NATURE / OUTDOORS
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9/26/07
What's In Flower
Libertytown, MD Submitted By:
Mark Burchick
Libertytown, MD
Near the Carroll & Frederick County
Border
I had a wetland
related job today in
Carroll County and
here are a few
photos of what's in
flower or seed.
New England
Aster, Aster
novae-angeliae.
I've seen blue
lobelia,
Lobelia
siphilitica
(FACW+) dozens
of times, but
only a plant
here or there.
Today I found an
aggregate of
over 40
individual
plants at the
edge of a soy
bean field and
stream.
A close-up
of blue
lobelia,
surrounded
by goldenrod
(dark,
intense
yellow),
reed canary
grass,
smartweed
(white),
sundrops
(bright
yellow) and
New York
Ironweed
(purple).
Nice floral
display.
Spotted knapweed,
Centaurea maculosa
is a non-native,
nuisance weed,
similar to thistle.
Climbing
hempweed,
Mikania scandens
(FAWW+) vine has
gone to seed.
Spotted
touch-me-not,
Impatiens
capensis
(FACW) in
flower and
'exploding'
seed pods.
The flower
can have
very little
to lots of
red spots,
which have
been
determined
to be a
'guide' to
attract
pollinators.
Not only is
the stem
juice a good
antidote for
poison ivy,
the
anti-inflammatory
properties
are very
similar to
what is
found in
Preparation-H.
Therefore
jewelweed
juice is
also good
for bee
stings,
other insect
bites and
itchy butt.
Bur cucumber,
Sicyos angulatus
(FACU) is a native,
annual vine that is
in the same family
as pickles, squash
and melons.
The seeds have
barbed bristles that
easily penetrate
clothes and
painfully imbed into
the skin, just like
stinging nettle,
which also occurs
on-site.
Yellow
coneflower,
Ratibida pinnata
with its
characteristic
drooping flower
leaves, and
which has
nothing to do
with the fact
that we are in a
regional
drought.
9/26/07
