Botanical subjects photographed during short explorations in early 2023.
These visits are in addition to the other wildflower albums on our website.
1 - Rabun County, GA - Mid March 2023
I hadn't visited any of the Sweet Pinesap or Persistent Trillium sites for a
couple of years, so headed over to Tallulah Gorge to see what I could find.
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Persistent Trillium (Trillium persistens)
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Most of the flowers were already past their prime, so I only photographed a few plants.
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Trillium persistens
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Sweet Pinesap (Monotropsis odorata)
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This species doesn't contain chlorophyll.
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It is a myco-heterotroph, getting its food by parasitism
upon fungi rather than photosynthesis.
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Sweet Pinesap
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Monotropsis odorata
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Monotropsis odorata
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Monotropsis odorata
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Trailing Arbutus (Epigaea repens)
One of our earliest spring flowers, these were mostly
bloomed out, but I found a few decent flower clusters.
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2 - White County, GA - Late March, 2023
At Smithgall State Park, I found a single Sweet Pinesap, although not in bloom.
There's gotta be more!
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Sweet Pinesap (Monotropsis odorata)
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3 - Towns County, GA - Mid April, 2023
On my way to another site, I made a quick stop at Hamilton
Gardens to see how the azaleas were coming along.
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Azaleas
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Azaleas
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4 - Union County, GA - Mid April, 2023
I wanted to check on one of my Goldenseal sites, and also pick some ramps.
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Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis)
I readily found the two spots I know here, but saw nary a flower or bud.
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One of my ramp (Allium tricoccum) spots...
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Sweet Shrub (Calycanthus floridus) along the trail
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5 - Towns County, GA - same day
I headed to my other Goldenseal patch to see if I'd have better luck there....
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What used to be a huge patch of Goldenseal had been decimated.
I did see a couple of plants in bud but no flowers.
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There is a small population of Southern Adder's Tongue (Ophioglossum vulgatum) here.
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Southern Adder's Tongue
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Showy Orchis (Galearis spectabilis)
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There were a lot of fresh examples of these flowers blooming.
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Showy Orchis
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Catesby's Trillium (Trillium catesbaei) was also blooming profusely.
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