Backyard weed merits deadly respect
“Seeds of this common weed do indeed contain an hallucinogenic component, but, as is so often the case, the same chemical…
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Halls Cabin built right on state line
Certain place names in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park have become iconic: Gregory Bald, Thunderhead, Chimney Tops, Jump-off, Mt.…
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Plant defenses are not-so-pleasant for us humans
Like poisonous serpents, some plants developed toxic properties in order to protect themselves against predators. Besides insects, the major plant…
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Changing a flat in a rising creek
Forty years ago this coming July 5, my wife, Elizabeth, and I and our three children moved into a small…
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32 years and counting for birding expedition
This past weekend marked the occasion of the 32nd annual Great Smokies Birding Expedition. Fred Alsop, the ornithologist at East…
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Graceful ferns a fiddling
“Marvel for a moment at the fern fiddlehead. It stands like a watch spring coiled and ready to unwind ……
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Time for spring migrants in the mountains
The cove we live in has been alive with birds for several weeks now. As alive with birds as it’s…
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Always questions about the fiddlehead fern
In the early 1700s British astronomer and mathematician Edmund Hillary, of comet fame, called [the spiral formed by a fern’s…
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This year’s flowers, last year’s berries
Last summer while I was walking along the creek below our home, small splotches of red and white at the…
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Hogs have long been an Appalachian staple
Hog Holler, Hog Branch, Hog Camp Branch, Hog Cane Branch, Hog-eye Branch, Hogback Gap, Hogback Holler, Hogback Knob, Hogback Ridge,…
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Ironwood is piquing the interest of WNC residents
There seems to be an upsurge of interest in ironwood in Western North Carolina of late. It’s curious how reader…
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Plants and animals who choose to hunker down
The evergreen plants and birds that overwinter here in the Southern Appalachians have made fundamental “choices” in how their lives…
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The smelly truth about stink bugs
Well, I knew it would happen sooner or later. Our house has been invaded by a herd of pygmy rhinoceroses,…
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Horseshoe Rock phenomenon attracts writers’ attention
“As for the Horseshoe Rock, it is one of those curving balds of solid rock. The depressions found on the…
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Chinquapin among our most interesting, graceful plants
In 1900 about 35 percent of the deciduous forest in the Southern Appalachians was comprised of American chestnut (Castanea dentata).
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Observing the outside world with inward eyes
Looking back I can remember that 1975 was a wildflower sort of year. 1980 was a tree sort of year. 1984 was…
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Ferns stand out this time of year
One of my favorite times to observe ferns is in winter when they stand out in the brown leaf-litter. Of…
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The secret of ministry of frost
It’s Oct. 6 as I write this. The first frost hasn’t as yet arrived. But it won’t be long coming.…
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Dealing with the dreaded writer’s block
In the June 14, 2004, issue of The New Yorker magazine, there is an essay titled “Blocked! Why Do Writers…
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My favorite literary opening paragraphs
I don’t like to talk or write about writing — but when forced to do so by, say, an approaching…
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Plant gall formation is somewhat of a mystery
When it rains it pours. Within the past week or so, I received two emails about plant galls. That’s two…
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Blueberry identification is ‘difficult at best’
“It’s football time in Tennessee!” is what John Ward, the long-time announcer for the University of Tennessee, used to declare…
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Getting to the bottom of the ‘The Spittlebug Story’
When my son, now grown, was about 9 or 10, he queried me one summer day about the foamy bubbles…
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Old-time mountain hogs were essential livestock
Hog Holler, Hog Branch, Hog Camp Branch, Hog Cane Branch, Hog-eye Branch, Hogback Gap, Hogback Holler, Hogback Knob, Hogback Ridge,…
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Trumpet vine is tenacious and beautiful
It’s mid-June again … the time of the year when certain plants can be relied upon to do their thing…
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There is hemlock, and then there is poison hemlock
Certain questions inevitably pop up during plant identification outings. One has to do with whether or not eastern hemlock trees…
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Epp’s Springs were once Bryson City’s calling card
A friend of mine who is a veteran backcountry explorer in the Smokies sent a recent email to me and…
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Shelving books is a very personal task
For awhile everything was in control. But that didn’t last. It never does. Once again my books are in total…
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Devil’s Walkingstick is known as The Toothache Tree
“The cascading, four foot, doubly-compound leaves of devil’s walking stick, bunched near the end of long crooked thorny stems reaching…
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Batting away undeserved prejudice
Unfortunately, more undeserved prejudice exists about bats than any other animal, except, of course, serpents. In European lore, vampires (a…
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Celebrating the odiferous ramp
Purple rhododendron is the most admired flowering plant in the Southern Appalachians. Ginseng is the most celebrated medicinal plant. And…
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Adaptation helps plants weather the cold
As I write this on Tuesday morning there are five or so inches of snow covering the ground outside my…
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The butternut is a country boy’s tree
“A countryman’s tree is the Butternut, known to the farm boy but not his city cousin. One who takes thoughtful…
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Cherokee knew how to handle the chill of winter
“Two or more Families join together in building a hot-house, about 30 feet Diameter, and 15 feet high, in form…
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It’s the ‘other information’ that makes almanacs interesting
Now is the time to make resolutions, order seeds for the coming year’s garden and buy an almanac for 2015.…
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The creative code of old-time surveyors
Since 1976 we’ve resided in a cove about four miles west of Bryson City. Using various old deeds my wife,…
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Mistletoe’s link to romance goes way back
The custom of decorating with mistletoe goes back to the ceremonials of the Druids. It is a reminder of the…
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Stop and smell the … ferns
One of my favorite times to observe ferns is in winter when they stand out in the brown leaf-litter. Of…
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Flycatcher family of birds is fun to watch
During the breeding season a number of birds that belong to the flycatcher family appear in the southern mountains: eastern…
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Ancient hunters had some mammoth prey
Names of places throughout the Blue Ridge country pay tribute to the familiar wildlife of the region: Bear Wallow Stand…
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Balsam was once bustling railroad community
It’s always entertaining to get back off main-traveled roads and poke around in the little villages here in the mountains.…
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A prolific year for buckeye productions
A large buckeye tree overhangs and supports the swinging gate leading into our property. Thereby, we have the opportunity to…
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More on the meeting of Kephart and Calhoun
The story of the initial meeting between Horace Kephart and Granville Calhoun has as many twists and turns as a…
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Digging deeper into the Kephart-Calhoun relationship
The meeting between Granville Calhoun and Horace Kephart (the quintessential highlander and outlander, respectively) is a noteworthy event in this…
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The Golden Mouse: A Children’s Poem for Adults
Editor’s note: George Ellison’s column this week is a sort of fable based on one of the seldom-seen (almost mythical)…
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Looking back at strawberry wine, Kephart and Calhoun
In a letter to the editor of the Smoky Mountain News published several weeks ago, Gwen Franks Breese took exception…
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Getting at the nitty gritty of history
Regional histories are my favorite literary genre. It’s in them that the nitty-gritty of everyday life is most clearly portrayed.…
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Sourwood honey is a favorite among connoisseurs
Now is sourwood time. From late June into mid-August sourwood trees will be flowering throughout Western North Carolina, from the…
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Hepatica — a thing of beauty and lore
Nothing is fairer, if as fair, as the first flower, the hepatica. I find I have never admired this little…
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Confederates pushed road over Newfound Gap
On Jan. 12, 1864, a Confederate battery of artillery and about 650 men under the command of Gen. Robert B.…
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