Sunday, July 1, 1951

Another day with rather poor collecting. Followed through Bristol
to Elizabethton, Tenn. where took time to have a left front tire fixed —
new inner tube & spare substituted. On to Roan Mtn. & up mountain
from the Tennessee side. Once on the top had to wait in cloud & rain for
3½ hrs. until the return road was open at 3:00 p.m. — a tragic waste of
time since not an azalea was to be seen any way — only a few
dead calendulaceum on the way up. Returned on N.C. side & travelled
via N.C. 26 & U.S. 191 to Newland & Linville for the night. One nice
pink viscosum seen in front of a house at Newland. A few normal
whites collected in the vicinity. Hope for better luck tomorrow. This
late season stuff is not really so easy to catch! Arborescens not
yet in flower around here.

Monday, July 2, 1951

Better luck today. ran up Grandfather Mtn. first thing in the
morning. Nothing on top but collected the late calendulaceum complex
at about 4000 ft. toward the road entrance. Follow U.S. 221 to
Ashford & looked up Mr. E.C. Robbins who was full of
conversation but had very little — in fact nothing — constructive
to offer as far as azaleas are concerned. He is as vague as
most nurserymen about them. Cut back to the Blue Ridge
Parkway & collected the same type azaleas plus arborescens
near Crabtree Meadows. Up Mt. Mitchell & found & saw
nothing. No azaleas & no view due to heavy clouds. Collected
again, however near Craggy Gardens. Down to Asheville. No
place to stay so on to Canton on U.S. 19 where a cabin
eventually turned up though the owner had to be Jewed down
$1.00 on the price. Seems O.K. though.

Tuesday, July 3, 1951

Route: S. from Canton on 110 & U.S. 276 to Great Pisgah
Mtn. Back on 276 to Waynesville for the night.

Good collecting of arborescens on the way to Pisgah & it, viscosum
& late oranges on the Mtn. 4 mass collections today. Returned
in very good time in order to get a cabin before the rush
started & was lucky in this respect. This gave much needed
time to overhaul the drier & extract a considerable
of the noise & vibration.

Viscosum & arborescens were having a grand juncture of
hybridization. It was difficult to find much straight viscosum
with any flowers. Crowds are bad for the 4th tomorrow.
Will choose some very out of the way dirt roads —
probably to Max Patch Mtn., to get to Gatlinburg when the
rush is over.

Wednesday, July 4, 1951

Route: Waynesville 19A & Lake Junaluska on N.C. 209
& various gravel rd. detours over top of Max Patch Mtn. & down
west side to Del Rio. Via U.S. 70 to Newport for ‸ & 35 to Sevierville the night.

A good out of the way road for the 4th of July &
found plenty of late calendulaceum type on Max Patch — but that
was all. No arborescens as expected. Arrived at Newport
fairly early & splurged on a double cabin (my only choice) so
was able to spread out & sort & pack all the dried specimens
for return to Phila.

Thursday, July 5, 1951

Tried unsuccessfully to ship specimens at Sevierville so drove
on to Park Headquarters at Gatlinburg. Saw Stupka &
decided on a trip to Gregory Bald. Bought supplies & picked
up mail in Gatlinburg & drove via park road & Cades Cove
to parking area at start of 4½ mi. hike to top of mtn. Getting
everything (except enough blankets) packed up, started up mountain
just after 4:00 p.m. In spite of Stupka's warning of a hard
4 hr. climb I found it a climb all right but made it
to the Gregory Ridge Shelter in just 2 hrs. & 25 minutes so
was able to get fed & take a quick round of the mountain
top before dark. What an amazing horticulturist's paradise!
& what a job for tomorrow!

Arthur Stupka was helpful & wants plenty of reprints of
anything concerning his azaleas. Suggested Soco Bald as
another possible spot for collecting. Checked his herbarium
but did not do much other than change all his nudiflorums
to canescens. Only a dozen or so specimens.

Friday, July 6, 1951

A miserable night. 1½ blankets not enough to either keep out
the cold or soften the hardware cloth bed. Only a persistent
mouse for company — plus something which walked off with some
leavings in a paper bag.

Tackled the Bald after breakfast & what a mass. A quick
inspection of the "whites" indicated something fishy afoot —
something obviously besides arborescens. The clues were not on
Gregory, however, so before doing any more collecting decided to
try Parson Bald, a mile or so away, & see what might be
found there. The answer was obvious — in the form of a
beautiful patch of unadulterated viscosum all over the S.
end. Mass collected this & the reds on Parson & returned to
Gregory to finish a mass collection of whites plus one of reds,
one of obvious hybrids & one 20—pace—collection for a
population sample. The effects of arborescens were obvious
but no true arborescens was found — either in the woods
surrounding the "bald" or down the stream below the cabin.
Can only conclude that it was probably once there in smaller
quantity than on Wayah Bald but has now practically become
swamped. The reds are redder but probably of similar ancestry to those of Wayah.

Gathered plenty of fern fronds for a softer & warmer
bed for the second night.

Tuesday, July 10, 1951

Route: Robbinsville via Topton to Nantahala, over the "winding
Steps" road via Aquone to Franklin for the night. Side detours
from White Oak to Burning Town Gap & to Wayah & Wine Spring
Balds. The word "Bald" is a misnomer. Neither Burning Town nor
Wine Spring are true "balds" — & neither has more than the late
reds in the way of azaleas.

Caught in a bad thunderstorm on Wine Spring & had to repair
to Wayah Tower to change everything I had on.

Several fair collections of arborescens along Nantahala river,
White Oak Creek & again on Wayah. Also secured plants of
some late oranges only just coming into bloom.

At Mrs. Jones tourist home for the night.

Wednesday, July 11, 1951

Started the morning with a flat tire — last, I hope, of the
rim rubbed tubes! North on the Bryson City Rd. to Cowee
Bald. Gathered orange azalea past bloom but that was all.
Back via Franklin & over N.C. 28 to Highlands for the
night. Collecting here very good. Had lunch on Satulah
Mtn. & collected pretty steadily from then on. The mtn., from
elevation of Highlands (3800 ft.) up is smothered in a mixture
of arborescens & late red—orange though strangely without
too much obvious hybridization. Probably the new territory
was not available, as at Gregory, for hybridization to show up.
Then too viscosum is all around, though somewhat hard to
find in bloom. It may have an off season. With the
help of Mr. Henry Wright, however, found several specimens at
his place where there also grow, quite naturally, a bush
of viscosum — arborescens hybrids. One of these, a very large
pink, is an extremely beautiful thing. Cabins were scarce as
hen's teeth & had to end in paying the double rate, unfortunately necessary with so many specimens to get in
press & dried.

Thursday, July 12, 1951

Route: From Highlands, via 106 & U.S. 23 to Gainesville,
Ga. Ga. 141 & U.S. 19 & Ga. 120 to Marietta; Ga. 120, 61 to
Carrollton (Shirt), Ga. 16, 14 & 18 via Greenville &
Woodbury to Thomaston for the night.

Pretty much of a thorough trip towards Cuthbert but
stopped at Mr. Lemmon's at Marietta for a chat &
stayed to lunch. Then on to Upson Co. to try & find
arborescens reported there a year or two ago. Made several
unhappy attempts on an awful road down the Flint River.
Fell into a nest of yellowjackets & was stung by 2
hornets shortly after as well as ripping my pants practically
to shreds on concealed barbed wire. Met a man, however
who tells me they definitely grow on Blue Lake on the Elkins
Creek so will have one more attempt in the morning. 95°
weather today in central Georgia.

Friday, July 13, 1951

Route: Back to Woodbury on Ga. 74, with detours to
Pleasant Valley etc., S. on Ga. 85 via Manchester to Columbus &
U.S. 27 to Cuthbert. On via Ga. 37 to Fort Gaines,
staying with Mr. Coleman for the night.

After several futile attempts to find az. arborescens
on its Elkins Creek finally found it at the bottom of Long
Branch in Pleasant Valley. Nice, very white stuff, strangely
enough only just coming into bloom. At Cuthbert
found prunifolium without much difficulty in a small
ravine 3½ mi. N. of the town. The original locality,
2 mi. N.W. of Cuthbert, is probably now a golf course.
Much to discuss with Mr. Coleman who is a very keen
hobbyist having a considerable collection of native azaleas.

Saturday, July 14, 1951

Spent morning with Mr. Coleman at his Azalea Trail —
a very nice layout. In afternoon looked up locations
for an early—flowering serrulata type & also for a
small collection of pruniflorium before getting rained out
by a thunderstorm. Dug a plant of his multiflora
for shipment to Philadelphia. Stayed a second night
with him.

Sunday, July 15, 1951

Route: E. via Ga. & U.S. 27 via Carnegie to
Seven Bridges for az. serrulata. Back through
Fort Gaines to just across the river for a good mass
collection plus several plants of pruniflorium on Ala. 10,
then continued on 10 to Abbeville & N on U.S. 241 to
Eufaula for the night. Another very hot day.

Monday, July 16, 1951

Traveled 6 mi. N. from Eufaula to visit Mrs. E.E. Clark &
secure specimens of a late—flowering canescens — alabamense
type azalea. She also gave me pieces of 2 color forms of
hers. Back across County towards Fort Gaines but missed
locality for a collection of prunifolium so into town for a second
visit with Mr. Coleman & specimens of his yellow austrinums.
Came away with a plant as well. Added to final
collection of prunifolium just S. of Fort Gaines & drove a
second time towards Abbeville on the dirt road, this time
finally locating a ravine with at least a few very
large plants in bloom — just before dark. Supper
in Abbeville & south to Dothan for the night.

At one spot in the morning 3 prunifoliums were found
which had all layered themselves very freely. A
subsequent fire had burnt out the connecting branches so
that a grand supply of small plants were there for the
taking. They were growing in practically pure quartz
sand — with only a few leaves on top.

Tuesday, July 17, 1951

Another very hot day & not too much progress — chiefly
because the entire morning was spent in packing a fairly
large batch of plants & in taking these to Ozark, the only
fringe beetle free shipping point in all of this part of Alabama.
Also mailed films for development.

Travelled from Dothan to Ozark & back via U.S. 231 to
Newton, then W. on U.S. 84 to Andalusia for the night.
Stopped in 3 or 4 swamps in the afternoon but could find
no serrulatum. It should be in the region. Better
luck, perhaps, tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 18, 1951

Travelled U.S. 85 from Andalusia to Laurel, Miss., for
the night. Two collections only — both of the early—flowering
serrulatum complex. These plants are interesting in their
choice of habitat — within 10—12 ft. of a stream but always on
the drier ground above the stream. Unfortunately they are
usually in pretty dense shade so that old flowers or seed
pods are hard to find. Obtained about 8 plants for flowering
samples. Hot again — almost stifling in the early afternoon.

Thursday, July 19, 1951

Route: From Laurel via U.S. 11 to Hattiesburg, then E
on Miss. 24 via Columbia to Tylertown & S. on La. 34
to Covington for the night.

Pulled in 2 mass collections of serrulatum plus
some county collections as well. The mass collections are
not easy for in the shade it is an exceedingly spotty
bloomer. Down this way the flowers seem to be
getting larger &, curiously, with red pedicels & often
red glands. One wonders where they come from.
No further sign of the May—flowering type although I
searched plenty for it today.

Another wearisome hot day with one very heavy
thunderstorm — & a flat tire just before pulling
into Covington. Also left my little spade behind
— unfortunately.

Friday, July 20, 1951

From Covington followed through on U.S. 190 & 90 via Mobile
to just beyond Mobile Bay for the night. Another hot day & very
heavy traffic all along the coast. Detoured north at Biloxi, Mississippi
for a mass collection of serrulatum & pulled in a small one
nearby this evening. For some reason the ones near here are
still pretty much in bud. Their leaves seem large too. May be
a slightly different strain or the climate may not be quite
as warm as inland. Made up the lost shined in Mobile. Tried to
contact Charles Rogers but no luck.

Saturday, July 21, 1951

Followed U.S. 90 all the way to Marianna, picking up a
couple of mass collections of serrulata, which seem to crop
up in just about all the larger swamps. Called on Mr.
J.L. Peacock of Peacock's Court, Marianna, at Mr.
Coleman's suggestion. He only apparently knew of serrulata
at Rock Bluff which I'll look up tomorrow, assuming it to
be exactly the same as have been getting right along.
Leaving him, headed S. on Fla. 71, got one more mass coll.
at Chipola before heading on via Blountstown to
Bristol for the night. Passed through 3 heavy thunderstorms
during the day. A fourth is building up now by all the
lightning.

Sunday, July 22, 1951

Route: From Bristol N.E. on Fla. 12 to turning to Rock Bluff. Took
in Torreya State Park & back via Rock Bluff & Sycamore to 12 &
U.S. 90 to Tallahassee. Then on U.S. 27 to High Springs for
the night. Only one mass collection not far out of Tallahassee.
Swampy areas complete with hardwoods & a cypress or two are
very scarce in this region. Even the rivers, like the Suwanee, are
too steep—sided for an azalea population. Will circle a bit
in the morning & see if a pond or two may be in sight, but Peacock's
azaleas are the same as the rest.

Monday, July 23, 1951

Route: From High Springs via U.S. 27 to Fla. 44 to
Eustis for the night.

No azalea seen the whole way down. They are evidently
confined to the central higher ground of Florida & then
occur only around the small freshwater branches & springs—
not in the standing swamps. At Eustis found them very
quietly just outside of town but only in one burned
over patch which was not good for specimens though
collected plants. It was a vain search for any more
from 3:00 pm until after dark & was then so disgusted that
I went to my first movie of the entire trip — something
terrible about a Bird of Paradise.

Tuesday, July 24, 1951

Much better luck this morning. The florist in Eustis, Mr. &
Mrs. Bishop, sent me to their own place just outside town
where there were quantities of azaleas for the wandering & the
picking & many still in bloom & some yet to come. Could
not get away until noon & then proceeded south on
routes 19 & U.S. 27 to the Winter Haven area. No luck,
however so came on to Sebring for the night. Will try &
get a lead at Highlands Hammock Park tomorrow &
perhaps at Cypress Gardens on the way back. These things
are so terribly localized that without such help one could
waste literally days in trying to find them.

Wednesday, July 25, 1951

Drove S. from Sebring to beyond Lake Placid on the old road (17)
& stopped at Archbold Biological Station at the suggestion
of a Conservation Agent met along the way. Dr.(?) Archbold
showed me specimens of serrulata collected by Dr. L.J. Brass
of their staff & offered to take me to a location for it S. of Lake
Istokpoga. When we got there the whole lot had been bulldozed
out but more were found a mile away — enough for a mass
collection. On the way back stopped in at Highlands Hammock
State Park & was shown around by the botanist, Miss Beck.
Lots of azaleas there. The hammock & cypress swamps are
particularly fine. In late afternoon obtained leads from
David K. Stabler of Winter Haven Nurseries regarding
locations for azaleas farther norther. Stabler was
suggested by Mr. McMillan, supt. of the Bok Tower
Sanctuary. Night just north of Winter Haven.

Thursday, July 26, 1951

From Winter Haven travelled to Palatka on U.S. 17, then
N.W. on Fla. 100 to Lake City for the night. Collected along
the way beyond Haines City & again at Gold Head
Branch State Park. Did not notice other azaleas & did not take the time to hunt for them since it is
already getting so late. Want to fill in then somewhere
around this point tomorrow then on to Folkston & north.

Friday, July 27, 1951

Found no azaleas around Lake City so drove N.W. to
White Springs. Still no luck & noone knew of them which
seems that they just may not be in the region. Decided to
keep on however, so continued on U.S. 41 & finally
pulled a mass collection of serrulatum just shy of the
Ga. border (on U.S. 129). Followed this to Stockton,
Ga., & then N.E. on U.S. 84 to Waycross. & S. on U.S. 1
to Folkston for the night. Made 2 more collections along
the way & also got mail at Folkston before collecting
again in the type locality of serrulatum georgianum —
all apparently true to type with good pubescent
winter buds.

Saturday, July 28,1951

Route: E on Ga. 42 to Ga. to Woodbine, N. on U.S. 17 to
Savannah for the night. Just out of Folkston made one
more small mass collection of georgianum. It didn't look too
good. Ran into quantities of Befaria all along the road to
Woodbine. Plants, however, are very hard to dig in such
sandy pine—palmetto soil. No azalea seen beyond
Camden Co. Am afraid U.S. 17 is running a little too
close to the coast.

Sunday, July 29,1951

Route: Savannah via Ga. 21 to Sylvania & U.S. 301 to
Allendale, S.C. On a quest for northern outposts of serrulata
ran into what is evidently viscosum just N. of Springfield in
Effingham Co. But at Oliver, in Screven Co., ran into the kitchen sink.
A swamp whose center is a field with serrulata, side bordered
with something low & sometimes something very pubescent which is not
viscosum & outside of this a ring of canescens.
A very confusing situation
which may not be
helped much by
closer examination.

Monday, July 30, 1951

Route: From Allendale on 301. to Florence, S.C. for the night.
Found small viscosums along the way in various places on
a few excursions to fill in an odd county or two. Tried
particularly for Witmer Stone's locality for atlanticum at
Manning & found, as expected that it was in reality a
pretty good set of low—growing pine barren viscosum. This
was repeated near Florence in a finer locality for serrulata —
which seemed out of place. Again viscosum but this time a
curious very low & glaucescent little thing. Must see tomorrow
if the same crops up again nearby.

Tuesday, July 31, 1951

Route: Florence to near Whitakers via U.S. 301 for the night.
Chiefly viscosum picked up along the way including at
Selma — no atlanticum seen but did not search the
drier pine barrens. Viscosum apparently is always is always in
the more permanently moist places where it is usually
associated with bamboo, magnolia etc.