A pyramid of Large-flowered Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum). It appears as if a fissure in the cliff above opened, and scores of beautiful flowers tumbled out. I made this image yesterday, April 11, at the amazing Highlands Nature Sanctuary, owned by the Arc of Appalachia.
Lush forest floors such as this, with rich soft humus and deep leaf litter, are becoming increasingly rare. The ravages of repeated logging operations with their attendant soil compaction, disruption of subterranean fungal communities, and alteration of natural drainage patterns, is increasingly taking its toll on most of our woodlands. An overabundance of White-tailed Deer - one of the rare "winners" in a world heavily altered by man's hand - has all too often decimated woodland herbaceous layers, and deer really love trillium. On the other hand, the fabulous forest partridge, the Ruffed Grouse, is rapidly blinking out. Game managers attribute its loss to a lack of early successional woodlands and promote yet more logging to restore grouse habitat. Little do they know that their cure is likely the very reason the grouse have vanished.
I highly recommend a visit to Highlands Nature Sanctuary and other Arc of Appalachia sites. Their work represents true conservation. Not the hubris of people deciding which species are important and which aren't and engaging in foolhardy management practices geared towards extracting maximum monetary value from our natural resources.