Flower of the Day: Indian Tobacco

Posted on August 6, 2014 by elizabeth

aka pukeweed; Lobelia inflata; Campanulaceae (bellflower family)

This eastern North American native forb grows to about three feet tall in partly sunny areas with moist soils. The flowers are about 1/3″ wide. The internet is full of interesting claims about the medicinal uses of this plant; some sources simply state that it’s poisonous and shouldn’t be used at all, while others note its use by Native Americans for a variety of purposes, including treatment of respiratory ailments, as an emetic, and as an entheogenic (go ahead and click, I had to look it up, too).

For more on medicinal uses, including current practices, check out the University of Maryland Medical Center page.

The next photo shows what I call the “five foot view”: this is what I see when walking along (my eyes being about five feet above ground level).

One little spot of color and I’m down on my knees having a closer look. Shame about all the Japanese stiltgrass, though.

The List for July

Posted on August 5, 2014 by elizabeth

Plants first seen blooming during July, 2014

Natives:

pokeweed
swamp thistle
northern sea oats
buttonbush
starry campion
basil balm
St. Andrew’s cross
nodding onion
bushy St. Johnswort
naked-flower ticktrefoil
white vervain
lizard’s tail
white-topped aster
honeyvine
fogfruit
wild potato vine
slender nettle
common milkweed
common arrowhead
spotted St. Johnswort
swamp milkweed
Allegheny monkeyflower
Indian tobacco
yellow passionflower
jumpseed
lopseed
common agrimony
American germander
wood nettle
false pimpernel
early goldenrod
culver’s root
shrubby St. Johnswort
smooth sumac
woodland sunflower
Indian hemp
tall coneflower
wild mint
Carolina elephantsfoot
halberd-leaved rosemallow
sweet joe-pye weed
seedbox
blue vervain
swamp candles
butterfly pea
white snakeroot
hairy boneset
cranefly orchid

Aliens:

queen Anne’s lace
wild parsnip
yellow sweet clover
spotted knapweed
common St. Johnswort
tumble mustard
carpetweed
common mullein
white sweet clover
burdock
bouncing bet
common plantain
jimson-weed
hedge parsley
Asiatic dayflower

for a year’s total of 269 species in 77 families.

And here’s a picture of a zebra swallowtail on spotted knapweed:

Flower of the Day: Jumpseed (a mid-summer LWF)

Posted on August 4, 2014 by elizabeth

Polygonum virginianum, aka Persicaria virginiana and several others; Polygonaceae (buckwheat family)

Most of the LWFs* I wrote about earlier in the season were tiny little flowers on tiny little plants. This one is a tiny little flower on a very large inflorescence on a medium-sized plant. The plant grows about three feet tall, and usually sports only a single foot (or more) long flower spike with dozens of buds; only a few open at a time, and each flower is less than 1/8″ across.

Jumpseed is found throughout woodlands in North America, from northern Quebec south through Florida and west to Texas.

*little white flowers

Flower of the Day: Butterfly Pea

Posted on August 3, 2014 by elizabeth

aka Atlantic pigeonwings*; Clitoria mariana; Fabaceae (pea family)

*or, possibly, “Maryland lady-parts”

The same day I found culver’s root while scrambling about on rocks, I found this plant. It, too, was climbing over rocks. It’s a vine, liking rocky habitats and sunlight. Though I found several plants, I only found the one flower (and two days later, still only one flower). It grows throughout the eastern US through the Great Plains and the desert southwest, but is endangered in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Only one other natives species of Clitoria grows in the US, and that only in Florida.

About the genus name… I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right. First described by a German botanist in 1678. I thought maybe “mariana” was his girlfriend, which is dubiously romantic. “Honey, I named a flower after you.” But according to several different sources, the specific epithet “mariana” means “of Maryland”. So you could also call this flower “Maryland lady parts”. As a Maryland native I’m not sure how I feel about that.

Apparently over the years botanists have been offended by the genus name and have tried to change it; Wikipedia has a nice little discussion on the topic..

Flower of the Day: Culver’s Root

Posted on August 2, 2014 by elizabeth

Veronicastrum virginicum; Scrophulariaceae (figwort family)

Look at that thing standing tall and proud. This was another lucky find in an unexpected place, down a rock scramble close to the river near Carderock. Big damn plant (4 feet tall) that I would never have found if I hadn’t decided “what the heck, go have a look over there”. I love when that happens.

Of course, it was growing in a spot where I couldn’t begin to get close enough for macro shots. I was precariously perched on boulders doing Photographers’ Yoga just to get these shots, but used Lightroom to zoom in on this one:

Culver’s root was named for a physician who used the plant medicinally. It can be found from the Great Plains of North America all the way east to the Atlantic, growing in the sun (or part shade) in rich (or slightly sandy) and moist (or dry) soils. In other words, it’s pretty adaptable and would make a fine garden plant. It is threatened in Massachusetts and New York and endangered in Vermont.

Here’s the USDA fact sheet.

Young and dainty:

Elizabeth's Wildflower Blog

hunting in the Maryland piedmont (mostly)

Monthly Archives: August 2014