Field Pennycress With Peppery Seeds

Weeds crop up in many places, especially where the soil has been disturbed. Any gardener can attest to that. Among the weeds that appear along roads and in fields are several members of the mustard family, such as Field Pennycress and Field Peppergrass.

Field Pennycress, Thlaspi arvense, an alien to America, can be found in dry, cleared woods, in waste areas, at the roadside and in fields. Places where the soil has been disturbed are likely habitats for this foot and a half tall weed.

Mature plant of Field Pennycress showing many developing seed pods.
Mature plant of Field Pennycress showing many developing seed pods. Photo taken 13 May 2011.

These plants get started early enough that they can complete their life cycle before the end of Spring. Basal rosettes will overwinter from the previous autumn, which makes this plant a biennial. Seeds are developed as early as May, but individual plants can be found growing and producing seeds throughout the growing season.

Seed pods are flat, circular “pennies” with a definite notch at the top. This notch differentiates field pennycress from other similar seed-producing mustards.

Developing seed pods are still green.
Developing seed pods are still green. Note the definite notch at the top of each seed pod that identifies this plant as Field Pennycress. Photo taken 13 May 2011.
Leaves are toothed and clasp the stem in Field Pennycress.
Leaves are toothed and clasp the stem in Field Pennycress. Photo taken 13 May 2011.
Flowers of four small white petals.
Flowers of four small white petals are a hallmark character of a member of the Mustard family, Cruciferae, as in this field pennycress. Photo taken 9 June 2011.

As the seed pods dry out the seeds can be seen through the thinning pods, especially when held up to the light.

The small brown field pennycress seeds can be seen through the translucent seed pod.
The small brown field pennycress seeds can be seen through the translucent seed pod. Photo taken 9 June 2011.

This one small plant produced a half-teaspoon of seeds. As far as seed production goes, I’m not sure if that’s a lot from just one plant. Collecting the seeds from two plants would make a teaspoon of seeds, six plants for a tablespoon, and 18 plants for a quarter of a cup.

Field pennycress seed pods split down the middle to release their 2 mm long seeds.
Field pennycress seed pods split down the middle to release their 2 mm long seeds. Photo taken 9 June 2011.

The seeds taste like a sharp mustard or peppery flavor. If you could collect a quantity of them, they could be crushed to use in a spicy homemade mustard. Or the seeds could be used in a spice grinder as a poor gal’s pepper. Or even try cooking with it whole, say in potato salad, substituting field pennycress seeds for mustard seed, or dropping some seeds into a vegetable stir-fry to add a little spicy flavor.

White Wild Licorice Flowers in the Summer Woods

While chopping out some of the multiflora rose that had introduced itself onto a new section of the farmer’s lane, I uncovered a new plant. I knew the moment I saw it, that it was one I was unfamiliar with. The briars of the thorny roses were tossed into a heap away from the little new plant.

This new plant was indeed a small one. It grew from a few to several inches tall in the filtered shade under the canes of the rose bush.

White Wild Licorice, Galium circaezans, has tiny white flowers in clusters and leaves in whorls of four. Yellow Wild Licorice, G. lanceolatum, is a similar species with yellow flowers.

Wild white licorice on the south side of the farmer's lane.
Wild white licorice on the south side of the farmer's lane. Photo taken 23 June 2011.

Plants found growing along with white wild licorice include spotted touch-me-not, poison ivy, blackberry, elderberry and maple, among others.

Leaves are uniform in appearance with a certain symmetry of four leaves in a whorl. Each softly hairy leaf is entire, blunt or rounded at the tips, and oval in shape. Leaves have three distinct veins and have a broad appearance.

Four leaves in whorls helps to identify wild licorices.
Four leaves in whorls helps to identify wild licorice. Photo taken 23 June 2011.

The blossoms are tiny, greenish-white flowers, each having four pointed petals.

Tiny flowers of wild licorice at the tips of stems.
Tiny flowers of wild licorice at the tips of stems. Photo taken 23 June 2011.

Wild licorice blooms over a period of a couple weeks or longer. Flowers develop into seed pods that look like little spheres with fuzzy surfaces.

Cluster of tiny seed pods from flowers of wild licorice.
Cluster of tiny seed pods from flowers of wild licorice. Photo taken 23 June 2011.
Leaves of wild licorice have three prominent veins.
Leaves of wild licorice have three prominent veins. Photo taken 2 July 2011.

Leaves really do taste like licorice. Chewing a leaf releases a cool, sweet taste that is reminiscent of stevia, but with a very pleasant aftertaste. Sometimes stevia is said to have a metallic aftertaste. Because of the licorice taste, I wonder how anyone has used wild licorice.

There is no mention of G. circaezans in the Peterson medicinal or edible plant field guides. Another member of the Bedstraw (Madder) family, Rubiaceae, called Cleavers, G. aparine, is listed as having diuretic and hypotensive properties.

Whorled Pogonia No Blooming for Wild Orchid

Every year I comb through our wooded acres to see certain plants blooming and to find new discoveries. One of the plants I look for is called Whorled Pogonia, Isotria verticillata, a member of the Orchid family, Orchidaceae.

As far as I know the whorled pogonia in our small area on the mountain ridge has only bloomed once in seven years. They didn’t bloom in 2011, but they put on a show in 2010. When it does bloom, whorled pogonia flowers in May and June in moist acid woods and thickets in the eastern U.S..

Whorled pogonia flowers are an interesting oddity. The lipped flower, typical of orchids, is greenish-yellow with some streaks of purple or maroon.

The plants start coming up in May as little pinwheels. They continue to grow taller and get bigger for a few weeks until the leaves are two to four inches long. The individual plants remain standing for the summer, unless a big foot or critter knocks them over. In the autumn the foliage may turn to yellow before going back to the earth.

Eight whorled pogonia plants grow among the sassafras, lowbush blueberries and oak saplings.
Eight whorled pogonia plants grow among the sassafras, lowbush blueberries and oak saplings. Photos taken 14 June 2011.

Whorled pogonia has five leaves, and sometimes six, in a single whorl.

Five leaves are typical for whorled pogonia.
Five leaves are typical for whorled pogonia.
Sometimes pogonia leaves get misshapen when they burst through the forest floor in Spring or by animal activities.
Sometimes pogonia leaves get misshapen when they burst through the forest floor in Spring or by animal activities.
Fewer plants have six leaves to a whorl.
Fewer plants have six leaves to a whorl.
Sassafras saplings grow in the same area as whorled pogonia.
Sassafras saplings grow in the same area as whorled pogonia.

Leaves are parallel-veined and widest near the tips. Terminal ends may have pointed or rounded tips.

Apparently there are no edible or medicinal properties of interest in whorled pogonia. However, it would make a delightful addition to a native woodland garden, provided that it’s planted in the shade.

Surprise Blue-Eyed Grass in the Lawn

One side of the lawn was allowed to grow long for the want of a mower. Before the machine was fixed the grass reached a foot high and some went to seed. The area really didn’t look that bad because of the sparseness of the grass. It is a very shady area that has a cool dampness to it. The grass that grows here is thin and different from the grass growing in sunnier spots. To my surprise there appeared a new plant in the unmowed area, Blue-Eyed Grass.

Blue-eyed grasses easily hide among the grass in the lawn, especially when not in flower.
Blue-eyed grasses easily hide among the grass in the lawn, especially when not in flower. Note the flower bud on the top right and the seed pods on the top left. Photo taken at 9:30 a.m., 9 June 2011.

(Click on any photo to see a larger image.)

The blue-eyed grass was only noticed when a blossom had opened. There it was, this cute, light blue flower with a yellow “eye” ring and curiously pointed tips on its petals.

Blue-eyed grasses are members of the Iris family, Iridaceae. Nine or ten species native to the USA of the Sisyrinchium genus are separated according to branching of the flower stalk and the shapes of the leaves and stems.

Leaves are grass-like blades. The central rib of each leaf blade is enlarged and that is easily felt by running your fingers down the leaf.

Leaf blades of blue-eyed grass.
Leaf blades of blue-eyed grass. Photo taken 9 June 2011.

Green seed pods develop into round balls that dangle at the tips of the flower stems.

Flowers are true to iris form with three petals and three sepals making the blossom appear to have six petals. Each “petal” has a pointed tip.

Blue eyes are open in the grass by the afternoon.
Blue eyes are open in the grass by the afternoon or perhaps whenever they get enough sunlight. Photo taken at 2:45 p.m., 9 June 2011.
Flower petals are adorned with pointed tips.
Flower petals are adorned with pointed tips. Photo taken 9 June 2011.

The species of blue-eyed grass here is Stout Blue-eyed Grass, S. angustifolium, also called Pointed Blue-eyed Grass, as the stems are branched, leaves are less than a quarter-inch wide, and the flower stalks are long. It’s a perennial that reaches 4-18 inches tall. According to Peterson’s Medicinal Plants Guide, blue-eyed grass leaf and root teas were once used as a laxative, to expel worms, to treat stomach-ache, and in children, to relieve diarrhea.

Wild Anise Root Is A Native Cousin to Parsley

The Parsley family, Umbelliferae or Apiaceae, encompasses dozens of useful plants with similar features, like flowers with five petals in umbels or umbrella-like clusters near the top of the plant. Leaves are toothed and divided, sometimes very finely. Examples are herbs and roots we commonly use in the kitchen, like parsley, dill, cilantro, fennel, and carrots.

Two native Parsley family members that can be found in the woodlands of the eastern U.S. are Sweet Cicely, Osmorhiza claytonii, and Anise Root, O. longistylis, which are very similar in appearance. Either of these woodland plants would look nice in a herb garden. The foliage is leafy and fern-like and the flowers dainty.

The main character differences are that Sweet Cicely is a softly hairy plant, while Anise Root is nearly smooth. Also, anise root has slightly longer stamen tips, hence the specific epithet longistylis.

The anise root plant photographed here was growing along a country road. It was still flowering near the end of May in Pennsylvania.

Anise Root plant nearing the end of its blooming period.
Anise Root plant nearing the end of its blooming period. Note the seeds developing in the upper right and the last umbel of flowers on the left.

(Click on any photo to see a larger image.)

Take Caution: The leaves of Poison Hemlock, Conium maculatum, are similar in appearance. Do not ingest any part of any plant without a positive identification.

Sweet Cicely and Anise Root leaves are less highly divided, and potentially much smaller than, the leaves of poison hemlock.

Compound leaves of anise root.
Compound leaves of anise root.

Poison hemlock leaves have a bad smell when crushed, unlike the Osmorhiza which smell of anise or licorice. The sense of smell may be a poor indicator for some folks, so do not rely on this feature alone to distinguish poison hemlock from anise root.

Anise root stems are purple and smooth, while the stems of poison hemlock are spotted with purple.

Purple stems of anise root.
Purple stems of anise root.

Poison hemlock umbels are full of tiny flowers that make them look like several white spheres that may be held several feet high. Overall, poison hemlock plants are more substantial and grow taller. The umbels in Sweet Cicely and Anise Root are much more sparse with flowers than those of poison hemlock and they rise only 1-2 feet off the ground.

A compound umbel of anise root flowers.
A compound umbel of anise root flowers. Note the size and sparse number of individual flowers in each small umbel that make up the larger compound umbel.

Peterson’s Edible Wild Plants Guide tells us that the roots and green fruits smell of anise and that they can be used for flavoring. I’m curious, does anyone use this woodland herb?

Poison Ivy Flowers in Orange and Green

A plant that strikes terror in some who have fallen victim to its skin-eruptive oils is Poison Ivy, Rhus radicans. It’s surprising how many people don’t know what poison ivy looks like. We always point it out when berry picking or taking a hike in the woods. People should know not to come into contact with those three leaves.

A poison ivy rash is something to be avoided at all times. Worse than an insect bite, poison ivy rashes can spread when the affected area is scratched. Pustules can break open and release liquids which easily spreads the plant’s oils that blister the skin.

TIP: Do everything you can to not scratch the itchy, reddened blotches for your rash to go away the fastest. Wash contaminated clothing before re-wearing.

What does Poison Ivy look like? A popular saying to remind one what it looks like is, “Leaflets in three, let them be”.

Poison ivy is a vine that often grows along trails and areas at the edges of forests. It may grow from underground roots or from runners along the ground and up into the trees. Look for hairy roots on vines that can be several inches in diameter which have grown up the trunks of large trees.

Poison Ivy leaflets in three can be seen to the left of Wild Geranium in bloom.
Poison Ivy leaflets in three can be seen to the left of Wild Geranium in bloom. Photo taken 29 May 2011.

Two triplicate leaves can be seen in the below image. Each leaf is a palmately compound leaf, meaning that one leaf consists of a long stem plus the three leaflets. Flower clusters arise where the two leaf stalks meet at the main stem.

Two Poison Ivy leaves in threes lie on either side of a cluster of flowers.
Two Poison Ivy leaves in threes lie on either side of a cluster of flowers.

The flowers of poison ivy may be seen on mature plants as clusters of orange and light green blossoms that occur in the leaf axils. Petals are light green to whitish and the stamens are orange.

Flower cluster showing orange stamens and light green flower petals.
Flower cluster showing orange stamens and light green flower petals.

Flowers develop into white berries during the summer. Birds and small mammals eat them. People should avoid them as they are poisonous to the touch from all parts of the plant, including the leaves, flowers and berries.

Bowman’s Root Blooming with Mountain Laurel

It’s always a delight to find a new flowering friend, so I was pleasantly surprised to find one while driving around taking in the sights of Mountain Laurel blooming.

As I slowed down before turning onto another country road a different white-flowering plant caught my eye. Its flowers seemed scraggly as if the petals were getting ready to fall off. I recognized that I didn’t know what it was so I stopped to take a closer look.

It was a single specimen having a stem that rose up about two feet tall. Its leaves were jagged-looking in threes. Photos taken 29 May 2011.

Bowman's Root flowering at the side of a mountain road.
Bowman's Root flowering at the side of a mountain road.

Bowman’s Root, Gillenia trifoliata, is native from Michigan to New York and points south in rich woods, according to Peterson’s Guide to Wildflowers. It’s a member of the Rose family, Rosaceae.

Leaves with toothed edges and prominent veins occur in triplets. Each leaflet is 2-3 inches long and tapered at the tip. The leaves are nearly stemless and alternate up the main stem.

Triplicate leaves of Bowman's Root.
Triplicate leaves of Bowman's Root.

The flowers are pure white with five long petals that come to a point at the tips. The petals emerge from a light green, bulbus calyx in a tubular shape and then unfurl as the blossom opens.

White, five-petaled flowers of Bowman's Root.
White, five-petaled flowers of Bowman's Root. Three flowers getting ready to open up are visible in the lower part of the image.

This plant was at the side of the road in dappled shade.

Habitat of Bowman's Root at the side of a country road in the Tuscarora mountains of Pennsylvania.
Habitat of Bowman's Root at the side of a country road in the Tuscarora mountains of Pennsylvania.

A similar and closely related plant is American Ipecac, Gillenia stipulata. It has very large stipules at the base of the leaves that make them appear to be five-parted. American Ipecac is used as an emetic, in other words to make you throw up.

It’s interesting that an alternate name for Bowman’s Root is Indian Physic. According to Peterson’s Medicinal Plants Guide, a tea made from the whole plant was used traditionally for its strong laxative and emetic properties. Very small doses were used for indigestion, colds, asthma and hepatitis. Rheumatism, bee stings and swellings would be treated with a wash or poultice of Bowman’s Root.

As I mentioned earlier I came upon the new plant while driving around looking at the pretty Mountain Laurel, Kalmia latifolia, in bloom. It’s a large evergreen shrub that may remind you of Rhododendron bushes. The long, oval leaves are leathery to the touch. It has unique flowers that you should see up close and in person. In case you’ve missed it here are a couple of pictures.

Mountain laurel flower buds start out pink and often lighten into white flowers when blossoming.
Mountain laurel flower buds start out pink and often lighten into white flowers when blossoming.
Each mountain laurel flower has little pits or pockets in the petals where stamens are neatly tucked.
Each mountain laurel flower has little pits or pockets in the petals where stamens are neatly tucked.

(Click on any photo to see a larger image.)

Goatsbeard: Giant Yellow Flowers by the Road

Weeds at the side of the road are bountiful. So many kinds of plants grow in disturbed areas, like what you find at the edge of the road where it meets the fields. If you find a country road and travel it real slowly, you’ll see flowers that you never knew were there.

One day in May as I drove along a country road I saw these really tall dandelion-type flowers, so you know I just had to stop. What were these “giant dandelions” that reached over three feet tall?

Tall yellow flowers alongside a country road.
Tall yellow flowers alongside a country road. Photo taken 29 May 2011.
Tall yellow flowers between the agricultural field and the roadside.
Tall yellow flowers between the agricultural field and the roadside.

The height of the flower, more than a foot and a half, told me the plants weren’t dandelions. Also, the stem wasn’t hollow, like the hollow tube of a dandelion flower stem, but it felt solid.

Against my walking stick the height of the flower heads measures about 3 feet tall. The yellow flowers are large, measuring 1-2.5 inches in diameter. The composite flowers on long stalks with alternate, grass like leaves that clasp the stem make this plant Yellow Goatsbeard, Tragopogon pratensis, an alien to the U.S.A.

Composite flowers of Yellow Goatsbeard with long pointed bracts.
Composite flowers of Yellow Goatsbeard. Note the long pointed bracts of a young blossom that's not yet open at the right side of the image.

The leaves of goatsbeard clasp the stem at their base. They’re long and grass-like and tend to curl when developing near the top of the stem.

Long, grass like leaves of Yellow Goatsbeard.
Long, grass like leaves of Yellow Goatsbeard.

An interesting character is that the blossoms close up by mid-day. You can easily see this in many lawns in our area where goatsbeard attains only a few inches in height before blooming and eventually being mowed over. In fact that is where I first learned about goatsbeard. In the grass yellow goatsbeard forms colonies of a few to many plants which open happily in the sunshine and that close up in the afternoon or on a cloudy day.

Knowing that it’s often seen as a lawn weed, I was surprised to see that the three-feet tall plants were also Yellow Goatsbeard.

I’ll search through my archived pictures to see if I have a photo of the lawn variety. Can anyone share a photo of a colony of yellow goatsbeard in the lawn?