Anybody Seen My Focus?: Spring Wildflowers at Dicks Creek (Part 2)

April 13th, 2013. The rangers at Dockery Lake had told us that trilliums were blooming at Dicks Creek in the Chestatee Wildlife Management Area. After it proved that Boggs Creek Recreation Area would be a productive site for wildflowers, we wanted to go over the Dicks Creek and check out the trilliums there. We had started along the road to Dicks Creek previously but abandoned that trip in favor of

The road into Dicks Creek passes through a lot of privately owned land before it reaches the wildlife management area. At first, the road paralleled the creek and relatively close to it. After the road forded Dicks Creek it climbed up the side of the hills to parallel the creek at a slightly higher elevation.

I was on the ‘upper’ side of the road on the way up. I began to see…

Small cream flowers along the embankment. It would be easy to miss these flowers.

A closer view of a plant with a single flower, and…

A closer view of a plant with two flowers.

These are either Uvularia sessilifolia (Sessileleaf Bellwort, Wild Oats, Sessile-leaf Bellwort, Straw-lily) or Uvularia puberula (Mountain Bellwort, Appalachian Bellwort, Pale Yellow Bellwort ). Name That Plants indicates that plants of U. puberula occur in tight clumps with 1” to 3” between the stems whereas U. sessilifolia plants may also occur in clumps with 5’ to 10” between the stems. The plants we found occurred in loose clumps more reminiscent of U. sessilifolia than U. puberula.

We also started to see Tiarella cordifolia (Heartleaf Foamflower) plants in bloom.

A close view

We followed the road to its end and then retraced the route. I was on the ‘down’ side of the road that fell away steeply to the creek.

In the area where we had seen the bellworts, I spotted some Trillium cuneatum (Little Sweet Betsy, Purple Toadshade) plants at the edge of the road.

And then I spotted…

A single plant of the green form of Trillium cuneatum (compare with Alan Cressler's photo).

A close view. This is the first time that I’ve seen the green form in all of the different locations where I’ve seen this species.

I looked over the edge of the road down towards the creek. Plants of Trillium cuneatum were scattered over the hillside. At the bottom of the hill, I spotted…

a cluster of trilliums with large, ‘soft’ green leaves – similar to those we had seen at Boggs Creek. From a distance we couldn’t see the blooms but it was clear as we approached that they had white flowers

A closer view of plants in bud, and

close views of the flowers. These appear to be Trillium simile (Jeweled Wakerobin, Confusing Trillium, Sweet White Trillium), a species that is found only in far north counties in Georgia.

There was one final ‘reword’ for spending time at this spot as the light faded. A little further along the roads edge nearby, we found a…

a cluster of Sanguinaria canadensis (Bloodroot, Red Puccoon) plants.

Many of these had seed capsules indicating that they should provide an impressive display when they bloom.

In spite of the inauspicious introduction to the Dicks Creek Road, this area proved to be a rich area for spring wildflowers. I’m sure we’ll revisit this area in the future.

Click on an image to view a larger image

Identification Resources:

Southeastern Flora

- Uvularia sessilifolia (Sessileleafbellwort, Wild oats)

- Tiarella cordifolia (Foamflower)

- Trillium cuneatum (Little Sweet Betsy)

- Trillium simile (Jeweled Wakerobin)

- Sanguinaria canadensis (Bloodroot)

Natural and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia:

- Uvularia sessilifolia (Wild Oats, Sessile-leaf Bellwort, Straw-lily)

- Uvularia sessilifolia (Mountain Bellwort, Appalachian Bellowrt, Pale Yellow Bellwort)

- Tiarella cordifolia (Mountain Foamflower, False Miterwort)