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Mandarin Cove and Nearby Area Southern Nantahala Wilderness - Late April 2025 |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2025) |
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Mandarin Cove and Nearby Area Southern Nantahala Wilderness - Late April 2025 |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2025) |
| I always enjoy my expeditions into our end of the S. Nant. Wilderness because I don't have to drive to get there; I can just start walking from our house. On this trek, I decided to take a different route up to the Mandarin Coves area, ascending between the two old logging road routes that I typically utilize. |
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| White Baneberry, aka Doll's Eyes (Actaea pachypoda) These were at peak bloom at lower elevation as I started my climb. |
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| Catesby's Trillium (Trillium catesbaei), white form. |
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| Sweet Shrub, aka Carolina Allspice (Calycanthus floridus) There are a couple of coves on the mountain-side that are thick with this shrub. |
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| Bear Corn (Conopholis americana); a parasitic plant, very common in rich coves. |
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| Flame Azalea (Rhododendron calendulaceum) You can spot these a mile away against the fresh green leaves. |
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| Flame Azalea flowers |
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| Collapsed chimney from one of three old home places that I've found on our side of the mountain. I have some pics of our old beagle Molly standing on this pile. |
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| Catesby's Trillium (Trillium catesbaei), pink form. |
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| Wool-sower Wasp Gall, aka Strawberry Oak Gall (Callirhytis seminator) |
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| Showy Orchis (Galearis spectabilis) These were mostly on the way out, although I found a few in OK shape. |
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| Pink Lady's Slippers (Cypripedium acaule) The first of several sightings of these orchids. |
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| The "Deer Rhododendron" I first came across this large shrub about 25 years ago. It sits atop a knoll, with no other rhododendrons anywhere around. Deer love the foliage, and they keep this one maintained in the shape of a small tree, eating all the leaves and branches as high as they can reach. |
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| Another Pink Lady's Slipper I always find a few scattered around this area, although I've never seen any clusters. |
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| Photographing the previous Lady's Slipper, I glanced around and saw what sure looked like a Yellow Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum) plant! While I've seen them on the other side of Eagle Mtn, I've covered a lot of area on our side over the years searching for them, with no luck. |
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| Yellow Lady's Slipper (hopefully!) Not in bloom, but showing the bud; I was sure hoping this would be one! |
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| I spotted a large rock shelter / overhang on the slope of a nearby ridge |
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| More overhangs at the same rock outcrop |
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| Off to the side, one of the crevices seemed to go in deeper. |
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| The hole on the right went in about 20 feet, and some animal had been lying in a bed of leaves at the rear; maybe a bear. |
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| Yellow Mandarin, aka Fairybells (Prosartes lanuginosa) |
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| Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides) |
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| Trillium erectum, red form |
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| Umbrella Leaf (Diphylleia cymosa) |
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| Smooth Rock Cress (Boechera laevigata) I've seen this in only a few places, usually below high elevation cliffs. I've caught it in bloom once, but other times it had gone to seed with these long seed pods (siliques). |
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| Spotted Mandarin, aka Spotted Fairy Bells (Prosartes maculata) These bloom before the Yellow Mandarin here, and the past few years they've been mostly bloomed out when I got up here. They were perfect today! |
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| Foamflower (Tiarella nautila) |
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| Eastern Red Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) These were blooming later than usual this year, and most plants were still in bud. |
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| Eastern Green Violet (Cubelium concolor) One of the odder violets, for sure. These were just coming into flower, even though at full bloom the flowers don't get too much bigger than this! |
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| Nine days later, I climbed back up the mountain to check on the plant that I hoped was a Yellow Lady's Slipper. Sure enough it was one, and it was in perfect bloom. I wouldn't normally post four pics of the same plant, but being the first Yellow I've found on that side of the mountain, it deserved a spotlight. I searched all around the area for some more, but didn't have any luck. |
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| Lesser (Small) Yellow Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum var. parviflorum) |
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| As mentioned above, despite a number of searches over the years, I had never found any Yellows on this side of the mountain. |
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| Small Yellow Lady's Slipper |
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| Cypripedium parviflorum var. parviflorum |
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| While looking for additional Lady's Slippers, I came across this massive boulder, which I have photographed a number of times over the years. From this angle, it looked like a gigantic toad! |