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

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This week, I’m featuring Common Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium montanum) as one of our local wildflowers that begins to bloom at this time.

Common Blue-eyed Grass is actually a member of the iris family (family Iridaceae), which consists of herbs growing from rhizomes, bulbs, or corms, with narrow basal leaves and showy flower clusters at the tips of long stalks.

Description:

Common Blue-eyed Grass is a native North American perennial with a clump-forming growth habit and narrow blade-shaped leaves. Leaves are all basal, long and slender, grass-like, generally 5-10 inches long, the largest over 1/10 inch wide with smooth, almost waxy surfaces and very finely toothed edges. The flowering stems are also flattened, 1/10 to 1/8 inch wide, with a strong central vein and two distinct wings on the sides. The stem also has very finely toothed edges and often twists up to a full turn from base to tip.

Its star-like flowers are bright blue to deep violet with a yellow center, 5/8 to ¾ inch across with 6 tepals (three petals and three almost identical sepals, although the sepals are typically slightly wider than the petals – see photo below), the tips of which are usually notched with a small needle-like projection at its very tip.

Photo Credit: https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/blue-eyed-grass-sisyrinchium/

A bright spot at the base of each tepal creates a greenish to yellow throat, with a column of bright yellow-tipped stamens in the center. Flowers or borne in groups of 2 to 4 on short slender stalks with only 1 or 2 flowers open at a time, at the tip of a long leaf stem and enclosed by two narrow leaf-like bracts (spathe); flowers are overtopped by a pointed bract (see first photo below). The spathe (see second photo below) is typically green like the color of the leaves and stem, sometimes bronze or purplish, with the outer one up to 3 inches long and may be more than twice as long as the inner one. The edges of the outer spathe are joined for up to 1/8 inch at the base.

Photo Credit: (c) 2013 Peter M. Dziuk,
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/mountain-blue-eyed-grass#lboxg-2

The fruit is a round to oval capsule between 1/8 and ¼ inch long, on a slender stalk and divided into three sections (carpels), containing tiny black seeds.

Photo Credit: (c) 2011 Peter M. Dziuk,
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/mountain-blue-eyed-grass#lboxg-4

Culinary and Medicinal Uses:

No known uses as food.

American Indian tribes used the roots of Common Blue-eyed Grass to make a tea for treating diarrhea (especially in children), to cure stomachaches, and to expel intestinal worms. Herbalists have used these teas to treat menstrual disorders, for birth control, and as a laxative.

Wildlife Value:

The floral rewards of Common Blue-eyed Grass attract bee flies, bumble bees (including Brown-belted Bumble Bee (Bombus griseocollis), Half-black Bumble Bee (Bombus vagans), Red-belted Bumble Bee (Bombus rufocinctus), and Yellow Bumble Bee (Bombus fervidus)), Halictid bees, sweat bees, and Syrphid flies.

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia), Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) eat the seeds.

Where Found Locally:

Common Blue-eyed Grass can be found in moist fields, meadows, open shorelines, forest edges, and open woods.

National Wildflower Week 2024 – Day 6

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Lady Bird Johnson said wildflowers “give us a sense of where we are in this great land of ours.”

Always the first full week of May, National Wildflower Week commemorates the colorful blossoms that bring our landscapes to life.

To celebrate this week, I encourage you to visit one of our area nature preserves, parks or trails to view the wildflowers now in bloom locally. Each day of this week-long celebration, I’ll feature a local native wildflower that you may find in bloom at this time.

To continue this week’s focus on wildflowers and for your self-guided search today, I suggest that you go looking for Red Baneberry (Actaea rubra). See below for my suggestions as to where locally you can find this native forb.

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Red Baneberry is a bushy herbaceous perennial plant that is 1-3′ tall either unbranched or sparingly branched with large, highly-divided leaves. The central stem and any secondary stems are light green and smooth; leaf stems are up to 6” long, light green, and smooth. Each plant has 1-4 alternate leaves that are thrice divided, becoming widely spreading. Leaflets are 1¼–3½” long and coarsely toothed along their margins. The upper leaf surface is medium green and smooth, while the lower leaf surface is slightly more pale and either smooth or hairy along the major veins.

Above the foliage are dense, globular clusters of small white flowers. The fruit is an attractive, but poisonous, red berry.

The central stem and any secondary stems terminate in solitary racemes of flowers that are 1-2″ long; these racemes become slightly longer when the flowers are replaced by berries. Each flower is about ¼” across or slightly wider, consisting of 4-10 white widely spreading petals that are individually narrowly elliptic in shape, and 15-40 white, long and showy stamens. The ascending to widely spreading flower stems (pedicels) within each raceme are ~½” long (or slightly more) and noticeably more slender than the central stalk (rachis) of the raceme. The flowers have a rosy fragrance and the numerous stamens give each cluster a feathery appearance.

The main way of distinguishing Red Baneberry from White Baneberry (Actaea pachypoda), whether in flower or in fruit, is the thickness of the pedicel. The flower stalks of White Baneberry are noticeably thicker than the slender flower stalks of Red Baneberry. This difference is most pronounced after the flowers fade and are replaced by fruit. The stalks supporting White Baneberry fruit thicken and turn a bright red, while the stalks of Red Baneberry fruit are significantly more slender and remain green or greenish brown.

Afterwards, fertile flowers are replaced by bright red, glossy, ovoid berries that become about ¼ inch long at maturity. Each berry contains a fleshy pulp and several seeds. Individual seeds are about ⅛ inch long, reddish brown, and crescent-shaped.

Where Found:

Habitats include moist to mesic woodlands, shady stream banks, and shaded areas where some seepage of ground water occurs. Red Baneberry is shade-tolerant and can grow in moderate to full shade, doing best in light to moderate shade. It is found in hardwood forests, but is also seen in mixed wood forests with conifers.

Ecological Significance:

In botany, there is a scale called the “Coefficient of Conservatism.”  The scale represents how tolerant a plant is to human disturbances and how representative it is to a pre-settlement natural community of plants.  Coefficients of conservatism (“C” or CoC values) are increasingly being used to prioritize natural areas for conservation as well as for the monitoring of outcomes of habitat restoration projects. Species least tolerant of human disturbance and with an affinity for high-quality native habitats are placed in category “10.”  Red Baneberry is placed in category “8.”

SOURCE: Bried, Jason & Strout, Kerry & Portante, Theresa. (2012). Coefficients of conservatism for the vascular flora of New York and New England: inter-state comparisons and expert opinion bias. Northeastern Naturalist. 19. 101-114. 10.2307/41495840.

Red Baneberry’s importance for wildlife is low, because it is generally not an abundant plant. The flowers do not have nectar, offering only pollen to visiting insects, which are mainly bees. Most bees seen on the flowers are Halictid species (including Lasioglossum cressonii and Lasioglossum versans). However, the main pollinator in the Northeast is said to be the European Snout Beetle (Phyllobius oblongus), an introduced weevil.

Because the foliage is somewhat toxic, it is usually avoided by browsing animals. However, some animals feed on the seeds of this plant while rejecting the pulp, such as Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus), Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), White-Footed Mouse (Peromyscus leucopus), and Woodland Deer Mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus). Meanwhile, birds that eat the fruits include the American Robin (Turdus migratorius), Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum), Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis), Gray-cheeked Thrush (Catharus minimus), Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus), Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina), and Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius).

How to Grow Your Own:

NOTE:  Red Baneberry is a protected plant listed as a species that is exploitably vulnerable.  It is a violation of New York State Environmental Conservation Law §9-1503 to collect or destroy listed plants without the permission of the landowner. The regulation gives landowners additional rights to prosecute people who collect plants without permission.

By division –

Because the root system consists of a vertical rootstock with fibrous secondary rootlets below, it is not possible to propagate by root division.

From seeds –

Best sown as soon as the fruit is ripened in autumn.  Seeds have a limited viability, so if sown in spring, germination rates may be poor. The seeds are slow to germinate, doing so in the following year, and then flowering in the third year.

National Wildflower Week 2024 – Day 5

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Lady Bird Johnson said wildflowers “give us a sense of where we are in this great land of ours.”

Always the first full week of May, National Wildflower Week commemorates the colorful blossoms that bring our landscapes to life.

To celebrate this week, I encourage you to visit one of our area nature preserves, parks or trails to view the wildflowers now in bloom locally. Each day of this week-long celebration, I’ll feature a local native wildflower that you may find in bloom at this time.

To continue this week’s focus on wildflowers and for your self-guided search today, I suggest that you go looking for Marsh Blue Violet (Viola cucullata). See below for my suggestions as to where locally you can find this native forb.

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Marsh Blue Violet is a perennial wildflower that consists of a low rosette of basal leaves spanning about 6″ across, from which one or more flowering stalks develop. The basal leaves are up to 3½” long and 3½” across; they are heart-shaped and their margins usually have fine crenations looking like broad teeth. Leaf bases are indented, while leaf tips are rounded to bluntly pointed. The upper leaf surface is medium green, while the lower surface is pale-medium green; both surfaces are smooth or nearly so.

An irregular solitary 5-petaled blue-violet flower is produced atop an erect leafless stalk up to 7″ long that rises well above the leaves. The erect to ascending pedicels are light green to light purplish green and glabrous. Each flower is about ¾” across, consisting of 5 medium to dark blue-violet petals that are elliptical or ovate in shape and about twice the length of the sepals. The 2 lateral petals have short white hairs with conspicuously swollen tips near the throat of the flower. The lowermost petal has a patch of white with radiating purple veins in the front (that serve as a nectar guide) and extends rearward forming a spur containing the nectary.  Smaller cleistogamous (self-fertile) flowers are also produced after these showy chasmogamous (requiring pollination) flowers have matured.

Both chasmogamous and cleistogamous flowers produce fruit, which is an oblong capsule up to about ½ inch long that is initially green then tan when it matures and splits open into three sections. Seeds are globelike, dark brown to dark reddish-brown, and ~2 mm long. In most violets the cleistogamous flowers produce a greater abundance of seed.

Where Found:

Marsh Blue Violet is common on banks of small streams, but is also found in marshes, bogs, swamps, and seeps.

Ecological Significance:

In botany, there is a scale called the “Coefficient of Conservatism.”  The scale represents how tolerant a plant is to human disturbances and how representative it is to a pre-settlement natural community of plants.  Coefficients of conservatism (“C” or CoC values) are increasingly being used to prioritize natural areas for conservation as well as for the monitoring of outcomes of habitat restoration projects. Species least tolerant of human disturbance and with an affinity for high-quality native habitats are placed in category “10.”  Marsh Blue Violet is placed in category “9.”

SOURCE: Bried, Jason & Strout, Kerry & Portante, Theresa. (2012). Coefficients of conservatism for the vascular flora of New York and New England: inter-state comparisons and expert opinion bias. Northeastern Naturalist. 19. 101-114. 10.2307/41495840.

The nectar of Marsh Blue Violet attracts Andrenid bees, bumblebees, mason bees (Osmia spp.), Halictid bees, bee flies (Bombyliidae), butterflies, and skippers. Some of the bees also collect pollen. An oligolectic bee (one that has a narrow, specialized preference for pollen sources, typically to a single family or genus of flowering plants), Andrena violae, visits the flowers of violets. Violets serve as the larval hosts for these caterpillars:  Aphrodite Fritillary (Speyeria aphrodite), Atlantis Fritillary (Speyeria atlantis), Grateful Midget (Elaphria grata), Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele), Meadow Fritillary (Boloria bellona), Regal Fritillary (Speyeria idalia), Silver-bordered Fritillary (Boloria selene myrina), The Beggar (Eubaphe mendica), and Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia).

The seeds and other parts of violets are occasionally eaten by birds such as the Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura), Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus), and Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), and they are also consumed by the Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus), Pine Vole (Microtus pinetorum), and White-Footed Mouse (Peromyscus leucopus). Similarly, the foliage of these low-growing plants is a source of food for the Eastern Cottontail Rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus) and Wood Turtle (Clemmys insculpta).

How to Grow Your Own:

By division –

For root division, or just digging up random violet plants – it is best to do this in the fall.  Plants generally do not survive transplanting when blooming or making seeds. It is therefore recommended to only divide or transplant established flowers when the plant is approaching or is dormant.

From seeds –

If you choose to grow from seed and collect wild seed to do so, most violet seeds require 60 days of cold stratification plus light for germination. Therefore, it is best for them to be surface sown, not planted. So, just scatter seeds in the general area you wish to grow them provided that it offers cool, moist, well-drained humus-rich soil in partial or dappled shade. This species of violet is very intolerant of drought.

National Wildflower Week 2024 – Day 4

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Lady Bird Johnson said wildflowers “give us a sense of where we are in this great land of ours.”

Always the first full week of May, National Wildflower Week commemorates the colorful blossoms that bring our landscapes to life.

To celebrate this week, I encourage you to visit one of our area nature preserves, parks or trails to view the wildflowers now in bloom locally. Each day of this week-long celebration, I’ll feature a local native wildflower that you may find in bloom at this time.

To continue this week’s focus on wildflowers and for your self-guided search today, I suggest that you go looking for Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum). See below for my suggestions as to where locally you can find this native forb.

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Jack-in-the-Pulpit is a perennial plant that may live more than 20 years and generally grows to about 1-2′ tall, but can grow up to 3’ tall. It consists of 1-2 trifoliate leaves with long petioles and a single flower atop a stout stalk (peduncle). The peduncle is wrapped by a sheath at its base and it is shorter than the petioles. Both have a smooth hairless surface, and their color varies from light green to reddish green or brownish green. Leaflets are up to 7″ long and 3″ across; they are generally oval with a pointed tip, finely veined, and smooth along the margins. The terminal leaflet is larger than the lateral leaflets. When the leaves emerge, they reveal the sex of the plant:  male and non-flowering plants have 1 set of compound leaves, female plants have 2 sets. Sometimes the leaves tower over the flower and hide it from view.

The cylindrical flower structure is about 3½” long and 2″ across and consists of the spadix (Jack) which is an erect 2-3” tall spike containing numerous, tiny, green to purple flowers and the sheath-like spathe (pulpit) which encases the lower part of the spadix and then opens to form a hood extending over the top of the spadix. The outside of the spathe is slightly furrowed and usually green or purple and the inside is usually striped purple and greenish white, though considerable color variations exist. Flowering plants initially produce only male flowers, but become hermaphroditic as they further age with male flowers on the upper part of the spadix and female flowers on the lower part. The male flowers have several stamens, while the female flowers have a single pistil.

Male plants tend to be smaller than females and have a small hole at the bottom of the spathe which allows pollinators to escape (with their pollen) more easily. Female plants lack the hole and pollinators are more likely to become trapped, better ensuring successful pollination. While Jack-in-the-Pulpit has both male and female plants, they can change gender from year to year, apparently in response to successful (or failed) reproduction the previous year.

Most plants in a colony become dormant and disappear by mid-summer, but the mature, hermaphroditic flowering plants will produce a cluster of red berries in mid- to late summer, which becomes visible as the spathe withers.

Each fertilized flower will develop a fleshy bright red fruit about ¼” across, each containing 1 to 5 seeds that ripens by fall.

Where Found:

Jack-in-the-Pulpit prefers to grow in partial sun to full shade in rich, moist, deciduous woods and floodplains.

Ecological Significance:

Jack-in-the-Pulpit thrives in moist, shady and seasonally wet locations and is most commonly found in floodplain forests.

The flowers are pollinated by fungus gnats (Sciaridae & Mycetophilidae) and the larvae of parasitic thrips (Heterothrips arisaemae and probably Ctenothrips bridwelli), which are attracted into the hooded spathes by the slight fungal odor emitted by this plant.

The foliage and corms (especially the latter) contain crystals of calcium oxalate, which can cause a burning sensation in the mouth and irritation of the gastrointestinal tract. As a result, animals rarely eat this plant. However, some upland birds feed on the foliage occasionally as well as its red berries, including Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), and Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina).

How to Grow Your Own:

Jack-in-the-Pulpit will spread and colonize over time from its corm. It is easier to start plants from corms, rather than seeds.

From corms –

The quickest way to propagate new plants is by splitting off the cormlets that form alongside the parent roots. Here’s how to do it:

  1. In the fall when the plants have just entered dormancy, dig up the entire root clump, using a shovel or trowel. (Wear gloves to avoid skin contact.)
  2. Break or cut off the cormlets that have formed alongside the main corm or tuber.
  3. Immediately replant the pieces (as well as the parent corm) in about six inches of humus-rich soil in a location with light shade.
  4. Water well, then cover the planted pieces with mulch for the winter.

From seeds –

CAUTION:  Leaves and fruits contain calcium oxalate that can irritate the skin, so it is important to wear gloves when collecting and cleaning the berries.

Jack-in-the-Pulpit seeds can be collected once the spathe has died back in the fall and the berries are fully ripened. Wearing gloves to protect your hands from irritation, remove the berries from the pod and clean the flesh from the seeds. Berries can be smashed with a large spoon or by hand, and the seeds separated by rinsing them in a strainer, picking out large debris. Seeds should be cleaned as soon as possible after collection as they lose viability if allowed to dry out. Following cleaning, seeds need to be cold-stratified to germinate. To do so, mix the cleaned seeds with damp sphagnum moss and placing the mixture into a resealable plastic bag or container and then store them in a refrigerator for 60-90 days. Then, sow them in a flat covered with ½” soilless commercial potting mix and keep the flat in a cool, damp place. Germination should take two to three weeks. In spring, plant the seedlings outdoors. Plants grown from seeds have only one leaf the first year and it takes them three or more years to come to flower.

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

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This week, I’m featuring Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris) as two of our local wildflowers that begin to bloom at this time.

In sunny wetlands, Marsh Marigold is one of the first wildflowers to bloom in the spring. According to the Cornell Botanic Gardens in Ithaca, New York, Marsh Marigold bloomed an average of six days earlier over the period of 1986 to 2015 as an indication of climate change sensitivity.

Description:

Marsh Marigold is a native perennial herbaceous plant in the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) that tends to grow in clumps. Also known as cowslip, cowflock, or kingcup, it is a lovely harbinger of spring.

Marsh Marigold in Ushers Road State Forest

Marsh Marigold grows from 8-24 inches tall with many branches, and has glossy green basal leaves that are round, oval, heart or kidney-shaped and up to 4” long and 4” across.

Basal leaves of Marsh Marigold
Photo Credit: https://commonsensehome.com/marsh-marigold/

The basal leaves have long petioles while upper, stem leaves are alternate and on shorter petioles becoming stalkless as they ascend the stem. The stems are hairless and hollow. Leaves are smooth with a deep and narrow notch and their margins have small scallops or teeth. Leaf edges may be toothless but are more often scalloped.

Upper stem leaves of Marsh Marigold
Photo Credit: https://commonsensehome.com/marsh-marigold/

The upper stems produce small clusters of 2-5 bright yellow flowers on short petioles, usually rising above the leaves. Each flower is about ¾–1½” across with 5-9 (usually) petal-like sepals. There are no true petals. The sepals are bright yellow, well-rounded, and slightly overlapping. There is no noticeable floral scent.

Fertilized flowers mature into a flattened and recurved seedpod (follicle) about 3/8 inch long.  Each follicle is initially green and erect, spreading out as it matures, drying to light greenish brown and eventually splitting open along its upper side to release its seeds.

Marsh Marigold fruit (follicles)
Photo Credit: (c) 2010 Peter M. Dziuk,
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/marsh-marigold#lboxg-3
Marsh Marigold seeds
Photo Credit: USDA, NRCS. 2016. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 13 February 2016). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Folklore:

A German legend tells the story of a maiden named Caltha (meaning “cup” in Greek) who fell so in love with the sun god that she spent her days and nights in the fields, trying to see as much as possible of him, until her body and spirit wasted away. The very first Marsh Marigold – a cup filled with the sun’s rays – grew where the devoted maiden had stood.

Culinary and Medicinal Uses:

CAUTION:  Plant juices can cause blistering or inflammation on skin or mucous membranes on contact. WARNING:  POISONOUS – Leaves contain the oily toxin protoanemonin, the amount of which increases as the leaves progress through a growing season. If ingested raw, it can induce convulsions and lesions throughout the digestive tract.

The young leaves (picked before the plant blooms) are sometimes used as potherbs, but require several short boilings with changes of water between each; heat destroys the toxins. Tightly closed buds can be similarly prepared and pickled like capers.

Medicinally, the whole plant is anodyne (painkiller), antispasmodic, diaphoretic (induces sweating), diuretic (induces urination), emetic (induces vomiting), expectorant and rubefacient. A poultice of the boiled and mashed roots was used by American Indians to treat sores, remove warts, protect against love charms, and as an aid in childbirth. A tea made from its leaves was also believed to relieve constipation. Early colonists learned from American Indians to mix a decoction of the root with maple syrup to make cough syrup.

Wildlife Value:

The flowers produce both nectar and copious amounts of pollen, which attract primarily flies and bees. Marsh Marigolds are primarily pollinated by pollen-seeking Greater Bee Fly (Bombylius major), Halictid bees, honey bees, and hoverflies (family Syrphidae, including Lejops spp., Neoascia spp., and Xylota spp.). Ants (family Formicidae) and cuckoo bees (Nomada spp.) collect the nectar.

To see the dramatic pattern on Marsh Marigold blossoms as bees see them, view: http://www.naturfotograf.com/UV_CALT_PAL.html.

Because the acrid foliage contains toxic alkaloids and glycosides, it is usually avoided by browsing animals. The seeds are eaten by Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus), Meadow Vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus), Sora Rail (Porzana carolina), and Wood Duck (Aix sponsa).

Where Found Locally:

As its name suggests, Marsh Marigold is a plant that prefers sunny areas where the soil is consistently wet from underground seepage of water. Habitats include various wetlands, including vernal pools in low woodlands, swamps, soggy meadows in river floodplains, marshes, fens, seeps and springs, and ditches that get part or full sun.

What Wildflower Begins Blooming This Week? (late March)

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This week, I’m featuring Speckled Alder (Alnus incana ssp. rugosa) as one of our local wildflowers that begins to bloom at this time.

PLEASE NOTE:  Culturally Significant Plant = Ethnobotanic Uses:  Speckled Alder was used by American Indians in a wide variety of medicinal uses in the treatment of numerous ailments.  Read more.

Description:

Speckled Alder is a common, fast-growing, large, multi-stemmed wetland shrub, often forming dense thickets from root suckering as well as a process called “layering”, where low branches take root then detach from the mother plant and grow independently. Stems are usually numerous from the base, but individual trunks can grow up to 6 inches in diameter, occasionally taking the form of a small tree.

Twigs are brown to reddish brown to grayish, with scattered white lenticels (pores); new growth is hairy, but becomes hairless and smooth the second year. Older bark is grayish to reddish brown with pale horizontal lenticels (pores).

Leaves are alternate and simple, egg-shaped to elliptic and pointed or blunt at the tip, 1½ to 4½ inches long and 1 to 3 inches wide on a hairy stalk up to ¾ inch long. Some leaves may have shallow lobes. Leaf margins are coarsely double-toothed. The upper surface is a dull dark green, hairless to sparsely hairy, and the lower surface is paler and hairy, especially along the veins.

Alders are among the first plants to flower in spring. Male and female flowers are borne separately on the same plant (monoecious), in clusters called catkins, blooming in very early spring before leaves emerge. Two to 6 male catkins form drooping clusters at the tip of 1-year old twigs, 1¾ to 3½ inches long. Female catkins are red, oval to short-cylindric, about ½ inch, in one or more separate clusters near the male catkins on the same branch, with 1 to 4 catkins in a cluster.

Photo Credit: (c) 2015 Peter M. Dziuk,
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/shrub/speckled-alder#lboxg-1

Fertilized female catkins become stout, oval to egg-shaped, cone-like clusters up to about 2/3 inch long. These green fruits mature to reddish-brown in fall, resembling small pine cones with 5-lobed scales. They release their seed in the summer, but the cone structure generally remains intact through winter. Each cone contains two small rounded brown nutlets 1/8 inch long that may have two small leathery wings.

Photo Credit: (c) 2004 Peter M. Dziuk,
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/shrub/speckled-alder#lboxg-5
The seeds of Speckled Alder with their leathery wings. Photo Credit: (c) Steven Hurst, https://www.friendsofthewildflowergarden.org/pages/plants/alder_speckled.html

Culinary and Medicinal Uses:

No known edible uses due to its strongly astringent and emetic (induces vomiting) qualities.

Speckled Alder was widely used medicinally by American Indians who used it to treat a variety of ailments, such as anemia, internal bleeding, urinary problems, sprains, bruises or backaches, itches, and piles. A tea was made to cure diarrhea and to treat upset stomachs or rheumatism.  A mixture of root bark and molasses was used in the treatment of toothaches, and either its inner bark or a decoction made from it were applied as a compress on rashes, sore eyes, and swellings. The Chippewa mixed alder root scrapings with powdered bumblebees and fed the mixture to women whom were having difficulty during childbirth.

While Speckled Alder has been little used in modern herbalism, its bark is alterative, astringent, emetic, laxative, ophthalmic, stomachic and tonic.

Wildlife Value:

Speckled Alder is a host plant to the caterpillars of a significant number of moths and butterflies:

Speckled Alder seeds, buds and catkins provide food for small animals and birds, such as American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis), American Woodcock (Scolopax minor), Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus), Common Redpoll (Acanthis flammea), Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus) and Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus). However, research suggests that Ruffed Grouse will typically reserve these as a midwinter survival food, consuming them only when other food sources become scarce.

More importantly, Speckled Alder thickets provide safe nesting habitat for Alder Flycatcher (Empidonax alnorum), American Goldfinch, Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas), American Woodcock (when located in upland sites), Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana), White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis), Wilson’s Warbler (Cardellina pusilla), Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (Empidonax flaviventris), and Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia). In addition, Ruffed Grouse often use alder stands as drumming sites, selecting a log with good visibility around them. It’s common to find nests and broods in alder thickets on upland sites.

Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus), North American Beaver (Castor canadensis), and rabbit all browse the twigs and foliage.

Where Found Locally:

Speckled Alder is found in wet sandy or gravelly soils, usually along streams and rivers, but also along edges of ponds and in swamps and wetlands. It is only found in open sunny areas, being unable to compete in dense shade, and can slowly spread via runners from its extensive spreading root system.

In New York, Speckled Alder is a characteristic plant found in these ecological communities:

Locally, this native plant can be observed at any of these parks, trails, and nature preserves.

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

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This week, I’m featuring Large-leaved Aster (Eurybia macrophylla) as one of our local wildflowers that begins to bloom at this time.

Aster is from the Greek for “a star” referring the appearance of the flower head on all asters.  The species name macrophylla is the combination of macros for large and phyllos for leaf giving us the common name of “large-leaved.”  All the new world asters, formerly in the genus Aster, have now been reclassified, most into the genus Symphyotrichum; several, such as this species, into the genus Eurybia.  That word comes from two Greek words, eurys, for “wide” and baios for “few”; both together are referring to the somewhat wide flower rays.

 Description:

Large-leaved Aster is a native erect perennial with stems from 1 to 4 feet tall.  This perennial wildflower consists of a rosette of basal leaves during the spring that spans up to one foot across.  The large basal leaves of this aster are very conspicuous during the spring. 

Photo Credit: (c) 2009 Katy Chayka,
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/large-leaved-aster#lboxg-9

During the summer, unbranched or sparingly branched stems with alternate leaves are produced.  Flowering plants have basal leaves that wither away by flowering time; the basal leaves of non-flowering plants may persist longer.  Lowest leaves are large and heart-shaped, up to 8 inches long and 6 inches wide, on long stalks, becoming progressively smaller, more egg-shaped, and shorter stalked as they ascend the stem, with the uppermost leaves reduced to stalkless leaf-like bracts.  The upper surface of leaves is medium green and hairless to short-hairy, while the lower surface is pale green and hairy along the major veins.  The stems of the alternate leaves are up to 3″ long and they are often winged, particularly where they join the stem.  The stems of the basal leaves are up to 6″ long, light green, and usually hairy.

Photo Credit: (c) 2011, Katy Chayka,
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/large-leaved-aster#lboxg-4

Plants transition from groundcover to wildflower when erect stems emerge.  The upper central stem of each plant (and any upper lateral stems) terminates in a flat-headed panicle (corymb) of flowerheads spanning 3-8″ across.  (In a corymb, the flower stalks are of different length so that the flower heads form a flat-topped cluster.)  Individual flowerheads are ½-1¼” across, consisting of 8-20 ray florets (the pistillate or female flowers) that are irregularly spaced around the small, yellow, center disk.  The petal-like corollas of the ray florets (the bisexual flowers) are lavender or white.  The tubular corollas of the disk florets are initially pale yellow or yellow, but they later become orange-red, dark red, or brown.  At the base of each flowerhead, there are numerous overlapping floral bracts (phyllaries).

Photo Credit: (c) 2011, Katy Chayka,
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/large-leaved-aster#lboxg-1

During the autumn, both ray and disk florets are replaced by small seeds (cypselae).  Each seed is dry, brown, 2.6 to 4.5 mm long with 7-12 ribs, with tawny bristly pappus attached for wind dispersion.

The seed head, left, showing the tawny bristly pappus of the cypselae, and, 2nd photo, individual cypselae.
Photo Credits: © G.D. Bebeau, https://www.friendsofthewildflowergarden.org/pages/plants/bigleafaster.html
Photo Credit: https://www.prairiemoon.com/eurybia-macrophylla-big-leaved-aster

Culinary and Medicinal Uses:

The Algonquin cook the large, thick young leaves and eat them as greens.  The Ojibwe use the roots to make soup.

The Iroquois use the root as a blood medicine, and they also use a compound decoction of the roots to loosen the bowels to treat venereal disease. The Ojibwe used an infusion of this plant to bathe their heads to treat headaches.

Wildlife Value:

The nectar and pollen of the flowers attract a large variety of insects, including long-tongued bees, short-tongued bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, beetles, and plant bugs.  Small bees, including yellow-faced bees (Hylaeus spp.) and Lasioglossum sweat bees, as well as bumblebees (Bombus spp.) and mining bees (Andrena spp., such as an oligolectic Andrenid bee, (Andrena hirticincta)) are regular visitors to these flowers.  Oligolectic species of bees gather pollen from two to several species in one plant family; many species of the genus Andrena are aster specialists.

Large-leaved Aster is the larval host plant for the caterpillars of Silvery Checkerspot (Chlosyne nycteis) and Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos) butterflies and also the caterpillars of Aster Borer Moth (Carmenta corni), Goldenrod Hooded Owlet Moth (Cucullia asteroides), and Arcigera Flower Moth (Schinia arcigera).

Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) and Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) eat the seeds and foliage, while White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and Eastern Cottontail Rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus) sometimes browse on the foliage.

Where Found Locally:

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

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This week, I’m featuring Common Arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia) as one of our local wildflowers that begins to bloom at this time.

PLEASE NOTE:  Culturally Significant Plant = Ethnobotanic Uses:  Many American Indian tribes ate the corms of this plant for food and also had many medicinal uses for Common Arrowhead.  Read more.

Description:

This perennial plant is an emergent aquatic forb that grows 1-3′ tall and consists of a rosette of basal leaves and one or more flowering stalks.  Mature leaves are 4-14″ long and 3-10″ across with considerable variation in length and width; they are arrowhead-shaped and smooth along their margins.  In shallow water or drier soil conditions leaves are broad, and narrow when the plant is submersed in deeper water.  However, the basal lobes are at least as long as the main bodies (or terminal lobes) of the leaves.

Common Arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia)
Common Arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia)

The leaves have conspicuous primary veins and smaller lateral veins; their venation is parallel overall.  The upper leaf surface is pale green, medium green, or yellowish green, while the lower leaf surface is pale green or yellowish green.  Both sides of the leaves are smooth.  The leaf stems (petioles) are 6-18″ long and rather stout; they broaden toward the base and become sheath-like.

The angular flowering stalks are about as long as the leaves or slightly longer and ascending to erect.  These stalks are either unbranched or sometimes with 1-2 lateral branches.  The flower cluster (raceme) at the end of the flower stalk typically has 3-9 whorls of flowers, while any racemes on branches (if present) have 2-5 whorls of flowers.  The whorls of flowers are spaced about 1-2″ apart along each raceme.  Most plants have both female and male flowers; the male (staminate) flowers are located above the female (pistillate) flowers in each raceme.  Each flower is about 1″ across, consisting of 3 white rounded petals and 3 green ovate sepals.

The male flowers have numerous (25 to 50) yellow stamens, while the female flowers have a sphere of green carpels that form a small bur-like mass.  The spreading to ascending stems of the flowers (pedicels) are up to 1″ long; they are green and smooth.  Single-day flowers open from the bottom to the top of each raceme.

Common Arrowhead female flowers
Common Arrowhead male flowers

Afterwards, the female flowers are replaced by bur-like fruits (consisting of a dense cluster of achenes) that are up to ¾” across at maturity, changing in color from green to dark brown as they mature.  Individual achenes are less than 1/8” long, about half as wide, and flattened oblong in shape; some of their margins are membranous and winged.  Each achene has a more or less straight beak about 1 mm in length that projects laterally from its upper side.  Because of the lateral beaks of the achenes, these bur-like fruits appear more streaked than prickly.

Photo Credit: (c) 2008 K. Chayka,
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/broad-leaf-arrowhead#lboxg-6
Common Arrowhead achenes
Photo Credit: (c) 2003 Gary Fewless,
https://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity-old/herbarium/wetland_plants/saglat_achene01.jpg

The fall color of Common Arrowhead is a muted yellow before turning all brown.

Folklore:

The Thompson River Indians used the plant as a love charm.

Culinary and Medicinal Uses:

The rhizomes, young leaves, young shoots, young flowers, and seeds are all edible, but it is the bulbous corms that are most widely valued for food.  The corms are foraged in the fall by searching and raking the mud around the rhizomes of these plants, releasing the corms which then float to the surface of the water.  It is best to cook them (fried, boiled or roasted) before eating as they are quite acrid when raw.  After cooking, they may be peeled.

Some American Indian tribes raided muskrat dens for their cached tubers.  However, they often replaced the tubers taken from their dens with other foods to appease the Great Spirit.

This plant also has some medicinal uses.  Arrowheads demonstrate anti-inflammatory properties which make them useful in treating diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, colitis, Crohn’s disease, and multiple sclerosis.  The tubers were made into a decoction for treating indigestion or as a diuretic for urinary and kidney ailments.  The tubers were also used as a poultice for treating wounds and sores.

Wildlife Value:

The nectar and pollen of the flowers attract a variety of insects, including honeybees, bumblebees, Small Carpenter Bees (Ceratina spp.), Halictid bees, wasps, Syrphid flies, Tachinid flies, butterflies, skippers, and beetles.

Common Arrowhead is the host plant for the caterpillars of Cattail Borer Moth (Bellura obliqua).

Common Arrowhead seeds are attractive to many water birds and waterfowl, including ducks, herons, Sora Rail (Porzana carolina), and Virginia Rail (Rallus limicola).  A variety of ducks are also known to feed on the tubers of this plant; hence, another common name is Duck Potato.  Waterfowl include:  American Black Duck (Anas rubripes), American Widgeon (Mareca americana), Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors), Canvasback (Aythya valisineria), Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca), Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata), Redhead (Aythya americana), Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris), Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis), and Wood Duck (Aix sponsa).  In addition, Muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) feed on the stalk bases, crowns, and tubers, and turtles such as Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina), Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta) and Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta; which is an invasive species arising from pet turtles being released into the wild) also reportedly feed on Common Arrowhead.

Where Found Locally:

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

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This week, I’m featuring Water Horehound (Lycopus americanus) as one of our local wildflowers that begins to bloom at this time.

The various species of the genus Lycopus have been used in folk medicine for cough remedies.  It was this use that gave the plants the alternate name of ‘horehound’ as this references back to the Romans and the Egyptians who used a plant they called ‘horehound’ for such purposes.  Since Lycopus prefers moist environments, that gave rise to this plant being called ‘water horehound’.

Description:

This native erect perennial plant grows on a green or reddish square hollow stem up to 40 inches tall; it is usually unbranched, otherwise branching sparingly and either hairless or slightly hairy.  A vertical groove is on each side of the stem.  The sap of this plant will permanently stain linen and wool.

Opposite leaves are spaced somewhat widely along the stems and they are either stemless or short-stemmed.  Leaves are up to 3″ long and ¾” across; they are generally lanceolate in shape.  The lower leaves are narrowly lobed toward their bases, while the upper leaves are coarsely toothed all along their margins.  The leaves are hairless, except for a few hairs along the central veins of their undersides.  Leaves become progressively smaller as they ascend the stem.  The underside of leaves is a paler color than the upper surface and pitted with glandular dots.

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

There are several Lycopus spp. and they can be difficult to distinguish.  However, Water Horehound is easy to identify because its lower leaves have basal lobes that are narrow and deep.  Other Lycopus spp. usually have leaves with wedge-shaped or rounded bottoms that are coarsely toothed along the entire length of their margins.  If any lobes are present on the leaves of these latter species, they are more shallow and wide.

Photo Credit: https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/wetland/plants/am_bugleweed.htm

Dense whorls of white flowers occur where pairs of middle to upper leaves join the stem.  Individual flowers are about 1/8″ in length and each has a white short-tubular corolla with 4 spreading lobes; they often have tiny pinkish purple spots.  The flowers have no noticeable fragrance.  Flowers begin blooming from the bottom of the plant upward and usually not all flowers in a cluster are open at the same time.

Photo Credits: (c) 2006 Peter M. Dziuk,
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/american-water-horehound#lboxg-1

Afterwards, the flowers are replaced by a fruit comprised of four nutlets that are broad and flat at the top, becoming rounded and narrower along 3 angles toward the bottom; they have smooth surfaces.

Photo Credit: (c) 2013 Peter M. Dziuk,
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/american-water-horehound#lboxg-3
Photo Credit: (c) 2002 Gary Fewless,
https://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity-old/herbarium/wetland_plants/lycame_fruit02.jpg

Culinary and Medicinal Uses:

Water Horehound leaves have been used as a potherb.

The whole plant is used in various homeopathic remedies including as an astringent, mild narcotic and mild sedative and also in the treatment of hypoglycemia.  The Meskwaki used Water Horehound as an analgesic and gastro-intestinal aid.  In addition, the plant has been used for soothing coughs and treating thyroid issues.

Wildlife Value:

A variety of insects visit the flowers, primarily for nectar, especially short-tongued bees, wasps, and flies. Other floral visitors include long-tongued bees, butterflies, skippers, and beetles.

Water Horehound and other bugleweeds serve as the larval host plants for the caterpillars of Hermit Sphinx (Sphinx eremitus).

Because the leaves of Water Horehound are bitter tasting, they are not often eaten by animals.

Where Found Locally:

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

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This week, I’m featuring Ditch Stonecrop (Penthorum sedoides) as one of our local wildflowers that begins to bloom at this time.

Description:

Ditch Stonecrop is a native, erect perennial plant, growing on stout stems from 6 to 24 inches high.  It is either unbranched or branches occasionally in the upper half just beneath its flowers.

Photo Credit: Kirsten Johnson (CC BY-NC)

The stems are light green (becoming red in fall) with fine vertical ridges and glandular hair whose glands are reddish-brown to purple tipped.  Hair may be sparse on the lower stem.

The stem, especially the upper section, has gland tipped hairs,
sometimes with reddish-brown or pinkish tips as seen here.
Photo Credit: (c) G. D. Bebeau, https://www.friendsofthewildflowergarden.org/pages/plants/ditchstonecrop.html

The alternate leaves are up to 4″ long and 1″ across, hairless, with a pointed tip and tapering at the base.  They are elliptic or narrowly ovate and finely toothed along the margins.  The leaves have prominent midveins, and their stems (petioles) are either absent or they are short and slender.  The upper leaf surface varies from yellowish green to medium green, depending on the stage of development.

Photo Credit: (c) 2009 Katy Chayka,
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/ditch-stonecrop#lboxg-2

The upper stems terminate in raceme-like branching clusters (cymes) in the upper part of the plant that are about 1-3″ across.  Each cyme has 2-4 flowering stalks that spread outward with 10 to 25 flowers per branch.  The branches extend as flowers open; they are erect to ascending with a crook-shape curve, like a scorpion’s tail, at the end of the fully extended branch.  Flowers are aligned along the upper sides of these stalks.  Each flower is yellowish green to white, about ¼” across, and consists of 5 green spreading sepals, 10 stamens with creamy white tips that turn brown with age, and 5 beaked carpels that are joined together in the center shaped something like a beaker or decanter.  Petals are not usually present.

Photo Credit: (c) 2008 Katy Chayka,
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/ditch-stonecrop#lboxg-1

The flowers are not particularly showy while in bloom, but during the autumn the developing seed capsules become an attractive red.

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

By winter, these distinctive capsules turn brown, they are weather resistant and aid in the winter identification of this plant.

Ditch Stonecrop in winter

Fertile flowers produce five flattish capsules which open below the style when mature.  The capsule has a distinct beak, the remains of the style.  Each of these capsules contain numerous small seeds that are narrowly oblongoid, tapering at one end and whose surface is covered with tiny bumps.

Squares = 1/4 inch.
Photo Credit: Sid Vogelpohl and Arkansas Native Plant Society,
https://anps.org/2020/11/26/know-your-natives-ditch-stonecrop/

Culinary and Medicinal Uses:

The leaves have historically been used by American Indians as a fresh, lively addition to salads.  The Cherokee used the leaves as a potherb.

A tincture of the plant is somewhat astringent, demulcent (relieves irritation of the mucous membranes in the mouth), laxative and tonic.  The plant is noted for its effectiveness in treating catarrhal problems (inflammation of a mucous membrane) of many kinds and has also been used successfully in treating diarrhoea, haemorrhoids and infantile cholera (acute noncontagious intestinal disturbance of infants that is now rare).  The seeds have been used by the Meskwaki to make a cough syrup.

Wildlife Value:

Having no nectaries in its flowers, Ditch Stonecrop offers little reward to its floral visitors.  No animals are known to eat this plant.

Where Found Locally: