Natural History Wanderings

Appalachian State University reports

That pesky low pressure system that has been plaguing the southeast is still with us this week, but today it seems to be showing signs of dissipating. For one brief instant, late this afternoon, I actually saw the sun! We’ve had something like 12 straight days with clouds/mist/rain, exactly the wrong weather for good fall leaf colors. However, the saving grace is that this all occurred when the majority of trees in the High Country were still green, and were holding onto their leaves tightly. Thus, even though there is a lot of debris on the ground from the rains and winds, many of the trees, especially those at mid-elevations (2,500’ to 4,000’, i.e., Boone/Blowing Rock area) still have their leaves. And because the weather will improve starting tomorrow, getting sunnier and warmer, I predict that those trees will quickly begin turning color.

However, I have to be honest – after my travels today, I was amazed at just how many leaves have been taken off the trees. In some places, I’d estimate 20%-40% of the leaves had been knocked down, mainly from just two species: yellow birches and tulip poplars. There are some maple and magnolia leaves on the ground too, but the birches and poplars probably make up 90% of the fallen leaves.

The other important observation from today is that in the Boone/Blowing Rock area, many of the hillsides are now 50% to 70% colored up, much more than I expected. To me this means that as the weather improves and gets sunnier and drier, colors will rapidly approach their peak for the High Country, perhaps by the end of this coming week and into that trailing weekend (Oct 8 – 10th), with good color still persisting into that following week (Oct 11-15th). I’m not seeing a lot of reds (which is what happens when it gets cloudy/rainy), so I’m inclined to knock down my prediction from being an exceptional year to just a very good year.

Higher elevations were already starting to turn color prior to this episode of bad weather, especially around Grandfather Mt., and at other sites along the Blue Ridge Parkway, such as Graveyards, Waterrock Knob, and Craggy Gardens. However, if you go to those sites, and the leaves are gone, they still offer wonderful trails for hiking to overlooks, and from them you can view the fall leaf colors at the lower elevations.

This past week, the birches really began yellowing, along with the tulip poplars and magnolias. By the way, magnolias and tulip poplars are closely related and among the more ancient flowering plants, so it’s not surprising that they both change colors at near the same time, and that both turn yellow, although the magnolias quickly morph over into a lovely chocolate brown.

Our sugar, mountain, and red maples are also turning colors now. Mountain maple, a lesser known maple species, turns an interesting orange/red color. It is found mainly at higher elevations, and is a prominent species along the road in Grandfather Mountain State Park. It doesn’t get as big as some of the other maples. Sugar maples can turn a variety of colors, ranging from yellow to orange to red, while red maples essentially produce just red leaves. Along U.S. 221 between Pineola and Linville are some really large sugar maples, just off the highway, that are turning a nice yellow color now.

Sourwoods, if not already a deep burgundy red, are switching over to that color now, as are sassafras, which like sugar maples, can have every color on them at one time. Hickories tend to turn a dull yellow then brown, and I’m afraid they are not one of my favorite fall color trees. A bright spot in the forests, at eye level, is witch hazel, an interesting understory shrub that is common throughout the southern Appalachians. Not only do the leaves turn a golden yellow, speckled with brown, but it is one of the only plants that flowers at this time of the year. The flowers are composed of curly yellow filaments which are the petals. Its pollinator is a small moth. This website has some great photos of witch hazel flowers and leaves, plus a nice natural history of the species:

http://blog.chestnutherbs.com/witch-hazel-bloomoogling-unus…

Many of you may know that forked twigs of this species are the preferred device to perform “dousing”, which is how some people think they can search an area for water. Of course, dousing absolutely does NOT work – there have even been scientific studies showing that it is bogus. But it makes for interesting folklore. But consider the science rationally: why would the wood of one species be able to “sense” water when all wood is composed of the same material, cellulose. Even more basic, how could wood “sense” water? By what physical mechanism? The answer: wood can’t because there is no mechanism. Nor can the douser sense it either, as there is no known way a human can detect water underground using witch hazel twigs.

This is the time of year when many people want to know where to go for a good scenic drive. Several nice drives can be found at the RomanticAsheville website (http://www.romanticasheville.com/highway64.htm). If you’re looking for something more adventurous, try the Cherohala Skyway in far southwest NC (http://www.cherohala.org/). This high elevation drive through the Cherokee and Nantahala National Forests and Wilderness Areas roams from Robbinsville, NC to Tellico Falls, TN and offers spectacular views. But because it is up so high, colors peak early there. But even if you miss the peak colors right at the road, the lower elevations will have leaves to view from the lookouts.

Highway 64 from Franklin, NC to Highlands is a short (20 miles) but beautiful drive, and has several wonderful waterfalls. The highway winds up the Cullasaja Gorge, and the website below offers some insight on what to see when you drive there, including Dry Falls (which you can walk behind!),Bridal Veil Falls, and Cullasaja Falls, which drops 250’:

(http://www.blueridgeheritage.com/attr…/cullasaja-river-gorge

Finally, the Pisgah Ranger District in the Pisgah National Forest, just outside Brevard, NC has numerous hiking trails, drives, and a plethora (yeh, I get to use that word finally!) of waterfalls. Fall is a great time to visit this area. Here’s a website listing some hikes you can take to see all the waterfalls:

http://www.ncwaterfalls.com/pisgah1.htm

That about does it for this week. As I get reports from other sites I’ll pass those on. I’ll be heading off to Highlands on Wednesday, so I can give you first hand reports about the leaves I see as I head that way. Finally, check out my album of photos from today’s foray to Linville Falls.

Stay dry and have a great week!