Spring wildflowers - Woodland - White and Cream Colored
These flowers bloom between late March and late May.
European Lily-of-the-Valley; Convallaria majalis*
Lily Family Height: To 12" April 22, 2005 When I was in elementary school we sang a song called "White Coral Bells", which was about these beautiful, fragrant little flowers. "White coral bells upon a slender stalk, Lilies of The Valley by my garden walk. Oh, don't you wish that you could hear them ring? That will happen only when the fairies sing!" These non-native plants are garden escapes or can be found around old homesites. As pretty as these flowers are, they are also highly poisonous. They contain cardiac glycosides and saponins which are toxic to dogs, goats, cats, and humans. Perennial Where seen: Oak Ridge
Canada Mayflower; Maianthemum canadense
Lily Family Height: 2"-8" May 29, 2006 It is very easy to walk right past this tiny plant! I found it on the trail near Charlie's Bunion in the high part of the Smokies. Perennial Where seen: Great Smoky Mountains NP map...
Devil's Bit; Fairy Wand; Chamaelirium luteum
Lily Family Height: Male - to 28"; Female - to 48" May 22, 2005 These flowers were blooming along the Schoolhouse Gap trail in the Smokies in mid-May. Devil's Bit is a dioecious plant, the flowers are either male or female. The female plants can grow up to 4 feet tall, the males grow half that size. These are all male flowers. Does that make them a "bachelor" group? :) Perennial Where seen: Great Smoky Mountains NP
False Solomon's Seal; Solomon's Plume (close up); Smilacina racemosa
Lily Family Height: 16" - 32" April 22, 2005 The flowers of the False Soloman's Seal are located at the end of the stem and are slightly upturned. Perennial Where seen: Great Smoky Mountains NP, Frozen Head SP, Norris Dam SP, Piney River, Oak Ridge Greenways, Warriors' Path SP, Ijams Nature Center
Bent Trillium; Jennison's White Trillium; Trillium flexipes
Lily Family Height: 8" - 16" April 7, 2005 I found this pretty trillium blooming in a greenbelt in Oak Ridge in mid-April. It has smaller, thinner petals than the Large-flowered Trillium. It grows up to 16 inches tall. Perennial Where seen: Oak Ridge Greenways, Great Smoky Mountains NP, Warriors' Path SP
Large-flowered Trillium; Trillium grandiflorum
Lily Family Height: 8" - 16" April 17, 2005 This is the largest and showiest of the trilliums. Frozen Head State Park has a fantastic showing of these beautiful flowers in mid-April. I like to take people to a large field of them along the Panther Branch Trail when I lead hikes there. The flowers turn a pale pink as they age. Perennial Where seen: Oak Ridge Greenways, Great Smoky Mountains NP, Frozen Head SP, Ijams Nature Center
Spotted Mandarin; Nodding Mandarin; Disporum maculatum
Lily Family view from below
Fly Poison; Amianthium muscaetoxicum
Lily Family Height: To 36" May 23, 2005 Early settlers crushed the bulbs of these plants and mixed the juice with sugar, which killed flies that feasted on the mix. "Muscaetoxicum" means "fly poison." This picture was taken on the Oak / Hickory trail at the University of Tennessee Arboretum in Oak Ridge. The non-blooming plants could be confused with long-leaved grass. Perennial Where seen: University of Tennessee Arboretum, Great Smoky Mountains NP
Devil's Bit; Chamaelirium luteum
) / Lily Family
False Solomon's Seal; Solomon's Plume; Smilacina racemosa
These plants often grow in large colonies in rich woods.
Bent Trillium; Jennison's White Trillium; Trillium flexipes
Lily Family close-up
Erythronium albidum / Lily family Maryville, TN March 20, 2011
Spotted Mandarin; Nodding Mandarin; Disporum maculatum
Lily Family Height: 8" -32" April 10, 2005 These uncommon plants are a treat to see blooming in the forest. They are related to the yellow-flowered Nodding Mandarin. Look for tiny purple dots on the "tepals" (same-colored sepals and petals). Maculatum means "spotted". Both of these plants are found in forests on the Cumberland Plateau. They can grow up to 32 inches tall. Close up picture follows. Perennial Where seen: Frozen Head SP, Piney River, Great Smoky Mountains NP
Smooth Solomon's Seal; Polygonatum biflorum
Lily Family Length of stem: 16" - 48" The paired flowers of the Solomon's Seal hang below the leaves. They bloom in late April. The common name comes from the seal-like scar that forms on the rootstalk or rhizome when the leaf falls off. A triploid version of this plant has 3 sets of chromosomes instead of 2, they are much larger and taller than the more common diploid versions. I found these blooming in Oak Ridge near the Melton Lake Greenways Trail in April. In the fall the plants will produce large round blue berries. (See Fruits and Seeds Gallery) Perennial Where seen: Great Smoky Mountains NP, Frozen Head SP, Norris Dam SP, Piney River, Oak Ridge Greenways, Savage Gardens, Haw Ridge, Cumberland Trail, Ijams Nature Center
Painted Trillium; Trillium undulatum
Lily Family Height: 3"-8" May 29, 2006 I scared my friends, Terri and Rod, to death when I sqealed loudly at the sight of this flower (my husband Ken is used to my outbursts of excitement!), I had looked for it for years to no avail. Surprisingly, it was growing in an open field high in the Smokies. I would have expected to find it in the woods. These trilliums are much smaller than the others. Painted Trillium is one of the prettiest with the pink flashes on the petals. The pink areas are nectar guides, "road maps" which show pollinators where to find food in the flower. Perennial Where seen: Great Smoky Mountains NP map...
Catesby's Trillium; Trillium catesbaei
Lily Family May 7, 2005 Height: 6" - 16" The flower of the Catesby's Trillium hangs beneath the leaves. As it ages the petals are often tinged with pale pink. This plant was found growing along the Schoolhouse Gap trail in the Great Smoky Mountains. Perennial Where seen: Great Smoky Mountains NP
Pale Blue-eyed grass; Sisyrinchium albidum
Iris Family This plant can have pale blue, or as in this case, white flowers. I found these in a cedar barren along the Haw Ridge Greenways Trail in Oak Ridge. Perennial Where seen:Haw Ridge Greenways Trail
Clinton's Lily; Speckled Wood Lily; White Clintonia; Clintonia umbellulata
Lily Family Height: 8" - 15" May 22, 2005 The large flat leaves can be confused with some Orchids when it is not in bloom. The flower stalk can grow up to 15 inches tall. This plant will have large blue berries in the fall. I found this one growing in the Smokies. Perennial Where seen: Frozen Head SP, Great Smoky Mountains NP
Devil's Bit; Chamaelirium luteum
) / Lily Family The female plant may grow taller than the male, but there are less pistils (female flowers) than stamens on the male plants. The male plant is blooming in the background.
These little flowers are hard to photograph since they hang below the leaves and they grow in heavy shade.
close-up
White Erect Trillium; Trillium erectum albiflorum
Lily Family Height: To 24" April 15, 2005 Notice the dark ovary in the center of the flowers, the Grandiflora (Great White) and Bent Trilliums have a cream-colored ovary. The Chimney Tops Picnic area, Chestnut Top, and Little River trails of the Smokies are great places to find this and many other beautiful wildflowers in the spring. Perennial Where seen: Great Smoky Mountains NP
Wild Cherry; Chokecherry; close-up
Rose Family The twigs of these trees contain cyanide, if you scrape a bit of the bark from one and sniff the twig you'll smell the distinctive "bitter almond" odor from the cyanide (Cyanogenic glycoside). Needless to say, they are poisonous! Wilted twigs and leaves of this tree have killed livestock that have eaten them. It is poisonous to sheep, cattle, horses, swine, goats and moose. The leaves and seeds contain the poisons amygdalin and prunasin.