Verbesina alternifolia The common name of this plant, of course, comes from the distinctive stem, which has vertical ridges that are sometimes described as “wings”. (See the photos below.) The stem is usually unbranched, and the fast-growing plant can eventually reach great heights– up to 8 or 10 feet. Wingstem is sometimes called yellow ironweed…
Author: Gloria
Gray-Headed Coneflower
Ratibida pinnata Here’s another native coneflower with a thimble-shaped head and drooping petals, but this time the head is gray to brown in color and the pale yellow, drooping “petals” (or ray flowers) number only 5 to 10. This is Gray-Headed Coneflower, and like the Green-Headed Coneflower, the leaves of this plant are alternate. The gray-headed…
Ironweed
Veronia This very tall, late-summer flower is ubiquitous in our part of VIrginia. The small, deep purple flowers begin to bloom in fields and along roadsides in August. The spectacular show of color continues through fall. Ironweed is a perennial wildflower, and a member of the Aster family. The leaves of the plant are elliptic to…
Three Birds Orchid or Nodding Pogonia
Originally posted on VIRGINIA WILDFLOWERS:
Triphora trianthophora Flowering colony of Three Birds Orchid Last summer, in the month of August, I discovered the diminutive Three Birds Orchid on a mulched path in my neighbor’s garden. I went straight home to look it up in my field guide, since I never encountered it before. The common…
Three Birds Orchid or Nodding Pogonia
Triphora trianthophora Last summer, in the month of August, I discovered the diminutive Three Birds Orchid on a mulched path in my neighbor’s garden. I went straight home to look it up in my field guide, since I never encountered it before. The common name, Three Birds Orchid, is intriguing. Apparently the orchid often bears…
Purple-flowering Raspberry
Rubus odoratus On an August hike to Wind Rock in the Jefferson National Forest, I found an odd shrub with very large, maple-shaped leaves and bold, reddish-purple flowers. The stems of this plant were reddish-brown and covered with fine hairs. Although the plant lacked real thorns, the sticky hairs on the stem definitely called to…
Jimsonweed
Datura stamonium Jimsonweed is also called purple thorn apple. One look at the purple stems and prickly fruit of this plant will tell you why. You’ll find it flowering in August and September, but your timing will have to be right. Generally, Jimsonweed flowers open at night and last only one day. Sometimes you can catch…
Spotted Coralroot
Corrallorhiza maculata It’s early August, and the community of plants and fungi on the forest floor is changing once again. The dense cover of spring’s herbaceous growth is now withering, leaving open spaces that reveal late-season treasures. Recent rains have fed a new crop of colorful mushrooms, and with them, here and there, a few…
Slender Bunchflower
Veratrum hybridum For a few years now, I’ve been seeing this large, grass-like plant growing in odd clumps up on Salt Pond Mountain, but I didn’t really know what it was. This year, I was lucky enough to be up there when it was blooming, and I literally gasped when I saw the profusion of…
Slender Ladies’ Tresses
Spiranthes lacera var. gracilis Last summer I reported on Nodding Ladies’ Tresses, which I found growing in bog-like conditions near Glen Alton. Today I found a similar plant growing in a grassy, well-drained field right here in Blacksburg. This one is Green-Lipped Ladies’ Tresses, or Slender Ladies’ Tresses. As the first part of the name…
Flowering Spurge
Euphorbia corollata Look at these dainty white flowers suspended in a loose cluster like Baby’s Breath! What looks like a 5-petalled flower is actually not–the white structures you see are really bracts. There are super-tiny flowers cradled within these bracts that are nearly impossible to see! You might first recognize the leaves of flowering spurge…
Spindles, Worms, and Corals: Oh My!
How many shapes can can a mushroom take? Apparently the answer is MANY! The following group of fungi take the form of worms, spindles and corals, and their names reflect the diversity of colors and shapes that are currently unfolding in our local woods. Smokey Worm Corals, Magenta Corals, Beautiful Corals, Orange Spindles…click on any…
Green Adder’s Mouth Orchid
Malaxis unifolia or Microstylis unifolia Here’s a small member of the orchid family that is widely distributed across the eastern and central United States, yet is uncommon to find. Its small size combined with its overall green color make it difficult to see even when it is present in an area. As the species name…
Blazing Star or Gayfeathers
Liatris spicata Liatris is a tall perennial that is native to Virginia and prefers moist ground. You will find it in low meadows and along the edges of ponds and wetlands. It can grow 4′ to 6′ in height, so it is hard to miss when it is in bloom! Believe it or not, this plant is an aster, but it only…
Wild Basil
Clinopodium vulgare or Satureja vulgaris Wild basil is a hairy mint with pointed oval leaves and clusters of pink to purple flowers. The clusters are stacked on an erect, 4-sided stem that is distinctly wooly. Morning dew will delight your eye as it glistens on the dried clusters long after the flowers fade. See the gallery…
Joe Pye Weed
Eupatorium or Eutrochium Here’s a tall native wildflower that has large, serrated, whorled leaves and masses of rose pink blooms in late summer. Joe Pye weed grows 4 to 7 feet in height and enjoys life in all sorts of damp places in southwest Virginia. Believe it or not, Joe Pye weed is a composite…
Virgin’s Bower
Clematis virginiana Look up! That white-flowering, climbing vine that is now covering young trees and shrubs along pathways in Blacksburg is absolutely stunning– and its name is Virgin’s Bower! Perhaps not surprisingly, this pretty native is a kind of Clematis. The 4-petalled flowers are about 1-inch wide and sweetly fragrant. Pollinators, including butterflies, bees of…
Yellow Fringed Orchid
Platanthera ciliaris This magnificent, bright yellow-orange orchid blooms in July and August in our area. It can be found in open woods, in either dry or wet places, although most of the photos below were taken in boggy places. As you can see, these exotic flowers are borne in a dense cluster at the top…
Cardinal Flower
Lobelia cardinalis It’s showtime—and this late-summer bloomer is as showy a flower as they come! Cardinal flower, a native perennial, produces bright red flowers on tall, unbranched stems. The flowers are produced on a raceme, which opens from the bottom first. Each individual flower is bright red and tubular, with 5 deep lobes that are…
Steeplebush or Hardhack
Spiraea tomentosa I think we are all familiar with spirea as a landscape ornamental. Familiar cultivars with names like Bridal Wreath, Gold Flame, Little Princess, and Neon Flash grace gardens across the South. Most of these have flat or rounded clusters of pink or white flowers in early summertime. Contrast this flower arrangement with Steeplebush….
Sundrops and Evening Primrose
Oenothera fruticosa They call me Mellow Yellow… Evening Primroses and Sundrops are very similar in appearance. They both have lance-shaped leaves and an upright growth habit. They both bear large (~2-inch) yellow flowers, each with four petals and a large x-shaped stigma at the center. The flowers of Evening Primrose are mostly closed during the…
The Stinky Squid: A Stinkhorn
Pseudocolus fusiformis Stinkhorns! These foul-smelling fungi are popping up all over in the mulch around my property now that we are in the dog days of summer. They seem to love the hot and humid weather. Stinkhorns are at once amazing and repulsive. They come up overnight, emerging from a little “egg” sac on the…
Hoary Mountain Mint
Pycnanthemum incanum Here’s another native mint from the Lamiaceae family. Like all the mints, this plant has 4-angled or square stems , opposite, elliptical leaves, and a pronounced mint fragrance. Hoary mountain mint has white leaves at the top of the plant where the flowers arise. The white to purple flowers are 2-lipped, with the…
Late July Mushrooms
Here are a few unusual mushrooms from a recent walk in the Gateway Trail and Pandapas areas around Blacksburg, Virginia.
Cup Plant or Indian Cup
Silphium perfoliatum Blooming now in mid-July: Cup Plant! The name of this sunflower-like aster comes from the manner in which the upper leaves adhere to the stem. The opposite, toothed leaves are fused at their bases, forming a complete cup around the stem. The leaves are rough and ovate to triangular. The central stem of this plant…
Downy Rattlesnake Plantain
Goodyear pubescens I love the leaves of this little native orchid. Look at that symphony of color and design! The silver markings on the dark blue-green leaves, along with the bold stripe in the center of the leaf make it easy to identify as rattlesnake plantain. The “plantain” part of this plant’s name comes…
American Wintergreen or Eastern Teaberry
Gaultheria procumbens Pictured here is a little wildflower that has been sitting out in the cold all winter, holding fast to its tiny red berries. As the plant’s common name implies, the round to elliptical, shiny leaves of American winterberry stay green all winter. The cherry-red fruit persists as well. Wintergreen is technically a low-growing shrub,…
Blue Vervain
Verbena hastata No need to bend over to see this tall beauty! Blue vervain grows 2 to 5 feet tall! I found these plants growing on the banks of Pandapas Pond in June and July in Montgomery County, Virginia. The 5-petaled, violet-blue flowers of blue vervain are borne on unique branching spikes. The flowers on…
Jack O’Lantern Mushroom
Omphalotus illudens No, it is not time for Halloween, but it IS time for bright orange mushrooms to start popping out of the ground to do a little pre-holiday scaring. The Jack O’Lantern Mushroom is pretty distinctive, so you should have little trouble identifying this one. If a big patch of orange catches your eye…
The Grisette and Tawny Grisette
Amanita vaginata The Grisette is a species in the genus Amanita, a group that contains a number of deadly mushrooms. Unlike most of the other Amanitas, this mushroom lacks a ring on the stem, even though it emerges from a sac-like volva in the ground. Young specimens emerge with an oval cap, which eventually becomes…
The Blusher
Amanita rubescens Here’s a classic mushroom, warts and all. “The Blusher” is a common, colorful mushroom in the genus Amanita that has a prominent ring (and sometimes a full veil) on the stem. The cap is reddish-brown to yellow-beige and freckled with warts; the stem tends to take on the color of the cap. The…
July Mushroom Foray at Pandapas Pond
So much rain this summer in Southwest Virginia…it is a banner year for fruits and vegetables, and especially for wild mushrooms. Another mushroom foray around the Pandapas Pond area in Montgomery County produced the following fun assortment of wild fungi in our local woods. The best highlight for me was moose antlers ! What we found…
Moose Antlers
Wynnea americana Found July 17th in the Pandapas Pond area of Jefferson National Forest: Moose Antlers! From WIKIPEDIA: “Wynnea americana, commonly known as moose antlers or rabbit ears, is a species of fungus in the Sarcoscyphaceae family. This uncommon inedible species is recognizable by its spoon-shaped or rabbit-ear shaped fruit bodies that may reach up…
Dogbane or Indian Hemp
Apocynum cannabinum If you’re trying to identify this plant for the first time, you might reasonably assume it is a kind of milkweed. You’d be right. Dogbane is a milkweed relative—they are in the same Family— but in different genera (Apocynum vs Asclepias). Young dogbane plants look very much like milkweed in terms of leaf…
Knapweed
Centaurea Imagine a genus with 500+ species in it… Then imagine how intimidating it is to name a flower in this group to species! So in the interest of avoiding an error, I’ll stop at the genus level on this one. The folks at Wikipedia report that all the members of the genus Centaurea share…
Small Green Woodland Orchid
Platanthera clavellata A few weeks ago, while looking for mushrooms, I spotted a small colony of orchids growing along the moist banks of a woodland creek near Pandapas Pond in Montgomery County. I immediately got pretty excited, mainly because I didn’t know what kind of orchids they were! It is sad to say, but this…
Shiitake Mushrooms
Although not a Virginia flower, and definitely not a Virginia mushroom, these shiitake mushrooms are something to crow about, so I’m including them on my blog! We inoculated oak logs two years ago in late April, and the following May we had our first mini-harvest. In early July, we got a second crop, and then…
Purple Coneflower
Echinacea purpurea When you see the word Echinacea, you probably think “cold remedy”. Of all the native plants that have made their way from the field to the medicine cabinet, this one is probably one of the most famous. The roots and leaves of Purple Coneflower, whose genus name is Echinacea, have long been used to treat…
Bittersweet Nightshade
Solanum dulcamara You might recognize the flower of this plant because it resembles lots of plants that you are already familiar with: tomato, eggplant, potatoes, ground cherry, jimsonweed, and horse nettle to name a few. These plants are all in the same family, Solanaceae, which is also known as the nightshade family. There are more…
Canada Lily
Lilium canadense It’s showtime! Here’s an exotic-looking Virginia native that is a member of the lily family (Liliaceae). Canada Lily grows in moist woods and along wood margins. Reaching 2-5 feet tall, the erect plant has an unbranched stem with whorls of 3-8 elongated leaves; the leaf edges are smooth (not toothed). The nodding flowers…
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