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2019 Visits to Mountain Bog GA1K May & June 2019 |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2019) |
|
2019 Visits to Mountain Bog GA1K May & June 2019 |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2019) |
| 1 - Mid-May 2019 I knew that I had missed out on the spring blooms at this bog (again!), but wanted to check out some of the micro-sites which I hadn't seen before. |
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| I passed some Bowman's Root (Gillenia trifoliata) as I was driving to the trailhead. |
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| A few Trillium vaseyi were still hanging on at higher elevation. |
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| I came across a small group of Small Yellow Lady's Slippers on my way up the mountain. |
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| Small Yellow Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum v. parviflorum) |
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| Uppermost of two springs, as I descended to the bog area |
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| Second spring |
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| Further on, I passed some Pink Lady's Slippers (Cypripedium acaule). |
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| My first stop was bog area B, which I had not visited before. |
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| Lots of Helonias bullata growing here; it had bloomed a week or two earlier. |
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| Another view of this bog area |
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| Helonias bullata flower inflorescence gone to seed. I always manage to visit this bog just after these have bloomed; this time at least I knew I was too late. |
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| Nearby, some vegetative barriers around more Helonias beds. Wild hogs had devastated this area two years ago. |
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| Looks like some native orchids emerging; probably a Platanthera species... |
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| Galax was everywhere and just starting to bloom. |
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| Taking a bushwhack shortcut to bog area A, I passed through a beautiful fern glade. |
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| A section of bog area A |
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| I think these buds are Fly Poison (Amianthium muscitoxicum) |
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| I passed a second group of Small Yellow Lady's Slippers as I started back down the mountain. |
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| Beautiful... Cypripedium parviflorum var. parviflorum |
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| I was surprised to see some Showy Orchis (Galearis spectablis) still in bloom. |
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| Also saw a few Speckled Wood Lilies (Clintonia umbellulata) along the trail. |
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| 2 - Mid-June 2019 A month to the day after my previous visit, I returned with Alan C. and Noah Y. |
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| Bog area B |
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| The orchids I had seen a month ago were coming along with stalked buds. |
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| Alan spotted some Appalachian Twayblade (Listera smallii) |
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| Nearby, we found some more, with darker flowers |
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| A nice example of Helonias bullata |
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| We saw a very large example of Strong Quillwort (Isoetes valida). |
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| Alan and Noah |
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| A section of the main bog at area A |
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| Another section of the bog. We wanted to get some more bog landscapes at other areas, but the clouds wouldn't cooperate (i.e. it was too sunny)... |
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| We found Fly Poison in bloom at several spots. |
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| Another nice Fly Poison (Amianthium muscitoxicum) inflorescence |
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| Leaving the mountain, we drove down a Forest Service road looking for a couple of rare plants that Alan had seen years ago. We managed to find both... |
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| Sweetfern (Comptonia peregrina) This plant is extremely rare in Georgia. It is a small shrub, but if describing it in layman's terms, I would say it looks like a cross between wood betony and fern. |
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| Fruit of the Sweetfern |
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| Blue Ground Cedar (Diphasiastrum tristachyum) Another plant that is extremely rare in Georgia... |
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| The more common Running Ground Cedar (Diphasiastrum digitatum) was also growing here. |