Plants in the Blue Ridge Mountains

Pink Lady's Slipper

• Also known as moccasin flower, pink lady's slipper bears one or two dainty, beautiful flowers on top of a leafless stalk. The native orchid, one of the largest of the species, grows in sandy and high rocky woods of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The perennial flower blooms in April through June where it thrives in partial to fully shaded areas in somewhat dry soil.

  If you find one pink lady's slipper, you're likely to find a small area of them in the immediate area. Unfortunately, pink lady's slipper does not grow well in the garden, so it should not be picked and transplanted. Pink lady's slipper was once used as cure for insomnia and as a sedative.

Bear Huckleberry

• A common plant in the Blue Ridge mountains, bear huckleberry primarily grows in oak and pine forests in middle-to-high elevation areas. The deciduous native shrub grows up to 3 feet or higher with leaves up to 4 inches long. Flowers appear on bushes that are at least two years old. The flowers attract bees and small butterflies that help to pollinate the plant.

  By late summer, bear huckleberry produces small bluish-black, round fruits. A variety of birds and wildlife, including bears, rely on the fruit as a valuable food resource. Animals help disperse the seeds into new areas where the seeds can germinate and start to grow. The plant also reproduces through rhizomes that put out new shoots.

Highbush Blueberry

• Delicious blueberries cover the branches of the highbush blueberry, making it popular with people and wildlife, including birds, small mammals and bears. The deciduous plant grows up to 12 feet in height, forming a rounded shape. In the spring, reddish-colored leaves turn bluish-green in the summer before turning brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow in the autumn.

  White or pink bell-shaped flowers appear in spring drooping clusters followed by berries that turn blue by late summer. Highbush blueberries thrive in a variety of growing conditions, including sun to full shade in wet or dry acidic soil. You'll find the bushes in swamps and bogs as well as dry oak woods.