographers in the Georgia,
South Carolina and North Carolina area who’ve posted photos of Gentiana species
have not posted photographs of G. villosa. Based on the distribution map for
this species, it would appear that it should be relatively easy to find in all
three states. Are G. villosa plants unusual or are we just looking for this
species in the wrong place at the wrong time? Future forays will tell…
Gentiana villosa (Striped Gentian)
is native to the United States and has been documented from New Jersey west to
Indiana and south to Louisiana and Florida. In Georgia, it’s been documented in
counties throughout the state, more frequently in counties in the northern part
of the state. Interestingly it hasn’t been documented in Rabun County.
Gentiana
alba (Plain Gentian) is also native to the United States where it’s been
documented from Maryland west to Minnesota and south to Kansas and Oklahoma,
Arkansas and Kentucky; it’s also been documented in North Carolina but not in
Tennessee, South Carolina, or Georgia. A more detailed map available throught
the University of North Carolina University Herbarium* shows counties in which G. alba has been
documented does not show locations in North Carolina.
*Currently the site is being
updated. Go to this site and type the species name into the ‘Name’ field to
obtain the detailed map.
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:
Related
posts:
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