Heartleaf Skullcap

Heartleaf Skullcap

Scutellaria ovate

Heartleaf (warm and fuzzy) and Skullcap (so edgy!).  There's another Skullcap called Mad-Dog Skullcap which is maybe the coolest plant name of all!

The Skullcaps get their name from the calyx of the flower that turns white after the petals are gone and lasts all winter.



The seedpods last all winter and are in the shape of a skullcap

Note the heart-shaped leaves

Swamp Milkweed

Swamp Milkweed

Asclepias incarnate

So, now I'm halfway through, the last day of June.  I went out this morning before work and encountered mosquitoes, deerflies, and poison ivy, those three things that try to make my life miserable.  However, they were unsuccessful.  When I get dialed into a Fringed Loosestrife I don't feel the mosquitoes biting, or hear the deerflies buzzing, or scratch at my poison ivy.  All in all, this project has been a lot of fun and very interesting, in spite of all of the challenges.

The one thing I knew about, but didn't know what to do about, is the amount of time it takes, time that I could be out mowing the lawn or painting the barn, tasks that will have to wait.  I'm not all that fond of mowing or painting, so I don't feel too bad about not doing them, but it's starting to become a bit noticeable.  I suspect my wife will notice soon.

So far I've been able to keep up.  It's hard getting a new set of plant pictures every day.  I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to make it through about October, but after that I'm not so sure.  It's not just taking the pictures that takes time, but then they have to be loaded to the computer, sorted, photo-shopped, labelled and stored with appropriate comments for identification.  Oh yeah, first the plant has to be identified, a task that isn't always simple.

The hardest part, but the most rewarding, is figuring out something clever to say about the plant on the blog.  I'm sure some of you have noticed the variation in the commentary, ranging from a quick note to a more complex, researched article.  This all depends on how much time and creativity I have at the moment, along with whatever inspiration has hit me.

I'll keep this up through the end of the year, perhaps the last few months being pictures of twigs or leaves, but I'll get 'er done.

So, what about Swamp Milkweed?

Swamp Milkweed grows in swamps.  Amazing!  The nice thing about it is that it's the only Milkweed that you're likely to see in swampy areas in Indiana.  It's fairly common in wet areas and around lake edges.  It looks a bit like Common Milkweed, but has thinner leaves.  In fall, the pods are also thinner than Common Milkweed.



Note the leaves that are thinner than the Common Milkweed

Cool looking pods

Typical looking Milkweed flowers

Butterfly Milkweed

Butterfly Milkweed

Asclepias tuberosa

Wow, who doesn't like Butterfly Milkweed!  Its bright orange flowers attract your attention from far away and it's hard to resist going over and taking a look.  This is certainly one of the most photographed flowers.  They're not as common as Common Milkweed or some of the others, which makes them even more enticing.

One little known fact about Butterfly Milkweed is that it was voted "Wildflower of the Year" in 1999 by the Kansas Native Plant Society!  This puts it in pretty good company.  As you all know, there is a corresponding Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society, but I don't think they select wildflowers of the year.  Maybe they ought to start.  It's a real hit in Kansas!

Milkweeds have a very interesting flower structure that makes them easy to identify.  They have five upward projecting hoods, and five corresponding petals that point downward.  The hoods are the unusual part.  They have nectar down in the bottom which attracts bees, butterflies and moths.  Inside the hood are little gizmos called pollinarium.  These consist of two connected sacks of pollen.  When the insect lands on the hood to collect the nectar, the pollinarium gets stuck on their leg and they fly away with it.  The structure of it is such that it is perfectly situated to come in contact with the stigma of the next plant it lands on.  I don't have the close-up pics to show what it looks like, so here's a link that describes it nicely.



Typical Milkweed flowers

Common Milkweed

Common Milkweed

Asclepias syriaca

One of my favorite blogs is The Common Milkweed.  Steve & Jen are a couple of serious naturalists who practically live off the land and walk the talk.  They also know more about milkweeds than anyone else I know.  They're very milkweed-savvy.

The Common Milkweed is a native plant, but considered invasive by many.  It is very successful and seems to grow about anywhere.  It is a great food plant for many insects.  Just look at one closely and you will see all sorts of critters crawling on it, most famously the Monarch butterfly caterpillar.  The plant is quite attractive all year long.



The milky sap gives Milkweed its name

Palespike Lobelia

Palespike Lobelia

Lobelia spicata

I wasn't able to find a whole lot of info about this plant other than the usual: number of petals, inflorescence, leaf shape, etc.  I did learn that the genus name, Lobelia, was named after one of the earliest prominent botanists,  Matthias de l'Obel.

He was born in France 150 years before Linnaeus, but changed the way of thinking about plant taxonomy that Linnaeus eventually formalized into the system we have now.  In fact, Linnaeus kept some of the names and groupings that de l'Obel came up with.

Back in the day, i.e. before 1500, plants were grouped together for various reasons, often medicinal, but mostly for reasons of usefulness to people.  The idea of grouping them together in terms of natural affinities, or evolution (whatever that was), was not thought of until de l'Obel came along and wrote some books.

Icones stirpium, seu, Plantarum tam exoticarum, quam indigenarum :in gratiam rei herbariae studiosorum in duas partes digestae : cum septem linguarum indicibus, ad diuersarum nationum vsum ('Images of plants, both exotic and native, for students of botany, arranged in two parts: with indices in seven languages for the use of different nationalities'),

Stirpium adversaria nova (A first edition which can be had for a mere $50,000)

Plantarum, Seu, Stirpium Historia

de l'Obel lived an interesting life.  He grew up in France, moved to England, became a physician, served as personal doctor to William the Silent, but spent most of his time collecting plants and writing books.  He lived out his days as gardener to Edward la Zouche, 11th Baron Zouche of Harringworth, Northamptonshire, 12th Baron St Maur.

Great Blue Lobelia

Great Blue Lobelia

Lobelia siphilitica

"The Meskwaki ground up the roots of Blue Lobelia and used it as an anti-divorce remedy.  The mashed roots were secretly put into some common dish, which was eaten by both husband and wife."

"The Meskwaki people used it as part of an inhalant against catarrh."

These are both statements that I found on the web.  It's interesting to think that the native Americans must have used all sorts of plants for all sorts of remedies and it probably varied over the continent.  But, how do we know for sure what they used?  Does anyone know of a trusted reference book on native American medicine?  Can you believe everything you read on the web?

At this point, the Meskwaki tribe is mostly known for its casino.

The beautiful flowers make it a favorite for native plant gardeners

Partridge Pea

Partridge Pea

Chamaecrista fasciculate

Oligoleges!  If you know the meaning of "oligoleges" before I tell you, then you know too much stuff!!

In my extensive research of plants for this blog (web surfing), I learn so much.  It turns out that some species of bees will only collect pollen from certain plants.  They are so specialized to a species or genus of plant that no other will do.  This is called oligolecty and the bee species that do this are called oligoleges.  The oligoleges of Partridge Pea are Anthophora walshii and Svastra atripes atripes.  Now you know something new!

It turns out that researchers are not completely certain why some bees are so specialized , although it probably has something to do with amino acid composition in the pollen.



The flowers are quite striking and do well in a native plant garden

Whole plant

Moth Mullein

Moth Mullein

Verbascum blattaria

There are four species of Mullein in Indiana and none of them are native, which is too bad because they're cool looking plants and it would be nice to claim them as our own.

Far and away the most common of the Mulleins are the Common Mullein (imagine that), and the Moth Mullein.  The "Ohio Perennial & Biennial Weed Guide" states that "Common mullein (Verbascum thapsus) is a related species that is also a biennial and similar in appearance to moth mullein. "  This is funny because they don't look at all alike.  If you saw both plants side by side you would never guess that they were that closely related.

There are some similarities.  They both are biennials which produce a simple rosette of leaves the first year and then a spike of flowers the second year.  They both grow best in "waste places" where there is little competition.

So why the name "Moth Mullein"?  Because the petals look like moth wings and the stamens look like antennae!

These don't look at all like Common Mullein

Once in a while, you come across a plant with yellow flowers

Common Mullein

Common Mullein

Verbascum thapsus

I like to make fun of the taxonomists sometimes, but they really try to do a good job.  Here's why.  The following is a list of the various common names I've found for Common Mullein:

Aaron's Rod
Adam's Flannel
Adams-Rod
Beggar's Blanket
Beggar's Stalk
Blanket Herb
Blanket Mullein
Bullicks Lungwort
Bullock's Lungwort
Bunny's Ears
Candlewick Plant
Clot
Clown's Lungwort
Cowboy Toilet Paper
Cow's Lungwort
Cuddy's Lungs
Duffle
Feltwort
Flannelleaf
Fluffweed
Golden Rod
Great Mullein
Hag's Taper
Hare's Beard
Hig Candlewick
Ice-Leaf
Indian Rag Weed
Jacob's Staff
Jupiter's Staff
Lamb's Ear
Miner's Candle
Moses' Blanket
Mullein Dock
Old Man's Blanket
Old Man's Flannel
Our Lady's Blanket
Our Lady's Flannel
Peter's Staff
Poor Man's Blanket
Rag Paper
Shepherd's Club
Shepherd's Staff
Torch Plant
Torches
Velvet Dock
Velvet Mullein
Velvet Plant
Verbascum Flowers
White Mullein
Wild Ice Leaf
Woollen
Woolly Mullein

The taxonomists are simply trying to come up with one name for this plant so they can talk about it at their meetings.



Common Mullein is a biennial. The first year is just a rosette of leaves.

The leaves are velvety soft





Whole plant

Illinois Bundleflower

Illinois Bundleflower

Desmanthus illinoensis

I wonder what it's like to be a taxonomist.  Sort of like a politician, everybody loves you but everybody hates you.

It turns out that Illinois Bundleflower is in the Legume family.  Sounds simple enough, but how is this plant related to soybeans?  Well, not that closely.  The taxonomists decided to split Fabaceae into several subfamilies.  Soybeans are in the subfamily Faboideae and the Illinois Bundleflower is in the subfamily Mimosoideae.  So, they're not so closely related.

In fact, the Mimosoideae includes the Acacia tree.  Geez, Illinois Bundleflower doesn't  look anything like the Acacia!  But wait, Mimosoideae has been further split into several tribes.  Acacia is in the Acacieae tribe and Illinois Bundleflower is in the Mimoseae tribe along with, you guessed it, Mimosa.

So, Illinois Bundleflower is a sibling of Mimosa, a cousin of Acacia, and a second cousin of the Soybean.  Whew, don't those taxonomists have fun!

This plant is not common and the only place I've seen it is in prairie restorations.  It is occasionally used in pasture plantings for cattle due to its high protein content.

Tall Hairy Agrimony

Tall Hairy Agrimony

Agrimonia gryposepala

Who comes up with these names?!  Tall Hairy Agrimony could be the name of the last surviving Sasquatch!  I guess it's to distinguish it from Short Bald Agrimony.

There are actually four species of Agrimonia in Indiana.  This one can be distinguished by its height and preponderance of hairs on the stem.  There are other differences as noted in the pics below.




Note that there are only two pair of large leaflets. Agrimonia parviflora has several pair.

Note that the pod bristles point outwards rather than straight up like Agrimonia striata

Wild Bergamot

Wild Bergamot

Monarda fistulosa

Wild Bergamot is native the North America and the Native Americans put it do good use.  Now, I wasn't around to verify any of this, so I'll just repeat what I've read here and there.

• Cooked with meat
• Brewed into tea
• Relieve headache
• Cure colds
• Baby bath
• Indigestion
• Remove acne
• Poultice
• Treat gingivitis
• Relieve gas problems (farting)

... and much more.  It was used extensively by tribes all across America.



The flowers are said to be quite tasty and a nice addition to a summer fruit salad

 

Woodbine

Woodbine

Parthenocissus vitacea

Woodbine is quite similar to its genus-mate, Virginia Creeper.  Both are in the grape family -  Vitaceae. Woodbine seems like a cross between Virginia Creeper and grapes.  It has the leaves of Virginia Creeper, but the tendrils of grape plants.  It has the viney-ness of both species.


Grape-like tendrils



The leaves turn a beautiful color of red in the fall

Leaves are similar to Virginia Creeper

Virginia Creeper

Virginia Creeper

Parthenocissus quinquefolia

Virginia Creeper is one of those plants that you think is so easy to identify until you find out that there is another species, Woodbine, that looks just like it.  Why do we only hear about Virginia Creeper and not Woodbine?

While both Virgina Creeper and Woodbine are native to Indiana, another member of the Parthenocissus genus is not ... Boston Ivy.  Boston Ivy would be the most famous member since it is the reason for the moniker "Ivy League" for the league of snooty schools in the northeast.  It is also the plant that covers Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Boston Ivy is easy to identify, but how about the other two.  They're not so hard if you look at them closely.  Virginia Creeper has little pads at the end of its tendrils that it uses to stick to the sides of tree trunks.  Woodbine has tendrils that look like grape tendrils.  This genus happens to be in the grape family, Vitaceae.  Given the types of tendrils, Virginia Creeper tends to be the plant that is seen climbing up tree trunks, while Woodbine sort of intertwines with the foliage.



The tendrils have little pads at the ends of the tendrils

Typical palmate compound leaf with five leaflets, hence the species name of quinquefolia

Velvetleaf



Velvetleaf

Abutilon theophrasti

Velvetleaf has a very appropriate name.  It's leaves are velvety!  They're so big and velvety smooth that they can be used for toilet paper in an emergency.

Here's a funny thing:

You Might Be a Farmer If...

Your dog rides in your truck more than your wife.

You convince your wife that an overnight, out-of-state trip for equipment parts is a vacation.

You have ever had to wash off in the backyard with a garden hose before your wife would let you in the house.

You've never thrown away a 5-gallon bucket.

You have used baling wire to attach a license plate.

You have used a chain saw to remodel your house.

You can remember the fertilizer rate, seed population, herbicide rate and yields on a farm you rented 10 years ago, but cannot recall your wife's birthday.

You have fibbed to a mechanic about how often you greased a piece of equipment.

You have used a velvetleaf plant as toilet paper.

You have driven off the road while examining your neighbors crops.

 

I suppose if you don't want to have to run back to the house, use Velvetleaf instead.





So soft and velvety!




The pods are quite distinctive. They're easy to identify all winter long.