Monthly Archives: June 2022

What Wildflower Begins Blooming This Week? (June week 4)

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This week, I’m featuring Fringed Loosestrife (Lysimachia ciliata) as one of our local wildflowers that begins to bloom at this time.

The live plant is said to repel gnats and flies.  Some people use a smudge fire of this plant as an effective repellant for flies during the summer.

The genus name is from the Greek for either King Lysimachus or from lysis meaning “a release from” and mache is for “strife”.  The legend is that Lysimachus, king of Sicily, was walking through a field when a bull chased him.  He grabbed a loosestrife plant, waved it in front of the bull and it calmed the bull.  In general then, both the common and the generic name refers to a supposed power to soothe animals or “loose” them of their “strife”.

Identification Tips:

This herbaceous perennial wildflower is 1-4′ tall, unbranched or sparingly branched, and more or less erect.  Pairs of opposite leaves occur at intervals along the length of each stem.  The leaves are up to 6″ long and 2½” across; each is medium green in color, lanceolate to ovate in shape with hairless surfaces and smooth margins.  Leaf stems (petioles) are up to 1½” long with conspicuous spreading hairs.

Photo Credit: (c) 2009 K. Chayka, https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/fringed-loosestrife#lboxg-4

Along the axils (point on the main stem where the buds or shoots develop) of the middle to upper leaves, individual flowers occur on pedicels (a stalk bearing a single flower within a cluster) and each usually droops or appears to nod downward.  These pedicels are slender, light green, and hairless.  Each flower is ½–1″ across; it has a green hairless calyx with 5 lanceolate teeth and a corolla with 5 widely spreading petal-like lobes that taper to slender pointed tips.  Blooms are often reddish near the center of the flower, where the reproductive organs occur.  The blooming period lasts about 1½ months with, usually, only a few flowers in bloom at the same time.

Fringed Loosestrife

Each flower is replaced by a single round seed capsule that is green and shiny; it is surrounded by the spreading teeth of the persistent calyx.  At maturity, it turns brown and opens into five sections containing 25 to 40 seeds.

Photo Credit: (c) G. Bebeau, https://www.friendsofthewildflowergarden.org/pages/plants/fringedloosestrife.html

Folklore:

In his 1597 manual, English herbalist John Gerard wrote about a use of fresh plants tucked into the yokes of oxen, “appeasing the strife and unrulinesse which falleth out among oxen at the plough…”  Because the plant is known to repel gnats and other irritating insects, that may explain why the animals were easier to handle.

Pliny the Elder wrote that the odor of loosestrife would keep snakes away.

Culinary and Medicinal Uses:

Medicinally this plant is largely astringent with some diaphoretic (promoting sweating and perspiration) and emetic (causing vomiting) properties.

Wildlife Value:

This plant is notable in that it is one of the few species of Lysimachia to bear elaiophores, that is, to offer oil instead of nectar as a reward to pollinators.  Read more about this unique flower feature and the floral oil it produces.

The floral oil and pollen of the flowers attract the Melittid Bee (Macropis steironematis), which is a specialist visitor (oligolege) of Lysimachia spp.; it collects the floral oil and pollen to make pollen balls to feed its larvae.  Indeed, all bees in the genus Macropis rely on an oil-producing Lysimachia species.  Another specialist, the Nude Yellow Loosestrife Bee (Macropis nuda), relies only on Fringed Loosestrife from which it forages to supply its nest.  Female bees of this species have dense hairs on its legs and under its abdomen as unique adaptations to collect and carry these oils, which are used to line their nest walls and also mixed with pollen to feed their larvae.

Photo Credit: Cane, Jim & Eickwort, George & Wesley, F. Robert & Spielholz, Joan. (1983). Foraging, Grooming and Mate-seeking Behaviors of Macropis nuda (Hymenoptera, Melittidae) and Use of Lysimachia ciliata (Primulaceae) Oils in Larval Provisions and Cell Linings. Amer.Midl.Natur.. 110. 257-264. 10.2307/2425267.

Experienced Sweat Bee (Lasioglossum versatum) have also been observed collecting pollen from the flowers of Fringed Loosestrife.  Fringed Loosestrife is the larval host plant for the Blurry Patched Nola Moth (Nola cilicoide).

Little appears to be known about this wildflower’s relationships with birds and mammals.

Where Found Locally:

Welcome to Summer!

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With the extended daylight that the summer solstice brings, it offers the best opportunity of the year to get out and enjoy the outdoors.

Observe nature at a local preserve.  Listen to the calls and songs of birds in your backyard.  Go fishing or kayaking.  Forage for some wild edibles.  Take a tour of any of the area bike trails.

ripe Common Blackberry fruit

ripe Common Blackberry fruit

To celebrate and enjoy all those hours of daylight, we all should consider the opportunity to observe nature in a variety of sunlit settings: dawn, mid-day and twilight. Each will offer unique lighting (great for photography) as well as contrasting opportunities to view wildlife.

Fawn along Wetland Meadow trail - Woodcock Preserve

Fawn along Wetland Meadow trail – Woodcock Preserve

Here is a list of a variety of nature-based outings for your consideration.

Enjoy your summer.  Happy trails!

Sampler #2 of Late Spring Season Wildflowers along the Mohawk Hudson Bike-Hike Trail

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Since summer arrives tomorrow, I wanted to share one last sampler of late spring season wildflowers that I’ve recently encountered along the Mohawk Hudson Bike-Hike Trail while continuing my wildflower inventory. I’m focusing on the segment in the City of Cohoes and the Town of Colonie. Kevin Kenny has created an iNaturalist project named Flowers of the Mohawk Hudson Bike-Hike Trail that is aggregating our contributions. He is inventorying the next ~8-mile stretch immediately west of my segment.

Hope you find an opportunity to view these blooming beauties now on display!

Hedge Bindweed (Calystegia sepium) – Read more about this plant.
Thimbleweed (Anemone virginiana) – Read more about this plant.
Deptford Pink (Dianthus armeria) – Read more about this plant.
Spreading Dogbane (Apocynum androsaemifolium)
Read more about this plant from one of my What Wildflower Begins Blooming This Week? posts.
Hop Trefoil (Trifolium campestre) – Read more about this plant.
Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) – Read more about this plant.
New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus)
Read more about this plant from one of my What Wildflower Begins Blooming This Week? posts.
Northern Bedstraw (Galium boreale) – Read more about this plant.
Pasture Rose (Rosa carolina) – Read more about this plant.
Common Bladderwort (Utricularia vulgaris ssp. macrorhiza)
Read more about this plant in an upcoming edition of What Wildflower Begins Blooming This Week?, which will be posted Saturday morning on 7/9/2022.
Whorled Loosestrife (Lysimachia quadrifolia) – Read more about this plant.
Foxglove Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis)
Read more about this plant from one of my What Wildflowers Begins Blooming This Week? posts.
Yellow Wood Sorrel (Oxalis stricta) – Read more about this plant.
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) – Read more about this plant.
Water Hemlock (Cicuta maculata) – Read more about this plant.

Happy trails!

What Wildflower Begins Blooming This Week? (June week 3)

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This week, I’m featuring Shinleaf (Pyrola elliptica) as one of our local wildflowers that begins to bloom at this time.

Shinleaf is the most common species of Pyrola and it is one of the few eastern woodland plants to flower in summer in deep shade.  Contrastingly, in a 1990s study conducted in Massachusetts, Shinleaf was one of the few understory plants that still had not recovered since the forest canopy was blown down in a 1935 hurricane, even though the forest trees had largely regenerated.

Identification Tips:

Shinleaf is an erect perennial, about four or five to ten or twelve inches tall.  Botanists classify this species as a subshrub.  The oblong (elliptical) leaves are green and one to 2 ¾ inches long with barely noticeable teeth all around the edges.  A semi-lustrous rosette of papery green leaves grows at ground level.  The leaf stalk is generally as long as, or slightly shorter than, the leaf blade.

Photo Credit: (c) 2008 K. Chayka, https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/shinleaf#lboxg-2

The fragrant, nodding flowers bloom on unbranched, hairless 6-10” stalks with reddish stemlets and green veins.  Each stalk has a raceme of 3 to 21 white, greenish-white or yellowish-green, waxy flowers that appear in an alternating pattern on all sides along the upper part of the stem.  Due to their appearance, the flowers are the basis for another common name:   Waxflower Shinleaf.  Each flower is about ⅓ inch wide with five oval petals (with greenish veins) and a cluster of orange-tipped stamens under the upper petals.  The flowers also have a pale green style that curves down and out below the lower petals like an elephant’s trunk.  The sepals are triangular, about as long as wide and about ¼ as long as the petals.

Shinleaf

The flowers are followed by fruit, which is a flattened, round, five-chambered capsule about ¼ inch in diameter with the remains of the style attached at the bottom.

Photo Credit: (c) 2008 K. Chayka, https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/shinleaf#lboxg-3

The plant stem and seed capsules often persist through winter, aiding their identification.

Culinary and Medicinal Uses:

No edible uses were found for Shinleaf.

The common name is in reference to the medicinal properties of the plant.  The leaves are said to have analgesic properties and were used as a poultice on bruised shins and other sores and wounds.  Such a leaf plaster was referred to as a shin plaster.  American Indians used the plant to treat several ailments.  The Cherokee, for instance, used it as a dermatological aid for cuts and sores.  The Iroquois reportedly gave babies a decoction of roots and leaves to relieve fits or epileptic seizures; they also used a decoction of the whole plant as eye drops to treat sore eyes, sties and inflamed eyelids.  In addition, the Iroquois used a compound infusion of plants for rheumatism.  The Mohegans are said to have used an infusion of leaves as a gargle for sores or cankers in the mouth.

Wildlife Value:

Shinleaf has negligible value as a source of food for wildlife.

Much like wintergreens, Shinleaf is insect pollinated, most commonly by flies.  The rather large and complex stigma is believed to be an adaptation to ensure that small insects carrying pollen have an attractive landing place.

Shinleaf plants, along with other Pyrolas, are reportedly eaten in minimal amounts by Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus).

Where Found Locally:

What Wildflower Begins Blooming This Week? (June week 2)

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This week, I’m featuring Large Blue Flag (Iris versicolor) as one of our local wildflowers that begins to bloom at this time.

The name “flag” is from the middle English flagge, meaning “rush” or “reed.”

Henry David Thoreau once acknowledged this plant’s showy flowers, saying, “It belongs to the meadow and ornaments it much.”  Similarly, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote of the flower:

Born in the purple, born to joy and pleasance

Thou dost not toil nor spin

But makest glad and radiant with thy presence

The meadow and the lin.

Sadly, Yellow Iris (Iris pseudoacorus) is an invasive garden escapee that is replacing Iris versicolor in some locations, including locally at Vischer Ferry Nature and Historic Preserve.

Mixed with water, the flowers of Large Blue Flag can produce a blue dye that acts like litmus paper, turning red when exposed to an acid, or back to blue if the substance is alkaline.

Identification Tips:

A graceful, sword-leaved perennial plant arising from a basal cluster of leaves that grows 2-3 feet tall.  The leaves have veins, appear to be folded at the center, and are often purplish red at the base.  Stem leaves rarely rise above the flowers.

The sturdy flowering stems emerging from the base are smooth with a waxy surface and each bears three to five flowers (each 2½ to 4 inches wide) that may be variably colored blue to lavender and purple, infrequently red-purple and rarely pale blue – hence the species name of ‘versicolor.’  The blooms are formed of three small upright petals (called “standards”) and three drooping sepals (called “falls”) with a pale yellowish to greenish spot in the throat and prominent blue-purple veins radiating from it.

Large Blue Flag

Bees use the large drooping sepals as landing platforms and the special markings on each direct the bees to the nectar glands.  Bees can’t help rubbing against the pollen-bearing anther, but this flower part is positioned so that those grains can’t fall onto the stigma, which would result in self-fertilization and lead to poor-quality seeds.  Instead, the visiting bee must crawl under the tip of a style and brush past a stigma and stamen, thus depositing the pollen collected from other flowers that had been adhering to their bodies, and thereby facilitating cross-pollination.

Large Blue Flag

Fruit is an oblong, 3-celled, bluntly angled capsule around 1-1/3 to 2¼ inches long and about 1/3 as wide.  The dark brown seeds are covered in a corky deposit that allows them to distribute by floating in water.  The capsules often persist through winter.

Photo Credit: (c) 2013 Peter M. Dziuk,
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/harlequin-blueflag#lboxg-3
Photo Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iris_versicolor#/media/File:Iris_versicolor_MHNT.BOT.2009.7.16.jpg

Folklore:

Through the years, iris flowers have symbolized power, with the three parts representing wisdom, faith and courage.  The iris is also considered to be a magical plant, with people carrying the root (or rhizome) to get ‘financial gain.’

Culinary and Medicinal Uses:

No reported uses for food because the entire plant is poisonous due to the presence of iridin, especially within its rhizomes (roots).

Nevertheless, American Indians medicinally used this plant on burns, swellings, and sores and also for liver and kidney disease.  Drugs containing iridin were once produced from the plant and used as diuretics.  Iridin was once long listed in the United States Pharmacopoeia.

Wildlife Value:

Large Blue Flag has limited value as a food source for wildlife.  Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) and short-tongued bees are pollinators of its flowers.  Several non-pollinating nectar feeders are frequent flower visitors, including Harris Checkerspot (Chlosyne harrisii) and Hobomok Skipper (Poanes hobomok).

Where Found Locally:

What Wildflower Begins Blooming This Week? (June week 1)

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This week, I’m featuring Virginia Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum) as one of our local wildflowers that begins to bloom at this time.

The common name is derived from the water-stained appearance of its leaves.

Identification Tips:

This herbaceous perennial plant is 1-2′ tall, branching sparingly.  The stems are green, reddish green, or reddish brown, they are purplish at the leaf nodes, and they are smooth to slightly hairy.  When they are present, these hairs are appressed (flattened against the stem).  Alternate leaves are up to 6 inches long and 4 inches wide and deeply divided into 3, 5 or 7 deep lobes (each relatively narrow with an acute tip) with coarsely toothed edges and sharply pointed tips; they are sometimes slightly hairy.  The earliest leaves often have scattered whitish spots on them, resembling water stains, but they fade with age and don’t develop on later leaves.  The leaf stems (petioles) are up to 2″ long, light green to reddish brown, and smooth to short-pubescent; they are flat or furrowed along their upper sides and convex below.  The plant begins to go dormant in early summer and disappears later in the year.

The leaves may be solid green (L) or vary in the amount of spotting (LC-R) that resembles water stains. Photo Credit: https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/virginia-waterleaf-hydrophyllum-virginianum/

Flowers are in loose rounded clusters about 2 inches across at the end of a long stem.  Before opening, each flower bud is covered by densely hairy sepals, making them have a swirling, woolly appearance.

Photo Credit:
https://urbanecologycenter.org/blog/wisconsin-wildflowers-virginia-waterleaf-hydrophyllum-virginianum.html

The flowers have an interesting and uncommon form — a helicoid cyme; the flower clusters unfurl from a coil, and the individual flowers open along the coil in succession.

Source:
https://flameinstitute.com/what-are-the-types-of-cymose-inflorescence/

Individual flowers are tubular to bell-shaped, about ½ inch long and 1-2” across, with 5 lobes and long protruding hairy stamens with pale yellow tips that turn brown with age.   Lobes spread apart only slightly when the flower is fully open.  Flower color ranges from pale violet to pinkish to white.  There are 5 long narrow sepals with feathery edges under the flower head.  Each plant has 1 or 2 clusters (cymes) of 8-20 flowers on a stem, and may have multiple stems.  The flowering stalks (or peduncles) of these cymes are up to 4″ long.

Photo Credit: Kerry Wixted, https://www.marylandbiodiversity.com/view/2450

Each flower is replaced by a seed capsule that splits open to release its two seeds, each of which is spherical, brown, and pitted.

Photo Credit:
http://www.kusemuseum-naturepreserve.org/Media/docs/Plants/FlowersWild/WaterleafFamily/VirginiaWaterleafInformat.pdf
Photo Credit:
https://www.prairiemoon.com/hydrophyllum-virginianum-virginia-waterleaf-prairie-moon-nursery.html

Occasionally, this plant forms colonies.  However, populations of Virginia Waterleaf will decline in response to invasion from Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata).

Culinary and Medicinal Uses:

The Iroquois and Menomini ate the young plants and leaves after cooking them as a potherb.  Additional common names for this plant include John’s Cabbage and Shawnee Salad, both of which are in reference to the young edible leaves and shoots as an addition to salads.  Flower buds (for a textural addition) may be mixed with its leaves along with other greens for a mixed salad.  Leaves become slightly bitter with age.

The plant is used by the Menomini, Iroquois and Ojibwe for medicine.  Root tea was once used as an astringent to stop bleeding and for diarrhea and dysentery.  Roots have been used as a mild emetic to cause vomiting.  Tea or mashed roots were once used to treat cracked lips and mouth sores.  Modern herbalists consider Virginia Waterleaf to be a first-rate astringent and use it as a remedy for those with oral sores.

Wildlife Value:

At least two specialist pollinators use Virginia Waterleaf, the Waterleaf Miner Bee (Andrena geranii) and the Waterleaf Cuckoo Bee (Nomada hydrophylli).  (NOTE:  The common name of Waterleaf Cuckoo Bee comes from the facts that it exclusively relies upon Waterleaf (any of its specific species) for its existence and also because it practices cleptoparasitism.  Like the cuckoo bird that lays its eggs in the nests of other species that wind up raising the cuckoo chicks, cuckoo bees lay their eggs on the pollen stores in the nests of other bee species.  Thus, the other bees feed and raise the Nomada larvae into adults.)

The nectar and pollen of the flowers also attract bumblebees, Halictid bees, long-horned bees (Synhalonia spp.), mason bees (such as Blue Orchard Bee, Osmia lignaria), small carpenter bees, sweat bees, yellow-faced bees, and bee flies (Bombyliidae).  Syrphid flies sometimes feed on the pollen of the flowers, but they are less effective at cross-pollination.

Female Bumblebee on Virginia Waterleaf flowers
Photo Credit:
https://www.houzz.com/magazine/great-design-plant-hydrophyllum-virginianum-stsetivw-vs~34868359

A female mason bee (Osmia sp.) approaching the flowers
Photo Credit:
https://www.houzz.com/magazine/great-design-plant-hydrophyllum-virginianum-stsetivw-vs~34868359

The foliage is browsed by White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) occasionally.

Where Found Locally: