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Helianthus porteri at Arabia
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Common names can be delightful (
forget-me-not),
intriguing (
Flyr’s nemesis),
and confusing (
tulip
poplar – neither a tulip nor a poplar!). The plant I want to talk about
today goes into the confusing category, in my opinion. The fall-blooming plant
with the botanical name
Helianthus
porteri is a beautiful annual plant that can be found on Georgia’s rock
outcrops in prolific numbers every September. This year has been a gorgeous
year for it; more on that in a moment. All the common names for this plant contain
the word daisy: yellow daisy, Confederate daisy, Stone Mountain daisy. While daisy
may be a common name for some flowers in the Asteraceae family, the plant is in the same genus as a sunflower and it irks me to call it a daisy!
Regardless of what we call it, of course, it is a beautiful
native plant and one that gives a special grace to Georgia’s granite outcrops
each year. This year seemed to be an especially nice year for it and my
Facebook feed (lots of plant groups in my feed) was full of gorgeous photos. On
September 21, we decided to mask up, pack a lunch, and take the grandkid out to
Arabia Mountain to see the beauty (and all the rocks, a big attraction for the
little one). Here are some of the photos from our trip.
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Helianthus porteri
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| Will she ever finish taking pictures? |
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The mixture of rocks and soft flowers is magical!
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Blooms might still be out there to see and there are plenty of cool plants to see year-round on outcrops. Follow the
organizations that manage the outcrops for alerts next year. Davidson-Arabia
Mountain Nature Preserve is a particularly good one on Facebook and Instagram but other
places include Stone Mountain Park, Panola
Mountain, and Chattahoochee
Bend State Park.
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Callicarpa americana
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Clematis virginiana
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