Native Orchids of North Carolina: Any Tips

Hello,

I will be going on a short trip this weekend to the western part of North Carolina around Asheville solely for the sake of finding native orchid colonies to monitor (and add to my list of native orchids that I have found). I will be focusing on mountain-dwelling platanthera.

Over the past year or so, I've been creating an identification guide for the native orchids of North Carolina. It includes pictures, bloom times, preferred growth habitats, and plant specifications used to accurately identify even the tricky species. Even with all this, I'm still worried that I might not find the plants I'm looking for! With this in mind, I wanted to know if anyone had any specific areas that they though would be good to look at or had any other tips and tricks for me. I'm willing to drive however many hours out of my way if anyone has any good ideas for areas, so travel is not a worry!

Thank you to everyone, and wish me luck! I will be posting pictures of any of my findings soon.

 

That's why it's so hard to find any information on it. I can't blame anyone because I know I do the same!