In the Great Smokies, LeConte Creek begins high on the slope of its namesake mountain, flows north cascading in a fine spray 80-feet over Rainbow Falls and tumbles rapidedly downhill to pass Cherokee Orchard south of Gatlinburg.
Near the streambank at the onetime orchard is where we found the showy orchis (Galearis spectabilis, i.e. helmet spectacular) in bloom. The lilac tinted sepals and petals overlap, forming a hood or "helmet" over the white lower lip.
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