Downy Rattlesnake Plantain Orchid in PA

The Downy Rattlesnake Plantain started opening its blooms this week. Each of these orchids has a few dozen quarter-inch long blooms at the top of a fuzzy stem with about a third of the blooms open.

Downy rattlesnake plantain.

You can see why this orchid is called ‘downy’ as all parts of it seem to be fuzzy with soft, downy hairs.

Downy orchid.

Here’s a similar photo taken without a flash. Details of the open flowers are more visible.

Downy rattlesnake plantain blooming.

Three sepals are the same white color as the petals, except for a tinge of green at the sepals’ edge. The two upper petals are merged into a hood. The lower petal is enlarged into the typical cupped lip of an orchid.

Passion Flower Blooming in Full Sun

The Passion Flower blossom that opened the day before yesterday has now closed up, so the blooms are only open for a day or two.

Passion flower closed bloom on left and opening on right.

The bloom on the left is the finished one and that on the right is just now opening.

Passion flower blooming.

Notice the spikes at the ends of the sepals. Sepals are white on the inside, which make the passion flower appear to have 10 white petals.

I didn’t capture the action when the passion flower opened its blossom today, but it opened fast enough to shake the whole vine.

Open passion flower bloom.

Passion flower closeup.

Five elongated, yellow-orange stamens contrast with the dark purple and light blue fringe. The brown-tipped purple stalks are the stigma and style female reproductive parts of the flower.

Stigma and style of the passion flower.

The stigma are sticky tips of the stalks, or stigma, which are tubes that lead the sperm to the ovary – the bulbous, creamy white structure – where the fruit will eventually develop.

Passion Flower Opened Its First Bloom

Well, we didn’t have to wait very long for the passion flower to open a bloom. The pictures I posted earlier today were taken on 20 July, three days ago.

It’s been raining since last night and for the last few nights we’ve had some window-rattling storms. Maybe all the rain helped the first passionflower blossom open up today, 23 July 2008.

Passion flower blossom.

Closeup of passionflower bloom.

View of the top of a passion flower blossom.

Side view of the passion-flower bloom.

The common passion flower, Passiflora caerulea, is a large blossom, measuring nearly 3 inches across and almost as high. They’re very interesting with all that multi-colored fringe.

Passion-flower Native Blossoms Coming Soon

A friend collected a roadside passionflower a few years ago near the northern state line of Maryland, probably along Route 15. For several years he’s kept the plant going strong enough to take cuttings each Spring. I was a lucky recipient of one cutting that accepted RootTone’s magic and it started growing very well.

Palmate leaves of the passion-flower alternate along a vine-like stem with two small half-moon shaped leaves clasping the main stem. The palmate leaf fingers are skinny.
Palmate leaf of the passion flower.

At the leaf and main stem junctions tendrils coil out to anchor the plant to anything within reach. It would be important to trellis this plant to keep it growing where you want it to stay.

Passion flower vine.

I did not expect it to bloom the first year, but there are half a dozen blossoms already in development. Flowers rise up from the leaf axils, one blossom per leaf.

Flower bud of the passionflower.

I’ll get more pics when the blooms are out. Stay tuned!

Lobelia in the Meadow is Indian-Tobacco

We’ve had some really hot weather lately, and with the nightly downpours, that was enough of an excuse that I’d stopped mowing the lawn for about a month. Yes, the grassy areas did get deep and I know I’ll regret it when I have to twice-mow that long grass to get it back into shape. But there’s a silver lining to that cloud – I’ve met a few more meadow plants!

In the front yard we have Indian-tobacco, a type of Lobelia. I remember seeing it last year there, but didn’t take any pictures then.

Indian-tobacco, Lobelia inflata, is the most common lobelia and it can be found along roads, at the edge of woods, and in meadows, like where the front yard meets the woods in our case.

Lobelias are characterized by their flower shape, having five petals joined at the base so they form a tube, or corolla. Two upper petals can be thought of as ‘ears’ and the three lower petals as ‘lips’. Different Lobelia species vary in their overall flower and leaf shapes, as well as the placement of the blossoms.

Flowering from July to October, Indian-tobacco has its flowers in the leaf axils.

India tobacco.

Indian tobacco flowers and seedpods.

After flowering the blossoms swell at the base into pea-sized seedpods with the remnants of the flower sepals at the top of the round pods.

Alternating leaves are toothed, oval shaped, and larger than the leaves of most Lobelia, especially nearer the ground.

Looking down on this common plant, you can see that blooms further down the stem are on longer stems that hang over the leaves. Further up the top of the stem the blooms are nearer the main stem, and at the top they’re right on the stem.

Looking down on the Lobelia.

Looking down on the Indian tobacco.

You can see that flowers are blooming at the top and sides of this Indian tobacco.

Indian tobacco flowers.

The bright sun blanched out the pale blue color of the flower petals, but you can see the progression of budding flowers to opened blooms to swollen seedpods.

Elderberry Berries Green on the Bushes Yet

Last year I must have lopped off too many branches on a couple elderberry plants because this year they have only a few bare sticks and very little greenery. I hope they come back stronger next year or I’ll have to go hunting for more bushes if we want some elderberry jam. That shouldn’t be too hard as elderberry, Sambucus canadensis, grows wild all around Pennsylvania at the edges of fields and along roads.

Pinnately compound, toothed leaves on branches that reach 10 or 12 feet tall will help you find them. The plants are easy to spot when in bloom, even from a distance, because of the broad clusters of white blossoms.

Once you find your elderberry plants make note of their location because they’re not as easy to find when in berry. Guess I should have mentioned that a couple weeks ago because the elderberries are growing fast with all the rain we’ve had.

Compound leaf of the elderberry.

Elderberry branches are starting to get weighed down with their fruit, even though the berries are still green.

Green elderberries.

Once they’re big enough the berries will turn a deep purple and then they’ll be ready to harvest.

Rattlesnake Plantain Flowers in the Summertime Woods of PA

Not too many flowers are found in Pennsylvania woods in the summer months of July and August. Most of the Spring flowers have now turned into berries and fruits. In a few days the elderberries should be near ready to harvest and the blackberries have been yummy this week!

One group that does flower in the heat of the summer is the Rattlesnake Plantains that flower in July and August. We are fortunate to have the most common species blooming in our woods called Downy Rattlesnake Plantain, Goodyera pubescens, a member of the Orchid family, Orchidaceae.

A single, fuzzy flower stalk tipped with a compact group of white flower buds rises up from a basal rosette of mottled leaves. The quarter-inch long flowers will open into the typical orchid-like irregular shape, having a large lower lip overshadowed by a group of fused petals.

Rattlesnake plantain, Goodyera pubescens.

Downy rattlesnake plantain flower spikes.

Leaves in a basal rosette are oval in shape. The strong silver-white midrib contrasts with the dark green leaves. Veins that cross the leaf and run the length of it are all silver-white giving the leaf a unique, variegated look. The name “rattlesnake plantain” comes from the suggestion of rattlesnake skin by the pattern on the leaves.

Downy rattlesnake plantain variegated leaves.

Flower spike appears fuzzy or woolly, thus the “downy” part of its name. A few scale-like bracts are seen on the flower stalk.

Scales on the flower stalk of downy rattlesnake plantain.

Downy rattlesnake plantain leaves and roots were used by Native Americans for a number of ailments, but its collection and medicinal use are discouraged today due to its rarity.

Mid-July Flowers Can Handle the Heat

It’s been real hot around here lately. The last couple days have been lettuce-bolting days and the nights have been sticky. Bringing in the morning air – that’s our mountain air conditioning – started at 72 degrees at the crack of dawn today. I hear a siesta coming after lunch…!

In and around the vegetable and flower gardens we have lots of flowers blooming:

  1. purple cone flowers*
  2. marigolds*
  3. yarrow*
  4. catnip*
  5. foxglove
  6. nasturium
  7. rudbeckia
  8. cosmos
  9. geraniums
  10. portulaca*
  11. fennel
  12. cilantro*
  13. petunias
  14. pansies
  15. impatiens
  16. spiderflowers*
  17. sunflowers*
  18. orange tiger lilies
  19. rose campion*
  20. hawkweed
  21. begonias
  22. comfrey
  23. thimbleweed
  24. bee balm
  25. goldenrod
  26. evening primrose
  27. poke
  28. touch-me-not
  29. asiatic day lily
  30. lopseed
  31. anise hyssop*
  32. oregano*
  33. zinnias
  34. lettuce*
  35. zucchini
  36. tomatoes
  37. peppers
  38. cucumbers
  39. ground cherries
  40. watermelons
  41. oxeye daisy
  42. fleabane
  43. dill*

Not too many wild herbs on my summer list, but there are a few we can visit in another post! Pictures to come!

*Marks the happy re-seeders! All we have to do is transplant them where we want the volunteers to grow, or put them in a recycled pot to give to a friend or neighbor.