Look at this two-tier leaf structure! Very distinctive. Grows 1-2 feet tall with a greenish-yellow flower that hangs down. Will have dark purple fruit. The roots are edible raw or cooked. Lily family.
Indian Cucumber Root (Medeola virginiana)
A food plant for many insects. Sometimes cultivated for cut flowers, and longlasting in a vase! A tea made from the leaves was used as a laxative and to treat skin diseases. Has diuretic and fever-reducing properties. This plant was common in an area where I played as a kid and I remember how you could open its little dragon jaws. A species of toadflax native to Europe and Asia, and now common in North America.
Butter-and-eggs, Common Toadflax, Yellow Toadflax (Linaria vulgaris)
A rooted plant with floating leaves. In early spring the leaves are light green and below the surface, but by late spring they float on the water, and in summer, they often stand above the water. They have long horizontal roots in the lake’s sediments. The roots can be up to 6 inches in diameter and several feet long. The flower gives off a strong brandy-like odor that attracts insects.
Many cultures ate the roots cooked or dried and ground into flour for baking. The seeds were ground or popped like popcorn. The leaves and roots were used for dyeing and tanning. Leaves used to stop bleeding! and the roots as a pain remedy. Seeds are eaten by birds, and muskrats and beaver eat the roots. Native.
Yellow Pond Lily, Spatterdock, Cow Lily, Bullhead Lily (Nuphar lutea)
Bonus picture: other denizens of the pond.
I think this is the third variety of cinquefoil I’ve posted. It’s the tallest (1 to 2 feet tall) and the palest yellow, with the biggest flowers. Heart-shaped petals. Native to Europe and Asia. Rose family.
Rough-fruited Cinquefoil, Sulfur Cinquefoil (Potentilla recta)
Trillium plants can be divided into two groups: the kind where the flower is on a stem either above the leaves or curving under them (pedicellate) and the kind where the flower arised directly from the leaves with no stem (sessile). These are sessile. They have a lemony fragrance. Lily family. Native to more southern regions, and here, found looking very robust in a woodland garden.
Yellow Trillium (Trillium luteum)
I have already noted Common Cinquefoil growing all over the place— it has leaves similar to wild strawberry. This variety has spiky leaves and is less trailing. The leaves are silvery on the underside. Flowering time June to September, so it’s a little early. Rose family. Origin: Eurasia.
Silvery Cinquefoil (Potentilla argentea)
These are by the Dover post office. Two different kinds of yellow daisies — similar flowers but very different leaves. I can NOT figure out what they are. Maybe they’re not wild. Ideas?
Taiji class was at Arnold Arboretum today, and afterwards I sleuthed for wildflowers. A stand of these irises were at the edge of the pond. It has the ability to absorb heavy metals through its roots, and because of this has been used for water treatment! Native to Europe, Asia, Africa.
Yellow Flag, Yellow Iris (Iris pseudacorus)
6 to 40 inches tall. Like dandelions but satanic.
Yellow King-Devil (Hieracium caespitosum)
Rose Family. Native.
Spring Avens (Geum vernum)