Gay Wings or Fringed Polygala

This flower is sometimes mistaken for an orchid. The name Fringed Polygala, which is Latin, translates.... poly : many or much, and gala : milk. It was believed that this plant had compounds that increased milk supply in nursing humans and animals, such as cows. I didn't find anything that still supported this theory, so I am thinking it is not so. The second photo I included, because, if I truly was a wild bee..... I would like to be a bee that looked like that.

Where I found it : In the woods

Wild Oats

There is a Doctrine of Signatures, which is a theory that plants were designed to look like what they were intended to be used for.  Some believe that this started in the Medieval times and others say that it went back even further in time..... the Chinese had practiced medicine with the influence of a similar theory. This flower, some thought, looked like a uvula. The uvula is at the back of the mouth and hangs down from the soft palate. This is why this plant was used in making medicinal like treatments for sore throats and other problems with the mouth. The Latin name for this plant is Uvularia Sessilifolia. As you can see it is even named after what they thought it looked like. I do not see the resemblance.

Where I found it : In the woods along a path

Allegheny Foam Flower

The Foam Flower was a hard one to identify. I asked a friend to help in discovering this flowers name. The photos in the identification guides that I have were not that helpful. It has such lovely flowers ... star like. Unlike the Star Flower which has one or two flowers the Foam Flower has a little galaxy of flowers. They grow like a ground cover and can be quite plentiful. Some say it is called the foam flower because it appears like the foam from the waves on the beach. There was so little written about this flower, I wonder why?..... To its credit, I did find that two poets mentioned the Foam Flower in their poems. That is something.

Where I found it : In wet woods down by the river

Celandine

This plant can be seen in fields, along roadsides, and it grows around all four sides of the foundation of my barn. If you break the stem it oozes yellow-orange sap, which is a latex. The American Indian used the sap as a dye. Some gardening articles recommended wearing gloves when picking or removing Celandine because the sap can be caustic. It seems that all through out history it was used to cure one thing or another.....

Where I found it : At the foot of the barn's foundation

Starflower

The Starflower is only about four inches tall. It has a seven pointed star for a flower and five to nine whorled leaves . It is very common in my area... but there are two states that it is endangered, Kentucky and Georgia. There are also two states that it is in the threatened category, Illinois and Tennessee. In Western Massachusetts I see them often, and I am glad.

Common Speedwell

This delicate flower is only one sixth of an inch in size. It does not need insects to pollinate it. It is able to pollinate itself. This happens when the flower fades and its petals crumple inward, causing the pollen from the anthers to land on the stigma which leads to the plants ovary. The name Speedwell, some believe, is because of how much it was used in early medicine... and thus a "Speedy Recovery". Why does that remind me of Mr. Rogers?  Tennyson refered to it, " The little speedwell's darling blue", in the poem "In Memoriam".

Where I found it : In the lawn

Robin's Plantain

Robin's Plantain is found world wide. It is a compound flower, which is a flower that has two flowers making up the one flower. The two different flowers are the disk flowers, they are the many yellow flowers in the shape of a round disk, and approximately eighty ray flowers,  they are the pink petal like flowers that spread out like the rays of the sun. This plant is also called Old Man In The Spring. The name refers to the hairy stem and leaves. This name comes from the Greek, Erigeron which translate, eri - early and geron - old man.

Where I found it : In a meadow

Kidney Leaf Buttercup

Kidney Leaf Buttercup and Small Flower Crowfoot are names for this plant. Both names refer to the shape of the leaves. The lower leaves are very rounded, and the leaves on the upper stem can be deeply lobed. The flower is less than a quarter inch in size and it really doesn't look like a member of the Buttercup family, but if you look closely, you will see the numerous stamen and pistils that is typical of other Buttercups.

Where I found it : In the woods near a small stream

Wild Strawberry

The Wild Strawberry was first found by Europeans in this country, in Virginia.
The Europeans later discovered another and larger strawberry in Chile. The strawberries we enjoy today are descendants from both  these. The Wild Strawberry's fruit that still grows in the wild is very small but it still attracts bees, and other insects, mammals and birds, and its low growing leaves provide a hiding place for  Salamanders and the like.  Its larger cousin, the strawberries we buy today, can produce up to 200 seeds a berry.

Where I found it : On the path around a farmer's field

Common Winter-Cress

Winter-Cress is also known as Yellow Rocket. This little flower, considered by many as just a weed is a food source to Andrenid bees, and other small bees and flies, also the Cabbage White and other White Butterflies. Some caterpillars of moths and butterflies such as the Checkered White, Cabbage, Falcate Orange Tip, Pyralid Moth, and the Purple Backed Cabbage Worm,
feed on the leaves and or flowers of this plant. Nine different leaf beetles also eat the leaves such as the Stink Bug. The seeds of this plant are a food source for Mourning Doves, cattle and sheep. It is a marvel that this little plant, out in the field all alone, can be so important in the great scheme of things. Does it make you wonder what effect you have on those around you? How many lives do we nourish with friendship, or by listening, visiting, writing, smiling..........

Where I found it : at the edge of a field

Dwarf Cinquefoil

Cinquefoil is french for five leaved. This flower appears to have five leaves but I have read that it is one leaf deeply divided. It does have five petals. It makes its home in the poorest soils and if the soil is improved upon it does not return. I also read that the leaves look like a priest's hand held up as if to say " stop " .... and so it was used to keep away evil spirits.

Where I found it : In an old field

Japanese Barberry

Though you will rarely find any information about this plant that is favorable .... it is one of my favorite. It is not native and it is incredibly invasive. The reason I enjoy finding this plant on my walks is that its flower has a peculiar trigger mechanism. If you stick a pine needle into the flower to the base of the stamen, the stamen will move quickly away from the petals and the anther strikes the stigma which releases the pollen. I have not seen the pollen but you can clearly see the stamen move. It will actually reset itself so it is ready to spring into action next time a visitor comes. It must be quite a surprise to a visiting bee, but such a clever way to disperse pollen.  So many people, birds, animals, and even insects have passed by this little flower and not even guessed how interesting it is.

Where I found it : In the woods

Wood Anemone

 This little plant is very ethereal looking ... the flower is only one half inch to an inch in size, and its stem is so delicate. It is also called the Wind Flower. The word Anemone is based on the Greek word for wind. This plant does not need insects to pollinate it and so it has no nectar. But, ants are the ones who plant the seeds that this flower produces in the fall. The seeds are coated with a substance that the ants like. The ant will go great distances to bring the seeds back to their under ground tunnels. After making a nice meal of what coats the seeds, the ant places the seeds in an empty room in their underground nest, where it waits until Spring to sprout. The Wood Anemone is not endangered but it is not plentiful.

Where I found it : In the woods not far from a stream

Honesty

 I remember this flower being called the Money Plant or  Silver Dollars. By the fall, the seed pod has formed and it is the size of a silver dollar. It is a flat, round, translucent, and papery seed pod. Its latin name is Lunaria bienni.... you will notice that the latin word for moon is in the name... Luna. The seed pod does look like a silvery moon once it has shed its outer seed case, which is rather a dull brown. As children we would collect these Silver Dollars and then count them like little misers to see who was the richest. 

Where I found it : At the edge of a field

Pussytoes

A man, F. Schyler Mathews, who wrote about flowers, once wrote...
" But it is only pussytoes, and scarcely merits attention." Now, really, how can something called Pussytoes not be worth our attention. One reason it might be worth our attention is that it is the host plant for the butterfly, American Lady. A host plant is a plant that the butterfly lays its eggs on. When this little egg hatches, a larvae comes out and begins to take its nourishment from the plant until it is ready to enter the next stage of its life. I don't think you will hear any American Ladies quoting Mr. Mathews.

Where I found it : Beside a parking lot

Garlic Mustard

Garlic Mustard is considered an invasive plant. It spreads quickly and takes over where other wild flowers would grow. This changes things more than you would think ...  I read that some where the White Butterfly that usually lays it's eggs on a certain native wild flower called Toothwort was forced to lay it's eggs on the Garlic Mustard because Toothwort was crowded out by Garlic Mustard, and this butterfly's eggs would not develop on the Garlic Mustard plant.
 This pretty flower is considered undesirable in our country but in Europe, where it originates, it is welcomed in the Spring as a beloved wildflower.  Its leaves are edible all year round and have a garlic flavor. The roots can be used the same way the Horseradish root is, and the seeds can be used to create at spicy condiment.

Where I found it: Along the side of the road

European Field Pansy

This little Pansy is high in Vitamin C, and the flower is only a half inch in size. These little living things are surprising in their ability. Each plant produces seed capsules that contain about seventy-five seed, and each plant produces many of these capsule. It can produce as many as fifteen hundred to two thousand five hundred seeds. Then to top that, the seed capsules burst open and cast the seeds up to thirteen feet away.

Where I found it : In a freinds yard

Yellow Wood-Sorrel

I found three flowers yesterday, and all are edible. This is a small flower ... about one inch across. It is also known as Sour Grass or Pickle Plant and I am assuming this is because of its lemony or sour taste. It is also called Fairy Bells. It is sensitive to direct sunlight ... the leaves only open in the shade, if direct sunlight reaches them they sort of collapse back on their stems.


Where I found it : In a friends yard

Trout Lily

Trout Lilys provide early food for queen Bumble Bees. This is important because the queen can then develop her underground colony of worker bees who will later help pollinate clover, alfalfa, and other early crops that are for animal and human consumption. Such a demure little flower with such a big role in the circle of life. Some think it is called Trout Lily because its leaves resemble the mottled skin of the trout.

Where I found it: In the woods

Dwarf Ginseng

I really found this yesterday ... but returned home to find the photo out of focus. I went back to the woods this morning to get a better photo. This is Dwarf Ginseng. A close relative to American Ginseng. American Ginseng has been over harvested so much that it is considered rare in the wild. American Ginseng is used for its medicinal qualities.  Dwarf Ginseng can be and was used by Native Americans and early settlers as a food. It is sometimes called Ground Nut. It can be eaten raw or boiled. It is found in old woods that have been untouched by development or fire for a long time.

Where I found it: In damp woods near a river.

Trillium

 Trillium goes by many names, Wake Robin is one, and a name more fitting is  Stinking Benjamin. Trillium was named by Linnaeus. He named it to shed light on the plants three leaves, three petals,  three sepals, three celled ovaries, and three ribbed berries. The other name, Stinking Benjamin, comes from the fact that it does stink. Some call it the Carrion Flower because it smells like rotting meat. It doesn't attract a lot of insects, but it does attract the Green Fly, a garbage eating fly.

Where I found it: In the woods by a river.

Blueberry

My hope is that you will click on the photo to see how beautiful this flower is. And so unique. Isn't it charming? It is early for the blueberry flower ...but this one was nestled up next to an old log and in full sun. The star shape is what probably inspired the Native Americans to call them Star Berrys. The five points are also on the blue fruit. They grow very well after a fire and I think it was Robert Frost that wrote that he could taste the soot when he ate Blueberries. Wild bees are the most common pollinator.

Where I found it: In the woods where a logging company had recently been through.

Sweet White Violet

T. S. Eliot wrote that "April is the cruelest month".  I don't agree.... though, we are having an unusual Spring in the Northeast, I am thrilled with the nine flowers that I have found so early in the month of April. I am saying this is the Sweet White Violet because of its reddish stem and the cut of the leaves.... but the more I read and try to narrow it down, the more unsure I am. It is indeed fragrant as the Sweet White Violet should be, very sweet.
In reading up on the Sweet White Violet, I read and interesting thing about the insects that go to violets for their nectar..... some cheat! Instead of following the guiding lines on the face of the violet, and going in through the front... some insects cut through the spur, behind the petals and sneak the nectar out that way. Some violets such as the Sweet Violets have sepals that cover the spur and so maybe protecting themselves from insects that would take the violets nectar without helping to pollinate the flower.

Where I found it: In the yard.

Periwinkle

 This flower has not been included in my flower count of previous years, because I thought it was a garden plant not a wild flower. This year I have noticed it included in lists of wild flowers so I will add it to my list. It goes by other names, as I found out on a hike with some friends.... one name is Myrtle and another is Vinca Vine. Different cultures have viewed this flower in different ways. In Germany, in times past, it was considered the Flower of Immortality.  In Italy it was known as the Flower of Death. And in France, the Flower of Friendship.

Where I found it: In the yard.

Dandelion

 I may be part of a dieing breed, but I really enjoy these jolly looking flowers. They come early in the Spring and stay with us, flowering all the way through the Fall. Their name in French is, Dents de Lion, translating .... teeth of lion.This, some believe, is because of the deeply toothed leaf margins. The Dandelion  is actually made up of 100 to 200 rays, which are really tiny-tube shaped flowers, and because there are so many tiny nectar holding flowers on one head, I have read that 93 to 100 species frequent the Dandelion for its nectar. Another delightful thing about this flower is ...  remember blowing on them and making a wish when they were in their seed stage.  So, when life gets to be too much, do what Opus the comic strip penguin use to do, go and sit in a lawn that still has Dandelions in it, and take a "dandelion break".

Where I found it: In the yard