Here are a few more spring wildflowers that I’ve seen recently. It’s hard to believe that summer is just around the corner.
Autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellate) is a terribly invasive shrub from eastern Asia that has a heavenly scent. It is blooming now along with Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) which is so invasive that it is banned in New Hampshire. But it also has a heavenly scent, and when you combine the two invasive shrubs with our native lilacs, also blooming now and also extremely fragrant, I think you might have an idea of what heaven must smell like. Autumn olive is often confused with Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia.)
Bird’s foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) has just started blooming. This is another invasive plant that forms dense mats that choke out native plants. This plant was originally imported from Eurasia for use as a forage plant. The plant gets its common name from the way the clusters of seed pods are often shaped like a bird’s foot. Many butterflies, Canada geese and deer love this plant.
Native golden ragwort (Packera aurea) likes wet places in full sunlight, but it will tolerate some shade. It’s not a common plant in this part of the state, but it can be found here and there. Golden ragwort is in the aster family and is considered our earliest blooming aster. The plant is toxic enough so most animals (including deer) will not eat it, but Native Americans used it medicinally to treat a wide variety of ailments.
Greater celandine (Chelidonium majus) is another introduced invasive plant that is seen everywhere. It is a member of the poppy family that was originally introduced from Europe and Asia. Another celandine, lesser celandine (Ranunculus ficaria,) belongs to the buttercup family. Greater celandine has a yellow- orange latex sap that stains hands, as every schoolchild in the country quickly finds out. Another common plant used in gardens, celandine poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum,) isn’t related to greater celandine.
Another invasive that has naturalized here is the pheasant eye narcissus (Narcissus poeticus,) also called the poet’s daffodil. This plant is very old-ancient in fact-and is said to be the flower that is the basis of the Greek legend of Narcissus. It can be found in botanical texts from as early as 371 BC. The flower is very fragrant and easily recognized by the white petals and red edge on its yellow cup. It is said that its fragrance is so powerful that a few cut flowers in a closed room can cause headaches. I often see it in un- mown fields and pastures.
Native Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum canaliculatum) is blossoming throughout our forests now. There are several plants that look very similar, but I believe the plant in the photo is Great Solomon’s seal. Hairy Solomon’s seal has small hairs on the underside of the leaves and the flowers are smaller. Rose twisted stalk has similar leaves but a twisted, zig zag stem like the name implies. The rose / purple/ pink flowers are bell shaped.
False Solomon’s seal (Maianthemum racemosum or Smilacina racemosa) has small white, star shaped flowers in a branching cluster (raceme) at the end of its stem. The way to tell this plant from true Solomon’s seal when there are no flowers is by the zig zagging stem. The stem on Solomon’s seal is straight.
Star flowered Solomon’s seal (Maianthemum stellatum or Smilacina stellata) also blossoms in a cluster at the end of its stalk, but the flower cluster isn’t branched like that of false Solomon’s seal. The white flowers are larger and usually fewer than those of false Solomon’s seal. This plant likes to grow in the same habitat as true and false Solomon’s seals and can often be found growing right beside them.
Native common fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus) always surprises me by seeming to appear over night, but in reality I just don’t see them until they bloom. That’s because most that I see grow in lawns or fields where I don’t hike. This is a much loved flower, and you can tell that by the way people mow around it when they mow their lawns and fields. There is always a large patch of tall grass full of lavender flowers left standing. The flower pictured had just a hint of lavender on the ray petals, but some of them can be quite darkly colored.
Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) is in the same family as borage and is considered an herb, but I love the bell shaped blue flowers so I would rather use it as an ornamental. This is a strange plant that can be used as a fertilizer. Comfrey plants root very deeply and take up many nutrients from the soil, and that makes them as valuable to organic gardeners as manure. Quite often large plots of it will be grown to be cut and used as a fertilizer or in compost heaps. Comfrey is native to Europe.
Fringed Polygala, also called gaywings (Polygala paucifolia,) are still blooming. I’m suddenly finding these plants everywhere. They seem to like to grow in the same places that lady’s slippers do. I love their color but it’s easy for me to mistake them for violets, so every time I see what I think are violets I stop to see if they are really gaywings. The blossom on the left seems to have lost its wings.
I see forget me nots (Myosotis) on riverbanks and along trails-almost everywhere I go. There are many species of forget me nots and in some cases the differences are nearly microscopic, so I leave all the sorting to botanists and just enjoy the flowers.
Painted trillium (Trillium undulatum ) have much smaller flowers than those of red trillium (Trillium erectum.) This plant likes very acid soil and doesn’t seem to be as easy to find here as the red trillium. The undulatum part of the scientific name comes from the wavy (undulating) petals. The painted part of its common name comes from the purple splotches on the petals. Painted trillium is native to the east coast.
I went for a short hike on a recent drizzly day and saw lots of pink lady’s slippers (Cypripedium acaule.) This native orchid is making a comeback after being collected nearly into oblivion by people who didn’t know any better. The plant interacts with a Rhizoctonia fungus in the soil and this fungus must be present for it to reproduce. If plants are dug up and placed in private gardens they will eventually die out if the fungus isn’t present so please, look at them, take a couple of pictures, and let them be.
Pink lady’s slipper’s color can go from white, which are very rare, to deep pink. Those that are lighter pink often show interesting darker pink veins like the example in the above photo.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. ~Albert Einstein
Thanks for coming by.
A great flower roundup! The Pheasant Eye Narcissus is interesting, I wonder if I’ve mistaken it for a garden escapee before.
I can’t think of any other narcissus that looks like this one but a passing glance might assume that it was a white daffodil.
Nice post, I enjoy the information you add, it makes it very interesting.
Twenty-five years ago we planted several Autumn olive under power lines on the recommendation of “experts” .
I haven’t seen fleabane or Bird’s Foot trefoil yet, we do have two types of Solomon’s seal, and many Starflower blooming in our woods.
Thanks for taking the time to post Allen.
🙂
Thanks Chris. That goes to show that you can’t always trust even an expert, though I don’t see anything wrong with autumn olives under powerlines-unless you wanted to grow something else there. Blueberries do well under powerlines here. I think I’d plant them and maybe raspberries.
Wonderful collection. Thanks for sharing. Several I don’t see here.
You’re welcome Grampy!
That lady’s slipper is beautiful. You have so many plants that we don’t but it’s good to see the old favourites like ragwort (I found one flowering yesterday), the celandines and forget me nots grow on your side of the pond too. We take our own wild flowers for granted but to others they seem quite exotic 🙂
That’s true-it’s easy to take the wildflowers that you’re used to seeing for granted. That’s another thing that’s nice about blogging-the reactions of others reminds you how special your ho-hum plants really are.
Another interesting collection! A few of these are seen here too. I have never seen Polygonatum canaliculatum although USDA Plants shows it in Montana.
Those pink lady’s slippers are remarkable! The Cypripedium montanum that we have here is white although I’ve seen photos of it with a very light pink cast.
I’m surprised that Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum canaliculatum) is so hard to find there-I thought it was abundant from coast to coast. After looking at the USDA distribution map though, I see it doesn’t quite make it to the Pacific.
I hope you can get some shots of your white lady’s slipper. I’d love to see it!
Your picture of the Lady’s Slipper brilliantly showed how they got their name. Your comfrey is much bluer than ours which tends to a dull pink.
Thank you. It does look a bit like a slipper. It’s is also called moccasin flower for the same reasons.
That’s interesting about the comfrey-what I read says that European comfrey has much bluer flowers than ours, so you must have yet another variety.
Great flower pictures, especially the lady slipper orchid. I found a single bloom on a trail by a waterfall along the north shore of Lake Superior one time, hiked back to my car to get my camera, and by the time I got back to the waterfall, someone had picked the flower! Some people!
Thanks Sue. i can imagine how frustrated you must have felt after finding the lady’s slipper had been picked. Education is the only solution, I think. It’s interesting that you saw one-i wondered if they grew that far west, and i’m glad that they do.
Wonderful pictures, too bad so many are invasives. I love the lady slippers.
I know, we have far too many invasives but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were still being imported.
Lady’s slippers are always fun to find because they will only grow in very specific soil conditions.
Beautiful flowers!!! Great shots!!!
Thank you Rexlin!
What can I say, beautiful flowers beautifully photographed, along with some great information to go with them.
Thanks Jerry!
I haven’t had much chance to get outside lately. All my time has been consumed by work and by getting the house ready to put on the market – that doesn’t leave a lot of time for anything else. Nice to see some of my “old friends” on your blog. It’s the next best thing to being there.
I’m sorry to hear that you have to sell the house, but glad that the job seems to be working out. I’m looking forward to seeing all the native plants of Virginia on your blog!
Except for the autumn olive these are all lovely wild plants. I battle encroaching autumn olive all around me, they will surely take over my yard from the unmanaged meadow nearby. The scent is ok, but because I associate it with such an aggressive plant, I can’t really enjoy it much. You got some pretty pictures of many of the littler bloomers right now!
I know what you mean about autumn olive-it’s hard to enjoy anything about a plant that is trying to take over your yard. It’s a shame that it is so hard to control. I’ve heard that the berries are loaded with vitamins and make an excellent jam, so maybe you could get a little enjoyment out of it that way. Just be sure you have the correct plant-honeysuckle and other berries can be toxic.
Ah yes, the staining sap of celandine. I remember it well. Vibrantly colored hands and faces as we played Indians in the yard.
I think we all must have gone through it!
So many beautiful little flowers. I love the native lady’s slipper orchids and the Narcissus poeticus (it seems even cooler in Latin). It’s a little ironic that you noted that many of these are “everywhere,” given that most people probably aren’t even aware of their presence.
That’s true Mike. I guess I forget that not everybody spends as much time outside as I do. Maybe I should have said that they’re everywhere that I go. These flowers are beautiful enough to make a special trip to see them worth while, so I hope more people will get out there.
With all the yard work and house painting I appreciate your post on what is in bloom around here 🙂
It sounds like it might be time for a break so you can get into the woods. You know what they say about all work and no play!
OH I hear you I so need a dose of PLAY!
You have my permission!
THANKS 🙂
I may go capture rain drops on the way to food shop 🙂 any time I can make a diversion happy it is a good start to the day Have a wonderful and stay cool as the heat turns on!
I know-I’m not looking forward to the forcasted heat at all. It’s raining here too.
I hear you I planted corn a week or two early and it loves the rain but I am behind on Kale and lettuce 😦
The heat will help dry off the wildlife sitting on eggs or feeding their babies but 90 is too hot for them too the weather is CRAZY
I agree-and it has been crazy for the last couple of years, at least.
Sadly we can only roll with the punches