Great photos, Merrill. The cool-looking orange lichen is orange foliose bark lichen, Teloschistes exilis (Michaux) Vainio. In Georgia, it is currently known only from the Houston County chalk prairies and is considered imperiled and of special concern.
The 12th photo on the thumbnails -- the plant with the dark pink flowers -- is Dakota Vervain (Glandularia bipinnatifida) - it also known only from Houston County in Georgia, though it's common and widespread out west. It is considered critically imperiled in Georgia and of special concern.
The white-flowered rose is, of course, Cherokee Rose (Rosa chinensis), Georgia's state flower -- unfortunately, since it is an exotic, somewhat invasive species. A web site (
http://www.powersource.com/cherokee/rose.html) gives this well-intentioned but biologically implausible story: "Legend of the Cherokee Rose: When the Trail of Tears started in 1838, the mothers of the Cherokee were grieving and crying so much, they were unable to help their children survive the journey. The elders prayed for a sign that would lift the mother’s spirits to give them strength. The next day a beautiful rose began to grow where each of the mother’s tears fell. The rose is white for their tears; a gold center represents the gold taken from Cherokee lands, and seven leaves on each stem for the seven Cherokee clans. The wild Cherokee Rose grows along the route of the Trail of Tears into eastern Oklahoma today."
Anyone want to start a movement to replace the Cherokee Rose with a Georgia endemic, such as Georgia Plume (Elliottia racemosa)?
