Ghost Flower, Corpse Plant, or Indian Pipe Monotropa uniflora This wildflower lacks chlorophyll and is non-photosynthetic. In order to obtain carbon, it forms a parasitic relationship with mycorrhizal fungi that grow on tree roots. Indian pipes are found in rich, moist woods where there is a lot of leaf litter. There is one flower per…
Painted Trillium
Trillium undulatum Oh, where do I start with this uncommon wildflower? The coppery-green leaves? The undulating tips of the dainty white petals? The glamorous scarlet blaze at the flower’s center? Maybe I should just say, “This little trillium is a real showstopper!” Like all the trillium species, the leaves, petals, and sepals of painted trillium…
Chicken of the Woods
Laetiporus These orange and yellow mushroom brackets are growing on a dead tree in the woods at Mountain Lake Conservancy in Virginia. Also called sulphur shelf because of the color, this mushroom does not have gills. It is a polypore mushroom. As you can see from the photos, the fungus can produce very large numbers…
Yellow Star Grass
Hypoxis hirsuta This bright yellow wildflower might pass for a buttercup at first glance. Look closely and you will see that the leaves of this plant are slender and grasslike, reaching about 12 inches in height. The flowers appear on shorter stems that usually bear more than one flower bud. The inflorescence is less than…
Butter-and-Eggs
Linaria vulgaris This plant has many common names, including Common Toadflax, Wild Snapdragon, Yellow Toadflax, and of course, Butter-and-Eggs. Another “introduced” wildflower, it is native to Asia and Europe, but it is now a naturalized weed present in all of North America. Butter-and-Eggs is a perennial plant with erect stems and thin, threadlike leaves that…
Sulfur Cinquefoil
Rough-Fruited Cinquefoil or Sulfur Cinquefoil Potentilla recta Another “introduced species”, this tall flower of pastures, roadsides, and railroads has spread across the entire United States. In some states it is considered a noxious weed. Sulfur cinquefoil flowers are usually soft yellow, but sometimes they are white. Each of the 5 petals is shaped like a…
American Lily-of-the-Valley
Convallaria majuscula Until now, I did not know that Lily of the Valley grows wild in the Appalachian Mountains! The form that most of us know, the garden variety, was imported from Europe and then popularized in American gardens. But this species–the wild one- is a few degrees different, and it is appropriately called American Lily-of-the-Valley. First…
Viper’s Bugloss
Blueweed, Blue Devil, or Viper’s Bugloss Echium vulgare Viper’s Bugloss is a biennial that produces brilliantly blue flowers with long red stamens in June. The funnel-shaped flowers start out pink, but then later turn dark blue. The oblong leaves grow up to 6 inches long, are dotted with small white dimples and covered with tiny white…
Bladder Campion
Silene vulgaris Here’s a very tall, perennial plant that is new to me! Look at those balloon-like flowers! They occur in clusters of up to 30 flowers at the top of a single flowering stalk. The 1-inch flowers have 5 white petals, but each petal is split to look like two. The sepals behind the…
Moth Mullein
Moth Mullein Verbascum blattaria Look for this biennial plant, June through September, in pastures, meadows, and along roadsides. It can grow up to 5 feet tall! The photos above show the leaves arranged on the flowering stem in an alternate pattern, without petioles and gently clasping. These leaves are elliptic and slightly toothed. The dazzling…
Yellow Fieldcap Mushrooms
Bolbitius titans We had several big trees taken down this spring and consequently we’ve been blessed with two enormous mulch piles in the yard. It was inevitable that a few mushrooms were soon to follow. I was amazed by watching this species of mushroom come and go in the mulch. One day I would see…
Lance-leaved Coreopsis
Lanceleaf coreopsis, Lance-leaved coreopsis, or Lanceleaf tickseed Coreopsis lanceolata This bright yellow, perennial wildflower occurs in open areas and along roadsides. The bold flower head is large (1-2 inches in diameter) and is held on a tall, hairless stem, or peduncle. This is an aster, so the flower head is actually made up of ray…
Spiderwort
Tradescantia Found in almost all counties of Virginia, spiderwort is both a native wildflower and a commonly cultivated garden plant. The plants can grow up to about two feet tall. Sometimes you will find them growing singly, but most often they occur in large clumps that look like tall, wild grass. The flowers bloom at…
Showy Skullcap
Scutellaria serrata Here’s a beautiful wildflower! The dainty flowers are two shades of purple and they are held high above the simple and attractive foliage. The morphology of the flower is interesting at each stage of development–from new buds to maturity. Just take a look at some of the photos below… Skullcaps are in the Mint…
Mock Strawberry
Duchesnea indica Every spring there is a little competition going on among the ground covers in my front yard. Creeping Charlie, Bugleweed, and Mock Strawberries are fighting for their own piece of real estate. By late spring, these low-growing plants are all intertwined in a thick mat of brilliant colors. Now at the end of…
Oxeye Daisy
Leucanthemum vulgare or Chrysanthemum leucanthemum Here’s a flower that everyone knows: the daisy! There are several daisy-like flowers in our area, but this one, Oxeye Daisy, is probably the most common in fields and along roadsides in late spring and summer. Blooms can last for up to a month, making daisies a ubiquitous part of…
Motherwort
Leonurus cardiaca Here’s a very tall, sturdy member of the mint family–Motherwort! Note the reddish, square stems covered in fine hair, and the variety of leaf shapes from the bottom of the plant (5 lobes) to the top of the plant (2-3 lobes). All the leaves are opposite and the venation is strongly defined. The tubular, pinkish flowers occur in whorls…
Venus’ Looking Glass
Triodanis perfoliata Venus’s Looking Glass is a smallish annual that you might find growing in dry woods and open fields during the summer months. The deep violet blue color of the flower will catch your eye, even though the plant is short (10-20 inches high) and the leaves and flowers are very small. At first glance, this appears…
Rattlesnake Weed
Hieracium venosum The leaves of this plant are the real attraction. A basal rosette of oval, bluish green leaves hugs the forest floor. Each leaf is outlined with deep purple veins that form a net-like pattern. From May to September, the plant can be found in bloom in shady, dry forests. The dandelion-like, yellow flower…
Bowman’s Root
Indian Physic, Fawn’s Breath, or Bowman’s Root Gillenia trifoliate The five narrow petals on this white flower protrude from the center in an irregular fashion. Perched atop dainty red stems, the blooms appear to just float in the air! Spent flowers are replaced immediately by bright red calyxes. The bushy plant grows 2 to 3 ft….
Elegant Stinkhorn
Mutinous elegans Now really… elegant stinkhorn? This is an oxymoron if I ever heard one! The very mention of the word stinkhorn should make you quiver –not make you anticipate something ELEGANT! The best common name I’ve seen for this fungus is probably Devil’s Dipstick. The structure and color suggest a stick that’s just been…
Golden Alexanders and Meadow Parsnip
Zizia aurea and Thaspium trifoliatum Here are two wildflowers that are very similar in appearance–they both have small, bright yellow flowers that are arranged in umbels and they both bloom at the same time of the year. Golden Alexanders is a 3 foot tall perennial with three-part stem leaves. The individual leaflets are ovate to lanceolate, and the leaf…
Climbing Milkweed
Matelea decipiens Here is an unusual milkweed! Climbing milkweed is a native, hairy vine with opposite, heart-shaped leaves. The leaf margins are smooth (or entire). Clusters of small, five-petalled, reddish-brown flowers appear in late spring (May). Later in the summer a long seedpod will replace the flowers. The seedpod and seeds look similar to those…
Eastern Smooth Beardtongue
Penstemon laevigatas Jason Turman pointed out this mass of beardtongue flowers growing along a roadside at Primland. The purple-pink blossoms were buzzing with bumblebees at the end of May. Just like the foxglove beardtongue featured in the previous post, this plant grows 3-5 ft. in height and prefers sunny or partial sunny locations. It too has…
Foxglove Beardtongue
Penstemon digitalis Foxglove Beardtongue, Foxglove Penstemon, or Beardtongue These showy, native wildflowers appear from April to June in sunny or partially sunny locations. They grow from 3 to 5 ft. tall in brilliant masses; this group was photographed along the side of the road at Primland in Meadows of Dan. The two-lipped, tubular flowers are borne on…
Yellow Wood Sorrel
Oxalis sp. Also known as Sourgrass or Lemon clover because of its distinctive sour-lemon taste, yellow wood sorrel is a pretty wildflower or a ubiquitous weed, depending on your perspective and how much of it you’ve got in your yard. There are multiple species in this genus with similar characteristics, so I won’t attempt to nail this…
Violet Wood Sorrel
Oxalis violacea Also known as “wild shamrocks”, this little native plant has both pretty flowers AND pretty leaves! Ranging in height from 4 to 8 inches, Violet Wood Sorrel is what you might call a “stemless” plant. That’s because each leaf emerges directly from the ground on a long petiole (there is no stem). The…
Mountain Laurel
Kalmia latifolia Run, don’t walk! Put on your hiking shoes and head up any Appalachian mountain trail (right now!) in May and June and you will be rewarded with gorgeous Mountain Laurel blooms. This evergreen shrub can put on a spectacular display, since it varies in height from 3 to 15 feet and forms thick…
Yellow Hawkweed or King Devil
Hieracium caespitosum (H. pratense) I’ve been spotting a new wildflower around town this week, and I even saw it a couple of days ago on top of Salt Pond Mountain, near Mountain Lake. It is hard to miss this plant because the flower stalks are tall and straight and they are topped with sunny yellow flowers…
Green and Gold
Golden Star or Green and Gold Chrysogonum virginianum You might be familiar with this plant from home gardens. It is a native wildflower with a spreading habit and long-lasting flowers, so it makes an excellent ground cover in the garden. The bright yellow flowers with contrasting brown stamens are held high above the light green,…
Yellow Clintonia or Blue-bead Lily
Clintonia borealis Here’s a beautiful mountain wildflower that I’ve found growing in sheltered places beneath the rocky slopes of Bald Knob on Salt Pond Mountain. The leaves of Yellow Clintonia (or Blue-bead Lily) somewhat resemble robust orchid leaves; they are 6 to 10-inches long, elliptical, and shiny. Each individual plant bears two to five of these large basal leaves. In…
Smooth Hawksbeard
Smooth Hawksbeard Crepis capillaris This aster is commonly found in bloom from spring until fall in agricultural fields and on disturbed sites. The 1-inch wide flower heads are made up entirely of yellow ray flowers –they look similar to dandelions. The flowers are held up on erect stems, well above the basal leaves. The deeply…
Canada Mayflower
Maianthemum canadense Although Canada Mayflower is considered a northern species, it can be found growing in Virginia in the higher elevations of the the Appalachian Mountains. The plants pictured here were photographed along the ridge top of Salt Pond Mountain (near Mountain Lake) and also along the banks of Big Stoney Creek in Giles County….
Galax
Galax urceolata Wandflower, Galax, or Beetleweed The white spikes of galax rise up like magic wands in late May and June in the woodland forests of Appalachia. The tall spikes can grow 1 to 2 feet high over a basal rosette of shiny green leaves. The flowers wave gently in the breeze, earning this plant the…
Cliff Saxifrage or Michaux’s Saxifrage
Saxifrage michauxii Delicate white flowers with red and yellow dots are dancing in the mountain breeze at Mountain Lake in Giles County! Cliff Saxifrage lives in the tiny cracks between the rocks on Bald Knob, elevation 4,300 ft. Head out for a hike and see this unusual plant in bloom–in late May and June!
Speckled Wood Lily or Black-bead Lily
Clintonia umbellulata There are two Clintonias blooming now in forests in Southwest Virginia. One has yellow flowers and one has white flowers. Speckled Wood Lily (or Black-bead Lily) is the common name of the white version. The large leaves of this plant are oval-shaped and might put you in mind of the Pink Lady’s Slipper orchid. These leaves tend to grow in…
White Baneberry
Doll’s Eyes or Baneberry Actaea pachypoda The compound leaves of baneberry are toothed and pinnate, similar in some ways to black cohosh in appearance. The white flowers appear mid-spring in a dense cluster at the top of a stem. The flowers give way to small berries later in the summer. When fully ripe, each berry…
Capturing a swarm of honey bees
My husband has been raising honey bees for the last three years, but today he caught his first swarm without a swarm trap. These bees were gathered up in a dogwood tree in our neighborhood in Blacksburg. They are now safely in a new hive at our house. It was a milestone day for this new…
Pink Lady’s Slipper
or Moccasin Flower Cypripedium acaule One of the showiest orchids in our local forest, the pink lady’s slipper appears between May and July. Before it flowers, you may notice the leaves lying quietly on the forest floor: there are usually just two of them, and strong parallel veins are evident on the oval leaves. When the…
Pussytoes
Antennaria Antennaria: This is a difficult genus, containing several species in our area. Since I’m not a botanist, I am going to stop at the genus level here and simply say that all the flowers on this page are members of the genus, Antennaria, or Pussytoes! Don’t you LOVE the name? Soft and wooly, with white…
VIRGINIA WILDFLOWERS 