This past Saturday was a glorious late spring day for a hike in the Allegheny Mountains: balmy, sunny, and low humidity. Timing was perfect. Spruce Mountain is one of the best places in Appalachia to view roseshell azalea (Rhododendron prinophyllum) when it blooms in late May through early June; something about the high elevation and rocky slopes really sets it off. But there are many other late spring treasures to admire also . . .
From top: trailing white monkshood (Aconitum reclinatum); Canada violet (Viola canadensis); woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca); Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense); fringed bleeding heart (Dicentra eximia); golden ragwort (Packera aurea); minniebush (Rhododendron pilosum); pink lady's slipper (Cypripedium acaule); bluebead lily (Clintonia borealis); bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), an adorable dwarf dogwood; narrowleaf blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium), which is not a grass but a very beautiful mounding iris; false Solomon's seal (Maianthemum racemosum); and one of my all-time favorite mountain plants, cow parsnip (Heracleum maximum), a photo-toxic beauty much prized by Native Americans for its edible young shoots. And if you don't dig the flora, then you can admire the endless vistas east and west . . .
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