Arabia Mountain has streaks of red on its granite outcrops. Elf-orpine a small, primitive plant has changed colors, from green to red.
Diamorpha smallii is a rare plant that grows on the granite. It’s baffling. If you asked skilled gardeners to look at the “soil” that the little plants are growing in, they’d probably ask for a magnifying glass.
A couple of weeks ago, the elf-orpines were green. In spring, the plants turn red and then put out white flowers. The change of color seems early to me, but I’m a newcomer to Georgia.
Elf-orpines are living dinosaurs among the plants. They are pollinated by ants, having evolved before bees.
• Sources: Leslie Edwards, Jonathan Ambrose and L. Katherine Kirkman, The Natural Communities of Georgia; Athens, Ga.: The University of Georgia Press, 2013. You can find a photograph of elf-orpine here:
https://arabiaalliance.org/themes/natural-systems/diamorpha-blooms/
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