Where Dolly Parton Grows on Trees

Dolly Parton has long been in a class of her own in the Smokies. Thanks to scientists, now she’s got her own species, too. Castanea, the journal of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society, recently named a newly discovered species of lichen for the Sevier County native. Japewiella dollypartoniana, also known as “Dolly’s Dots,” appears throughout much of the Smokies, particularly in areas over 4,000 feet in elevation such as Purchase Knob, Mount Cammerer, and Mount Hardison. According to researcher Jessica Allen, the species grows most frequently on the branches of azaleas and rhododendron at mid to high elevations, and can be recognized by its small greenish-yellow mounds of what looks like piles of tiny cotton balls.

“When my co-author, James Lendemer, and I found the species fruiting on top of Hangover Mountain, we sat down to eat our lunch and discuss what to name it,” Allen explains. “We were looking over at the mountains of Tennessee and had been listening to Dolly Parton’s music on the way to our field site, so we were thinking about her and especially her accomplishments as a musician and philanthropist.”