Some of you might be thinking what, another aster? Well yes, asters are everywhere at this time of year and though I showed a New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) in my last flower post it was much lighter in color than this example. I like the dark colored ones, but they’re much harder to find than the lighter colors. It’s said that if you rub the flower heads of this plant between your fingers they’ll emit an odor similar to that of camphor or turpentine, yet the Native American Ojibwe tribe smoked the root to attract game. I’m guessing that the smoked root didn’t smell like camphor or turpentine.
The swollen, air filled, modified leaf stems of the native small floating bladderwort (Utricularia radiata) radiate out from a point on the stem like the spokes of a wheel and keep the flower above the water while currents carry it over the surface of ponds. The parts of the plant that trail under the water look like roots and are where the bladders are located. Each bladder has small hairs on it which, when touched by an insect, trigger a trapdoor that opens quickly and sucks the insect inside. Once trapped inside there is no escape, and the insect is slowly digested.
According to the book The History and Folklore of North American Wildflowers by Timothy Coffee, Henry David Thoreau didn’t think very highly of this plant. He wrote that it was “A dirty conditioned flower, like a sluttish woman with a gaudy yellow bonnet.” That’s a side of Thoreau that I’ve never seen and it seems an odd reaction for a nature nut like him to have had. I would think he’d have happily studied and written about such an unusual plant.
Gaudy or not bladderwort flowers are among the most challenging to get a good photo of, both because yellow is a challenging color to begin with and the plants float offshore, often just out of reach. Luckily the wind pushed this example very close to shore. You can get to these plants by kayak or canoe but even so, it’s a job to get a good photo.
Big leaf asters are never going to win a blue ribbon at a flower show but I enjoy a special bond with them because they were the subject of the first flower photo that I ever sold, and the biology textbook publishing people who bought it wanted it because it showed both the flowers and leaves. Since the leaves are almost ground hugging and the flowers rise up on 2 foot tall stems, showing both isn’t as easy to do as it might sound. Depth of field is important in the world of flower photography and both the leaves and flowers should be shown whenever possible. This plant’s large leaves are used for gathering as much light as possible because it grows in shade, usually on forested slopes. It can form huge colonies of several thousand plants.
Creeping bellflower (Campanula rapunculoides) was introduced as an ornamental from Europe and has escaped gardens to live in dry places that get full sun. This is a late bloomer but is usually finished by the time goldenrods have their biggest flush of bloom, so I was surprised to see it. It is an invasive plant that is hard to get rid of once it has become established. It will choke out weaker native plants. I usually find it on forest edges.
Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis) blossoms quite late along the river. It always seems fitting to me that a plant that can produce a soapy lather should grow so near water. This introduced plant doesn’t seem at all invasive; in fact I often have a hard time finding it. It’s a plant that always seems to look a bit ragged and weedy and is probably ignored by most that frequent the riverbank, but I like seeing its simple, beautiful white flowers when little else is blooming.
I see false dandelions (Hypochaeris radicata) almost everywhere I go at this rime of year. If you look at the yellow flowers on tall wiry stems without paying attention to the foliage this plant might look like hawkweed, but its leaves are very different and look more like narrow dandelion leaves.
Both dandelions and false dandelions have a rosette of edible leaves and a central taproot. The flower stems of false dandelion are solid, tall and wiry while those of true dandelions are hollow and much shorter.
No matter how often I look at turtlehead plants (Chelone) I don’t see turtle heads, but I know that a lot of people do. This pink flowered plant was given to me by a friend years ago and I’ve divided it and given pieces away several times, so it has brought pleasure to many. Our native turtleheads (Chelone glabra) are white. Since I don’t know the history of this plant I don’t know if it’s a pink version of the native or if it’s a cultivar. Butterflies and hummingbirds love these flowers so it’s a good addition to a garden. The plant is also maintenance free. In the time I’ve had it I’ve done nothing to it but divide it up to give away. Native Americans thought highly of this plant and used it medicinally to cure a variety of sores and miscellaneous external ailments.
Beech drops (Epifagus americana) grow in deep shade and can be hard to photograph, but a sunbeam came along and lit this one up for me. This plant grows near beech trees and is a parasite that fastens onto the roots of the tree using root like structures called haustoria. It takes all of its nutrients from the tree so it doesn’t need leaves, chlorophyll or sunlight. These plants are annuals that die off in cold weather.
Tiny pinkish purple flowers with a darker purplish stripe are the only things found on a beech drop’s leafless stems. On the lower part of the stem are flowers that never have to open because they self-fertilize. They are known as cleistogamous flowers. On the upper part of the stem are tubular Chasmogamous flowers, which open and are pollinated by insects and are shown in the above photo. Science doesn’t know much about which insects pollinate this plant. Sitting and watching a group of these plants and recording which insects visit them would be a good project for a budding biologist, but they would have to know their insects well or be very fast on their shutter button.
Native arrowleaf tearthumb (Polygonum sagittatum) is in the smartweed family, which gets its common name from the way your tongue will smart if you eat its peppery parts. Though the flower buds in this family of plants seem like they never open I’ve discovered recently that they do, sort of. They look like they only open about halfway though and I find the buds as pretty as the blossoms. This plant is a kind of rambler / sprawler that winds its way over nearby plants so it can get as much sunshine as possible.
But that isn’t all there is to the story of tearthumb. It comes by that name because it will indeed tear your thumb or any other body part that comes into contact with it. Many a gardener has regretted trying to pull it up without gloves on, because when the small but sharp barbs (prickles, botanically) along its red stems slip through your hand they act like a saw and make you sorry that you ever touched it. It actually uses these prickles for support when it climbs over other plants, and they work well. Tearthumb is considered a wetland indicator because it likes to grow in very moist to wet soil. I find it near ponds, blooming quite late in summer.
Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul. ~Luther Burbank.
Thanks for coming by.
The bladderwort is interesting and pretty, maybe Thoreau was just having a bad day. We have a lot do asters here too at the moment, real Autumn flowers.
That’s what I was thinking about Thoreau.
It wouldn’t be fall without asters here. Right now they’re everywhere.
Definitely true that the flowers of big leaf aster won’t win any prizes, but I still think it is a useful plant in certain situations, such as dry shade.
I agree, it makes a great ground cover but I’m not sure if it would be invasive. It grows in huge colonies large enough to cover an entire hillside here.
Thank you Alan, once again, for the clear eyes and calm explanations… 🙂 I have been continually delighted with your photographic essays through the local seasons and enjoy finding the similarities and differences in our mutual surroundings. I came across a large colony of beech drops this week on Wantastiquet, which delighted me; it had been many years since the last sighting. Turtlehead always makes me smile… The background on tearthumb was wonderful – I knew they were some sort of smartweed but the details are what makes the name stick. Happy trails!
Thanks very much Rich. Yes, one of these days each one of us is going to have to cross that river to see what’s on the other side!
Beech drops seem to grow in large colonies but I only see them here and there and beech trees don’t always guarantee beech drops.
Once you’ve accidentally pulled on a tearthumb stem it’s something you never forget. I don’t recommend trying though!
Loved the closing quote. Enjoy your blog so much.
Thank you Judy, I’m happy that you do!
Your New England asters are very popular garden plants over this side of the ocean. I have planted some new ones in the garden this year. Your wild bees must still be very happy at this time of the year. Amelia
Yes, I’m still seeing quite a few bees. Mornings are cooler now so they’re a little sluggish then but otherwise seem fine.
Asters do make a good garden plant but many people have complained to me in the past that their bloom time is too short. I’m sure the plant breeders are working on that.
I’d forgotten about beech drops. Good to see them. Enjoyed all the others too!!
Thank you. Beech drops aren’t seen that often so they’re easy to forget. I find that most people have never even heard of them.
The bladderwort shot was a cracker. No wonder you were pleased with it.
Thank you. There were many that I wasn’t pleased with but that one showed the unusual shape of the blossom which, thanks to Henry David Thoreau, I’ll always see as a bonnet now.
Such an informative post, Allen! The false dandelion is called Cat’s-ear in Britain supposedly because the small bracts that are found spiralling up the stem look like cat’s ears! There are lots of these about here at present and they brighten up waste ground beautifully!
Thank you Clare. It’s called cat’s ear here too but I didn’t know it was because of the bracts on the stem, so thank you for that interesting bit of information. I thought it was because of the way its new leaves were so hairy. We have lots of them here too right now and waste areas is where I see most of them. Even in gravel driveways.
We’ve got them in our lawn. The only way to get rid of them is by digging them out. The mower just chops the flowers off. I like the flowers but they spread very quickly and we have to control them somehow!
I would imagine that digging them must be quite a job. When I was gardening for a living I can’t remember seeing them. Their growth seems to have exploded in just a few years.
Their roots go down very far! They like disturbed ground as do many wild flowers/weeds. I read a book recently that said the wild plants that succeed are the ones that follow humans around. The more we dig and clear the ground the better certain plants like it!
We have native plants that won’t grow on disturbed ground but the overwhelming majority seem to prefer it. Our breaking up the hard soil probably makes it easier for their roots to get a start.
Yes you are probably right. We also have plants that don’t like disturbance and they are often indicators of ancient meadow or hedgerow.
Shame on Thoreau! I love those little yellow bladderwort flowers! And the fact that they are so interesting just makes me like them more!
I agree Martha. That comment was really out of character for Thoreau. All I can think of is that he was having a bad day. After all, we all have them.
The bladderwort are very difficult to photograph well because of their odd shape, I still haven’t figured out the best angle to shoot them at.
I didn’t know that creeping bellflowers were invasive, I see a few around here, but they seem to have trouble competing against the native plants.
I wonder if it was a false dandelion that I saw today. It looked like it grew from dandelion leaves, and I shot a test photo of it intending to come back later when the sun was at a different angle. However, when I did get back, the flower was closed, which wasn’t what a dandelion flower would do.
I wouldn’t want to mess with the arrow leaf tear thumb, I can see how it got its name!
I’ve tried shooting bladderworts from all angles in all kinds of light and I don’t think I’ve ever been truly happy with the results, so I feel your pain Jerry.
Yes, the bellflowers are invasive here and because of their root systems they’re very hard to get rid of once you have them. I like them and just leave them be but people will destroy them and then go out and spend 10 dollars apiece on campanula plants with flowers that look almost identical.
That could have been a false dandelion that you saw because they do close up. The flowers are at the end of one foot, wiry stems and are about as big as a nickel. Getting both the leaves and flowers in a single shot is tricky!
Yes, tearthumb taught me a long time ago that it wasn’t to be trifled with. My arm got a good scratch from just trying to get a shot of the stem.
The flowers and colors of late summer and early fall are always so appreciated. I have lavender-purple asters in my garden; they play such an important role in getting be ready for the changing of the seasons.
Thank you Charlie. I agree; there’s nothing like a large colony of purple asters against a backdrop of orange maple leaves. It’s a beautiful time of year!
Another informative and enjoyable post, Allen. I used to see the purple asters in the canyons up north, but haven’t seen any down here that I can recall. It’s probably a little warm for them…. 🙂
Thank you Scott. No, I think asters would have a rough time of it in Arizona unless they were up higher in the hills. They like cooler temps like we have in the fall here.
You’re welcome, Allen….and I’m going up into the mountains of Flagstaff this coming Sunday, so I’ll keep my eyes open for some asters up there. The elevation of the trail I’m hiking will be between 9,300 and 12,000 with much cooler temps, so I might be in luck.
Good luck. I hope you see some but if not I’m sure there are many other plants to see.
What camera are you using for the closeups of the Beech Drops and Tearthumb? I usually can’t have a background like that without losing focus. I’m still using the Canon Powershot. Are you still using the small Panasonic for these closeups?
Hi David,
Yes, I still use the Panasonic but I dropped it and it goes out of whack every now and then so I’ve been looking for a new one. So far nothing can touch it when it comes to macro capability and image stabilization so I’ll probably just go with the latest version of it, which is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-SZ10.
Perhaps Thoreau had an unpleasant experience with a woman in a yellow bonnet. His words do seem a bit harsh. The soapwort is really pretty. I have SO much of the tearthumb near my pond. I can attest to the sharpness of the prickles!! Give me a shout out next time you divide the turtlehead if you have any extras, I’d love some. On my last kayak down the Contoocook river, I found a bunch of white turtleheads. They sure were pretty!
That comment by Thoreau is hard to figure. It doesn’t sound like him at all.
Those pink turtleheads would like to live near a pond, but it would be a job keeping the tearthumb plants off them. I’ll take a look at mine and see if it’s ready to be divided again.
I loved the colour of that aster and thought you were clever to catch the bladderwort, another pretty flower.
Thank you Susan. Bladderworts do have pretty flowers but they’re hard to get a good look at.