2007-08-04 Triphora trianthophora and other stuff in the Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina. Day trip to see if I could *finally* see local Triphora trianthophora in bloom. The flowers were partially open when we arrived at the site at 9:00 am, so I was very excited to see them fully open. As we waited, the flowers didn't seem to change very much. After two hours, it was obvious that they weren't going to open further; in fact, they were begining to close even more. Close, but no cigar... It appears that we were one day too late this cycle - the plants bloomed yesterday ;-( But, there were other orchids and interesting plants in bloom, so it wasn't a total loss. At least, we found (thanks to a new NOC member) a number of groups of Triphora that were less than a mile from the plants we had visited the past few years.

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