by Pamela Adams
What unique and beautiful plants and natural features can be savored on a cool, clear, spring day in the mountains of the Blue Ridge Parkway? To answer this question, a small group followed windy mountain roads which eventually led to Devil’s Courthouse and Wolf Mountain overlooks, taking hikes on beautiful trails along the way.
With instruction provided by native plant experts Rick Huffman and Dan Whitten, we were rewarded with an abundance of dazzling mountain views, pristine water runoffs and waterfalls, and a myriad of plants, shrubs and trees to discover. Rick shared with the group that his weekly observations on the Parkway present him with an ever-changing scenic panorama.
We encountered emerging and fading blossoms of trilliums, including red trillium (Trillium erectum), and
Photo Credit: Laura Godfrey, painted trillium (Trillidium undulatum)
painted trillium (Trillidium undulatum). We observed a variety of additional plants and shrubs including
Photo Credit: Laura Godfrey, blue-bead lily (Clintonia borealis)
bluebead lily (Clintonia borealis), wild hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens), mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) — a spectacular spring for these,
Photo Credit: Dan Whitten, Pinkshell azalea (Rhododendron vaseyi)
Pinkshell azalea (Rhododendron vaseyi), Catawba rhododendron (Rhododendron catawbiense), elderberry, (Sambucus racemosa var. pubens),
Photo Credit: Laura Godfrey, jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)
Jack in the Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum), bluets (Houstonia longifolia), Blue Ridge St. John’s Wort (Hypericum buckleyi), galax (Galax urceolata), wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa),
Photo Credit: Laura Godfrey, round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia)
sundew (Drosera rotundifolia), Soloman’s Seal (Polygonatum biflorum), jewelweed (Impatiens capensis), fir clubmoss (Huperzia lucidula), hay-scented fern (Sitobolium punctilobulum), Turk’s cap lily (Lilium superbum), Indian cucumber-root (Medeola virginiana), broadleaf toothwort (Cardamine diphylla),
Photo Credit: Laura Godfrey, heartleaf foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia)
foam flower (Tiarella cordifolia), and more.
The mountains were vibrant with evergreen and spring deciduous foliage of Fraser fir (Abies fraseri), red spruce (Picea rubens), striped maple (Acer Pennsylvanica), yellow birch (Betula Alleghaniensis), serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea or laevis), sweet birch (Betula lenta), hawthorn (Crataegus macrosperma), gray willow (Salix cinera), hemlocks (Tsuga canadensis and Tsuga caroliniana), brightly barked pin cherry aka fire cherry (Prunus pensylvanica), yellow buckeye (Aesculus flava), mountain ash (Sorbus americana), all accentuated with splashes of pinks and whites from blooming shrubs.
As we wrapped it up, Dan Whitten aptly commented, “This has been a really good day!” Everyone agreed.
Photo Credit: Laura Godfrey
Photo Credit: Dan Whitten
