Plant Sightings – Page 36

Golden Alexanders a Kind of Wild Parsley

August 14, 2012May 19, 2010 by wilde

Learning family characteristics will speed you on your way to learning about new plants. If you can recognize family characteristics, you can more easily come to a decision about the identity of a wild plant, herb or flower.

When you come upon a wild herb or wildflower that you don’t know, look for characteristics that will help you identify it. If you know some family characteristics, you may more easily identify the new herb.

Ask yourself,

What other plant does this new one look like or remind you of?
What features of the flower are outstanding?
What is the leaf arrangement and type?
Where is the plant growing? What is its habitat?

The more plants that you are familiar with, the easier it is to identify new ones.

Recently, I came across a plant unfamiliar to me. From afar anyone would have thought it was a mustard plant as they are flowering profusely in fields everywhere. This plant had yellow flowers at the top of plant, similar to the mustards.

On closer inspection I saw the bright yellow flowers were very tiny and held in umbels, unlike the four-petalled mustard flowers that are not in umbels. I felt the foliage and immediately thought “Parsley! This must be some kind of wild parsley.” Upon looking it up when I got home I found out that I was right, Golden Alexanders is a member of the Umbelliferae, the Parsley Family. Kind of like a picture is worth a thousand words.

Now, I’m not saying that I went through the ‘Parsley Family Character List’ in my head and decided that this new plant fit the Parsley Family. It was more like the general look and feel of the plant simply reminded me of parsley that we’d grown in the vegetable garden.

Parsley family characteristics as noted by the Peterson Wildflower Guide:

umbrella-shaped flower clusters (umbels)
umbels usually compound
many small, five-petaled flowers
leaves usually finely cut

You don’t have to memorize all the characteristics of a family to recognize the similarity between family members. However, the more famliar you are with the common families in your area, the easier it will be to identify the wild herbs that you find.

Depending on the reference we have from 88 to 99 different members of the Parsley Family in our area. Flower color doesn’t help to distinguish plants as members of this family as they may have white, yellow, pink to red, or blue to purple flowers.

Golden Alexanders, Zizia aurea, has bright yellow flowers in compound umbels and finely cut leaves.

Compound umbels of golden yellow flowers are identifying characteristics of Golden Alexanders. The small golden clusters of flowers are held in umbels and these also are umbels themselves. Umbels are clusters of flowers where the flower stems all originate from the same point as if forming the spokes of an umbrella.

Golden yellow flowers of Golden Alexanders.

Golden alexanders reaches 1-2 feet tall with its jagged leaves cut into threes – twice. The leaves are doubly compound, where each leaf is divided into three parts and each part is further divided into 3 or more narrow toothed leaflets.

The triplicate leaflets of the compound leaf of Golden Alexanders.

The left flower stalk in the image above illustrates one compound leaf of golden alexanders. Each of three leaflets has three leaflets.

Tiny yellow flowers held in umbels of umbels.

Golden alexanders presented here was found adjacent to a picnic area in the Day Use Area of Little Buffalo State Park in Newport, PA on 30 April 2010. This is the same area where we saw the tremendous display of Spring Ephemeral flowers.

Honeysuckle That Doesn’t Smell Sweet

June 18, 2012May 17, 2010 by wilde

: Image by Martin LaBar via Flickr

Honeysuckle is a sweet treat that many of us remember from our childhoods. Taking the blooms off the plant and sucking the honey-sweet nectar was fun and exciting. The scent of honeysuckle is heavenly and used to our delight in perfumes, soaps and air fresheners.

Nature is peculiar in all its variety. Did you know that there are some honeysuckle plants that don’t even smell? The blossoms look practically the same as the deliciously scented Japanese Honeysuckle, Lonicera japonica. The Japanese honeysuckle is a vine with pairs of white flowers that fade to yellow.

A group of honeysuckles, called Fly Honeysuckles, are shrubs that are related to the Japanese Honeysuckle. The flowers are tubular with five lobes and they project from the leaf axils. The evenness and length of the flower lobes helps to separate the species of honeysuckle. Also, the habitat where the plant lives will help to distinguish it from its relatives.

The Newcomb Field Guide indicates that fly honeysuckles can be found in swamps and bogs, on alpine slopes, in cool woodlands, in thickets and along roadsides.

Morrow’s Honeysuckle, Lonicera morrowi, is the fly honeysuckle in the photos shared here. A few examples were seen flowering at the spillway of Lake Holman along Little Buffalo Road a couple weeks ago.

First flowers of a fly honeysuckle blooming.

Fly honeysuckle starting to bloom. Photo taken 18 April 2010. White blossoms are freshly open. Note the pairs of flower buds at each leaf node.

Another example of Morrow’s Honeysuckle (on Little Buffalo Road near the intersection with Route 34) was flowering profusely on 30 April 2010. The symmetry of this plant is remarkable with its pairs of opposite leaves and two flowers per leaf axil. The oval leaves themselves are quite symmetrical. Finding this fly honeysuckle along roadsides shows its invasive character.

Fly honeysuckle shrub at the side of a road.

Flowers on a fly honeysuckle at the road side.

Honeysuckle flowers practically coat this woody shrub.

Close-up view of the flowers of dry honeysuckle shows the older blossoms have turned yellow and new ones in the bud stage are creamy white.

Seeing this honeysuckle and getting close enough to realize that it was the scentless kind makes me want for summer. That’s when the Japanese honeysuckle will be blooming and filling the air with its wonderful fragrance.

Pink Lady’s Slipper Moccasin Flower Blooming in Pennsylvania

August 14, 2012May 16, 2010 by wilde

: Image via Wikipedia Lady Slipper

Pink Lady Slipper or Moccasin Flower Blooming in Pennsylvania, 30 April 2010.

Checking on the huckleberry plants the other week I was pleasantly surprised to see the Pink Lady’s Slipper or Moccasin Flower, Cypripedium acaule. After I saw one I looked for more lady slippers and found a number of them right along the trail near the stone monolith.

Stone monolith to mark the Natural Historic Landmark.

Pink lady slippers don’t bloom every year. Typically a third to a half of the plants in an area will bloom while the others just display their two thick leaves.

Pink Lady's Slipper young bloom and leaves.

The flower starts life with a light pink or cream color that darkens as the flower matures.

Pink flower or pouch of the Pink Lady's Slipper.

Three orchids in the image above with one mature flower.

Two orchids and one of them blooming. Note the brown to maroon sepals and light green bract at the base of the flower head in the image above.

The pink lady slipper is fairly common in our territory here in the Appalachian Mountain ridges. I’ve seen them blooming plenty of times, but never saw one that formed a seed head. That may be a result of searching them out when they’re blooming and not paying much attention to them the rest of the year.

Here, there were two plants that must have formed seed heads the prior year. The brown seed heads were still attached to the plants.

Note in the image above that the brown seed head rose to about 16 inches.

Looking down on the seed head of pink lady's slipper.

In the image above a young orchid flower is on the left and a seed head formed the prior year is on the lower right. Note that the seed head is slotted, apparently for releasing the seeds.

A second pink lady's slipper went to seed last year.

The pink lady’s slipper was also flowering along the slope of the trail on the east side of the Box Huckleberry Natural Area.

Each Mother’s Day I look forward to seeing the native moccasin flowers blooming. Since Mother’s Day was celebrated on May 9, 2010 the Pink Lady’s Slippers bloomed right on time.

Police Set Up Patrol for Britain’s Rarest Wildflower, a 100-Year-Old Orchid (treehugger.com)
Britain’s rarest wild flower gets special police protection (telegraph.co.uk)

Blooming Huckleberries and Pink Lady’s-Slippers

August 14, 2012May 15, 2010 by wilde

The Box Huckleberry Natural Area in New Bloomfield, Pennsylvania has more than one special plant flowering in April.

The Box Huckleberry, Gaylussacia brachycera, continues to bloom with many white, bell-shaped blossoms opening up to the warmth of the day.

Evergreen oval leaves and white blooms of Box Huckleberry.

White blueberry-like flowers on the New Bloomfield Box Huckleberry.

The huckleberry blooms are pink in the bud stage and white as they mature.

Box huckleberry flowers in white and pink.

The oldest blooms have fallen away while others still flower.

They don’t all bloom at once. Note in the image above, taken 18 April 2010, that several blossoms have already fallen away, yet there are still many flowers blooming.

Lots of fresh huckleberry flowers at the tips of the stems.

A couple weeks later, 30 April 2010, there were still a few flowering huckleberries, but most had already flowered. Little green berries could be seen at the tips on some stems.

Flowers and tiny green berries of box huckleberry.

Green huckleberries at the tip of the stem show that these blossoms flowered first, even though the plant is still flowering further up the stem. (Photo taken 30 April 2010.)

The Box Huckleberry propagates via growth of lateral shoots.

Huckleberry new growth arises from projections along older stems. (Photo taken 30 April 2010.)

Lateral growth of new shoots of the box huckleberry. — Lateral growth of new shoots of the box huckleberry plant.

New light green foliage grows vertically from many places along a single stem. (Photo taken 30 April 2010.)

Continuing down the trail I had a nice surprise when I saw a Pink Lady’s-Slipper, Cypripedium acaule. Since I was so focused on the box huckleberry plant, the lady slipper practically jumped out at me. The shape and color were so different from the evergreen ovals of the huckleberry.

A young pink lady slipper orchid also known as the moccasin flower.

An orchid known as Pink Lady’s Slipper or Moccasin Flower due to its pouch-like flower. Stay tuned for photos of pink ladys slippers.

Even though we have seen the pink lady’s slipper flowering on the mountain ridges in this area, I was delighted to see this pretty orchid here in a protected forest setting.

Golden Ragwort Blooming at the Creek’s Edge

May 14, 2010 by wilde

Golden Ragwort, Senecio aureus, is a small aster-like wildflower in the daisy family. Ragworts bloom earlier in the year than other yellow-flowered daisies, so you won’t get it mixed up with other yellow flowers.

Golden ragwort is differentiated from other members of the genus Senecio by its leaves.

Heart-shaped basal leaves of golden ragwort.

Colony of golden ragwort growing in gravel next to a small creek. Note the heart-shaped basal leaves.

The outside of the flower heads are a deep purple color as are the stems.

Golden ragwort flower stalks rise over a foot tall.

Flower stalks rise up and hold the flower heads some 12 to 20 inches above the leaves and even higher when the flowers are in bloom. My walking stick is marked off in inch increments. The top black section measures 20 inches from the ground. (Photo directly above and the remaining photos were taken 30 April 2010. The first two photos were taken 18 April 2010.)

Leaves at the bottom of the stems are rounded or heart-shaped with rounded teeth.

Toothed upper leaves of golden ragwort are narrow and divided.

Leaves higher up the stems are cut or dissected and they get more narrow, but they retain the rounded teeth. Leaves right below the flower heads are very narrow and more finely cut.

Note the purple outsides of the flower heads before the golden ragwort blooms.

Half of the golden ragwort flowers are open.

Looking down on the golden ragwort flowers.

Golden yellow rays are sparsely situated around the center disc flowers in this composite flower.

Another golden ragwort plant blooming by the creek.

Habitat for golden ragwort includes wetland areas, like that found next to this creek. The Peterson Wildflower Guide states that swamps and wet meadows are other likely places to find Golden Ragwort.

Early Saxifrage Blooms on Woodland Hillsides

August 14, 2012May 13, 2010 by wilde

The Middle Ridge Trail at Little Buffalo State Park is marked with red blazes. It’s a difficult trail because of the steep terrain in some places.

Fewer people travel this path as noted by the width of the trail. Perhaps that’s because the level of difficulty or the fact this area of the park is open to hunting. Maybe it’s location on the north side of the park is too far from the popular Day Use Area. That’s too bad as one wild flower blooms here that many people may not get to see elsewhere in the park – Early Saxifrage, Saxifraga virginiensis.

West end of the Middle Ridge Trail at Little Buffalo State Park. — West end of the Middle Ridge Trail at Little Buffalo State Park in Newport, PA.

Early saxifrage was plentiful on the west end of the Middle Ridge Trail.

Lots of Early Saxifrage on the Middle Ridge Trail.

Nearly all the white flowers on the west-facing slope in the image above are Early Saxifrage.

Clusters of early saxifrage flowers have a star-like appearance.

The upper left cluster in the image above shows the branching of the flower cluster and the woolly flower stem. The flower stalks may reach 10 to 16 inches tall.

Leaves of early saxifrage are mostly basal ones. Very small lance-like stem leaves may or may not be present. The oval basal leaves have scalloped edges. In the image below you can see the flower stalks rising up from the group of basal leaves.

Scalloped basal leaves of early saxifrage.

Note that the flower stalks are hairy or fuzzy with hairs.

Flowers of early saxifrage occur in clusters at the top of the flower stem. The five-petaled white flowers are small, only a quarter-inch in width. Small yellow-tipped stamens are visible inside the flower heads.

Flowers of early saxifrage on flower stalk.

Blossoms are at the tip of the flower stalk that rises up from the basal leaves. Note in the image above that there is one stem leaf at the point where a secondary flower stem branches from the main flower stem.

Besides the western end of Middle Ridge Trail at Little Buffalo State Park, we’ve seen Early Saxifrage on wooded hillsides along country roads.

Cohorts included blooming spring beauty, rue anemone, fairy wings, ferns and hepatica (already bloomed).

Spring beauty and early saxifrage blooming together.

Spring beauty was blooming at the same time and place as Early Saxifrage.

Early saxifrage and rue anemone blooming at the same time.

Rue anemone was blooming at the same time and place as Early Saxifrage.

Early Saxifrage bloomed at least from the 15th to the 23rd of April in south-central Pennsylvania.

Wild Ginger Blossoms Touch the Earth

May 8, 2010 by wilde

It’s mid-Spring now and the assembly of plants in the woodlands have made the scenery quite green compared to a month ago. The trees are leafed in for the most part, although a few oaks still have small leaves. Shade is dappled under the trees that don’t have all their leaves emerged just yet.

Walking in the woods now has a different feeling. Sure, there are still plenty of crunchy leaves to trod upon, but the view is quite different. With all the trees, shrubs, vines and herbs growing up and pushing their leaves out, the woods have a closed-in feeling. It feels like there is less room in there compared to a few weeks ago when you could see all the way through the woods.

Since each season is about three months long, we can say that each season has an early, middle and late period with each period lasting about a month.

During early spring Wild Ginger, Asarum canadense, emerged from the ground with their leaves a bit crinkled. Wild Ginger is a woodland perennial native to the Eastern US. Its leaves rise up from an underground stem, or rhizome, and the plant spreads out from this rhizome each year. It’s blossoms should be visible during mid-Spring.

Colony of wild ginger growing next to a creek.

The rounded, heart-shaped leaves of wild ginger rise up in pairs from the rhizome. Two leaves are connected to each other in a Y-shape.

Wild ginger spreads out and makes a nice ground cover with its leaves reaching a height of only 4 to 10 inches. A patch of wild ginger is eye-catching in a native plant garden.

Flowers of wild ginger must be sought out or you’ll never see them. The leaves hide the flowers out of sight and the flowers are not where you might expect them – at ground level. Sometimes the flowers don’t even push out of the ground all the way and remain partially covered by a layer of soil or old leaves. There is a single blossom that sits in the crotch of each pair of leaves.

A pair of wild ginger leaves and one flower.

The two leaves of wild ginger often hide its single maroon to brown blossom from view.

Wild ginger blooms are cup-shaped with three lobes giving it a triangular appearance. The flower stalk and flower are covered with hairs that make it look quite fuzzy. The flowers are light-colored on the outside with a maroon interior. They must be pollinated by ants or some other ground-wandering insect.

Note the soft hairs all over the leaves of wild ginger.

Looking down on the heart-shaped leaves and maroon flower of wild ginger.

Wild ginger flowers are coated with long hairs. The leaves and stems are covered with short hairs.

Wild ginger plant growing at the edge of a creek.

The flower of wild ginger rises out of the crotch of two leaves.

Wild ginger requires a moist to wetland, woodland habitat. Places like the edges or lowlands of creeks or rivers are good places to look for wild ginger.

Photos were taken 18Apr2010 at Little Buffalo State Park. Wild ginger can be seen in many places in the Day Use Area, near the covered bridge, along the Mill Race Trail, and at the upper west end of Middle Ridge Trail.

A few years ago I bought a wild ginger plant at a Native Plant Sale and planted it on the east side of our house, right next to the house in an area that receives mostly shade. Each year the ginger has come up a little bigger than the year before. This year there are seven pairs of leaves.

If you are lucky enough to find wild ginger for sale try planting it under a tree to mimic its native habitat. It would make a nice ground cover and at the same time it would receive the shade it requires to thrive.

Miterwort Bishop’s Cap Blooming Near the Creek in the Woods

May 7, 2010 by wilde

Miterwort is a wildflower that I’d heard of or read about, but hadn’t seen in real life until this Spring. Also called Bishop’s Cap, Mitella diphylla, miterwort can be found in lowlands and habitats near water.

The leaf structure and flowers are unique enough that miterwort should be immediately recognized.

Miterwort has two types of leaves, basal and stem. Basal leaves are broader than the pair of stem leaves that sit about halfway up the flower stalk. Both types of leaves are notched and might remind one of a maple leaf. The stem leaves, which do not have stems of their own, but rather appear attached to each other at their bases, are a distinguishing feature.

Miterwort flower spike, basal leaves and conjoined stem leaves.

The image above shows a couple larger basal leaves and stem leaves that are joined at their bases where they meet the flower stems.

Stem leaves of miterwort are paired and joined at the base.

The tiny, cream-colored flowers sit above the leaves on a flower stem that may reach 12 inches tall.

Big tree made a nice background for these miterwort.

Cohorts include the common blue violet, wild ginger, Solomon’s seal (not yet in bloom), trout lily (done blooming), ferns.

Flowers of miterwort are small, but beautifully fringed giving the appearance of a snowflake. Some say the appearance is like that of a miter, or Bishop’s Cap, thus the common name. A plant that I think resembles a miter much better is this desert cactus.

Tiny, snowflake-like flowers of miterwort.

Snowflakes seen in close-up view of miterwort flowers. (Last photo taken 30Apr2010, all others taken 18Apr2010.)

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