Notes: Locality: about 5 km N Clingman’s Dome, and just a few meters E of the TN-NC border

Habitat: spruce-fir forest on a wet montane ridge

Identification: a mystery!

I wonder if we can add Icmadophila ericetorum to Jason’s list of possibilities. It would be out of range for that species. Icmadophila is mostly boreal and extends down the Rocky Mountains to Colorado, but there is an isolated tiny blue smudge in E KY on Brodo’s range map (had to use my 10x lens to verify that!). Icmadophila ericetorum would be new for North Carolina according to the most recent NC checklist (Perlmutter, 2008).

[admin – Sat Aug 14 02:06:20 +0000 2010]: Changed location name from ‘Spruce-Fir Nature Trail, Great Smoky Mountains NP, North Carolina, USA’ to ‘Spruce-Fir Nature Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina, USA’