Category Archives: Wildflowers

Hedge Mustard

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I took this picture a few weeks ago when it first bloomed, but couldn’t identify it until recently, now that it is a couple of feet taller and has developed distinctive narrow seed capsules (siliques) that vertically hug the stem. I should take new pictures. In Europe it’s cultivated as food, for the leaves and the seeds which can be ground into mustard paste. Used as a condiment particularly in northern Europe. Also, was used to soothe sore throats, and called Singer’s Plant. Family Brassicaceae. Native of Europe and North Africa.

Hedge Mustard (Sisymbrium officinale)

Yellow Wild Indigo

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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)

Spotted Wintergreen

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Distinctive blue-green leaves with a pale stripe, which stay green through the winter. Endangered in Canada, Illinois and Maine. Wintergreen family. Native. (I actually sat on the ground for a second to take this picture and was immediately swarmed by dozens (millions?) of black ants! The lesson: don’t sit on Antopolis.)

Spotted Wintergreen, Striped Wintergreen, Spotted Pipsissewa (Chimaphila maculata)

Bonus pictures: I noticed the spotted wintergreen because we were investigating why so much bark was sheared off this tree near the entrance to the town forest. Apparently someone missed the curve on Central Avenue, shot through the trees, scraped one and was stopped by another, where the bumper and other debris are still on the ground…

Update from the Needham Times: A Medfield juvenile is charged with leaving the scene of an accident, operating to endanger, using a motor vehicle without authority, unlicensed operation, and speeding. Bad!

Bitter Dock

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A common tall weed, but it’s interesting to see upclose the little white fruits. They can turn red in the sun. The taproot can be 5 feet long. Native to Europe.

Bitter Dock (Rumex obtusifolia)

Monkshood

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This is considered a wildflower, but I have not yet seen it in the wild. (This is my yard.) This is a very toxic plant and has been used for murders for centuries (the Roman emperor Claudius is thought to have been assassinated by his own doctor with a draught of monkshood)! (A British woman was convicted in 2010 of killing her lover with a curry laced with monkshood.) Also was used for killing wolves and rabid dogs. Used to create poison for arrow tips for hunting and warfare. If you touch your lip to the root, the juice will cause numbness and tingling! Wear gloves to pick the leaves! The name Aconitum means “without struggle.” Ominous! From Wikipedia: “In his first potions class, Harry Potter is mocked by Severus Snape for not knowing that monkshood, wolfsbane, and aconite are the same plant, in an attempt to humiliate him.” Buttercup family.

Monkshood, Wolf’s Bane, Dogbane, Soldier’s Helmet, Friar’s Cap, Old Wife’s Hood, Blue Rocket, Women’s Bane  (Aconitum Napellus)

Fringed Bindweed

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A vine with small white flowers. Heartshaped leaves. At this size, you can barely see why it’s called Fringed — there is a fringe of tiny hairs at every joint on the stem. Buckwheat family. Native.

Fringed Bindweed (Polygonum cilinode)

Purple Loosestrife

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When I saw this, a purple wildflower so tall that the blossom’s at eye level, I was pretty excited about the discovery. I was surprised to find that this is just purple loosestrife, common around here, but usually we see it at a distance — great purple swaths of it in marshes and along parts of the Charles River. I’d never looked at it up close. There are good things about it (it’s beautiful, for one thing), but around here it has a bad name — an invasive that harms biological diversity by crowding out native plants, thereby affecting all the creatures that need the native plants.

Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)

Orange Hawkweed

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I took this on a hike in New Hampshire. There are several of them near Lonesome Lake. It is supposed to be a New England wildflower that grows at least as far south as Connecticut so I’ve included it, but I haven’t seen it locally yet. Native to mountainous areas of Europe. Daisy Family.

Orange Hawkweed, Fox-and-cubs, Devil’s Paintbrush, Grim-the-collier (Pilosella aurantiaca)

Bunchberry

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Photographed by B on a recent hike in New Hampshire. I felt off wildflower duty since this is not really my turf. However, this flower is found in our area, so here it is. The leaves are in whorls, and the white petals are really the bracts, not petals, and the flowers are a cluster of small greenish flowers in the center. Will have bright red berries in late summer, good bird food.

Bunchberry, Creeping Dogwood (Cornus canadensis)

Galinsoga

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We’ve been getting our vegetables from the Dover Farm. B cleaned the beet greens and found this sprig collected with them. Naturally he saved it for me to identify and I immediately swarmed onto it (do you need more than one person to swarm?) and figured out what it is. Daisy family. Native to Peru, brought to Britain in 1796 where it escaped to the wild. Sometimes in Britain the name Galinsoga turns into Gallant Soldiers, and from there becomes Soldiers of the Queen — an awfully noble name for a pretty humble-looking plant. Used as a spice herb in Colombia, leaves eaten in salads. The juice is a coagulant and antibiotic!

Galinsoga, Guasca, Gallant Soldiers, Potato Weed (Galinsoga parviflora)

Bonus picture: the farm pick-up area.