Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve

This guide to the Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve in Atlanta starts at a shallow puddle on bare granite, a solution pit hosting Diamorpha smallii, a tiny succulent nicknamed elf orpine that turns crimson red each spring before crisping white. It follows two rarer neighbors sharing these pits, the black-spored quillwort and pool sprite, both federally listed as endangered, alongside the quarrymen who began cutting this same granite for curbstones around eighteen ninety-five. Look closely at the rim of any pool as you listen for what else survives inside it.