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Towns Co. - Mountain Seeps Spring 2026 Visits |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2026) |
|
Towns Co. - Mountain Seeps Spring 2026 Visits |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2026) |
| 1 - Late May I had agreed to co-lead a couple of GA BotSoc field trips with Rich Reaves and Hal Massie over the Memorial Day weekend. One was here at the Seeps. Most of these photos are from the scouting visit that I made several days earlier. |
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| American Columbo (Frasera caroliniensis) As mentioned before, this plant endures as a large basal rosette for up to 20 years before bolting as a flowering stem, 3 to 8 feet tall, for a single season, then dying. |
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| Note the fringed nectar pad in the middle of each corolla lobe. These plants were already past their peak, but they still had a few flowers. |
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| Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius) |
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| Ninebark flowers |
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| Eastern Gray Beardtongue (Penstemon canescens) |
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| Glade Spurge (Euphorbia purpurea) Georgia's only occurrence of this plant. |
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| Glade Spurge (Euphorbia purpurea) - flower detail |
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| Leather Flower, aka Vase Vine (Clematis viorna) |
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| Leather Flower, aka Vase Vine (Clematis viorna) |
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| Eastern Sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus) |
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| Meadow Rue (Thalictrum amphibolum, formerly T. revolutum) |
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| Round-leafed Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) |
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| Hairy Skullcap (Scutellaria elliptica var. hirsuta,) |
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| Bushy Bluestem (Anatherum glomeratum) |
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| 2 - May 30, 2026 I visited Georgia's only population of Southern Tubercled Rein Orchid (Platanthera herbiola). I have been monitoring these plants since 2018. |
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| Southern Tubercled Rein Orchid (Platanthera herbiola) |
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| Southern Tubercled Rein Orchid I found 12 plants with 5 flowering stems this year. |
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| 3 - June 2, 2026 After making repairs to our cabin / she-shed, where a huge tree had poked a couple of holes through the roof, I rewarded myself with a visit to the Seeps to see how some orchids were coming along. The rain held off during my roof repairs, but it caught me twice while photographing these plants. |
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| Rose Pogonia (Pogonia ophioglossoides), a rare plant in these mountains. |
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| Rose Pogonia |
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| Rose Pogonia |
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| Round-leafed Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) |
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| Grass Pinks (Calopogon tuberosus) were just coming into bloom. |
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| Grass Pink (Calopogon tuberosus) |
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| Colicroot (Aletris farinosa) |
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| Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) |
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| Another Leather Flower, aka Vase Vine (Clematis viorna) |
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| Virginia Agave, aka False Aloe (Manfreda virginica) In the summer this uncommon (around here) plant sends up a tall stalk with very unusual flowers. |