Forked bluecurls (Trichostema dichotomum) is a small annual forb in the Lamiaceae, easy to miss because the flowers are small, too. It’s worth stopping to take a close look, though, because the color is stunning, and mint family flowers are just nifty.
For detailed information about forked bluecurls, see this post from 2016.
Many thanks to my friend B for posting about this find on social media; I hadn’t seen forked bluecurls in years, and dropped everything to go photograph them.
Earlier this month, while searching the riverbank for showy flowers, I stumbled across two new-to-me flowering plants. Quite a surprise, considering how many species I’ve catalogued in the gorge over the past seven years.
The first was growing among cardinal flowers. I knew right away that it was in the mint family, and it didn’t take long to key out once I got home. Scutellaria lateriflora, aka mad-dog skullcap, is a medium-height forb of wet, sunny areas.
It appears to be one of the most widespread species of Scutellaria, occurring in almost all of North America except for the desert West and parts of western and northern Canada. The flowers are tiny, less than one centimeter long, and are borne on terminal and axillary racemes*.
The other find was ditch stonecrop, Penthorum sedoides. Older wildflower guides place this species in the stonecrop family (Crassulaceae), and very old guides place it in the Saxifragaceae; currently it is placed in a family of it’s own, Penthoraceae, with only one other species (P. chinense) and no other genera.
It does look like our native woodland stonecrop, but the plants aren’t succulent, and they prefer wet soils (unlike woodland stonecrop, which likes dry soils)**.
Ditch stonecrop ranges from Quebec to Florida, going west into the prairie; also one small area along the Oregon/Washington border, and maybe British Columbia. Probably it was introduced in these Pacific Northwest areas.
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*Illinois Wildflowers Dr. John Hilty
**Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast Laura Cotterman, Damon Waitt, and Alan Weakley (Timber Press, 2019)
It was raining, and the forecast said rain all week, but then there was a window of a few hours between downpours. Thinking about the plants that might be Scutellaria nervosa, I decided to take the camera on a quick hike to the site and check. I was sure they wouldn’t be flowering yet, since a week before they had just the tiniest little buds on them.
I was wrong: they were already flowering. But, I was right: they are S. nervosa!
Veiny skullcap is one of ten Scutellaria species found in Maryland. All are native, and half of them are on the RTE list (veiny is ranked S1S2). The species is globally secure; the only other jurisdiction listing it is Michigan, where it’s threatened. Its native range is more or less the Ohio River basin and somewhat east of that into the mid-Atlantic states.
This is a slender forb growing to about a foot tall, with a single stem. The lower stem leaves are ovate and dentate, and may have short petioles, while the upper leaves are elliptical, less dentate or almost entire, and sessile. The upper leaf surfaces are lightly covered in hairs, and the margins are more densely hairy.
The light blue, pendant flowers are borne in pairs in the upper leaf axils. They aren’t very showy, and sometimes they hide under the leaves, so they’re easy to miss.
If you find veiny skullcap in Maryland please post in the comments section! We have very few records for this species.
I took this picture four years ago when still fairly new to photography, learning to use a new lens (105mm macro) and not sure what I was doing. Lying on my belly to get some close-up shots of miniscule blossoms on other plants, I happened to see these little pendant blue flowers and shot them, too. I had no idea what the plants were.
Later at home I keyed them out to veiny skullcap (Scutellaria nervosa). And then I learned that the species was listed S1 and endangered in Maryland!
Currently it’s listed S1/S2 endangered, with a status change to threatened pending. According to the Maryland DNR,
S1: Critically Imperiled/Highly State Rare—At very high risk of extinction or extirpation due to very restricted range, very few populations or occurrences, very steep declines, very severe threats, or other factors. Typically occurring in five or fewer populations.
S2: Imperiled/State Rare—At high risk of extinction or extirpation due to restricted range, few populations or occurrences, steep declines, severe threats, or other factors. Typically occurring in 6-20 populations.
Endangered: A species whose continued existence as a viable component of Maryland’s flora is determined to be in jeopardy.
I went back as soon as I could to get better pictures, but couldn’t find the plants, despite knowing exactly where to look (geotagged with iPhone). And I’ve hunted for them every year since, but have never found them.
Until a few days ago.
I won’t be positive until they bloom, but the appearance of the leaves and stem, coupled with flower bud location (in the upper leaf axils), leaves little doubt.
Fingers crossed.
Continuing with pretty pictures during this cold season. It’s a thin line between blue and purple. Color is a continuum. Color is in the eye of the beholder. If some of these look more blue or pink than purple, well, c’est la vie.
Triodanis perfoliata (Venus’ looking glass; Campanulaceae)
Look for this annual forb growing in rocky places where there isn’t much competition from other plants. It generally blooms from about mid May into early June here in the Maryland piedmont.
Clinopodium vulgare (wild basil; Lamiaceae)
A perennial forb with circumboreal distribution. Look for the flowers in the height of summer.
Cunila origanoides (common dittany; Lamiaceae)
A perennial native to North America, and found mostly in the mid West and mid Atlantic. It blooms in late summer.
Elephantopus caroliniana (Carolina elephant’s foot; Asteraceae)
A rather weedy-looking plant with a fascinating inflorescence. Click on the picture and look closely; you’ll see that this is actually four disk flowers, each with a five-lobed corolla. The species is native to the southeastern US (Maryland is almost as far north as it goes). It blooms in late summer.
Eutrochium purpureum (sweet joe-pye weed; Asteraceae).
The joe-pye weeds (formerly Eupatorium species) are perennials that love wet places, but this particular species tolerates drier soils and is a great native for the home garden, with dramatic heads of colorful flowers towering above most other forbs. And it attracts butterflies. Blooms in late summer.
Mentha arvensis (field mint; Lamiaceae)
Another mint-family plant with circumboreal distribution. Another late-summer bloomer.
Mimulus alatus (winged monkeyflower; Phrymaceae)
Watch for this wetland plant and its almost identical cousin M. ringens var. ringens (Allegheny monkeyflower) blooming in early to mid summer.
Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot; Lamiaceae)
The mint family sure is represented well here. Look for it in mid summer, possibly covered in bees and butterflies.
Phlox divaricata (woodland phlox, wild blue phlox; Polemoniaceae)
As you can see this flower ranges from almost white through lighter and stronger shades of blue and purple. They bloom at about the same time as Virginia bluebells. Bluebells grow in the floodplain while this phlox grows just upland of the floodplain, in still moist (but not wet) woodland soils.
Physostegia virginiana (obedient plant; Lamiaceae)
Yet another mint family mid summer bloomer. Watch for it on rocky outcrops and gravel bars in the Potomac.
Ruellia caroliniensis (hairy wild petunia; Acanthaceae)
In Maryland this species is found mostly in the Coastal Plain; in the piedmont it’s restricted to a few sites near the Potomac River (as far as I know – please leave a comment if you know otherwise). Watch for it in late spring and early summer.
Trichostema dichotomum (forked bluecurls; Lamiaceae)
Blue or purple, or splitting the difference? Whatever. This is a most striking plant, one of those OMG finds. Well it was for me, anyway. What a lurid color. Late summer, dry soils, open areas. Yow.
Verbena hastata (blue vervain, swamp verbena, Verbenaceae)
As one of the common names suggests, you’ll find this in wetlands, blooming anywhere from late June to mid August. This is an extreme closeup; the plants are rather tall but the inflorescences rather small.
Vernonia noveboracensis (New York ironweed; Asteraceae)
All ray flowers with strongly exserted stigmas, no disk flowers. Very tall plant, wispy appearance. Likes wet soils. Blooms in mid to late summer.
Viola palmata (early blue violet, three-loved violet; Violaceae)
Violet taxonomy is in flux, and violet species can be difficult to differentiate. This one is relatively easy because of the unusual leaf shape, although even that can be highly variable. Look for it in mid spring in drier woodlands.
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