The name is because Native Americans used the straight basal shoots as shafts for mounting arrowheads. In mid to late summer will have blue-black berries. Foliage turns yellow to red to purple in the fall. Native shrub.
Arrowwood Viburnum (Viburnum dentatum)
I thought I was finding white lady-slippers along with this pink one, but A.F. Donna thinks the white ones might just be pink ones that aren’t fully ripe. And I think she must be right. I suppose that white one will turn pink as it lifts its… hair out of its eyes… I love the purple sheen along the top. They can live to be over 20 years old. Orchid family.
U.S. Forest Service: “In order to survive and reproduce, pink lady’s slipper interacts with a fungus in the soil from the Rhizoctonia genus. Generally, orchid seeds do not have food supplies inside them like most other kinds of seeds. Pink lady’s slipper seeds require threads of the fungus to break open the seed and attach them to it. The fungus will pass on food and nutrients to the pink lady’s slipper seed. When the lady’s slipper plant is older and producing most of its own nutrients, the fungus will extract nutrients from the orchid roots. This mutually beneficial relationship between the orchid and the fungus is known as “symbiosis” and is typical of almost all orchid species.”
Also: “Pink lady’s slippers also require bees for pollination. Bees are lured into the flower pouch through the front slit, attracted by the flower’s bright color and sweet scent. Once inside, the bees find no reward, and discover that they are trapped, with only one point of escape. Inside the pouch, there are hairs that lead to a pair of exit openings, one beneath each pollen mass. The bee must pass under the stigma, so if it bears any pollen from a visit to another flower, it will be deposited before picking up a fresh load on the way out.”
no wonder they’re rare.
Pink Lady-slipper, Moccasin flower (Cypripedium acaule Ait.)
Not sure if this is Red or Purple Chokeberry. They are cultivated as ornamental plants! The name chokeberry refers to the astringency of the fruits which must be cooked — they’re used for wine, jam, syrup, tea, etc. (Birds do not mind the astringency and eat them freely.) Rose family. Native. (Thanks to Alert Flowerophile John for loaning me his Newcomb Guide, which helped me identify this plant.)
Chokeberry (Pyrus)
More from Noanet today, something I don’t remember ever seeing before. This is not the ginseng used in herbal medicine but it’s the same family (Ginseng). Native. The flowers are white and turn pale pink with age. Has yellowish clustered berries in July to August. US Forest Service: Native Americans “used tea of the whole plant for colic, indigestion, gout, hepatitis, shortness of breath, fainting, and nervous debility. Its distinctive tubers can be eaten raw or boiled.”
Part of my amazing walk at Noanet. “Besides the showy flowers that are insect-pollinated, there are also inconspicuous flowers that are borne underground and which self-fertilize without opening.”-US Forest Service ! Native. Milkwort family.
Fringed Polygala, Gaywings, Flowering Wintergreen (Polygala paucifolia)
The really exciting find at Noanet was… discovering the secret lair of the Jack in the Pulpits! In bloom! Brilliant name. Arum family.
Jack in the Pulpit, Indian Turnip (Arisaema triphyllum)
Today was a red-letter day for wildflowers. I saw so many at Noanet today and I think I would miss them by half without this extra focus. I don’t remember ever seeing this kind before: Starflower. Evidently they usually have 7 petals, but can have 5 to 9. Primrose family.
Starflower (Trientalis borealis)
The wild blueberries are just coming into blossom! (Native to this area.) Rain yesterday and warm weather on the way — really feeling like spring.
Lowbush Blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium)