Hemlock Falls Trail

If it’s spring then we must have had another Spring Pilgrimage weekend with the Georgia Botanical Society. This weekend was the Society’s 50^th such event, and despite an awful weather forecast, the event went on as planned in the area around Clayton, GA. This blog is about my Friday field trip, one that I actually led yet still enjoyed and saw some great things.

As the leader for this trip, I felt obligated to preview the path ahead of time and I did that in January. I did a blog on that trip because the waterfalls were so amazingly big with the winter rains. Although I knew what the evergreens plants were, all the others were going to be a surprise for me as well as the participants. We found some really cool things (and didn’t get rained on at all!).

Viola rotundifolia

The first 1/3 of the trail is rather plain, with mostly evergreen shrubs and violets. The sweet white violets (Viola blanda) were abundant throughout the trail, their small round leaves and tiny white blooms meeting us at every turn. After a while we saw another round-leaved violet but no blooms on it until much further. With the help of another participant, we figured out it was different than the sweet white and the yellow blooms we finally found confirmed it: Viola rotundifolia. I love how people on BotSoc trips work together to share knowledge.

A very fine Tiarella cordifolia

Xanthorhiza simplicissima

As the path climbed higher, everything was wetter and we began to see some of the spring goodies: foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia), jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum), and some of the prettiest yellowroot (Xanthorhiza simplicissima) that any of us had seen before. As we continued to make our way towards the falls, crinkleroot, or toothwort, (Cardamine diphylla) and trilliums joined the floral parade.

Erigeron pulchellus - bees love it!

Star chickweed (Stellaria pubera)

We passed through a drier area after a small bridge and found blooming Robin’s plantain (Erigeron pulchellus), star chickweed (Stellaria pubera), and pussytoes (Antennaria sp.). Finally, the path opened up to the falls and a restful area of large rocks for sitting (not that many of us sat, there was too much to see!). We found more crinkleroot, wood anemone (Anemone quinquefolia), and one special plant in abundant bloom: mountain bluets (Houstonia serpyllifolia).

Houstonia serpyllifolia

A wandering stolon on foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia)

Also very interesting in this area was a foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) with a long stolon that had rooted itself further away. Apparently this is a well-known trait. We saw another instance of this on our Saturday field trip to another location.

Mountain or highland doghobble (Leucothoe fontanesiana)

From there we turned around and made our way back to the parking area. I grabbed a few shots of the blooming mountain doghobble (Leucothoe fontanesiana) along the way, and spotted one broken mountain magnolia (Magnolia fraseri) that was leafing out but not blooming. If it hadn’t been knocked down, I wouldn’t have known it was there.

There are still many blooms to come on that trail as it is loaded with Rhododendron and mountain laurel. It should be a beautiful sight in May.