| Author | Michaux | |
| Distribution | Occurs on the summits of Grandfather Mountain and Roan Mountain, but known only from about three other nearby sites, mostly on mountaintop forests. All records are limited to a four-county area, and in adjacent TN.
This is a narrow Southern Appalachian endemic, limited to high elevations in the Roan Mountain and Grandfather Mountain areas in Northwestern NC and adjacent TN.
| |
| Abundance | Locally common near the summits of Grandfather Mountain and Roan Mountain; fairly common on two other nearby mountaintops. Practically not known elsewhere in those four counties. Despite its small range, it is not Federally listed, but it is a State Special Concern species. | |
| Habitat | This species is limited to cool, mostly shaded habitats at high elevations. It grows in spruce-fir forests, or various deciduous forests, including boulderfield forests, usually near or in seeps or other damp spots. It also grows in grassy balds, usually in moist spots. | |
| Phenology | Blooms in July and August, and fruits in August and September. | |
| Identification | This species has an erect stem to about 2 feet tall, generally quite hairy. The basal leaves are fairly large and pinnately divided, with a large tripartite leaflet (or set of 3 leaflets), with small pairs of leaflets along the rachis. Stem leaves are mostly 3-parted. The top of the stem is branched, with single flowers on the many branch tips. In this species, the 5 petals are pink, flesh, or white in color, rather square-shaped (wider than long), and slightly longer than the sepals. The spread flower is about 1/2-inch across, but most distinctive is the drooping flower stalk, such that flowers are usually facing sideways or downward. The sepals are very hairy, and the entire flower and when in fruit seems to have a "fuzzy" look. The large, dissected leaves with leaflets, and the drooping flowers, should make this an easy species to identify when you are hiking near the tops of Roan or Grandfather mountains. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | None
| |
| Other Common Name(s) | None | |
| State Rank | S1S2 | |
| Global Rank | G2 | |
| State Status | SC-V | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | | |
| USACE-emp | | |
