Good fact from illinoiswildflowers.info: “Because the foliage is toxic, it is little bothered by mammalian herbivores.” A beautiful form to appreciate up close. The round ends of the spurs contain nectar which attracts butterflies and hummingbirds. Family: Buttercup (Ranunculaceae). Native. Flowers April to July.
Wild Red Columbine, Rock Bells (Aquilegia canadensis)
This is a plant with creamy white flowers, and later each flower is replaced by a leafless vertical seed pod that hugs the stem. They can grow to be 4 to 5 feet tall. Native. (Photo taken May 29, 2013)
Tower Rockcress, Tower Mustard (Arabis glabra)
Bonus picture: this turtle was also using the path. I think it’s a musk turtle. They only get to be about 5 inches long, and are primarily aquatic, living in the shallows. This one was still wet from the river. They rarely leave the water, but they usually nest in June, so maybe this one was on a nesting mission.
I happened to take Lucy for an early walk and lo, there was a big heron on the other side of the pond. It looked very slate blue. This is about one minute from our house… I feel lucky to live here and see this!
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
As long as 2000 years ago, the crushed seeds were used for birth control… by disrupting ovum implantation… It is documented to increase tomato plant production when it’s planted nearby. The root is edible when young. Carrots are a cultivated form of this species. Occasionally the cluster will have one dark red flower in the center, to attract insects — the name is because the flower cluster is lacy, and the red flower is like a drop of blood where Queen Anne pricked herself while making the lace.
Queen Anne’s Lace, Wild Carrot, Bird’s Nest (Daucus carota)
This is the big glossy weed that gets dark purple berries on magenta stems later in the season. Their juice was used by natives to make dye to paint their horses! The Constitution was written in dye MADE FROM POKEBERRIES!
Okay now, you know that song about Poke Salad Annie? That refers to this plant.
Poke salad was (is?) a southern dish, but the leaves must be cooked and rinsed at least twice, because the whole plant is toxic unless properly processed. The berries are poisonous to mammals, but birds can eat them. 4 – 10 feet tall. Native.
Pokeweed, Poke (Phytolacca americana)
This must have a short blooming season, because I noticed a large area blooming in front of a long-empty house, and a couple of days later when I came back with a camera, there were very few blooms left. Many parts are edible, but the interesting thing is that you can roast and grind the roots, and brew them as a coffee substitute or additive. Has a smooth taste, no caffeine, and is still included in New Orleans-style blends. Also known to be toxic to internal parasites — now THAT’s coffee. Also, the chicory plant is one of the earliest plants mentioned in literature, and was cultivated in ancient Egypt. Native to Europe.
On the shore of Walker Pond. A favorite with butterflies. Will have blue/lavender berries. Dogwood familly.
Silky Dogwood, Swamp Dogwood (Cornus amomum)
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.
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 saw these maroon wake-robins and some yellow trilliums not in any wild woods, but in a Needham woman’s woodland garden (a spectacular stop on the Needham Garden Tour). But they’re native wildflowers and they’re (mostly finished) blooming, so here they are. Picking a trillium seriously hurts the plant, because then it can’t produce food for the next year. It takes many years to recover. Trillium seeds are spread by ANTS! Ants are attracted to the decaying ovary, take the seeds to their nests, eat the spongy “elaisosome” part of the seeds, and discard the rest of the seeds, which then germinate in the ant compost heap. Lily family. Native.
Wake-robin, Purple Trillium, Birthroot (Trillium erectum)