The mountain rhodo show

Rhododendrons are a part of the heath family (Ericaceae), which includes such diverse members in regard to size and habitat as pipsissewa, trailing arbutus, mountain laurel, doghobble, and sourwood. There are three evergreen rhododendron species in the southern mountains: rosebay (Rhododendron maximum), Catawba or purple (R. catawbienese), and Carolina (R. minus).

Cherokee language and zoology

Doctoral dissertations don’t usually make for exciting reading. There are, however, exceptions.

Flame on

Flame azalea is one of our most magnificent common shrubs here in the Smokies region. From late spring into early summer its flowers are produced in profusion on low growing, twiggy shrubs that are often as wide as they are high. The funnel-shaped blossoms that seemingly light up woodland glades range in color from red to yellow to orange and all shades in between.

Persecution of the dandelion

It seems that every lawn care commercial on TV or radio these days is aimed at touting a product which eradicates that obnoxious “weed” known as dandelion. What’s wrong with a few dandelions? Does everyone want a yard that looks like the putting greens at Augusta National? I like dandelions.

Bartram’s early accounts of Cowee

The preservation of the Cowee mound and village site alongside the Little Tennessee River in Macon County is truly significant in regard to this region’s cultural history. The Hall and Porter families are to be commended for making this possible through the agencies of the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee and the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians.

Guyot’s Smokies

Paul Fink and Myron H. Avery were two of the foremost explorers of the Southern Appalachians — especially the Great Smoky Mountains — during the first half of the 20th century. In a paper they coauthored for “Appalachia” magazine in 1936, Fink and Avery concluded that, “Arnold Guyot was, beyond question, the most thorough explorer who ever penetrated the Appalachian system.

The Tsali legend

Since the mid-1980s, I’ve been researching and writing about events surrounding the Cherokee removal of 1838, especially those pertaining to the capture and execution of Tsali — who thereby became a Cherokee martyr — and three of his sons.

Ash bats and the boys of summer

Some essays get to their point or points right away. Others are discursive, beating around the bush before getting there. Or they may not, in fact, have a discernable point. This one, I suspect, will fall somewhere between the latter two categories.

The storied bloodroot

Bloodroot is surely one of most widely admired wildflowers in the eastern United States. Walk now through any rocky, deciduous woodland in Western North Carolina and you’ll likely encounter the plant in all its glory. Notice how the lobes of the kidney-shaped leaf encircle the fragile stem even after the flower has blossomed. This is a structural mechanism that protects the stem and flower during times of high wind, heavy rain, or falling debris.

Neufeld’s book on Appalachia

There is a newly published collection of essays that deserves the full attention of any reader interested in this region’s history. Titled A Popular History of Western North Carolina: Mountains, Heroes, and Hootnoggers (Charleston SC: History Press, 2007, 126-pages, soft cover, $19.99), this volume collects 35 of Rob Neufeld’s weekly “Visiting Our Past” columns from the “Asheville Citizen-Times.” The book’s format was carefully designed and laid out by the editors at the History Press. And the text is enhanced via numerous black-and-white photographs.

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