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Plants Native to the Blue Mountains

By Home & Garden Last updated Thursday, June/06/2024

The Blue Ridge mountains provide shelter and the ideal growing habitat for many plant species.virginia blue ridge image by John Keith from Fotolia.com

Stretching from south-central Pennsylvania through southwest Virginia, spanning North and South Carolina to end in Georgia, the Blue Ridge mountain range encompasses most of the Appalachian mountains. Approximately 200 native plant life species call the area home. Individual mountain peaks within the range tower 6,000 feet and are the highest in the eastern U.S., according to Fannin County, Georgia, Chamber of Commerce.

Painted Trillium

The painted trillium (Trillium undulatum) grows in the forested setting of the Blue Ridge mountains. It likes a growing location that is cool, moist and rich in humus. It flourishes in slightly acidic soil conditions. The plant is often found growing beside white pine trees and stumps.

A rhizomatous perennial, the painted trillium emerges from the soil in the early spring. The flowers last only a day or two. The petals die rapidly after pollination occurs and fall to the ground. A seed capsule remains that begins to develop until mid-summer. The seeds of the pod produce a substance known as elaiosomes. Ants quickly flock to feed on it. They harvest the seeds and carry them back to the colony to eat the elaiosomes. Once in the moist earth around the ant colony, the seeds begin to germinate. Seedlings emerge two years after the seeds are carried into the colony, according to Michigan State University. The plants do not bloom until they reach an age of four to five years old.

The fringed phacelia (Phacelia fimbriata) blooms from mid to late April in the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains, but flowering can be delayed if the weather is harsh until May or June. Tiny 1/2-inch white or lavender tinged blossoms appear. Bell-shaped, they sport fringed petals and nod on their delicate stems in clusters. The flower stems are approximately 6 inches in height and lightly furred. The leaves are a whitish-green, deeply lobed and measure approximately 2 inches long.

The plant thrives in the forestland along mountainsides and beside streams. It prefers moist, rich soil. The fringned phacelia grows best in partial, filtered shade.

The Dutchman's breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) thrives in the rich soil of the Blue Ridge mountains. A perennial, it grows along the forest's edge and beside streams. It prefers moist soil that is rich in humus. Flowers occur in single file down a drooping flower stalk. The white flowers resemble teeth, kernels of corn, or tiny pants. They have a slight tinge of yellow at the end of each blossom. Each flower is 3/4-inch long. Flowering occurs from April into May. The compound leaves are divided into tiny leaflets. The foliage's size ranges from 3 1/2 inches long by 8 inches wide. They have a lacy, delicate appearance. The entire plant stands 4 to 12 inches in height.

Dog hobble (Leucothoe fontanesiana), also known as fetterbush, grows in ravines of the Blue Ridge mountains and along streambeds. A broadleaf evergreen, it grows from 3 to 6 feet high with an equal width. The shrub spreads rapidly by sending out suckering sprouts from its root system to form new shrubs.

The shrub produces broad, dark, glossy leaves that measure up to 5 inches long and have sharply pointed tips. The new foliage of the shrub emerges a reddish bronze. During the fall and winter, the foliage takes on a purple hue. In the spring dog hobble produces small, white flowers in 3-inch drooping clusters.

Dog hobble grows best in moist, slightly acidic soil conditions. It prefers partial shade. The plant is highly toxic if the leaves or flower nectar is accidentally consumed, according to North Carolina State University.

Eastern gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides) grows native throughout the Blue Ridge mountains and other regions of the eastern and central United States. The grass grows up to 8 feet tall with a 6-foot spread. The flowers of the grass are either male or female. The male flowers sport orange stamens, and the female flowers have purple stigmas.

The grass can be found along the forest's margins, mountain meadows, prairie regions and on limestone slopes. It spreads through its rhizome root system and also easily self seeds.