This guide lists spring wildflowers commonly seen along the Trail in the South (locations
indicated by in the "Thru-hiker Notes" section). Flowers are listed by main color,
then alphabetically. The brief descriptions are not intended for the serious user, but
for the novice. If mistakes are made, so what? As Shakespeare said, "What's in a
name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet." Have fun
trying to identify wildflowers; above all, simply enjoy seeing them.
BLUE
· bluets: four petals, ¼-inch flowers, pale blue with yellow centers; 2-8 inches high.
GREEN
· jack-in-the-pulpit: leaf stem 1-3 feet high with three pointed oval leaves, flower on separate
stem (a greenish tubelike structure with green to maroonish inside and hood overhanging
green to maroon, club-shaped spike).
· rattlesnake plantain: greenish-white flowers clustered on downy spike, hairy leaves with
white markings, leaves at base; 6-18 inches high.
MAROON
· red trillium: three petals, red to maroon with foul smell, also called stinking benjamin.
· toadshade trillium: three upright petals, maroon to brownish, three leaves; 4-12 inches high.
ORANGE
· flame azalea: flowers orange with reddish veins, trumpetlike; shrub 4-10 feet high.
· tulip trees: flowers tuliplike, green and orange; tree grows to 120 feet high.
PINK
· common wood sorrel: five petals, pinkish with purplish stripes around star-shaped yellow
center, leaves akin to three-leaf clover; 2-6 inches high.
· eastern redbud tree: pink flowers in 4-8 clusters, leaves heart-shaped; tree 10-20 feet high.
· pink lady's-slipper: nodding pink pouch-like structure with veined lip and purplish-brown
twisted side petals; 6-14 inches high.
· rosebay rhododendron: white to pink flowers in clusters; shrub 10-20 feet high.
· spring beauty: five petals, pink to white with dark pink veins, leaves like blades of grass;
6-12 inches high.
PURPLE
· birdsfoot violet: five lavender petals, upper two slanting backward and often darker,
leaves on separate stem; 4-10 inches high.
· common blue violet: five petals, purple to white, 3-8 inches high.
· crested dwarf iris: orchidlike, purple with orange and white crests; 3-5 inches high.
· dwarf larkspur: five petals, flower trumpet-shaped, purple or blue with white in center,
flowers clustered along stem top, divided leaves on stem; 1-2 feet high.
· fringed polygala: three petals, two winglike, rose-purple with fringe at tip, shiny oval
leaves; 3-6 inches high.
· purple rhododendron: lavender flowers in large clusters; shrub 10-20 feet high.
· robin's plantain: violet or lilac with yellow center, 1½-inch rayed flowers, dandelionlike;
6-16 inches high.
· showy orchis: purple to pink helmetlike flowers with white spur underneath the
helmet, leaves shiny; 5-12 inches high.
· wild geranium: five petals, purple to rose, leaves lobed and toothed; 1-3 feet high.
172 The Thru-hiker's Handbook 2003
Wildflower Guide
