Wild Indian Cucumber

This is the flower of the Wild Indian Cucumber.... as you can see it looks nothing like the Large Whorled Pogonia, but every year I mistake one for the other because both have very similar whorled leaves. The location that I find the Orchid, the Whorled Pogonia, has an abundance of Wild Indian Cucumber growing. The American Indians ate the root of this plant that is suppose to smell and taste much like cucumber. One of the identification guides that I use stated that to pick the Indian Cucumber for its root is not a recommended because of its scarcity.  I looked up its status on the endangered list because I see them everywhere  I go, and it is not mentioned on the Massachusetts list but it is endangered in Illinois and Florida.

Where I found it : In the woods near a clearing

Hobblebush

The lovely white flowers on the outer boarder of this flower are just for show. They have no stamens or pistils. The branches of this plant can bend toward and touch the ground and then take root. When passing this bush you may trip or "hobble" because of those branches. And that is why they think it has the name Hobblebush.

Where I found it : On the side of the road

Large Whorled Pogonia

 Here is one of the treats of the season ... a wild orchid.   So exciting! I found very little written about this orchid.  Searching high and low in books and on the internet and what I found of interest is how rare it is becoming in the North-East. In Maine it is categorized as Extirpated. In Vermont its status is Threatened and in New Hampshire it is considered Endangered. In Massachusetts it is unofficially on a watch list .... but thankfully they are still here.

Where I found it : In the woods near a clearing

False Solomon's Seal

It is called false ... because it isn't the Smooth Solomon's Seal, though they do look alike before they produce their flowers. The False Solomon's Seal has this cluster of white flowers at the end of the stem and Smooth Solomons Seal has little bell shaped flowers hanging down along the under side of the stem. It is difficult for the seeds to germinate and make it through the thick layer of the forests leaf mulch to establish its roots, so it can also spread by under-ground runners.

Where I found it :  in the woods

Yellow Pond Lily

For obvious reasons ... getting close to this flower was not an option. I was surprised when I down loaded this photo to my computer because the colors that can be seen in Monet's Water Lily paintings were very obvious. It wasn't noticeable at the location of the Yellow Pond Lily. It was over cast and raining. But if you click on the photo you will see the purples and blues in the water that I haven't noticed in ponds, but without a doubt Monet did. The "art of seeing".
 An interesting feature of this flower is its way of exchanging gases from the surface of the water to the sediment below. The Lily's stem contains tubes which draw gases from sediment to the surface of the mature leaves where they then dissipate, and in reverse air is drawn down through younger leaves and into the roots below. Moose gobble these beauties up.

Where I found it : Dead Cat Swamp

Wild Lupine

 This photo is of just one of the many individual flowers that grace the spike of a plant that is the Lupine. It can be purple,pink or even white. This is what I call a " bee's eye view". Usually on a plant spike that has many flowers covering it .... you notice the beauty of the whole and don't get close enough to see how unique each little flower is. Isn't it surprising? The genus name of this flower is Lupinus perennis. It is from the Latin lupus, which translate to the word Wolf .... It was once thought that this flower would deplete or "wolf" the nutrients in the soil ... but the opposite is true.

Butter and Eggs

This season in the Northeast is really unlike any Spring I have known. I usually see this flower in August and here it is the middle of May. It is not native. It originally came from the steppes of Europe and Asia during the  1700s with those who settled in the New World.  It is like the  Snap Dragon flower, you can pinch the base of the flower and the Dragons mouth will open. The flowers "mouth" is closed (if you aren't pinching it ) and it takes a strong bee to push into the flower to partake of the pollen and nectar. The orange part is what attracts the bees to this flower. I once heard that a scientist took the orange part off of this flower and placed it on a different kind of flower and the bees were attracted to the new flower where the orange parts were placed.

Where I found it : on the side of the road

Mouse-Ear Chickweed

The common name Mouse-ear, is because the leaves are oval and hairy, not unlike a mouse ear. The name Chickweed is because it is one of a group of plants used when making a food called Chick-starter, a food for baby chickens.
It is one of the largest of the Chickweeds.

Where I found it : in the lawn

Pokeweed

Pokeweed can grow up to ten feet tall by the end of the Summer. The scientific name is Phytolacca Americana, Phytolacca meaning plant dye, and Americana because it is native. The berries are a black purple color and grow on a magenta stalks. The berry juice has been used as a dye by North American Indians and Colonists. The berries are poisonous for humans, pets and livestock, but birds can eat them. The seeds from the berries must pass through the digestive tract of birds in order to germinate.

Where I found it : along an open path in the woods

English Plantain

I once read that this was also know as White Man's Foot Print by the North American Indians. They gave it this name .... if I remember correctly, because it came with the early settlers from Europe and it appeared where ever they settled or where they had traveled through. If you saw this plant growing you would know that the White Man had been there. It may have come in the hooves of the livestock that was brought here or plantings they brought. It is not native but it is nibbled on by some of our native animals.

Where I found it : in the yard

Wild Sarsaparilla

The Sarsaparilla flowers grow under a canopy of three sets of five leaves. You have to peek under the leaves to see the flowers. The root of this plant can be used to make a root beer similar to the root beer make by a True Sarsaparilla root. The Wild Sarsaparilla is a member of the Ginseng family.

Where I found it : In the woods

Pink Lady Slipper

 When I was a child we were told that you could not pick this lovely Orchid because it was protected. If caught picking it you would be fined fifty dollars. I don't believe it is protected at this time but picking and or transplanting them still would not be a good idea. It seems they are rather tricky to get established. They have a symbiotic relationship with a fungus in the soil. The seed of the Pink Lady Slipper does not have its own nutrients to get started in life like most seeds have, they depend on the fungus for food and even the hairy fibers of the fungus help to open the seed case so that the Lady Slipper can sprout. The fungus eventually is paid back when the Lady Slipper dies back and gives its nutrients back to the fungus. If you try to transplant this Orchid you may plant it where this specific fungus does not grow, and so neither will the Orchid. Something else that I found in researching this lovely is that this flower has no nectar for bees, but it does have fragrance enough to entice the bees to enter the flower by a rather tight slit in the front of the pouch. Once in, the entrance is not an exit, and so the bee has to discover the small exit at the back of the flower. When exiting the flower they pass the pollen laden stamen and if perchance they are tricked into entering another Pink Lady Slipper the cross pollination can occur. Sometimes a spider will sneak in and wait for the unsuspecting insect to bumble in and the circle of life continues.I have read that this Lady Slipper, once established, and conditions being in their favor, can live up to twenty years... another source said one hundred years.....

Where I found it : In the woods

Shepherd's Purse

The flowers are sooooo tiny, about 1/12 of an inch or 2 mm. in size. The reason for the name, Shepherd's Purse, is the little heart-shaped seed pod resembles the medieval purse the shepherds carried. I looked into this to see if there were any wall hanging or painting that showed such a purse hanging from the hip of a shepherd, and indeed there were. In someways the seed pod out shines this tiny flower.

Where I found it : in the yard

Wild Pink Azalea

Wild Honeysuckle is another name for this wild Azalea. I have heard it refered to as the Swamp Pink.... but can not find it listed that way. I am thinking that it may be a local name for it.  It is not easy to see from this photo that the ends of the stamen are orange/yellow and the pistil end is green. If you click on the photo you can see this ... though a little blurry. Such a nice detail. I am always astounded by the details of flowers when you get up close and really look at them.

Where I found it : at the edge of a wooded yard

Golden Alexander

 The Latin name is Zizia Aurea and the meaning of Aurea, is gold. Gold is often a symbol for royalty and Alexander the Great is thought to be the name sake of this plant. I have found quite a few non native wild flowers this Spring, but this one is a true native to North America. This flower, unlike the Phlox, is visited by short tongued bees. Also, Swallowtail caterpillars feed on the leaves of the Golden Alexander. The Golden Alexander is a compound umbrel flower. The word umbrel describes the way the many circles of little yellow flowers are positioned on the stem. They are at the top of the stem, and if you looked at it from underneath, it sort of looks like the spokes of an umbrella. 

Where I found it : in a field

Wild Blue Phlox

An interesting thing about this flower is that the stamen are hidden from plain sight. Click on the flower and you will see that the stamen and pistal are tucked inside. It is pollinated by long tongued bees, butterflies, moths, and Bumblebees.The word Phlox in Greek means flames.... they thought that the twisted flower bud looked like a flame. This flower goes by many other names, Blue Phlox, Forest Phlox, Wild Sweet William, Woodland Phlox, and Woodland Blue Phlox. I have had a difficult time isolating which name this Phlox goes by.... This one does not have notched petals, which many... but not all... of the write ups on this flower say it should have. I will update this entry if I find anything definitive.

Where I found it : at the edge of a large vegetable garden

Corn Speedwell

Corn Speedwell Is a relative of the Veronica. If you click on this photo you may be able to see the resemblance. The name Speedwell may be because of how fast they spread. Both the Corn Speedwell and Veronica will invade your lawns or gardens with speed. The Latin species name means " belonging to ploughed land". The flower is only about one 1/5 of an inch or 5mm in size. Very tiny.

Annual Fleabane

One of the interesting things about this flower is its name. It was long thought that this flower protected people from, and drove away, fleas. Hence the name. In times past people stuffed mattresses with this flower and hung them from the beams of their cabins or cottages to chase away fleas..... but today it reveals no such power. It was not native to the East coast but came here from the Midwest Once it had been mostly forested here in the East, but as more and more people settled here, more and more land was cleared and so when the seeds of the Annual Fleabane made its way East on wagon wheels it found open fields which is just the landscape they were use to. The Fleabane looks much like an Aster.... the difference is that the Fleabane comes in the Spring and is an annual and the Aster comes in the Fall and is a perennial. They are generally white and yellow but sometimes they are pink/purple and yellow. Scientists are not sure why.... is it the minerals in the soil, genetics, or something else?

Where did I find it : In a field

Veronica

Germander Speedwell is another name for this little beauty. The flower is about an half inch across. A friend called to say that she had found a patch. I am glad she did because it is very lovely, though very invasive. This flower grows in most of New England, but as it states in the Falcon guide for New England Wildflowers, Eastern Massachusetts does not have sitings of this flower. I read an article that stated that it can self pollinate. When the season becomes very rainy, the flower closes, as many flowers do, to protect their nectar. Bees, flies, and other insects stay away and under cover from the rain, and don't go about helping in the pollination process. If the rain goes on for days and days and the flowers reproductive parts are mature.... the closeness of the petals in the closed position makes it possible to transport the pollen from the anthers to the stigma, and pollination begins without the help of the insects.

Where I found it : a friends yard

Red Baneberry

Red Baneberry is a member of the Buttercup family. Like the Buttercup, they contain a highly irritating toxin.... even the berries. It is said that the American Indians would coat their arrow heads with a concentration of the toxic juice from the berries. Bane means "slayer" in Old Norse.... today in modern English it is given the meaning "poison". The Red Baneberry can be see growing in the same area as the White Baneberry. In the fall the berries of the Red Baneberry are red, the White Baneberry has white berries with a distinctive black dot at the end of the berry. Thus, the name, Dolls Eyes, given to the White Baneberry. The Red Baneberry can also have white berries but the black dot is not so large and so does not have the appearance of dolls eyes.

Where I found it : in the woods near a river

White Ground Ivy

At the beginning of this wild flower season I wrote about Ground Ivy, which is usually purple. As I wandered around my yard yesterday, I discovered a white Ground Ivy. I went looking for any information on how rare or common these are.... I found very little. It seems that they are out there,  just not... maybe.... that common. I thought you might enjoy seeing it.

Where I found it : in the yard along side the purple Ground Ivy

Bulbous Buttercup

There are many different Buttercups. One of my identification guides lists five, another seven, and a third book lists twelve. This one, the Bulbous Buttercup, is very hairy.  A German scientist noted that up to sixty-two insects visit the Buttercup family of flowers for its nectar. For us humans it is known to be very caustic. It can cause anything from vomiting to skin ulcers. We don't often use them in bouquets because the petals soon fall off after being picked. As children, we would pick a Buttercup and hold it under our playmates chin to see if they liked butter. The waxy shininess of the flower would reflect yellow light under our chins, and this was a sure sign that we did enjoy butter. They are one of the most recognised flowers along with the Daisy and the Dandelion.... even young children seem to know their name.

Where I found it : in my yard

Wild Geranium

Another name for this flower is Cranesbill, which refers to the seed case that develops and protrudes from the center of the flower. It does look rather like a Crane's bill. It is another one of those flowers that catapult their seeds. The seed case drys becoming like a tightly wound watch.... the spring holding a lot of energy. When the conditions are right all five sides of the seed case spring, curling backwards ... at the same time hurling the seeds upward and outward. This is not the only surprising trait this plant has..... the seeds are able to crawl ! The seeds have a tail which when it is dry the tail curls, and when the conditions are wet it uncurls. This motion causes the seed to move about until it becomes blocked by another plant or twig .... and then it is believed that this crawling motion pushes it into the soil where it can eventually germinate.

Where I found it : At the back of a field

Jack in the Pulpit

I attended a church where the kind of pulpit they are referring to was used. The pulpit was reached by climbing a set of stairs .... it was like a little tower at the front of the church. Over the pulpit was a flat wooden disk..... maybe four or five feet wide that was suspended from the ceiling. This acted as an amplifier for the speaking voice of the Pastor which would  bounce off of this disk and carry out into the congregation so everyone could hear the speaker better.  The flower is aptly named, though it contains a very quiet speaker. The Jack is called the spadix and the pulpit is the spathe. As I understand it, this plant starts out male and when it has gotten strong enough and its leaves and root system can produce and store enough energy it will become female and produce fruit.... if conditions change.... drought, or if it is transplanted, it reverts back to being male. To tell if the flower is male or female look into the spathe, and at the base of the spadix. If there are little flowers or green berries, it is female. If it is male, it will have hairy pollen like fibers at the base of the spadix.  Fascinating! Such a complex world we live in.

Where I found it : On the tow path of an old canal