Queen Anne's Lace

We have a number of white, umbrella like flowers in our area and keying them out is difficult and a real pain. This is Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota) and it's easy to ID by eye as it has a single, very tiny red to violet floret in the center. This is said to be a tiny drop of blood from Queen Anne's finger that she pricked with a needle making the lace although it was probably her hand maid's blood as it's unlikely the Queen would make her own lace. :o)

Often called "Wild Carrot", this flower is common in roadside ditches (dear to my heart!) and fields. The last photo shows the miniscule size of the central floret compared to the tip of a ball point pen. At this magnification, it's very difficult to get both the pen and flower in focus.

Cardinal FLower

This is commonly called "Cardinal Flower" (Lobella cardinalis) and is one you have to see to believe! It is beyond gorgeous! The late naturalist Roger Peterson called it "America's Favorite. I found a patch of it several years ago about a mile from home along a dirt road in a swampy area. Not a common flower.

The individual flowers are about 1" tall grow on a spike similar to a Gladiolas. The red is intense and appears as scarlet velvet. The color reproduction here doesn't do it justice. It generally grows on stream banks, swamp edges etc and other non handicapped accessible areas and blooms in late August-Sept. This one was about 6' away from me in a wet ditch (where else!) full of briers, chiggers, snakes, poison ivy and who knows what else. I used my 300 mm hummingbird lens with a 1.4X teleconverter and extension tube to get it to close focus.

Late spring ditch patrol

We are in the mist of a real cool down here in VA which is unusal to say the least! Low 50's at night are right up my alley and it's the latter half of June! As I have a poor tolerance for heat, I didn't have much excuse for not going out except for the omnipresent fatigue. Yesterday I was looking for something different and selected an obscure little evergreen plant called "Spotted Wintergreen" or "Dragon's Tongue". Its scientific name is Chimaphila maculata if you care. It's about 4" tall and I usually find it at the base of Oak or Pine trees. The flowers are pink to white in color, usually in pairs and appear to be made of wax.

Spring Flora- Mountain Laurel

We are now transitioning from spring to summer flora. This is Kalmia, commonly called "Mountain Laural". Other names include: Ivybush, Calico Bush, Spoonwood and Sheep Laurel. All parts of the plant are toxic. It is generally a shrub or small tree and occasionally reaches 10' in height. Often grows in dense thickets in poor, rocky soil and usually blooms in late May thru June. Wilderness battlefield is full of the stuff which is pretty spectacular to see.

Belongs to the family Ericaceae (if you care) which includes Blueberries, Cranberries, Azaleas and Rhododendrons, native to the eastern USA, from southern Maine to northern Florida, and west to Indiana and Louisiana. All plant family names end in "aceae" (if you care). I know memorizing them sure made my life miserable in plant taxonomy.

And finally (again if you care, I sure don't) The plant was first recorded in America in 1624. It was named for Pehr Kalm, who sent samples to England in the 18th century.

Showy and spring loaded

The flowers grow in large clusters that are pretty spectacular and often weigh down the branches. Each of the 10 stamens is "spring loaded" and fits in a notch in the petal. When a bee or insect visits the flower, he "trips" the spring, ejecting pollen into the air and all over the bee which he spreads to the next flower. The stamen in the 9 o'clock position here has been "tripped".

Evergreen

Mt Laural is an evergreen that often grows in large clumps

State flowers

Mountain Laural is the state flower of Pennsylvania and Connecticut.

Sundrops

This is "Sundrops" (Oenothera perennis) a late spring/summer bloomer in our area. This one is complete with an ittsy bittsy, teeny weenie yeller pokadot... spider. These are in the Primrose Family and look very similar to the Evening Primrose except that the latter blooms in the evening (imagine that!). Found this one in a ditch (where else!) in the Spotsylvania CH battlefield.

Common Chicory

Common Chicory, (Chicorum intybus) is a familiar sight in most country road ditches starting soon. Extremely hardy and aggressive, after introduction to the US it has spread nationwide and can grow on hard-packed road shoulders or just about anywhere. The blue or sometimes white flowers open early in the day and typically close by noon. The flowers grow directly on the tough leather like stem
It is quite beautiful none the less and the tap root is ground and added to coffee. It has a mellow sweet flavor that cuts coffee's bitterness. The Luzianne Co., based in New Orleans, routinely adds Chicory to their Luzianne Coffee with Chicory. I love it!

Daylilies

Daylilies

Daylilies are one of our most popular garden flowers. Basically you can plant 'um and forget 'um. They are probably the most hybridized plant in the world with every color and flower shape imaginable available. They belong to the genus Hemerocallis which means "day" and "beautiful" in Greek. The flowers typically open at dawn and close at dusk lasting but a single day. They are native to Asia and are not true lilies which typically have nodding, spotted flowers.

Daylily 1

Same flower with three different lightnings

Daylily 2

Daylily 3

Another Houstonia

This is the Long leafed Bluet (Houstonia longafolia) which is white so don't know where the "Bluet" fits in. Another tiny flower of the roadsides in spring.

Dogwood

VA's beautiful state flower, the Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida). Generally a small tree, the true flowers number about 30 and are in the center of the four white "petals" which are actually bracts. Fruit is a small red berry. The trees are prone to blight (a type of fungal infection) that has killed many wild trees. The wild trees are white, the pink cultivated.

Wild Strawberry

Wild Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) similiar to our domestic Strawberry but the flower and fruit are much smaller although said to be sweeter. Pretty common in roadside ditches (where else!) A member of the Rose family

Bluets size comparison

Reuella

This is Reuella, commonly called "Mexican Petunia" or "Wild Petunia" and it is an "illegal alien"! Extremely hardy, it grows almost anywhere (we need some!). It is attractive and the plants we have are garden escapes. It's also considered an undesirable invasive species that smothers native plants by the USDA. Hopefully I'll get the spring flora outa the way soon and move on.

Solomon's Seal

Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum biflorum) is commonly found in dry to moist wooded areas where the soil is rich. It is widespread in eastern North America and found throughout most of VA. where it is easily overlooked because the flowers are green. The flowers typically grow in pairs as the two in the right of the photo.