Wildflowers of the Great Smoky Mountains

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is home to over 1,500 different species of flowering plants—more than any other North American national park, earning it the nickname of the "Wildflower National Park".^[1] Every spring in late April, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the site of the week-long annual spring wildflower pilgrimage ^[2] to celebrate this diversity. The park is also the site of the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory ^[3] to inventory all the living organisms in the park. This article lists some of the Wildflowers of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, current threats and resources for further information.

Threats

Plant Poaching

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.^[4]

Invasive Species

Introduced forest pests, such as the hemlock woolly adelgid and emerald ash borer are a major threat to the flora of the national parks, targeting over-story species such as the eastern hemlock and ash trees.^[5]^[6] Several invasive plant species such as wild garlic mustard, kudzu, and multiflora rose can also cause harm by out-competing and displacing native species from the park.^[7] Feral hogs are another major invasive threat to the park, as they are habitat generalists that will eat just about anything, including the roots and foliage of the park's wildflowers.^[8]

Pollution

Within the Great Smoky Mountains, air pollution is a well documented threat to both the foliage of the park and its visitors, contributing to stream acidification, ozone symptoms on plants, and high haze levels.^[9]

Examples


Image	Latin name	Common names
	Aquilegia	Granny's Bonnet or Columbine
	Asclepias exaltata	Poke Milkweed
	Asclepias hirtella	Tall Green Milkweed or Prairie Milkweed
	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
	Chelone lyonii	Pink Turtleheads, Red Turtleheads, Lyon's Turtleheads, or Appalachian Turtleheads
	Claytonia virginica	Eastern Spring Beauty, Virginia Spring Beauty, or Fairy Spud
	Clintonia alleghaniensis	White Clintonia, Clinton's Lilly, or Speckled Wood Lily
	Conopholis americana	Squawroot
	Corunastylis ciliata	Small Purple-fringed Orchid or Fringed Midge Orchid
	Cymophyllus fraserianus	Fraser's Sedge
	Cypripedioideae	Yellow Lady Slippers
	Cypripedium acaule	Pink 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	Umbrella Leaf
	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
	Lilium superbum	Turk's Cap, Turban Lily, Swamp Lily, Lily Royal, or American Tiger Lily
	Lobelia Cardinalis	Red Cardinal Flower, Red Lobelia, Cardinal Lobelia, Slinkweed, Cardinal Flower, Scarlet Lobelia, Great Lobelia, or Indian Tobacco
	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
	Orchis Spectabilis	Showy Orchis
	Osmorhiza claytonii	Clayton's Sweetroot
	Oxalis montana	Mountain Woodsorrel, Wood Shamrock, Sours, or 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 Rugel's 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 Wake-robin or Rosy Wake-robin
	Trillium luteum	Yellow Wake-robin or Yellow Trillium
	Trillium vaseyi	Sweet Wake-robin or Sweet Beth
	Viola appalachiensis	Appalachian Blue Violet, Appalachian Violet, or Henry's Violet
	Viola pedata	Bird's-foot Violet, Bird's-foot Violet, or Mountain Pansy
	Viola rotundifolia	Roundleaf Yellow Violet
	Xanthorhiza simplicissima	Yellowroot

Resources

Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers: When & Where to Find Them (Paperback)by Carlos C. Campbell, Aaron J. Sharp, Robert W. Hutson, William F. Hutson, Windy Pines Pub,(April 1996),ISBN 0-9643417-3-5
Wildflowers Of Tennessee, The Ohio Valley and the Southern Appalachians (Paperback)by Dennis Horn and Tavia Cathcart, Lone Pine Publishing (2005), ISBN 1-55105-428-0

References

^ "Wildflowers". Great Smoky Mountains National Park. January 27, 2020. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
^ "Home". springwildflowerpilgrimage.org.
^ "All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) - Great Smoky Mountains National Park". Archived from the original on 2006-12-06. Retrieved 2006-11-19.
^ "Threats to Wildflowers - Great Smoky Mountains National Park (U.S. National Park Service)".
^ Abella, Scott (2014). "Impacts and Management of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid in National Parks of the Eastern United States". Southeastern Naturalist. 13 (Special Issue 6): 16–45 – via Ebsco.
^ Poland, Therese; McCullough, Deborah (2006). "Emerald Ash Borer: Invasion of the Urban Forest and the Threat to North America's Ash Resource". Journal of Forestry. April/May (2006): 188–124.
^ "Non-native Invasive Plants". Great Smoky Mountains National Park. July 18, 2015. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
^ "Non-native species". Great Smoky Mountains National Park. November 19, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
^ Sullivan, Timothy (2017). Air pollution and its impact on U.S. national parks. Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp. 113–150. ISBN 9781498765183.

External links

Species Mapper
Tennessee Native Plant Society
North Carolina Native Plant Society
Official Smokies Nonprofit Wildflower Hikes
Official Smokies Nonprofit Wildflower Books and Information
Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage

[1] "Wildflowers". Great Smoky Mountains National Park. January 27, 2020. Retrieved March 13, 2023.

[2] "Home". springwildflowerpilgrimage.org.

[3] "All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) - Great Smoky Mountains National Park". Archived from the original on 2006-12-06. Retrieved 2006-11-19.

[4] "Threats to Wildflowers - Great Smoky Mountains National Park (U.S. National Park Service)".

[5] Abella, Scott (2014). "Impacts and Management of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid in National Parks of the Eastern United States". Southeastern Naturalist. 13 (Special Issue 6): 16–45 – via Ebsco.

[6] Poland, Therese; McCullough, Deborah (2006). "Emerald Ash Borer: Invasion of the Urban Forest and the Threat to North America's Ash Resource". Journal of Forestry. April/May (2006): 188–124.

[7] "Non-native Invasive Plants". Great Smoky Mountains National Park. July 18, 2015. Retrieved March 13, 2023.

[8] "Non-native species". Great Smoky Mountains National Park. November 19, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2023.

[9] Sullivan, Timothy (2017). Air pollution and its impact on U.S. national parks. Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp. 113–150. ISBN 9781498765183.