Here are just a few of the flowers that I’ve seen recently.
The spiky basal leaf rosettes of bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare) form the first year and the plant sends a flower stalk up the second year, so when you see its flower you are looking at two years of work. This means it is a biennial, rather than an annual or perennial. The introduced, invasive plant can spread only by seed and does not reproduce vegetatively.
The swollen, air filled, modified leaf stems of the native little floating bladderwort (Utricularia radiata) radiate out from a point on the stem like the spokes of a wheel. These modified leaf stems do more than keep the plant afloat-each has small hairs on its end that trigger a trap door when touched by an insect. Once the insect has been sucked inside, the trapdoor closes and it is digested.
The flowers of bladderworts are one of the hardest to photograph of any that I know of.
Our native swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnate) is such a beautiful color that I find myself just staring at it when I see it. I can’t think of another flower that can quite match the beautiful, deep pink color. My color finding software sees rose pink, orchid, plum, and hot pink. I find this plant growing near ponds but it is rare in this area. I know of only two small colonies.
Purple loosestrife is a beautiful bot terribly invasive plant that can be found near just about any pond, lake, stream or river. According to the USDA, it grows in all but 7 states and seems bent on national domination. As is often the case, the plant was brought over from Europe. In New Hampshire it is illegal to produce, sell, or import it. Two species of beetle have been introduced to try and control the plant but what usually happens in such cases is, once the introduced plant has been brought under control by the introduced insect, the introduced insect becomes the problem that then needs controlling.
No matter how invasive it may be I still have to say that when I see purple loosestrife blooming with yellow goldenrod, white boneset, and pink Joe Pye weed, I feel like I’m walking into a Monet painting. There are few scenes more beautiful than a meadow full of wildflowers, in my opinion.
Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium,) as one story goes, was named after a Native American herbalist named Joe Pye. Another version says that Joe was a doctor. Whatever the story of how the name came to be, Joe Pye Weed is known to have been used medicinally by Native Americans for centuries. There are several species of this plant including hollow Joe-Pye-weed (E. fistulosum) which has a purplish stem that is hollow. Sweet Joe-Pye-weed (E. purpureum) smells like vanilla. Three-nerved Joe-Pye-weed (E. dubium) has a purple-speckled stalk and smaller, deep purple flowers. Spotted Joe-Pye-weed (E. maculatum) has a flower cluster that is flatter than the others.
Dewdrop (Dalibarda repens) is also called false violet because of its leaves, and I think that might be part of why I’ve missed it until recently. Its small white flowers dot the forest floor like so many other small white flowers, and that also makes it easy to pass by with just a glance. A closer look reveals something different though-this plant produces other flowers that don’t open but still produce seeds. They are called cleistogamous flowers and are hidden beneath the leaves. The showy flowers like the one in the photo are mostly sterile.
Though I found a large colony, dewdrop is endangered or threatened in many states.
I found this downy rattlesnake plantain orchid (Goodyera pubescens) about 6 weeks ago, but I wasn’t sure if it would blossom until, two weeks later, it started to send up a single flower stalk. Four weeks after that it finally bloomed. I like the evergreen, silvery leaves on this plant even more than the flowers because they’re so unusual. This is supposed to be the most common orchid in New England, but I’ve only seen it once in my life.
After waiting so long for them to appear I have to say that the tiny white flowers were kind of anti-climactic but still beautiful, as most orchids are. They are also very hard to photograph in the dim conditions they like to grow in. The pubescens part of the scientific name means downy or hairy, and the photo clearly shows how the plant got that name. The plantain part of the common name comes from the way the leaves resemble those of plantains, and the rattlesnake part of the name comes from the color and pattern of the leaves. Native Americans used this plant to treat snakebite.
With its flower stalk present downy rattlesnake plantain might stand 6-8 inches tall. Note the blue bead lily and bunchberry plants that grow alongside it. If you compare the size of its leaves to those of a well-known plant like bunchberry, (just above the orchid) you can get an idea of how small it really is. This helps explain how I walked by without seeing it so many times last year-a single oak leaf could cover the entire plant.
The second orchid I found wasn’t a surprise because I saw it here last year. This one is called broad leaved helleborine (Epipactis helleborine) and it is an introduced species that originally hails from Europe. According to the USDA it was first found in North America near Syracuse, New York, in 1878 and has now spread to 31 states. The plants that I found stand about knee high, but they can get taller with more light. Its leaves, though smaller, closely resemble those found on false hellebore and the name helleborine in Latin means “like hellebore.” What I find odd is that neither false hellebore leaves nor the leaves of this orchid look at all like hellebore leaves to me.
These flowers, about as big as a pencil eraser, seemed huge after trying to photograph the tiny downy rattlesnake plantain flowers. Last year the flowers on these plants had much more purple in them, but color change among flowers is common on this plant. In fact, two plants growing side by side can have completely different colored flowers. Personally, I like the purple version more than the one pictured here.
Flowers don’t worry about how they’re going to bloom. They just open up and turn toward the light and that makes them beautiful. ~Jim Carrey
Thanks for stopping in.
Very nice, Allen…a real treasure of Nature’s beauty out there.
Thanks!
What great finds. Well photographed from tiny to the scenic meadow. I enjoy the yellow-purple combo. Here it is goldenrod and Iron weed.
Thanks Grampy. I like purple and yellow together too, so this meadow view really caught my eye.
The “painting” is marvelous!
The tiny downy rattlesnake plantain is very pretty; its flowers are beautifu. If only they weren’t so small!
I haven’t found enough orchids to have anything to compare them to, but the downy rattlesnake plantains do seem awful small. Small means hard to see though, so maybe they won’t get picked or dug up.
Hey, you found your dewdrop! As you know, it’s one of my favorites. As for the cardinal lobelias, they also grow along the banks of the Merrimack.
Finally! It’s a tough one to see when it isn’t blooming. I know you like finding it and now I know why. I remember you said you had seen cardinal flowers along the Merrimack. They must grow along the Ashuelot as well, but I haven’t seen them yet.
I’m glad your patience was rewarded with the orchid. So. Amy if these plants are so small and easily missed I’m not sure I’d even notice them.
You have to walk very slowly, almost stopping and looking after each step. it’s the only way I’ve found to see them.
Very nice images, Allen. I especially like the composition of your photograph of the bull thistle.
Thanks Melanie. I like the thorns!
Wonderful photo of the floating bladderwort (Utricularia radiata), according to my guide book it doesn’t grow here in Michigan, maybe a very southern corner. Was it close to shore?
I feel the same about the colors of swamp milkweed and Purple Loosestrife. You do have a Monet with the meadow full of wildflowers!
The Dewdrop (Dalibarda repens) basically doesn’t grow in Michigan, but I thought those leaves looked familiar?
We have many broad leaved helleborine, people complain about them in their gardens and lawns, I say “but it is an orchid”, of course non-native.
Great post, thanks for all the information.
🙂
You’re welcome Chris. I know I’ve seen a bladderwort on your blog earlier this year but it must have been a different species, or I could have incorrectly identified this one.
Apparently the dewdrop leaves are often confused with violet leaves according to what I’ve read, but I thought they looked more like ground ivy leaves than violets.
I’ve heard that the helleborine can be weedy. It’s hard to believe that any orchid could be considered a weed, no matter where it comes from.
Those orchids are so interesting, and I agree with you about the color of swamp milkweed. This may be perverse, but I think thistle flowers are beautiful, too bad they can be such evil plants!
That’s funny-I like thistle flowers too!
Beautiful series!!! Wonderful collections!!!
Thanks Rexlin!
The photo of the bladderwort plant is great, the photo of the flower is even better! I’ve never seen the plant itself, at least not that species. I look forward to your posts as they give me clues as to what to look for while I’m out in the woods.
Thanks! I think I’ve seen photos of this bladderwort on the Plants Amaze Me blog, so it or something similar does grow there. They’re quite small and usually float a few feet off shore in calm areas of ponds.
Omg I have a catch in my throat and tears in my eyes. The pond pic. ..the one with loosestrife, joe pye weed and goldenrod? We had a summer beach house in So.Dartmouth and there was a small pond outside my window. Every august it bloomed EXACTLY as you showed. I miss it.
It is beautiful, and would be hard for me to leave too!
I pretended I was you yesterday. I spent the day in Fitzwilliam and was determined to find as many of the flowers as possible in your last post. The cool thing is, this post saves me from having quite as many questions for you. Wonderful finds! I saw several broad leaved helleborine and also saw a large grouping of red cardinal flowers along a stream. As a fellow photographer, I can appreciate how hard you work to get such beautiful shots of some of these tiny flowers. Thank you for all your effort!
You’re welcome Laura and thank you. I’m glad you found the helleborine. I wish I had been with you when you saw the cardinal flowers-I’ve been looking for them for years, with no luck. I’ll be going back there this weekend and now that I know they’re there I’ll keep watch for them. Photographing such small things is a lot of work sometimes, but also a lot of fun.
I found the cardinal flower along the dirt section of Templeton Turnpike near where the Cheshire Rail Trail is. I usually favor back/dirt road, there is often of much to see.
Thanks! I’ll see if I can find where you mean.
Beautiful shots of some tiny treasures. I am happy that you managed to see the
downy rattlesnake plantain orchid bloom–I recall that you have been keeping an eye on it.
Thanks Mike. I’m glad I got to see that orchid too after waiting so long. Another good lesson in patience from nature!