May 16 2016
Pink Lady’s Slippers [Cypripedium acaule] found on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail off the Blue Ridge Parkway in South Asheville on 16 May 2016.
USDA Plants Listing: Cypripedium acaule
Pink Lady’s Slipper with guest – 16 May 2016
Pink Lady’s Slipper (front) – 16 May 2016
Pink Lady’s Slipper (front) with guest- 16 May 2016
Pink Lady’s Slipper (wh. balance) with guest- 16 May 2016
Pink Lady’s Slippers (three) – 16 May 2016
May 14 2016
Dwarf Larkspur [Delphinium tricorne] photos were taken on the Appalachian Trail (AT), between US 19E and Doll Flats, near Roan Mountain, Tennessee, on 14 May 2016. It’s the member of the Buttercup (Ranunculaceae) family. Wildflowers of North Carolina, page 61, states, “This poisonous native perennial is infrequent, though often occuring in large colonies, in the right woods of the mountains and lower piedmont of North Carolina.”
USDA Plants Listing: Delphinium tricorne
Dwarf Larkspur on the Appalachian Trail – 14 May 2016
Dwarf Larkspur – 14 May 2016
May 01 2016
Bush Pea or Aaron’s Rod[Thermopsis villosa] found at WNC Nature Center on 30 April 2016 and on Givens Estates on 1 May 2016. It’s a member of the Pea (Fabaceae or Leguminosae) family. Wild Flowers of North Carolina, page 99, states that it is “a close relative ot the Baptisia,” and they “grow in clearings or along forest margins in a few of our western counties.” It also states that they bloom May-June. It was mistaken for Yellow Wild Indigo, but these flowers form a raceme. It’s also given the nameBlue Ridge false lupine.
USDA Plants Listing: Thermopsis villosa
Bush Pea at WNC Nature Center – 30 April 2016
Bush Pea (leaf detail) – 30 April 2016
Bush Pea at Givens Estates – 1 May 2016
Bush Pea – 1 May 2016
Apr 30 2016
This appears to be a Golden Banded-Skipper Butterfly [Autochton cellus] photographed at the Western North Carolina Nature Center, on the Trillium Trail, on 30 April 2016. The Golden Guide to Butterflies and Moths, pages 74-75, states that it’s “generally uncommon and unusually sluggish.”
Butterflies and Moths of North America: Autochton cellus
Golden Banded-Skipper at the WNC Nature Center – 30 April 2016
Golden Banded-Skipper (wing edges) – 30 April 2016
Apr 30 2016
Cleavers or Stickwilly [Galium aparine] found at WNC Nature Center on 30 April 2016. It’s a member of the Madder (Rubiaceae) family. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide, pages 152-53, describes it as “a sprawling, prickly plant of woods, thickets, and shores,” blooming in late Spring or early summer.
USDA Plants Listing: Galium aparine
Cleavers (leaves) at WNC Nature Center – 30 April 2016
Cleavers – 30 April 2016
Apr 30 2016
Carolina Geranium or Carolina Cranesbill [Geranium carolinianum] found on Singletree Road on 19 May 2013 and at the Western North Carolina Nature Center on 30 April 2016, which is a member of the Geranium (Geraniaceae) family. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide, pages 280-281, says it can be found in rocky woods and fields.
USDA Plants Listing: Geranium carolinianum
Carolina Geranium – 19 May 2013
Carolina Geranium at WNC Nature Center – 30 April 2016
Apr 28 2016
Common Sow Thistle or Annual Sowthistle [Sonchus oleraceus] found at Ridgefield Court in Asheville on 28 April 2016. It’s a member of the Aster (Asteraceae) family. Weeds of the South, page 106, states it blooms in cultivated and disturbed areas.
USDA Plants Listing: Sonchus oleraceus
Common Sow Thistle – 28 April 2016
Common Sow Thistle (bloom) – 28 April 2016
Common Sow Thistle (leaves) – 28 April 2016
Apr 24 2016
Amur Peppervine or Porcelain Berry [Ampelopsis brevipedunculata] found in our driveway at Troy Hill Circle on 24 April 2016. It’s a member of the Grape (Vitaceae) family. It’s listed as an invasive plant for our area in North Carolina.
USDA Plants Listing: Ampelopsis brevipedunculata
Amur Peppervine at Troy Hill- 24 April 2016
Amur Peppervine (white background) – 24 Apr 2016
Amur Peppervine (vine) – 24 April 2016
Apr 17 2016
Common Groundsel or old-man-in-the-Spring [Senecio vulgaris] found at Fletcher Park on 17 April 2016 and probably 16 March 2013. It’s a member of the Aster (Asteraceae or Compositae) family and Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide, pages 416-417 states that it is “a weed of cultivated land and waste places,” and it blooms from Spring to Fall. The USDA web site has its primary name as old-man-in-the-Spring. Other names listed in An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Vol III, are grinsel, simson, birdseed, and chickenweed.
USDA Plants Listing: Senecio vulgaris
Common Groundsel at Fletcher Park – 17 April 2016
Common Groundsel (leaves) – 17 April 2016
Common Groundsel – 16 March 2013
Apr 16 2016
Shrub Yellowroot or Yellowroot [Xanthorhiza simplicissima] photos were taken at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education,Pisgah Forest, NC on 16 April 2016. It’s the member of the Buttercup (Ranunculaceae) family, “the only species in the genus.” Timothy P. Spira’s Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains & Piedmont, pages 322-323, states that the flowers bloom from March to May, and bare fruit May through June, preferring moist, cool acidic soils of shaded stream-banks and wet, rocky ledges. It also says: “Yellowroot’s rhizomes contain a bright yellow, bitter-tasting alkaloid that yields a dye. It’s wide-spreading roots and dense cover help prevent stream-back erosion.”
USDA Plants Listing: Xanthorhiza simplicissima
Shrub Yellowroot in Pisgah Forest – 16 April 2016
Shrub Yellowroot (closeup) – 16 April 2016
Shrub Yellowroot Leaves – 16 April 2016
Shrub Yellowroot Detail – 16 April 2016
