Mountain Wood Sorrel – Native Plant of the Day 05/31/2016
Photo from 06/18/2005. Location: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN. More photos / info at the Oxalis montana detail page.
Mountain Wood Sorrel, Northern Wood Sorrel – Oxalis montana
Slender Yellow Wood Sorrel, a native species, has been added to the USWildflowers database (05/27/2013.) Scientific name is Oxalis dillenii. It is also known by the common names Southern Yellow Wood-sorrel, Dillen’s Oxalis. Photo below was taken in Walker County, GA on May 17, 2013. Go to the Slender Yellow Wood Sorrel detail page for more photos and information.
Slender Yellow Woodsorrel – Oxalis dillenii
For those who were hoping for, as Ed Sullivan would have put it, “A Really Big Shew,” the time has passed in 2009. However, that is relative to The Pocket, and the abundance of wildflowers still exceed what you’ll find in many areas. While the dominant flower along the Shirley Miller Wildflower Trail seems to be Sweet Cicely right now, a species that isn’t exactly ‘showy,’ several of the “signature species” could still be found on Saturday, 4/25.
Cindy and I headed down to The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain around 4:30 Friday afternoon. I knew the light would be failing on the Shirley Miller Wildflower Trail soon after we arrived, but I was committed for Saturday, and wanted to make sure I was able to make a weekly report on the wildflower status during the spring season. If you’re into watching the seed-formation process, this is a good time for you. There is still an abundance of wildflowers in The Pocket, making a trip absolutely worthwhile, but of the “signature flowers,” Virginia bluebell and wood poppy are past blooming or almost so, and the bent trillium is abundant but in decline. The dominant species in the boardwalk area is probably the wild hyacinth, with the wild geranium still providing a pink splash around much of the trail.