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Eagle Mtn - Mandarin Coves Vicinity Southern Nantahala Wilderness - May 3rd, 2026 |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2026) |
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Eagle Mtn - Mandarin Coves Vicinity Southern Nantahala Wilderness - May 3rd, 2026 |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2026) |
| Between scouting and leading five wildflower walks / trips during the Spring of 2026, I missed visiting several of my usual go-to spring ephemeral sites. I did want to revisit the Yellow Lady's Slipper that I found in 2025 and look for more plants. I didn't have time to visit the Mandarin Coves, so primarily explored some seldom seen coves to the east, while remaining on the north slopes of Eagle Mountain. I didn't take as many photos as usual; most of the "normal" late April - early May flowers had bloomed early this spring, and I wanted to cover as much area on the mountain as these old legs would allow! |
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| Flame Azaleas (Rhododendron calendulaceum) were still looking good at higher elevation. |
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| Collapsed chimney from one of the three old home places that I've found on our side of the mountain. |
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| Mountain Meadow-Rue (Thalictrum clavatum) |
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| Bigleaf Pipevine (Aristolochia macrophylla) flower, with Pipevine Swallowtail eggs. |
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| Another Bigleaf Pipevine flower. |
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| Small Yellow Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum var. parviflorum) still in nice bloom. |
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| Small Yellow Lady's Slipper |
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| Unfortunately, the Pink Lady's Slippers (Cypripedium acaule) were already flowered out. Over the past 15 years, they have reliably peaked around the first week of May. Not this year! |
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| Four-leaf Milkweed (Asclepias quadrifolia), with a Southern Longhorn Moth (Adela caeruleella). |
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| Vasey's Trillium (Trillium vaseyi) Early May and these were already the only Trillium still blooming up here. |
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| Bear Corn (Conopholis americana), past its prime. A parasitic plant, very common in rich coves. |
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| Great Yellow Wood Sorrel (Oxalis grandis) |
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| I was fortunate to spy a lone Puttyroot Orchid (Aplectrum hyemale) in perfect bloom. |
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| Jack in the Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) |
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| The Showy Orchis (Galearis spectablis) was almost all gone, but I found a few flowers still hanging on. |
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| Does a bear **** in the woods? |