These large styles are sometimes bright red- brown. The flowers of Indian cucumber root have 6 yellowish green tepals, 6 reddish stamens topped by greenish anthers, and 3 reddish purple to brown styles. One of the strangest little flowers I find in the woods hides under the tiered, whorled leaves of the Indian cucumber root plants ( Medeola virginiana) and they have just started blooming. The one pictured looked and smelled just like those old cabbage roses and I had a hard time leaving it. You knew that you were smelling it right here on this earth. Those poor roses attracted rose chafers by the billions it seemed, but if you sat out on the porch and closed your eyes on a warm summer evening you didn’t have to imagine what heaven would smell like. When I was a boy we had a hedge full of gloriously scented cabbage roses. Native Americans made a blue dye from this native plant that was a substitute for true indigo. Not surprisingly, other common names include rattle weed and rattle bush. The black seed pods full of loose, rattling, seeds that follow the flowers were once used as rattles by children. People love it too, and it is now sold in nurseries. This is another tough native plant that bees love. This is the first year I’ve ever seen it and, since it was growing in a clump of blue flowered plants, I wonder if it isn’t a natural hybrid.īlue false indigo ( Baptisia australis) is in full bloom now and is a plant held in high regard for its hard to find clear blue color. The white flowers with a hint of blue mixed in make for a striking blossom, in my opinion. I think this is my new favorite tradescantia, at least for this year. Bees, especially bumblebees, seem to like this one best though. Interesting but I like the blue that I grew up with best. I find this purple flowered one in a local park. Plant breeders have been working on tradescantia and I’ve seen purple and white flowered varieties as well as the standard blue. The Cree tribe called the berry “kawiskowimin,” meaning “itchy chin berry” because rubbing the berries against your skin can cause a reaction that will make you itch.ĭogwood ( Cornus) blossoms have 4 large white bracts surrounding the actual small greenish flowers in the center, just like bunchberries. Later on the flowers will become a bunch of bright red berries, which give it its common name. The entire flower cluster with bracts and all is often no bigger than an inch and a half across. Native plants that are dug up will soon die off unless the natural growing conditions can be accurately reproduced, so it’s best to just admire it and let it be.īunchberry is also called creeping dogwood and bunchberry dogwood. Just like the dogwood tree flower the large (relatively) white bracts of bunchberry surround the actual flowers, which are greenish and very small. It’s thought that it must get nutrients from the decaying wood, and because of its association with wood it’s a very difficult plant to establish in a garden. Pretty little bunchberry ( Cornus canadensis) is often found growing on and through tree trunks, stumps, and fallen logs but exactly why isn’t fully understood. I’m happy just admiring their beautiful flowers. The name “ flag” comes from the Middle English flagge, which means rush or reed and which I assume applies to the plant’s cattail like leaves. Though Native Americans used blue flag irises medicinally its roots are considered dangerously toxic. It’s hard to believe after all the rain we had this spring. I’ve also notice the level of water in our river is low and lawns are starting to burn. This is usually a sign of stress, in this case dryness. I’ve noticed the curl on the petals of these and other flowers. These plants shown grow in a wet roadside ditch but it hasn’t rained enough to amount to anything for a while now, so their ditch has gone dry. I was afraid our native blue flag irises ( Iris versicolor) were late this year but it turned out to be impatience on my part that made it seem so.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |