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Brasstown Bald 2021 Botanizing on Georgia's highest peak... |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2021) |
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Brasstown Bald 2021 Botanizing on Georgia's highest peak... |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2021) |
| May 2021 Due to the altitude of Georgia's highest prominence, a number of rare plants, more commonly found in northern climes, can be found here. Both Bluebead Lily (Clintonia borealis) and Rosy Twisted Stalk (Streptopus lanceolatus) are quite rare in Georgia, being at the extreme southern limits of their ranges. So it was a special treat to find them growing together! |
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| Rosy Twisted Stalk (Streptopus lanceolatus) and Bluebead Lily (Clintonia borealis) |
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| Bluebead Lily (Clintonia borealis) flowers |
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| Bluebead Lily (Clintonia borealis) flowers |
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| Rosy Twisted Stalk (Streptopus lanceolatus) flowers |
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| Rosy Twisted Stalk (Streptopus lanceolatus) flowers, from another cluster |
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| Huge moss-covered rock in a Brasstown boulder-field |
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| A lot of huge old-growth birch trees are seen high on the mountain. |
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| Canada Mayflower (Maianthemum canadense) |
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| I saw some huge Cardamine angustata flowers growing here. |
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| Also prominent was the uncommon Cardamine clematis |
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| Jack in the Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum?) |
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| Interesting roots on a birch tree... |
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| A few days later... My friend Max, one of Georgia's premier botanists, wanted to see the Clintonia borealis population, so I returned with him and our DNR friend Nate. On my first visit, I had failed to positively ID another rare plant that grows here, the Long-stalk Holly (Ilex collina). I had seen a number of plants that I suspected might be it, but didn't see any in flower, so I wasn't sure. As it turned out, I was looking at the right plant, and we saw many in flower today. Even though the species is globally rare, we saw an abundance of these plants here. |
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| Long-stalk Holly (Ilex collina) flowers |
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| Long-stalk Holly (Ilex collina) - pistillate flowers This species has male and female flowers; these are female. |
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| Nate and Max |