Virgin's Bower

This is not the flower of the Virgin's Bower, it is what  remains after the petals have fallen. The flower when in bloom does have a feathery pluming center, as if it had a full head of hair......But, as the season progresses the petals fall away and the hairiness grows. It is a clinging vine that has no tendrils. Darwin spent quite a bit of time studying how certain plants move with different stimulus. Some plants move with the sun, and some, like the Virgin's Bower, are sensitive to touch. He discovered if you rubbed a stick on one side of the leaf stock, it would start to move in that direction for the next few hours. If the leaf found, after reaching in that direction for a few hours that there was nothing to wrap its leaf stock around,  it would return to its original position. It is a member of the Clematis family. It is also called Traveller's Joy because, as Neltje Blanchan puts it so amusingly...." Our Traveller's Joy, that flings out the right hand of good fellowship to every twig within reach, winds about the sapling in brotherly embrace, drapes a festoon of flowers from shrub to shrub, hooks even its sensitive leafstalks over any available support as it clambers and riots on its lovely way." I think that this fall display of the Virgin's Bower is more beautiful than the actual flower. 

Where I found it :  on the boarder of a sunny field

Hog Peanut / Amphicarpa Monica

Such a delicate gathering of flowers to have to go by the indelicate name, Hog Peanut. Its scientific name, Amphicarpa, means "seed at both ends". It is unique in that it is self- pollinating. The flowers are very small. In the photo you are seeing a cluster of these flowers, and each individual one is less than a 1/4 inch. Being small, and this cluster is white ( it is more often purple to lavender), it may not attract a lot of insects to aid in the pollination process. To remedy this situation and avoid extinction it has the ability to self pollinate and it produces seeds below ground..... the peanut of this plant. There is a draw back to self pollination, the flower is not benefiting from other plants which may have stronger genetic traits written into its DNA, thus, it is not able to " improve the breed " as my father use to say. So, the ability to produce seeds at the roots and at the flower is why Amphicarpa is part of its scientific name. People and hogs use to part take of this wild delight..... but I have not read about any one eating them today.... I wonder if that is what the pigs that escaped from a neighboring farm were looking for when their snouts excavated the back of our field?

Where I found them :  On Mount Tom

Ps. This plant is endangered in New Hampshire

Globe Thistle / Echinops

The Globe Thistle was found growing in the dry rocky soil of the Maine coast. I don't believe it is native and can be invasive depending on your soil and the zone that it is grown in. It is part of the daisy family. I really didn't find a lot of information about this ,flower, but..... its Greek name, Echinops, means "like a hedgehog".

Where I found it : on the Maine coast

Wild Mint (Mentha Arvensis)

Growing in North America there are about 10 species of Mint, the only one that is native is this little Mint.  It grows circumboreal, (I just added that because I like the word.)  meaning that it grows in the Northern Hemisphere, Europe, Asia, and North America. There is no end of information about what mint has been used for over the centuries.... from Pharisees using it to pay tithes in the time period of the New Testament, to stomach cures. Wild Mint has glands that contain essential oils that gives mint it's lovely smell and flavor. Gerard wrote about the smell of mint, " It is comfortable for the head and memory." Maybe he is writing about that calming effect that you get when you draw in the scent of mint, whether it is crumbled leaves or a steaming cup of mint tea. The Wild Mint leaves make an especially good tea.

Where I found it : growing on the rocky coast of Maine

New England Aster

 This Aster likes its feet wet, or should I say damp. It is also probably the most beautiful Aster. Neltje Blanchan wrote " The flower-heads.... shine out with royal splendor." And Mrs.William Starr Dana wrote, " Probably no (aster) is more striking...." With all its purple and then Monarch butterflies fluttering about them... it is such a sight to see. This Aster can actually be the color of light lavender to a  purplish-blue.... but this is often how I find them. Before the Asters were scientifically renamed this Aster was Aster Novae-Angliae which translates Star of New England. It was renamed Symphyotrichum Novae-Angliae.... which translates with less charm, Fused Hairs Of New England. The word hairs speak of the hairiness of its seeds. The American Indians used the plant in many ways, from treating skin rashes to insanity cures, from smoking it in a pipe to using it to make smoke in their sweat baths. Over all the New England Aster is a  lovely way to usher in the fall colors
Where I found it  : on the side of the road in a bit of swampiness

Ladies Tresses

Ladies Tresses are the last orchid to appear in North America each year. This one is Nodding Ladies Tresses. The word Tresses refers to a ladies hair. It is suppose to look like braided hair. The flowers do appear to spiral down the flower, but, actually, the flowers only grow on one side of the stem. It is the stem that twists. This orchid is one that caused Asa Gray and Charles Darwin to spend a lot of time studying the very unique way that this flower is pollinated. When the bee sticks its tongue into the flower to sip the nectar, the contact causes a little disk to split. This, I believe, releases a very sticky cement like substance onto a little vertical boat as the tongue goes by it, it coats the sides of the bee's tongue with this glue that dries almost immediately causing what ever pollen that was present to be attached to the bee's tongue. When the bee then goes on to the next flower or blossom the pollen will, if the flower is mature enough, come in contact with the
matured stigma causing pollination. This is how the Tresses are pollinated and it is only half the story.... if you are interested there is more about the shape of the pollen and how the bee can still roll up his tongue with the pollen attached ....... go on line and Google "How Ladies Tresses are pollinated" and you may find out more about this lovely flower.

Where I found it : In the same field as the Turtleshead. So a wet field is where you may find them.

Turtlehead

 Hello fellow flower lovers..... you may think I have been away, but actually the blogger site was experiencing a glitch. During that time I have found two more beauties. One is the Turtle Head ,  the other for the next post is our fall wild orchid, the Ladies Tresses.  You may wonder how the Turtlehead got its name and so was I .... because it doesn't really look like a turtle head to me. You know what it does resemble........ Mr. Limpet...... Don Knots turns into a fish in an old Walt Disney Movie. Well anyway, I did find that the genus name is Chelone glabra. Chelone is Greek for Tortoise. This, though, does not explain why..... Turtlehead. In an old 1917 flower guide by Neltje Blanchan, it is written
about how difficult it is to enter this flower before the anthers have matured enough to dust pollen on the insects that make it in . She also mentioned that when it is ready, the plant is a little easier to enter, though even the Bumble Bee with all its brawn has to struggle to get in. Here is what she writes in such an amusing way " At the moment when he  (the bee)  is forcing his way in, causing the lower lip to spring up and down, the eyeless turtle seems to chew and chew until the most sedate beholder must smile at the paradoxical show. Of course it is the bee that is feeding, though the flower would seem to be masticating the bee with the keenest relish ! The counterfeit tortoise soon disgorges its lively mouthful, however,, and away flies the bee, carrying pollen on his velvety back to rub on the stigma of an older flower."   So there you have it. Don't you love these older flower guides..... there are people behind the words.

Where I found it : in a friend's field where it tends to be wet