Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve

Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve is located in McCormick County, South Carolina, close to the state border with Georgia. I visited it in early April on a field trip that I took as part of the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage event held by the Georgia Botanical Society. You can read about my other field trips to Heggie’s Rock and the Carolina Bays by clicking on the hotlinks.

Lake Miccosukee gooseberry (Ribes echinellum)

An excellent botanical and physical description of the Preserve by Patrick McMillan can be found here. I read this description when I returned from the trip and found it perfectly described my experience on the site.

As we made our way from the parking lot along the trail, we passed through some rather “ordinary” areas - although we found some blooming woodies:  rusty blackhaw (Viburnum rufidulum), southern crabapple (Malus angustifolia), and plum (Prunus angustifolia), and those were exciting to me!  Patrick’s description is spot on: “The trail begins by winding through young pine and oak communities with little sign of the rich woodlands to come.”

We patiently tramped on until, as Patrick says: “The trail comes to the edge of a steep slope and here you first get a chance to see some of the real stars of the area. At the top and mid-points of the slope you will notice a very unusual shrub.” Indeed, we found it! The federally threatened Lake Miccosukee gooseberry (Ribes echinellum) was there and blooming!

Pink Claytonia virginica mixed with Enemion biternatum

With each step we took, more and more special plants were discovered – the spring beauties (Claytonia virginica) were so thick it was like the other plants were swimming in them. Some of them were deeply pink, a variation that I had never seen before. Frankly, I could hardly stop taking pictures as each one was more beautiful than the last. We soon found another plant that we had been looking for - the "false" rue anemone, Enemion biternatum. Scarcely found where I live, it was here in profusion.

Cardamine angustata

Mixed in with these two lovelies, we began to find other treasures - the spotted geranium (Geranium maculatum), trilliums, Heuchera americana, round-lobed Hepatica (Hepatica nobilis var. obtusa) and slender eastern toothwort (Cardamine angustata). We were truly moving into rich territory as we met up with a small stream. Here, Patrick's words ran true again:“Now you are standing in one of the most diverse and rich woodlands to be found in South Carolina and all around you are beautiful spring ephemerals in profusion.”

 

Dodecatheon meadia with
Saxifraga virginiensis

Now we eagerly surged forward on an increasingly narrow trail. Our next delight to discover was shooting star (Dodecatheon meadia), a plant that I have never seen in the wild. It dotted the streambank, at times growing in thick colonies. In the area that we stopped, it was mixed with another new plant that appreciates the same growing conditions - early saxifrage (Saxifraga virginiensis).

Now we saw trillium - at least several different species. Of interest were the very prolific lance-leaf trillium (Trillium lancifolium) and the unusual Trillium discolor. Trout lilies were past their bloom, but their seeds allowed us to recognize that we were finding both the dimpled trout lily (Erythronium umbilicatum) and the American one (Erythronium americanum).

 

Trillium lancifolium (left) and Trillium discolor (right)

American bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia)

As rich as the herbaceous layer was so was the diversity of trees and shrubs. Blooming around us we found painted buckeye (Aesculus sylvatica), silverbell (Halesia diptera), and a whole lot of poison ivy! The new foliage on the poison ivy was a deep burgundy, luckily easy to spot as we leaned in to take pictures. One small tree eluded identification, but later we identified it as American bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia).

Nothoscordum bivalve

We found several groups of false garlic (Nothoscordum bivalve) that begged to be photographed (you know how that is).

We bottomed out and began the climb back up. We had separated into small groups by now and I was fortunate to be walking with a man who knew a lot about the insects that we encountered along the way. We swapped plant identification tips for bug tips and identified (often from afar, so no pictures) various butterflies, beetles and caterpillars that made this forest their home.

Not all insects eluded us - I will finish with a picture of a very spectacular moth that we found early on in our hike - an adult luna moth (Actias luna) that sat patiently for everyone to photograph. Thanks to our new companion, we learned on the trip back that this moth has no working mouth parts and does not feed as an adult. We also learned that this is a male because of the very bushy antennae. We sure felt lucky to have encountered such a beautiful creature and were thankful that preserves such as this are protected for us, for them and for the very special plant community found there.

Male luna moth

Magnolias, Southern Style

Few plants epitomize the floral beauty of the Southeastern United States like the native southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora).  Tall and evergreen, with beautiful fragrant blossoms, this tree offers almost every characteristic that a gardener desires in a plant. The unique seed pods have always been interesting to kids (and birds). We would pluck out the fleshy red fruits out of curiosity … or throw the whole pod at each other. We had two big trees next door to us when I was growing up; they can also make for good climbing trees if the branches are allowed to stay low.

As iconic as this tree is, it is indigenous to only the coastal areas of the South, particularly in Georgia. It is widely planted as a landscape tree throughout the South now because it seems to tolerate urban conditions very well.

Magnolia grandiflora

I photographed this tree in a parking lot where it and many others were covered in blooms. The cultivar ‘Little Gem’ has found particular favor with landscaper designers that need a smaller sized tree. Homeowners seeking evergreen plants for privacy screening also use this species of magnolia. Natural areas in the Piedmont are experiencing some excessive amounts of M. grandiflora seedlings. I would urge you to reconsider using this species if you are not in the coastal plain and if you adjoin natural areas.

Magnolia macrophylla

Since I’ve learned more about native plants, I have found that we have many other species of Magnolia that are native to Georgia, most of which are deciduous.

I found a native bigleaf magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla) on my very first plant rescue with the native plant society. It was winter time and it looked like a big stick. I was thrilled to see those big leaves unfurl in the spring. Like the leaves, the blossoms are larger than those of M. grandiflora, and they are fragrant as well.

Magnolia tripetala

I’ve been enchanted with the deciduous magnolias ever since that first rescue. Another “bigleaf” magnolia is Magnolia tripetala, also called the umbrella magnolia because of the way the leaves are in a whorled arrangement.

I have rescued this one as well but I have since discovered that it grows naturally in my neighborhood where the properties adjoin the river. The blossoms are a little smaller and a little on the stinky side (but only if you get really close). It blooms about a month earlier than the others described here.

Other deciduous species are Magnolia ashei, Magnolia pyramidata, Magnolia acuminata, and Magnolia fraseri. The first two are more southern species while the latter two are more northern. There is one more evergreen species – the sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) which has a much smaller blossom than the others.

Magnolia virginiana

My little sweetbay magnolia needs more light than it’s getting, but it has bloomed several times. The sweetness of the fragrance is almost unmatched.

The leaves are a soft green color with silver backs. They are small, supple leaves without the stiff coating that is so characteristic of M. grandiflora leaves. A nursery near me has a mature specimen on site, and I was surprised to see how big it can get in favorable conditions. This tree is also tolerant of wet conditions but doesn’t require them. 

Some people seek out the variety Magnolia virginiana var. australis which is thought to be more reliably evergreen for more northern locations. ‘Henry Hicks’ is a cultivar of this variety and was selected at Scott Arboretum in Pennsylvania.

I hope this has helped you learn more about our mahvelous magnolias here in Georgia. They truly are a delightful part of our indigenous plant community as well as our southern culture.

Panola Mountain - Urban Treasure

Panola Mountain is a rare treasure that happens to be located very close to a large metropolitan area.  Protected by a state park, it is one of just a few natural monadnocks available to the public. As on other outcrops of exposed granite rock, special plants live here.

On the outcrop at Panola Mountain

I wrote earlier about my trip to Heggie’s Rock near Augusta, GA and another (much smaller) outcrop that I had visited. Like Heggie’s Rock, Panola Mountain was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1980. Unlike Heggie’s Rock, Panola is available to the general public for visiting during park hours. It even offers ranger-led guided tours of the outcrop for a small fee. That is a tour worth taking.

My visit to Panola was part of field trip held by the Georgia Native Plant Society. We were there to learn more about the plants that make the outcrop their home. Some plants were very special, others were able to live near the outcrop but live in other places as well.

Bignonia capreolata

It was enjoyable to see familiar plants mixed in with the ones that were new to us. On our way up to the top, we found blooming crossvine (Bignonia capreolata) and stopped to admire the showy flowers.

 

It was a drizzly day, so I apologize for water splotches on the lens. Of course the damp weather made some of the colors very vibrant, but it also made it difficult to photograph some things.

Our trip leader was very experienced in rock outcrop plant communities, otherwise I never could have told you that the name of this moss is Hedwigia ciliata. 

Hedwigia ciliata

It's presence and the presence of eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana), however, allowed us to find a very special plant indeed: Sedum pusillum, known as granite stonecrop. According to our leader, this rare and threatened annual sedum grows in communities that have these other two plants. 

Sedum pusillum

Indeed, in the several places we found it, the other two plants were there as well. It was past bloom time for this sedum but we found a few stray blooms.

The beautiful red-leaved Diamorpha smallii was there in abundance on the outcrop. It was also almost finished blooming, but the color of the leaves ensures that it creates a handsome vista regardless of blooms. Click on the link to my Heggie's Rock post to see blooming pictures of it.

Red fruits and new flower buds of
Opuntia humifusa

Other good plants that we saw included perennials like beargrass (Yucca filamentosa), Atamasco lily (Zephyranthes atamasca), hairy spiderwort (Tradescantia hirsuticaulis), eastern prickly pear cactus (Opuntia humifusa), sandwort (Minuartia uniflora) and shrubs like painted buckeye (Aesculus sylvatica), sparkleberry (Vaccinium arboreum), and mock orange (Philadelphus inodorus).

Ptelea trifoliata

New to me were wafer ash (Ptelea trifoliata) and sunnybells (Schoenolirion croceum). Wafer ash, also known as hoptree, is not an ash at all. The compound leaves with 3 leaflets had a few of us looking at the young saplings cautiously as we walked among them. We found them in a wooded area as we wound our way back down the mountain.

Schoenolirion croceum

Sunnybells is a member of the Liliaceae family and was found on the outcrop itself. These pictures of dripping flowers do no justice to what I can see must be a spectacular plant. In some areas, they created large colonies of bright yellow happiness.


If you get a chance to explore Panola Mountain I hope that you will. As a State Park it is well maintained, informative, educational, friendly and beautiful. Be sure to check out their activities as posted on the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area webpage. Panola Mountain is part of this National Heritage Area, one of only 3 areas in Georgia.

Panola Mountain and the Arabia Mountain NHA are very accessible to metro Atlanta, a true treasure for all of us to explore and enjoy.