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Word from the Smokies: How Oconee bells created a 200-year wild botanical goose chase Frances Figart © Courtesy of Jim and Leslie Costa French botanist André Michaux failed to clearly record the location where he first found Oconee bells (Shortia galacifolia), creating a two-centuries-long search before the plant could be officially discovered and documented in its native habitat. This is the time of year when visitors flock to Great Smoky Mountains National Park to see a plethora of wildflowers such as bloodroot, hepatica, phlox, rue-anemone, spring-beauty, trillium, trout lily, and a variety of violets. Several celebrated Smokies wildflowers such as Rugel s ragwort (Rugelia nudicaulis) have very limited ranges, some confined entirely to the park, and in fact the Southern Appalachians are a botanical hotspot with many such so-called “narrow endemics.”

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