loblolly-bay, Gordonia lasianthus

Loblolly-bay is one of our few members of the tea family. Wiki says this is a small tree. Looked more than big enough to me. The lowest flower was at lest twenty feet up. The big beautiful flowers in the tea family have been difficult. If you remember the Franklinia image, you may remember it wasn't real sharp. The result of holding it in place with one arm and shooting with the other. Arm too short, flower too big, too much depth of field. Whatever, it wasn't ideal. Now loblolly was teasing me with flowers that were way out of reach. This was the best I could do with telephoto for loblolly's three-inch flowers. Never much liked tea anyway! But actually I was thrilled just to see one of these. Loblolly-bay grows in lowland woods in AL, FL, GA, MS, NC, and SC. Wakulla Co FL, 7/8/18.