Wildflowers of the Great Smoky Mountains

More than 1400 species of wildflowers are native to the Great Smoky Mountains. Every spring in late April Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the site of the week-long annual spring wildflower pilgrimage [1] to celebrate this diversity. The park is also the site of the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory [2] to inventory all the living organisms in the park. This article lists some of these Wildflowers of the Great Smoky Mountains and references sites for further research.

Threats

Plant poaching is a major threat in the park. In particular, ginseng is a popular target. Removal of specimens such as trilliums and orchids for private gardens is also threatening these populations.[3] The hemlock woolly adelgid has destroyed most of the hemlocks within the park. The Emerald ash borer is also very destructive of native tree species.

Air pollution is also injurious to native plant populations in the park.

Examples

Image Latin name Common names
Aquilegia Granny's bonnet or Columbine
Asclepias quadrifolia Fourleaf milkweed or whorled milkweed
Carex plantaginea seersucker sedge or plaintainleaf sedge
Caulophyllum thalictroides Blue cohosh
Chamaelirium Blazing-star, Devil's bit, False unicorn, Fairy wand, or Helonias
Claytonia virginica Eastern spring beauty, Virginia spring beauty, or fairy spud
Clintonia alleghaniensis White Clintonia, Clinton's Lilly, Speckled Wood Lily
Conopholis americana Squawroot
Cymophyllus fraserianus Fraser's sedge
Cypripedioideae Yellow Lady Slippers
Delphinium tricorne Dwarf larkspur
Dicentra canadensis Squirrel Corn
Dicentra cucullaria Dutchman's Breeches
Dicentra eximia Bleeding heart
Diervilla sessilifolia southern bush honeysuckle
Diphylleia cymosa
Dodecatheon meadia Shooting stars
Epigaea repens mayflower or trailing arbutus
Euonymus obovatus Running strawberry bush
Hexastylis arifolia little brown jug
Hexastylis virginica Virginia heartleaf
Iris cristata Dwarf Crested Iris or Crested Iris
Lycopus americanus Water horehound
Maianthemum racemosum Treacleberry or feathery false lily of the valley
Micranthes micranthidifolia Lettuceleaf saxifrag, branch lettuce, or brook lettuce
Mitchella repens Partridge berry or squaw vine
Monarda didyma Bee balm
Monotropsis odorata Sweet pinesap or pygmy pipes
Osmorhiza claytonii Clayton's sweetroot
Oxalis montana mountain woodsorrel, wood shamrock, sours, white woodsorrel
Panax quinquefolius American ginseng
Penstemon canescens Eastern gray beardtongue
Phacelia bipinnatifida Fernleaf phacelia, or spotted phacelia
Phacelia fimbriata Fringed phacelia
Phacelia purshii Miami mist
Prosartes lanuginosa Yellow mandarin, or yellow fairybells
Prosartes maculata yellow mandarin, spotted mandarin, or nodding mandarin
Rhododendron calendulaceum Flame azalea
Rugelia nudicaulis Rugel's Indian plantain or Rugels ragwort
Sanicula smallii Small's blacksnakeroot
Sedum Stonecrop
Stachys clingmanii Clingman's hedgenettle
Synandra hispidula Guyandotte beauty
Thalictrum dioicum Quicksilver-weed
Thalictrum thalictroides Rue anemone
Trillium catesbaei Bashful wakerobin or rosy wake-robin
Trillium luteum Yellow wakerobin or yellow trillium
Trillium vaseyi Sweet wakerobin or sweet beth
Viola appalachiensis Appalachian blue violet, Appalachian violet, or Henry's violet
Viola pedata Birdsfoot violet, bird's-foot violet, or mountain pansy
Viola rotundifolia roundleaf yellow violet
Xanthorhiza simplicissima Yellowroot

See also

Resources

References

  1. ↑ http://www.springwildflowerpilgrimage.org
  2. ↑ http://www.dlia.org/atbi/
  3. ↑ http://www.nps.gov/grsm/naturescience/threats-to-wildflowers.htm
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