Triphora trianthophora (Three-birds orchid)

After consulting the past few days of weather records for the Pisgah National Forest, I determined that today would be a good day to catch this diminutive orchid in bloom. I let my flickr friend, Jim Petranka (Asheville, NC) know of the news so that he could plan to meet me there.

Sure enough, they were in fine form, just beginning to open around 9:30 am. This turned out to be the largest "wave" of flowers so far this year, with many triple blooms to choose from.