17 Smoky Mountain Wildflowers To Spot On Your Next Trip

How Many Wildflower Species Are in the Smokies?

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most biodiverse unit in the entire National Park Service system. This includes more than 1,500 kinds of flowering plants, more than any other North American national park.

“I am always blown away by the inordinate diversity of wildflowers in the Smokies,” said Will Kuhn, director of science and research at Discover Life in America (DLiA), a nonprofit partnering with the park to help learn about and educate the public on the estimated 60,000+ species living in the Smokies. “There are so many shapes, sizes, and colors. That diversity, and the fact that they bloom at different times depending on elevation, create a revolving door of flowers. From spring through fall, there is always something to see.”

Will Kuhn is the director of science and research at Discover Life in America (DLiA), a nonprofit partnering with the Great Smoky Mountains to help learn about and educate the public on the many species living in the park.

What Should You Know Before You Go?

“Many wildflowers are hidden when they’re not in bloom, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be trampled,” said Kuhn. “Stay on trails so you don’t accidentally crush wildflowers and other organisms, seen or unseen.”

This includes the park’s spring ephemerals—flowers that are the first to show in late winter and early spring but go dormant by May or June until the next year’s thaw. Seeing them is a delight and requires park visitors to be responsible with their viewing to protect them for years to come.

“Look, but don’t touch,” urged Kuhn. “Picking wildflowers is a big no-no in the park. The flowers are beautiful, but are also an important part of the plant’s overall life cycle. Picking them interrupts that process."

Start looking for spring ephemerals in late February. They typically reach peak bloom in mid to late April in the park’s lower elevations. If you miss them there, head farther up the mountain, where they enter their full swing about three weeks later. But remember, these are the park’s opening act. If you’re traveling in the summer or fall, you’ll still find plenty to see.

How Can You Help the Park While Wildflower Viewing?

DLiA is leading an effort with the park called Smokies Most Wanted. This initiative aims to encourage visitors to help collect critical data on plants, critters, and fungi they see in the park using the community science app iNaturalist.

“There are nearly 13 million visits to the park every year,” said Kuhn. “If even a tiny fraction of those were using iNaturalist, that would be thousands upon thousands of additional observations that would be really helpful for us to have.”

Before you head out for wildflower viewing, familiarize yourself with the app and the Smokies Most Wanted list of species of particular interest to the park. Since you’ll already be snapping photos of the colorful flowers, upload them to iNaturalist as a way to give back to the park.

“Any record you make, anywhere in the park, helps us get to know our neighborhood flora and fauna and helps the park protect these species for future generations to see.”

Fire Pink

This bright red flower has five notched petals. Its stems are covered in short, sticky hairs. The plants can grow up to 31 inches tall. It’s a favorite food source for ruby-throated hummingbirds. Look for it in open wooded areas and along rocky deciduous slopes from late spring through summer.

Flame Azalea

These bright orange flowers grow on shrubs in clusters of 5 to 10 in mixed deciduous forests. They’re native to the Appalachian Mountains. Watch for their peak bloom in the park from mid to late June on Gregory Bald, Andrews Bald, or Balsam Mountain Road.

Rosebay Rhododendron

This evergreen shrub grows to around 13 feet tall. Its roughly one-inch flowers are often a blushing pink or white. They’re the most common of the park’s 11 species of native Rhododendron shrubs. Find them below 5,000 feet elevation around streams and ravines and along roadsides with ample direct sunlight. They bloom at lower elevations starting in June and at middle elevations from July to August.

Scarlet Beebalm

This aromatic herb has a scent similar to Earl Grey tea. It produces ragged, bright-red tubular flowers in clusters of about 30. They bloom for around eight weeks along stream banks and moist thickets from mid-summer through early fall.

Turk’s-Cap Lily

This lily grows between three to seven feet tall and typically comes with three to seven blooms per plant. Its petals range from dark yellow to reddish-orange with brown freckles on the interior and curve upward, often touching each other at the top. The plant prefers swampy areas and wet woods and meadows. Find them in the park from July through September along Clingmans Dome Road.

Orange-Fringed Orchid

The Smokies are home to 36 orchid species. This eye-catching orchid variety has flowers that range from yellow to orange and bloom in clusters at the end of a long stem. Each flower has a lower lip covered in a hairy fringe. Keep an eye out for them in July and August in areas with acidic, moist soil and ample shade, such as Little River Road, Laurel Falls Trail, or the woods around Cades Cove.

Painted Trillium

The bright magenta circle in the interior of this white, three-petaled flower makes it distinct from the park’s several other trillium species. The petals have wavy edges and rest above three large green leaves. Look for it in acidic soils near pines and rhododendrons, such as in the Greenbrier area of the park.

Beechdrops

This parasitic plant grows and subsists on the roots of American beech trees. It lacks chlorophyll, so doesn’t produce the green leaves you might be accustomed to with many flowering plants. Instead, look for brown stems that grow about 12 inches tall in clusters with small white and purple tubular flowers up the stalk. You’ll find them July through October near the park’s American beech trees.

Pink Turtlehead

At the right angle, the shape of these flowers resembles a turtle sticking its head out of its shell. They’re bright pink and prefer wet shaded areas. Look for them at Clingmans Dome and in moist areas of the park throughout the summer.

Pink Lady’s Slipper

This unique orchid is a rare find in the Smokies, but always an exciting one. The flowers bloom on a leafless green stalk about 18 inches tall with two large, ribbed leaves at its base. The flower itself has a large pink inflated pouch. Unfortunately, while pink lady’s slippers do not survive transplanting and are extremely difficult to propagate, orchid poaching is a problem in and around the park. Because of this, be mindful when sharing photos of this and other wildflowers, speaking more generally about where you see them rather than geotagging them. You can find these orchids in dry, partially shaded forests with acidic soil around late April.

Star Chickweed

These star-shaped flowers are early bloomers. You’ll see them begin to pop starting in late March and continuing through May. They’re small and white with interior stamens that are tipped with dark globe-shaped anthers, appearing as if they’re floating above the flower. Look for them along the Cove Hardwood Nature Trail.

Purple Passionflower

This intricate flower is one of Tennessee's official state wildflowers. It is relatively large with purple and white petals below many thin, squiggly appendages and has a yellow center. They can bloom from April through October. Look for them in late summer at the Gatlinburg Scenic Overlook on the park’s Gatlinburg Bypass road.

Jack-in-the-Pulpit

While common throughout the park, this wildflower can be easy to miss if you’re not looking for it, as it blends in well close to the forest floor. The flowers include a tall, fleshy, dark brown “spike” in the center, thought of as “Jack.” Jack is then partially or sometimes fully enclosed by a horn-shaped petal that reaches up and curves over to create a canopy, or Jack’s “pulpit.” This large petal is light green with dark purple stripes. The flowers bloom in early spring, so keep an eye out from March through May.

Great Blue Lobelia

This single-stalk flower can grow up to four feet tall and has clusters of blue or violet tube-like flowers at the top. The plant prefers wet soil and partial shade. Look for them in the park from late July through early October near streambanks and along roadsides.

Dwarf Crested Iris

These April bloomers typically flower in colonies close to the forest floor. The flowers are pale lavender with white and yellow patches near the center, and are smaller in size than other irises you may have seen. Look for them along the Bud Ogle Nature Trail.

Lesser Purple-Fringed Orchid

This orchid grows around 12 to 20 inches tall and has light purple flowers clustered at the top of its stalk. The lower lip of each flower has three fringed lobes. They are rarer to see in the Smokies, but can be spotted at higher elevations from June through August.

Narrowleaf Gentian

This plant produces deep blue or purple tubular blooms that stay closed or nearly closed throughout their season. The roughly one-inch flowers cluster together at the top of the stalk and the plant has narrow green leaves. They bloom from mid-summer through fall and can be found along the popular Alum Cave Trail hike up to LeConte Lodge.

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17 Smoky Mountain Wildflowers To Look Out For On Your Next Trip