Showy Orchis [Galearis spectabilis] photos were taken on the Appalachian Trail (AT), between US 19E and Doll Flats, near Roan Mountain, Tennessee, on 14 May 2016 and near Gerton on 29 April 2018. It’s the member of the Orchid (Orchidaceae) family. Timothy P. Spira’s Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains & Piedmont, page 375, states that the flowers bloom from April-May, and bare fruit May through June, and it “often occurs in calcium-rich soils, but not exclusively.”
USDA Plants Listing: Galearis spectabilis
Showy Orchis on the AT – 14 May 2016
Showy Orchis (in) – 14 May 2016
Showy Orchis (out) – 14 May 2016
