A nice surprise in the town forest parking area. In the fall, the foliage turns gray and the whole plant breaks off from the root and forms a tumbleweed, which rolls around distributing the seeds! Toxic. Pea family.
Yellow Wild Indigo, Horsefly-weed (Baptisia tinctoria)
Near a bridge over the Charles in Sherborn. This is one of those really tall vigorous weeds– the flower spikes can reach 10 feet! They live to be 2 years old — the first year they’ll have a rosette of foliage only, and the second year the flower spike will appear, and that’s it. Each plant can make over 100,000 seeds in a year, and the seeds are very hardy and can last for dozens of years… so they can wait in the soil for the right conditions. It’s considered a pioneer plant, meaning when an area has been burned, for instance, this is one of the first plants that will appear. Was introduced to Virginia from Europe. Not many creatures will eat mulleins — mostly insects that also are native to Europe. Some birds eat the seeds. The leaves are soft and furry — hummingbirds line their nests with them!
Update: the new first shot is of an open blossom, shot in my yard in late September.
Common Mullein (Verbascum thapsus)
Annual. About a foot tall. Delicate flowers with yellow tongues. Figwort family. Native.
Cowwheat (Melampyrum lineare)
Bonus picture: Beavers have moved into this forest, and their dam has flooded part of the trail. Lucy was hot, so she took the opportunity to get as wet as possible.
A close-up of the dandelionish head, and a silhouette after it has closed for the evening. There are many varieties of hawkweed around here. This one can be 4 feet tall… They get their genus name, meaning hawk, from Pliny, naturalist of ye old ancient times, who thought hawks ate these plants to improve their eyesight (!). Aster family. Native.
Panicled Hawkweed, Devil’s Paintbrush, Mouse-ear (Hieracium paniculatum)
An herbal treatment for mild depression. Name comes from its traditional flowering and harvesting on St. John’s Day, June 24. The genus name Hypericum comes from the Greek words hyper (above) and eikon (picture), because traditionally people used it to ward off evil by hanging St. John’s Wort over a religious icon in their house on St John’s day. Native to Europe.
St. John’s Wort, Chase-devil (Hypericum perforatum)
The roots were used for medicinal purposes– Ojibwas used it to treat snake bites. Aster family. Native to the Midwestern U.S. (a prairie flower!)
Black-eyed Susan, Yellow Ox-eye Daisy (Rudbeckia hirta)
Hard to tell the buttercups apart. Look at the waxy reflective surface of the petals. Native.
Hispid Buttercup (Ranunculus hispidus)
Okay, this blossom looks similar to Dandelions and also to Yellow King-Devil… but it’s tall with thin basal leaves, and branched stems. Here’s some botany talk: “The plumed pappus is longer than the achene.” An annual introduced from Europe.
Smooth Hawksbeard (Crepis capillaris)
First described in Europe in 1597. Use as a cultivated species noted about 1900. Now a valuable forage crop, but considered invasive in some states. “Bloat is no problem and palatability is fairly high.” — that’s the sort of thing it says on agriculture sites. Bird’s Foot refers to the look of the seed pods… so we’ll find out about that later. Poisonous to humans. This is one of the few plants that have a negative meaning in the language of flowers; it’s associated with revenge!
Bird’s Foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)
Imported to the U.S. in 1800 for use as fodder. Grows on both coasts but not in the midwest. Pea Family
Hop Clover (Trifolium agrarium)
