Summer Flowers - Woodland - Blue, Purple, Green
Devil's Grandmother; Elephant's Foot; Hairy Tobaccoweed; Elephantopus tomentosus
Aster Family August 6, 2007 This is a common flower in the woods in late summer. I found it blooming in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area in mid-August. Note the pistils of the flowers. This plant has large basal leaves which lie on the ground and small stem leaves. (See next photo) Perennial Where seen: Pickett SP, Big Ridge SP, Big South Fork NRRA, Great Smoky Mountains NP
Mountain Bluets; Hedyotis michauxii
Madder Family Height: 4" - 8" July 8, 2005 These tiny flowers bloom in the high elevations of the Appalachian Mountains in the summer. I have found these on Gregory's and Andrews' Balds. Perennial Where seen: Great Smoky Mountains NP Formerly known as: Houstonia serpyllifolia
Tall Larkspur; Delphinium exaltatum
Buttercup Family Rare - Endangered in TN August 6, 2007 I was excited to find several of these rare plants blooming in Oak Ridge in mid-July. Tall Larkspur is lighter in color than its' smaller, spring-blooming relative, the Dwarf Larkspur. All Larkspurs are poisonous if eaten, the plants contain alkaloids delphinine and ajacine. Perennial Where seen: Oak Ridge Greenways
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Downy Lobelia; Lobelia puberula
Bluebell Family The lower lip on the flowers of this Lobelia are not as ribbed as they are on the Great Blue Lobelia. I found this plant growing along the Angel Falls Overlook Trail in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area in Scott County in mid-August. Perennial Where seen: Big South Fork NRRA, Great Smoky Mountains NP
Danger! Learn to recognize this vine at all times of the year, it could save you a lot of itching! The older vines are extremely hairy. All parts of the plant are poisonous. People can develop an allergic reaction even if they have never had it before. The more a person is exposed, the more likely they will become sensitized to the poison.
Leafy Elephant Foot; Elephantopus carolinianus
Aster Family I have never found why this flower has such a strange name! It is a member of the Aster family. A close relative is called Devil's Grandmother (following flower)! Another wierd name! It has large basal leaves but no large leaves on the stem like this plant. Perennial Where seen: Oak Ridge Greenways, Big Ridge SP, Big South Fork NRRA
True Forget-me-not; Myosotis scorpioides*
Forget-Me-Not Family June 9, 2007 I found this blooming at one of the old homesites at Elkmont in the Smokies when I went up to see the synchronus fireflies. This is an introduced plant from Europe. Fortunately, it is not an invasive plant!
Tall Larkspur; Delphinium exaltatum
Buttercup Family Rare - Endangered in TN August 6, 2007 I was excited to find several of these rare plants blooming in Oak Ridge in mid-July. Tall Larkspur is lighter in color than its' smaller, spring-blooming relative, the Dwarf Larkspur. All Larkspurs are poisonous if eaten, the plants contain alkaloids delphinine and ajacine. Perennial Where seen: Oak Ridge Greenways
Mint Family "Vulgaris" means common in Latin. This plant was once used for many medicinal purposes. I photographed these flowers in the Oak Ridge Cedar Barrens in early June, it can bloom much of the summer. Note the tiny black ants on the flowers. Perennial Where seen: Oak Ridge Greenways, Big South Fork NRRA, Lone Mountain NF, Cherokee NF, University of Tennessee Arboretum, Great Smoky Mountains NP, Warriors' Path SP, Haw Ridge, Jefferson Middle School Cedar Barren, widespread
Ragged Fringed Orchid; Platanthera lacera
Orchid Family Height: 15" - 18" July 9, 2005 This was the "mystery orchid" Amber and I were looking for. We felt we were on a wild goose chase since we didn't know what the plant looked like or exactly where it was growing. We just knew it was green and the area where it had been spotted. Amber gets credit for this one, she noticed it while I was looking at another wildflower. The plant is well-named since the three petals are very ragged! The following photo is a close-up of the flowers. Perennial Where seen: Great Smoky Mountains NP
Prairie Aster; Aster turbinellas
Asters can be very confusing, there are several different purple-flowered ones in east Tennessee. Perennial Where seen: Oak Ridge Greenways
Ginseng close-up Panax quinquefolius
False Hellebore; Veratrum viride
Lily Family June 29, 2013 Great Smoky Mountains N P I have tried to get a photo of this plant in bloom for years. I finally found it when we were hiking to Gregory Bald.
Hairy Skullcap; Scutellaria elliptica
Mint Family Height: 1' to 2' June 1, 2005 This is a common species of skullcap. There are 14 species of skullcap in Tennessee. Note the square stem, opposite leaves, and lipped flowers which are indicative of the Mint family. Perennial Where seen: Oak Ridge, Great Smoky Mountains NP, Warriors' Path SP, Cumberland Trail
Wood Nettle prickles
Green Adder's Mouth Orchid; Malaxis unifolia
Orchid Family Height: 6" - 10" July 9, 2005 My friend Amber, the program director at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, and I were on a "mystery orchid expedition" when I spotted this plant in Cades Cove. It was exciting to find it just minutes after finding the Ragged Fringed Orchid. Amber and I have an ongoing friendly competition to find unusual wildflowers, she has an advantage over me since she works in the Smokies, so I had to rub it in when I spotted this plant! :) The book "Native Orchids of the Southern Appalachian Mountains" states that this plant has the smallest flowers of any orchid in this area. We wished we had a hand lens to better enjoy the beauty of the tiny flowers. The species name alludes to the fact that the plant has only one leaf. It is not a very common plant, so we were very excited to find it! Perennial Where seen: Great Smoky Mountains NP
Sweet Joe-Pye Weed; Eupatorium purpureum
Aster Family August 6, 2007 This woodland Joe Pye-Weed is not as tall as its roadside relatives. It is more sparsely flowered too. Perennial Where seen: Oak Ridge Greenways, Big Ridge SP, Great Smoky Mountains NP, Warriors' Path SP
Ginseng plant; Panax quinquefolius
Araliaceae Rare - Endangered in TN Somewhere in East Tennessee July 20, 2008 I was thrilled to finally be able to photograph a ginseng flower in bloom! In my 24 years of identifying wildflowers this one has eluded me until today! One of my website visitors told me she would let me know when her plants bloomed. I promised her I would not divulge the location of her plants. I really hate to have to be a "Wildflower Snob", but there are just too many people who dig these plants illegally, so I won't say where I saw it. The roots of ginseng (a.k.a "sang" in this part of the country) are dug, dried and sold, often to Asian countries. In the Smokies, rangers inject a harmless (to the plant and, I assume, people)orange dye into the roots of their ginseng so they can be identified if they are dug. These plants require specific conditions, so they are not easy to grow. Digging ginseng is not illegal (as long as it is not dug in parks or on private property without permission), but harvesters should leave some plants and scatter the ripe berries for future generations of new plants.
Southern Harebell; Campanula divaricata
Bluebell Family These are beautiful little blue bell-shaped flowers. I always look forward to seeing them bloom in the woods during the late summer. A close-up photo follows. Perennial Where seen: Big South Fork NRRA, Big Ridge SP, House Mountain SNA, Great Smoky Mountains NP
Downy Skullcap; Scutellaria incana
Mint Family This plant was blooming in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area in mid-August. It has large flowers. Perennial Where seen: Big South Fork NRRA, Great Smoky Mountains NP
Virginia Spiderwort; Tradescantia virgiania
Spiderwort Family A very pretty blue woodland flower, a treat to find on a summer hike. Perennial Where seen: Big South Fork NRRA
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