Narrowleaf Cattail

Narrowleaf Cattail

Typha angustifolia

The Narrowleaf Cattail is not native to the U.S., although it is to Canada.  The Broadleaf is our native cattail.  However, the Narrowleaf has a tendency to be invasive wherever it's found in Indiana.



The Narrowleaf Cattail has the male and female parts of the plant separated with a gap. The male flowers are located above the female flowers.

Broadleaf Cattail

Broadleaf Cattail

Typha latifolia

There are two species of Cattail in Indiana.  Naturally there couldn't be just one.  Broadleaf Cattail is the native, non-invasive species of Cattail, as opposed to the Narrowleaf Cattail.  To add to the ID misery, these two species interbreed producing plants that have characteristics of both species.  Oh, well...

Everyone knows what a Cattail looks like ... a hot dog on a stick!  Speaking of hot dogs, cattails are most famous for being edible.  The nice thing about them is that several parts of the plant are edible during different seasons.  I've never eaten any myself so I won't try to describe how to prepare them, but here's a very detailed description of how to go about it.

There is no gap between the upper pollen bearing flowers and the lower female flowers, as opposed to the Narrowleaf Cattail

Early spring flowerhead

Canadian Honewort

Canadian Honewort

Cryptotaenia Canadensis

Canadian Honewort is also known as Wild Chervil, presumably in reference to the fact that it is edible and must taste like Chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium).  On the other hand, there are a couple of other plants referred to as Wild Chervil (Anthriscus sylvestris and Chaerophyllum procumbens), so who knows.

I'm not sure I've ever eaten Chervil so I can't verify that.  The write-ups I've seen about it say that the whole plant is edible, from roots to flowers.  It needs to be soaked or boiled first because of its strong flavor ... it would be too overwhelming.  Maybe I'll try it this summer.

The leaves are deeply lobed and the side leaflets are not symmetrical

The tiny little flowers have five petals

Foxtail Barley

Foxtail Barley

Hordeum jubatum

Foxtail Barley is a nasty grass.  The seeds have tiny barbs on them like fishhooks so that when they start getting into something, they keep going in rather than coming back out.  My pup, Raven, got one in his eye and it was completely behind the eye before we noticed something was wrong.  It took a number of trips to the vet and then to a dog opthamologist in Indy before it was found and removed.  It still gives me the willy's to think about it stuck behind the eye.  After googling about it, I learned that dogs can get these in their paws as well.



This is the seed that was pulled out from behind his eyeball!

 

Marsh Pea

Marsh Pea

Lathyrus palustris

Marsh Pea is a pretty and delicate plant.  It's a vine that wanders around adjacent vegetation.  I've only seen it in one place.  It was a wooded wet area right next to a lake in northeast Indiana.  Perhaps it's more common, just in places that are hard to get to.

It attaches to vegetation via tendrils

The compound leaf ends with a tendril

At the base of each leaf is a pair of little leaf-looking things called stipules

At least part of the stems are winged

The leaves are arranged alternately along the stem

More flowers

Broadleaf Enchanter's Nightshade

Broadleaf Enchanter's Nightshade

Circaea lutetiana

This plant is cool for a lot of reasons.  First of all ... its name!  In Homer's Odyssey, the magical goddess Circe would invite men to a feast, but would lace the food with an herb which would drug them, then she would turn them into pigs.  Early botanists decided that this was the plant and therefore named it Enchanter's Nightshade and gave it the genus name Circaea.  Plants have way better names than birds!

Far less interesting is the fact that the flowers have only two petals, although deeply cleft and look like four. There are only a very few species with flowers that only have two petals.

The flowers have two deeply cleft petals, giving the appearance of a four petaled flower

Opposite leaves with tiny little teeth

The flowerheads (racemes in this case), exhibit a progression that a lot of plants do. The topmost part has the beginning of the flowers and the bottom-most part has the seedpods. This way you can see the whole progression of the flowers from buds to seeds.

Lateflowering Thoroughwort

Lateflowering Thoroughwort

Eupatorium serotinum

A claim to fame of the Lateflowering Thoroughwort is that it flowers late in the year.  This plant, aka Lateflowering Boneset, isn't as famous among people as its relative, Common Boneset, but it is famous among Monarch butterflies, which migrate south for the winter.  The Monarch depends on late flowering plants like Goldenrods and Asters (to which the Lateflowering Thoroughwort belongs) for nectar during its flight to Mexico.





Poison Ivy

Eastern Poison Ivy

Toxicodendron radicans

"Leaves of three, let it be".  That's the mantra for people like me who can get a rash by being within smelling distance of poison ivy.  I've always wondered if that's true.  After all, if a plant smells, it's because molecules are being shed from the plant and bind to the olfactory receptors in your nose.  Perhaps the urushiol oil is evaporating and binds to the skin of passersby, namely me!  Anyway, that's my theory.

The flowers are small and you rarely want to get close enough to them to get a good look

Birds are said to be quite fond of the berries, which might explain why there's poison ivy everywhere

Large poison ivy vines cling to trees with numerous hairy looking tendrils

Common Threeseed Mercury

Common Threeseed Mercury

Acalypha rhomboidea

The Mercury plants (Acalypha's) are native plants that look weedy as a whole, but looking closeup reveals intricate details that are quite pleasing to the eye.

I have not been able to find out how they got the name of Mercury, but the Threeseed part of the name is obvious.  The ovary is three-parted with one seed in each part.  Wow ... genius!

The bracts of the flowers, those leafy green things at the base of the flower stem, are deeply indented in this species. the flowers themselves are quite tiny.

The species name; rhomboidea, supposedly refers to the shape of the leaf, which would be diamond shaped. However, I've noticed that they have a variety of shapes.

Top down view

Common Selfheal

Common Selfheal

Prunella vulgaris

When little Elves have cut themselves,
Or Mouse has hurt her tail,
Or Froggies arm has come to harm,
This herb will never fail.
The Faeries skill can cure each ill
And soothe the sorest pain;
She'll bathe and bind, and soon they'll find
That they are well again.

A poem by Cicely Mary Barker

Apparently Selfheal is used by elves and fairies as a cure-all.  It was actually used by Native Americans for a number of medicinal uses.  It seems like many species of the mint family have been used for medicine.  This one is also edible, although I've never tried it.

This plant looks like a weed of lawns and other disturbed areas, but is actually native to most of North America.  It must be one of those plants that colonizes disturbed areas and, since people disturb the land so much, it has become quite common.

This is very common in yards that don't get mowed a lot

 

Peppermint

Peppermint

Mentha x piperita

So, what is the difference between Spearmint, Peppermint and Water Mint?  Apparently it's not a simple matter.  You think it would be, given the popularity of chewing gum, but the plant taxonomists like to put a wrinkle in everything.

Spearmint (Mentha spicata) is an introduced species in Indiana.  Water Mint (Mentha aquatica) is also an introduced species.  Try to find Peppermint in a field guide and it will be missing, because it is now considered to be a cross between Spearmint and Water Mint.

Apparently, Peppermint has confused everyone since the beginning.  Linnaeus treated it as a species - Mentha piperita.  Somebody somewhere along the line decided that it was a cross between Spearmint and Water Mint and so put the 'x' in the scientific name.

The problem now is what to call it.  Since it's not a species, the field guide people don't want to put it in their books, but it's out there anyway, so what to do?  Answer ... call it Water Mint!  Or, call it Peppermint!  Or, don't put it in there since it's not a species!  Sheesh, poor Peppermint, it gets no respect.

Peppermint is generally found near water

Peppermint flowerheads are thicker and more compact than Spearmint.

Peppermint leaves have stems, whereas Spearmint leaves do not

Orangefruit Horse-gentian

Orangefruit Horse-gentian

Triosteum aurantiacum

Orangefruit Horse-gentian is a cool looking plant with some cool names - Wild Coffee, Tinker's Weed, Feverwort.

It got the name of Feverwort because it has been used to combat fevers.  It has been described as a diaphoretic, diuretic, laxative, pectoral, stomachic, emetic and cathartic.  I'm not sure what all that means, but it sounds powerful.  The name Feverwort also applies to Boneset (Eubatorium perfoliatum), which is a laxative, antispasmodic, expectorant, vasoconstrictor, cholagogue, cathartic, emetic, febrifuge, tonic, aperient, diaphoretic, diuretic, nervine, carminative or stimulant.  How does your body decide what to do?

The name of Tinker's Weed came from a doctor named Tinker.  That's all I know.

Wild Coffee  - The Germans of Lancaster County used this plant as a substitute for coffee.  Just dry, roast, and grind the fruits.  Yum yum!

Of course it got the first part of its name from the color of its fruit.  I'm not sure where "Horse-gentian" comes from, although it would be easy to suspect that it has been used to heal horses from some malady.

This plant is in the family Caprifoliaceae.  This family also includes honeysuckles, viburnums and elderberry.  This is one of the few non-woody plants in this family.

Orange fruits!

Whole plants

Mapleleaf Viburnum

Mapleleaf Viburnum

Viburnum acerifolium

This woodland shrub is another surprisingly edible plant.  The dried up berries are said to be tasty to chew on.  I've never seen so many that they would fill you up, but might make a little snack.

The last paragraph was based on what I read on the internet.  So, I went out to find some and try them.  They are definitely not tasty!  They didn't kill me, but I see no reason to go out and eat any more.  I suppose if I were lost in the woods and dying of starvation I'd eat some.  Or maybe put them in a trap to try to catch something tastier.


The black berries tend to stick up out of the foliage

Opposite branching, same as maple trees

Young berries. Maybe they're better tasting than the ripe ones.



This is why it's called "Mapleleaf" Viburnum

Eastern Redbud

Eastern Redbud

Cercis canadensis

The weird thing about the Eastern Redbud is that it is in the same family as the Soybean, i.e. it is a legume.  A related fun fact is that they are edible.  Not the whole plant of course, but the flowers are tasty and the pods, when they first come out, are said to be quite delicious.  The flowers are eaten raw, perhaps in a salad.  The tender young pods can be cooked up just like snow peas.



The young pods are quite delicious

The pods last all winter

The delicate flowers are edible and add an attractive color to a meal.

Redbud trees are quite prolific