September 15th, 2012. We drove over
Patterson Gap Road from Betty’s Creek Road to Persimmon Road. Patterson Gap
lies on the Tennessee Valley Divide in the Chattahoochee National Forest. The
road is graveled and water erosion has produced some rough sections.
Our first find was Lobelia
siphilitca (Great Blue Lobelia). Further up the road – at about 2,900 ft asl -
we started to see gentians. We spotted Gentiana saponaria (Soapwort Gentian) and
Gentianella quinquefolia (Stiff Gentian) further up the road. Near the top of the
pass, we found a blazing star that we’ve tentatively identified as Liatris
squarrulosa (Southern Blazing Star) and Prenanthes altissima (Tall
Rattlesnakeroot) growing at the top of the pass.
A little further along the road we
came across a spring. I was going to call it a seep but, when I think about it,
the water was almost pouring out of the rocks. A little way back up the road,
there were a couple of unusual goldenrod plants. They stood our from the
surrounding goldenrod plants in that their flowers were distinctly lighter in
color: Solidago bicolor (White Goldenrod, Silverrod).
The top of the flower stem
A closer view of the top of the
flower stem.
Close up of an individual flower.
Solidago bicolor (White Goldenrod,
Silverrod) is native to the United States where its found from Maine west to
Wisconsin and south to Louisiana and Georgia; it’s not been documented in
Florida. In Georgia, its been documented in Union and Dawson counties in North
Georgia.
Click
on an image to view a larger image
Identification Resources:
Southeastern Flora: Solidago bicolor (White Goldenrod)
Natural
and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Solidago bicolor (Silverrod, White Goldenrod)
Distribution:
United
States Department of Agriculture Plants Database: Solidago bicolor (White Goldenrod)
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