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Buck Knob - June 2019 Towns Co., GA |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2019) |
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Buck Knob - June 2019 Towns Co., GA |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2019) |
| I wanted to spend some time botanizing at a few of the nearby high elevation rock outcrops. The extensive outcrops on Buck Knob seemed like a good place for some late June exploring. I encountered a large bear as I was approaching the outcrop. It was not happy to be disturbed, but after a lot of "huffing", eventually moved uphill. I couldn't get a good photo with all the trees between us. |
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| On the way in, I checked a colony of Goldenseal that I knew about. |
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| Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis), in fruit |
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| A Krigia species, I believe(?) |
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| For some reason, I neglected to take any photos of the rock outcrop habitat, but just concentrated on some of the unique flora. |
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| I wasn't expecting to see these here! A wet seep area on the outcrop had a nice population of Grass Pinks flowering. |
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| Grass Pink (Calopogon tuberosa) |
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A few more examples: |
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| While most of the Grass Pink orchids were a deep pink color, I found two plants with white flowers. Neither had a flower that was fully open, although this one was close. I am not sure if this is the true alba form, since some of the petals had a slight tinge of pink. Although that may have been due to the petals aging... |
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| Shrubby St. John's Wort (Hypericum prolificum) |
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| St. John's Wort |
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| I was also surprised to see a colony of White Colicroot (Aletris farinosa) growing up on this outcrop. I guess they liked the seep area. |
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| Lance-leaf Loosestrife (Lysimachia lanceolata) |
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| Uncommon Stone Mountainmint (Pycnanthemum curvipes), ranked G3, S2. |
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| I believe that this Beardtongue is Showy Beardtongue (Penstemon smallii), ranked G3, S1. Tom Govus's 2002 report states that "this species was always found during this inventory in association with Pycnanthemum curvipes." I found this plant growing a foot away from the Pycnanthemum. |
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| Lobelia species? |