We made a quick trip down to The Pocket on Tuesday evening. We made a short 100-yard walk up the horse trail and took a spin around the boardwalk, so I’m unable to update the status of flowers found along the trail to the falls, but here’s what I’ve got.
Wild Blue Phlox from 04/06/2010
Virginia Spring Beauty, a native species, has been added to the USWildflowers.com database. Scientific name is Claytonia virginica. This plant also goes by the common name Narrow-leaved Spring Beauty.
Virginia Spring Beauty – Claytonia virginica
In summary: This will be a good weekend at The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain, especially since tomorrow is forecast to be sunny and warm, as was today.
Aquilegia canadensis - Columbine from 04/01/2010
Bigleaf Periwinkle, a non-native species, has been added to the USWildflowers.com database. Scientific name is Vinca major. This plant also goes by the common names Large Periwinkle, Greater Periwinkle, and Myrtle. Some folks consider it to be invasive, so use caution in propagating this plant.
Bigleaf Periwinkle - Vinca major
Roundleaf Violet, a native species, has been added to the USWildflowers.com database. Scientific name is Viola rotundifolia.
Roundleaf Violet - Viola rotundifolia
Twinleaf, a native species, has been added to the USWildflowers.com database. Scientific name is Jeffersonia diphylla. This plant also goes by the common name Rheumatism Root.
Twinleaf – Jeffersonia diphylla
Tiny Bluet, a native species, has been added to the USWildflowers.com database. Scientific name is Houstonia pusilla.
Tiny Bluet – Houstonia pusilla
My Twitter friend OurLittleAcre tweeted for an assist in a species identification on a Hepatica photo a day or so ago. As we tweeted back and forth a few times about the species and color variation, it became clear that the subject was going to be difficult to discuss in 140-character messages, and since I wanted to record my thoughts and what I was learning as I researched the subjects, a post here on the USWildflowers Journal seemed to be in order.
Sharp-lobed Hepatica
On Saturday I participated in the Georgia Botanical Society outing to The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain, led by Mike Christison. I’m a new member of the BotSoc, as they call it, and this membership in this organization is already paying dividends in many ways. In addition to showing me two more wildflowers sites on Pigeon Mountain, I picked up two new species at The Pocket. One of those was the Roundleaf Yellow Violet.
Roundleaf Yellow Violet
Swamp Smartweed, a native knotweed species, has been added to the USWildflowers.com database. Scientific name is Polygonum amphibium.
Swamp Smartweed from the BWCAW – Sep 1, 2005