Tag Archives: Packera

What’s Up? Yellow

Posted on by
2

Still no time to write anything substantial. Here are some yellow flowers, now (or recently) blooming in the Maryland piedmont.

 

 

a yellow haze of spicebush flowers (Lindera benzoin; Lauraceae)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

another flowering shrub, leatherwood (Dirca palustris; Thymelaeaceae), S2/threatened in Maryland

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

trout lilies (Erythronium americanum; Liliaceae) will be blooming for another week or so in the Potomac gorge

 

 

 

 

 

 

Corydalis flavula (short-spurred corydalis or yellow fumewort; Papaveraceae)

 

 

one very early sessile bellwort (Uvularia sessilifolia; Liliaceae); watch for more in the next week or so in the gorge, maybe a week after that further north and west in the piedmont

 

 

masses of golden ragwort (Packera aurea; Asteraceae) are blooming now along the Potomac; watch for them on the eastern part of Billy Goat C

 

 

smooth yellow violet, aka yellow forest violet  (Viola pubescens var. scabriuscula; Violaceae)

 

I Am So Ready

Posted on by
3

What a winter this has been! Temperatures bouncing around, crazy amounts of rain, or sleet, or snow, or any combination of the three… My favorite trails are all a mess of slick mud.

<–a single harbinger-of-spring plant emerging on March 6, 2019

blooming (February 28, 2018) –>

 

 

 

 

Nonetheless I’ve taken a few quick hikes to see if anything’s coming up yet. Last year on March 5, round-lobed hepatica was blooming on the Cabin John Trail, along with a single incredibly early Virginia bluebell. This year on March 5, I saw a single clump of hepatica leaves, without buds.

^ one spring beauty with two buds, March 6, 2019

blooming (April 10, 2018) –>

 

 

On the Billy Goat trails last year I saw the earliest harbingers-of-spring and spring beauties on February 28. This year on March 6, I saw a single harbinger plant barely up, one spring beauty with two buds, a single golden ragwort budding up, and quite a few Virginia bluebell plants poking out of the mud.

^ golden ragwort in bud, March 6, 2019

 blooming (April 5, 2017) –>

 

 

 

It’s going to be an interesting year. Flood damage in the Potomac Gorge is the worst I’ve seen in six years of monitoring the area. Alien invasives are starting to emerge from the mud and sand; did the floods do any real harm to those populations? Will that allow the natives a chance to grow better, or were they equally affected?

^ Virginia bluebells emerging from the mud, March 6, 2019

a stupidly early Virginia bluebell opening on March 5, 2018 –>

 

Hang in there, friends –spring is almost here.

Virginia bluebells carpeting the floodplain (April 10, 2017)

Heart-Shaped Basal Leaves

Posted on by
1

At this time of year many plants are putting out – or have already have put out – heart-shaped leaves that stay close to the ground. Like the violets in my last post, for example. Or like these, which belong to wild ginger (Asarum canadense).  —>

I was thinking recently about two other species with similar cordate basal leaves. When young, they are easily confused with each other, at least at first glance. Luckily, I was able to find both growing right next to each other!

<—At bottom center in this photo is a particularly despised alien invasive called garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata). Surrounding it is a much-loved native called golden ragwort (Packera aurea, formerly Senecio aureus). Here’s a little primer on how to tell them apart.

 

These are leaves of golden ragwort. ->

Note that the leaf edges are somewhat crenate (scalloped), almost serrate, and that the leaf vein pattern is pinnate. The underside of the leaf has a purplish blush. 

 

This one belongs to garlic mustard. –>

The leaf edges are clearly scalloped rather than toothed. The leaf venation is also pinnate, but also netted, giving the leaf a bit of a crinkled appearance.

 

<— This is a stem leaf of golden ragwort. Look at how different it is from the stem leaves of garlic mustard [below], which look similar to the basal leaves. Also in this photo you can see the flower buds at top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are buds of golden ragwort. By the time the plants reach this stage, they are easy to tell apart.

 

 

 

 

And here they are in bloom.

 

 

 

Garlic mustard is in the Brassicaceae, a family which also includes several of our native spring ephemerals, like the toothworts and rockcresses. Golden ragwort is in the Asteraceae, and is by far the earliest blooming native of that family (in this region, anyway).

But First, a Quick Update

Posted on by
3

I went scouting on the Billy Goat C Trail Monday. Harbinger -of-spring is still blooming. More spring beauties are blooming.

Just a few Dutchman’s breeches are open.

 

 

 

 

As are cut-leaf toothwort.

 

 

 

 

And just a few golden ragwort.

 

 

 

 

Virginia bluebells are budding up nicely. A few more days of warm weather and the ephemerals show will be underway.

More Teasers

Posted on by
2

Odd weather we’ve had this winter. Unusually cold on average, but with unusually warm days. Plants are emerging and budding up and some are blooming already, as I reported in the last post. Anyway, here’s more of what we can look forward to in the next month or so.

Jeffersonia diphylla (twinleaf; Berberidaceae)

I usually see these plants in large stands, and all the plants in a stand seem to flower at the same time, but the flowers only last a few days. I’m going to start watching for them in mid-March this year.

Packera aurea (golden ragwort; Asteraceae)

This is the same species I posted a picture of on Wednesday, with the purple buds. Such a perky thing. The first species in the Asteraceae to bloom ’round here.

 

Sanguinaria canadensis (bloodroot; Papaveraceae)

Since bloodroot grows from rhizomes, when there’s more than one plant they’re often in a line.

 

 

Erythronium americanum (trout lily; Liliaceae)

 

 

 

Erythronium albidum (white trout lily; Liliaceae)

 

 

 

 

Trillium sessile (toadshade; Liliaceae)

Honestly my love for this plant comes from that common name. This is peak bloom; the flower petals don’t spread open. Yellow flowering forms can be found near Carderock.

 

Stellaria pubera (star chickweed; Caryophyllaceae)

It’s all about those stamens. And fun fact: each flower has five petals. The petals are so deeply cleft that a single petal appears to be two petals.

 

Thalictrum thalictroides (rue anemone; Ranunculaceae)

In botanical Latin the suffix                “-oides” means “resembling”. So this species is “Thalictrum that looks like Thalictrum”. Thalictrum is “from thaliktron, a name used to describe a plant with divided leaves”.*

Mertensia virginica (Virginia bluebells; Boraginaceae)

These will be carpeting floodplains and other very moist-soil areas in less than a month.

 

 

Phlox divaricata (wild blue phlox; Polemoniaceae)

Wild blue phlox starts blooming at about the same time as Virginia bluebells, but they last longer. It’s a glorious sight when these two and golden ragwort fill the woods.

 

*California Plant Names: Latin and Greek Meanings and Derivations
A Dictionary of Botanical and Biographical Etymology
Compiled by Michael L. Charters