Partly sunny and warm (70+ degrees) – a great time to check on the bloom status at The Pocket. I was expecting the Bent White Trillium and the Crested Dwarf Iris to be blooming, and they did not disappoint. I was also expecting the Little Sweet Betsy to be blooming, and as I walked north of the parking lot and around the boardwalk, I thought I would be shut out on that account, but along the Pocket Creek Trail heading toward the camping area they were in full swing, so no surprises on the Trillium front. However, there was a surprise – alongside one of those blooming Little Sweet Betsy there was a Southern Stoneseed. I had not seen that plant on this side of the mountain. Overall I identified 41 species this visit, not counting some of the invasives around the parking lot such as Purple Deadnettle and Common Chickweed.

Southern Stoneseed – Lithospermum tuberosum

Here is the full list of what I found blooming (Click on the hyper-linked scientific name to go to the page with more photos/information on that species.):

• Virginia Bluebell (Mertensia virginica) – Still magnificent.
• Hepatica (Anemone acutiloba) – Hard to find the few still blooming among the Rue Anemone and Canada Violet.
• Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata) – Only a couple still blooming.
• Carolina Spring Beauty (Claytonia caroliniana) – A few still around here and there.
• Star Chickweed (Stellaria pubera) – Fewer, but still fairly common.
• Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides) – Plentiful.
• Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) – Past peak.

White Trillium, Nodding Wakerobin, Bent White Trillium, Bent Trillium, Drooping Trillium, Declined Trillium – Trillium flexipes

• Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora) – About peak now.
• Rue Anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides) Plentiful, competing with Canada Violet for white foliage dominance.
• Long-spurred Violet (Viola rostrata) – Plentiful, everywhere, but past their magnificent peak.
• Canada Violet (Viola canadensis) – Perhaps the dominant white flower right now.
• Smooth Yellow Violet (Viola pubescens) – Many blooming.
• Common Blue Violet (Viola sororia) – Many.
• Field Pansy (Viola bicolor) – Along the driveway after you drive across the creek.
• Wood Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum) – That hillside is lovely with the yellow blossoms.
• Dutchman’s Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) – Several stalks blooming at the back of the loop, closest about 15′ from the boardwalk. Unfortunately the large, close colony is inaccessible due to the closure.
• Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum) – I think probably peak right now.
• Plantain-leaf Pussytoes (Antennaria plantaginifolia) – Still there near the top of the falls.
• Cumberland Spurge (Euphorbia mercurialina) – Many.
• Trailing Trillium (Trillium decumbens) – Many.
• Redbud (Cercis canadensis) – The wild ones are near peak. The planted ones along the driveway are past peak.

Woodland Stonecrop – Sedum ternatum

• Purple Phacelia (Phacelia bipinnatifida) – I think probably peak.
• Robin’s Plantain (Erigeron pulchellus) – Peak (Pocket Loop Trail.)
• Wild Blue Phlox  (Phlox divaricata) –  Plentiful.
• Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) – These may be peak right now.
• Violet Wood Sorrel (Oxalis violacea) – Many blooming now.
• Roundleaf Ragwort (Packera obovata) – Peak.
• Wood Vetch (Vicia caroliniana) – Near the gate onto the Pocket Loop Trail.
• Pennywort (Obolaria virginica) – Along the Pocket Loop Trail. Showing its age.
• Heartleaf Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) – Peak
• Bishop’s Cap (Mitella diphylla) – There are several blooming along the creek below the falls. (I did not cross any barriers, pass any closure signs, or travel “cross country” to visit these.)
• Bent White Trillium (Trillium flexipes)
• Little Sweet Betsy – (Trillium cuneatum) – Many blooming along the Pocket Loop Trail,
• False Garlic (Nothoscordum bivalve) – Plentiful.
• Woodland Stonecrop (Sedum ternatum) – Finally!
• Dwarf Iris (Iris cristata) – One of my favorites, peak right now
• Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) – Looking through the forest toward the higher bluff.
• Bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia) – I don’t recall seeing this inside the boardwalk loop previously.
• Meadow Parsnip (Thaspium barbinode) – Mostly in bud, but saw one in bloom.
• Southern Stoneseed
• Wood Betony (Pedicularis canadensis) – Just started blooming along the driveway down to the boardwalk.

Crested Dwarf Iris – Iris cristata

Other Notes:

• Sweet White Violet (Viola blanda) is probably still blooming, but hard to pick out among the abundant Canada Violets.
• Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) may be blooming now; the early ones I usually see are in the closed area.
• White Baneberry (Doll’s eyes – Actaea pachypoda) and One-flowered Broomrape (Orobanche uniflora) were reported on Facebook by Richard Ware about a week ago, but I didn’t see them.
• There was a Buttercup blooming near the falls, but I didn’t photograph it and can’t identify it from memory – I’m really bad with Ranunculus identification.
• There is another Toothwort blooming besides Cutleaf. However I’m not sure which one – Crinkleroot (Cardamine diphylla) perhaps – so I am not counting it in the species count.