Clayton Webster, leader of the Over the Hill Hiking Group (OHHG), contacted me a couple of days ago with an invitation to join their group on their visit to The Pocket, so even though it had only been a few days, I went on down there to meet up with this great group. We covered The Pocket very thoroughly, visited the Martin Davis house, and took a drive over to visit the Blue Hole area of Pigeon Mountain. The day was a success, not only because of the great group, but also I managed to find several species that I missed on Saturday.

The Over the Hill Hiking Group “Better Half”

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.) This list is very similar to the last one, after all, it’s only been four days:

• Virginia Bluebell (Mertensia virginica) – Still magnificent, but on decline.
• Hepatica (Anemone acutiloba) – Only a few still blooming.
• Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata) – Only a couple still blooming, but another Toothwort is blooming, perhaps Cardamine diphylla.
• Carolina Spring Beauty (Claytonia caroliniana) – A few still around.
• Star Chickweed (Stellaria pubera) – Fewer, but still fairly common.
• Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides) – Plentiful.

Bent White Trillium and Foamflower covering the slope below the falls

• Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) – Almost gone.
• 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, one quite close to the boardwalk.

Ohio Buckeye – Aesculus glabra

• Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum) – I think probably peak right now.
• Plantain-leaf Pussytoes (Antennaria plantaginifolia) – Still there near the top of the falls, but in decline.
• Cumberland Spurge (Euphorbia mercurialina) – Many.
• Trailing Trillium (Trillium decumbens) – Many.
• Redbud (Cercis canadensis) – The wild ones are near peak.
• Purple Phacelia (Phacelia bipinnatifida) – I think probably peak or maybe a little past.
• 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.
• 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) – Peak
• Little Sweet Betsy – (Trillium cuneatum) – Many blooming along the Pocket Loop Trail,
• False Garlic (Nothoscordum bivalve) – Plentiful.
• Woodland Stonecrop (Sedum ternatum) – Beautiful, just before peak.
• 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) – Still blooming.
• Meadow Parsnip (Thaspium barbinode) – Mostly in bud, but saw a couple plants in bloom.
• Southern Stoneseed (Lithospermum tuberosum) – I had not seen this plant in The Pocket before this past Saturday. Saw two plants along the Pocket Loop Trail up to the falls today.
• Wood Betony (Pedicularis canadensis) – Along the driveway down to the boardwalk.

One-flowered Broomrape

• Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) – We found a few blooming, both along the boardwalk and on the Pocket Loop Trail in the way up to the falls.
• Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium sp.) – Not sure of the species, but a few plants were blooming. (Georgia S2 rank “rare” species.)
• Ohio Buckeye (Aesculus glabra) – Just starting to bloom
• Lyreleaf Sage (Salvia lyrata) – Saw one plant blooming along the Pocket Loop Trail
• One-flowered Broomrape / Cancer Root (Orobanche uniflora) – Fading, but several plants blooming. The colony seems to have expanded.
• Lanceleaf Trillium (Trillium lancifolium) – I wasn’t aware this was in The Pocket until last week. A large colony is beautifully in bloom.

Lanceleaf Trillium – Trillium lancifolium

Other Notes:

• Both the Solomon’s Seal and the False Solomon’s Seal are showing buds. Coming soon…
• WIld Hyacinth will be blooming very soon! The many plants have elongated flowering stalks with the buds on them.
• I left Bloodroot off the list above, but the group did find one plant blooming. I would have missed it if I had been solo.
• Around on the east side of the mountain there were a couple of Twinleaf still blooming, and the Goldenseal is now blooming.

Goldenseal – Hydrastis canadensis