Wildflower posts are bound to get shorter soon, but for now there’s still plenty to see.
Our native black eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) can be found in all fifty states and all across Canada. It is believed that they got their start in the great prairies and moved to other locations from there. They were noted in Maryland in colonial times and became that state’s state flower. I saw my first one this year at the end of June and here they are, still blooming.
Blur vervain (Verbena hastata ) is almost done blooming. You can tell that by the way the flowers are at the tip of the flower stalk. They start at the bottom, a few at a time, and work their way up the stalk. Once done flowering the stalks look almost reptilian.
This is something I wasn’t expecting-a bladderwort growing in soil. Apparently, from what I’ve read, this aquatic plant will grow in soil if the conditions are agreeable, but what I don’t understand is how it gets any nutrition when it does. Bladders on its underwater leaves have small trap doors that open quickly to trap insects, making it a carnivorous plant, but if those underwater bladders are buried in soil, then how do they work?
This is a close up of the strange terrestrial bladderwort (Utricularia.) It looks like any other bladderwort.
Another thing that I never thought I’d see is chicory (Cichorium intybus) blooming in August, but here it is.
Burdock is another import that has escaped and is commonly seen on roadsides and in waste places. Its flowers aren’t real big and showy but they are beautiful. Once the flowers are finished the round, barbed seed heads that we all know so well appear. I read recently that burdock seed heads were the inspiration for Velcro. Unfortunately they can also act as snares and catch small birds that often aren’t able to free themselves.
Common mullein (Verbascum thapsus ) is known as a pioneer plant, meaning that it is often first to colonize burned or disturbed areas. Each plant can produce 100,000 or more seeds each year. Another name for it is flannel leaf because of its large, soft, fuzzy leaves. At one time the plant was thought to be useful in fighting leprosy and Pliny the Elder of ancient Rome used the warmed leaves as poultices for arthritis. Its tall persistent seed stalks really stand out in winter. These seed stalks were dipped in tallow and used as torches by Roman legionnaires. This plant is from Europe and is considered invasive.
The strange, brownish flowers of groundnut (Apios americana) remind me of the helmets once worn by Spanish explorers. Swollen underground stems on this vining plant form small tubers that look like potatoes but have three times the protein that potatoes do. Groundnuts were a very important food source for Native Americans and the Pilgrims survived on them when their corn supply ran out in 1623. Henry David Thoreau wrote that they tasted better boiled than roasted. The only thing keeping the groundnut from becoming a commercially viable food crop is the two to three years it takes for its tubers to form.
Native hog peanut (Amphicarpaea bracteata ) flowers are small but beautiful. Like the groundnut in the previous photo the plant is a legume in the bean family. Like a true peanut, after pollination some of its flowers bury themselves in the soil and form a small, edible, bean like seeds that give the plant its common name. Mice collect these seeds and store them in large caches that Native Americans used to search for. They can be eaten raw or cooked. The plant also forms inch long, pea-like, above ground pods that contain three or four inedible seeds.
Hog peanut is a strong, wiry vine that can cover large areas of forest floor and choke out other plants. It is also good a tripping up hikers.
I found this morning glory (Ipomoea) growing at the town landfill. I love its deep blue color but I find the ones that have more white in their throat, like “heavenly blue” more visually pleasing.
Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) is a European native that has been cultivated for centuries. The flat flower heads are made up of many button like disc flowers-almost like a daisy without the white ray flowers that we call petals. Tansy is a natural insect repellent and was used as such in colonial times. Dried tansy added to the straw in mattresses was said to keep bedbugs away. Most tansy plants are seen in gardens but it had naturalized itself in New England by 1785 and can still be found growing along roadsides like the one pictured was doing. The ancient Greeks grew tansy for medicinal use but it should be considered toxic.
Rabbit’s foot clover (Trifolium arvense) has appeared here a few times, but not bejeweled with dew like this one.
Flowers have an expression of countenance as much as men and animals. Some seem to smile; some have a sad expression; some are pensive and diffident; others again are plain, honest and upright, like the broad-faced sunflower and the hollyhock. ~Henry Ward Beecher
Thanks for stopping in.
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Agreed–that view of a rabbit’s foot clover is very cool!
Thanks!
A other post filled with beautiful photos, I especially liked the rabbits foot clover. So many things look much nicer with a few drops of rain or dew. Very interesting about the burdock Velcro connection. 🙂
Thanks! True-a little dew can work miracles in photograpy!
You have many more flowers in bloom than we have here now.
I wonder why that is?
I think most of it is because it has been so hot and dry here for nearly all of summer. The plants had to quit early.
Love the picture of rabbits foot clover … You have captured this beautifully ..
Regards from the England
Thank you and welcome. My Daughter’s name is Amanda.
I recognised a few of the flowers this time but I had never heard about the groundnuts and the hog peanuts, very interesting.
They’re supposed to both be quite good eating.
Another fascinating and beautiful collection. The images are so striking, Allen.
Thanks Melanie!
Samuel Thayer calls them ground beans rather than hog peanuts. He says that “hog peanut” is a racial slur against Native Americans. The Europeans came to a point where they refused to eat them, insisting they were only fit for hogs (implying that Native Americans were hogs).
I have eaten them and find them quite delectable! However, it is labor intensive to harvest them, which is why the Native Americans would raid pack rat caches.
I didn’t know that. I wonder how you reach the point of despising something that saved your life. It’s especially odd because they knew about potatoes.
I didn’t try to harvest any. I just admired the flowers.
Another post full of interest. Thank you.
You’re welcome. Glad you enjoyed it.
Your photos are beautiful, Allen. Rabbit’s foot clover is a favorite of mine, you were probably on the ground to get that shot. I never noticed how the groundnut looks like helmets once worn by Spanish explorers, they sure do. The bladdernut is interesting, I’ll have to pay more attention to it when I see it again. I guess you pretty much have to destroy the plant to identify it properly, I would never do that. How many more months will you see flowers? Was it last year you saw something blooming into November or even December?
Thanks. : )
Thanks Chris. Yes, I spend a lot of time on the ground, it seems, but that’s where the action is!
You can take a forked stick and catch the bladderwort in the fork to lift it out of the water for a closer look, then just set it gently back down in the water.
We’ll probably see flowers for another month or so if everything goes as it usually does. We’ll probably have a freeze in October that will end it.
The year before last I saw a dandelion blooming on December 21st. That’s a record for me, but that was a warm winter.
These are wonderful shots! I have been able to identify so many little blooms I come across with the help of your blog. Keep up the great work!
Thanks Martha, I’m glad to hear that this blog is a help!
Your photos are getting better with every post, and the posts are as informative as ever.
The bladderwort you found is the same plant that I found growing in the soil around Lost Lake. I looked for the bladders to be on top of the soil, which was really very shallow water, much like in your photo, but I couldn’t see them. Is that plant totally carnivorous, or does it supplement nutrition taken in through its roots with what it takes in from insects it captures?
I’m not sure that it matters. As soft as the soil was around the plants I found, I could imagine that the trap doors would still function, and there are probably many insects living in the soil/water mix.
Thanks! Those are great questions / observations about the bladderworts and if you ever find the answers I hope you’ll let me know. I’ve spent close to a week searching for anything on terrestrial bladderworts and can only find references to them being able to grow in soil if conditions are perfect. This soil was at the edge of a pond and was wet, but not saturated.
Loved the look around our state! I have the twin to your Dumps Morning Glory mine magically appeared 🙂 I just did a post on mine too 🙂
Have a wonderful long holiday weekend and stay safe as the storms roll through
Thanks! We had some good thunderstorms roll through at about 4 this morning. I like your morning glory-it has the white throat that the one in my shot doesn’t. I hope you have a great weekend as well. The storms seem to be over for now, but they say more this afternoon. Good mushroom weather!
Great MUSHROOM or Duck weather indeed all I know is I do not have to hold a hose or carry water buckets I am a happy lady 🙂
Not sure if we had any I woke at 4:45 and no rain had fallen yet but off in the distance I hear something brewing 🙂
Absolutely love the ground nut, chicory and rabbit’s foot clover. They are all beautiful, but those 3 really stand out to me. Neat history lessons too!
Thanks Laura. I hope you’re finding more interesting things to blog about too. If the rain stops I’m going to follow your steps in Chesterfield today.
So much beauty there! Supposed to be a chance of showers most of the day, but I hope you get to head out!
It’s going to be a wet hike no matter where I go! I’m hoping to at least do the trails in the Friesdam town forest. It looks like an interesting place.
It’s wonderful that you are still able to find so many beautiful wildflowers to share with us. I really like the shapes of the flowers of the ground nut and enjoyed reading about some of its uses in early American history. Your last photos is simply gorgeous–those tiny beads of water enhanced the already beautiful clover.
Thanks Mike. There are still plenty of flowers to photograph, but most are small and not as showy as those found during the rest of the year. I liked that dewy rabbit’s foot clover too!