This volume includes the fern allies, true ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms from magnolias to roses.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 Organization of Flora
3 Equisetophyta - the horsetails and scouring rushes
4 Lycopodiophyta - the clubhouses
5 Psilophyta - the whisk ferns
6 Polypodiophyta - true ferns
7 Cycadophyta - the cycads
8 Ginkgophyta - Ginkgo
9 Coniferophyta - the conifers (pines, firs, larches)
10 Ephedraceae - Ephedra
11 Anthophyta - the Dicotyledons
12 Magnoliaceae - magnolia family
13 Annonaceae - pawpaw family
14 Calycanthaceae - sweetshrub family
15 Lauraceae - the laurel family
16 Aristolochiaceae - Dutchman’s pipe family
17 Nymphaeaceae - water lily family
18 Ranunclulaceae - buttercups, columbines, anemones
19 Berberidaceae - the barberry family
20 Papaveraceae - the poppy family
21 Fumariaceae - fumitory, Dutchman’s breeches, bleeding heart
22 Urticaceae - the nettle family’
23 Juglandaceae - walnut, pecans
24 Myricaceae - myrtle family
25 Fagaceae - the beeches, oaks
26 Betulaceae - the alder family
27 Phytolaccaceae - the poke salad family
28 Nyctaginaceae - the tobacco family, four-o'clocks
29 Aizoaceae - the fig-marigold family
30 Cactaceae - cacti
31 Amaranthaceae - the goosefoot family
32 Portulacaceae - the purslane family
33 Montiaceae - spring beauties
34 Caryophyllaceae - the pink family
35 Polygonaceae - the buckwheat family
36 Plumbaginaceae - the leadwort family
37 Cucurbitaceae - the cucumber family
38 Hypericaceae - St. John’s wort
39 Violaceae - violets
40 Turneraceae - stripe seeds
41 Passifloraceae - passionflower family
42 Malvaceae - the mallow family, hibiscus
43 Cistaceae - rock-rose family
44 Tamariacaceae - tamarin
45 Salicaceae - the willow family
46 Brassicaceae - the mustard family
47 Grossulariaceae - the currant family
48 Saxifragaceae - the saxifrage family
49 Crassulaceae - the stonecrops
50 Primulaceae - shooting stars
51 Myrsinaceae - the mysine family, starflower, scarlet pimpernel
52 Symplocaceae - horse sugar
53 Diapensiaceae - galaxy
54 Styracaceae - the storax family
55 Ericaceae - the heath family
56 Rosaceae - the rose family
57 Buxaceae - spurge family
58 Combretaceae - mangroves
59 Eleagnaceae - the oleaster family
60 References Cited
Chapter 1
Introduction
Common Paintbrush (Castilleja angustifolia var. dubia A. Nelson) 2011 at Arches National Park
In 2011, my friends Nancy and Michel and I signed up for a Tauck tour called “Spirit of the Desert Southwest” where we visited six national parks in 10 days. I was three years from retirement and, unbeknown to most friends and family, I was getting desperate for something to do in retirement. At the time, I had no intention getting involved in plant photography. However, like any normal tourist, I took a too large camera with too many lenses on the trip and readied myself to get great views of vistas and formations - not plants.
While at Arches National Park, our first stop, I noticed wildflowers in bloom. Even though it was May, it was cold and I didn’t expect any blooms at that time of year (it snowed the week before). At first, I was willing to take a quick photo or two of what was blooming. As the trip went on over the next nine days, it became an obsession and the question of what to do during retirement was answered.
For the last eight years, I’ve traveled the United States taking photos in state and national parks and trying my hand at identification. Identification of any plant from photographs is problematic at best but at I was able to provide an educated guess of plant id from my studies at the University of Mississippi while working on a masters degree in biology. I worked under Dr. Thomas M. Pullen, the botanist/taxonomist in the department who, at the time, was working on a flora for the state of Mississippi.
I got to choose a state park near Oxford, Mississippi to do a floristic study of vascular plants (those with xylem and phloem for conducting of water and food). I chose Tishomingo State Park in northeastern Mississippi. I collected plants for two years and spent those two and one more on plant identification using published floras of the southeastern United States. So you see, I do have some background in taxonomy, hence the educated guess.
Currently, I have documented, as near as I can count, 140 families, 577 genera and 1,089 species of plants from 21 states. I suspect this is a lifelong project and I’ll update the pages of this book as I continue to add plants and destinations.
Irrevocably, there are plants listed herein which have been misidentified. For that, I apologize. Some genera are particularly difficult to identify without microscopic examination and there are some genera that only experts in the genus will tackle. On the whole, I’m pretty sure of most genera. When you get down to specific level, it becomes vastly more difficult. Not even botanists agree with identifications of another botanist and there is not even agreement with scientific names.
As you “surf” this book, you’ll find that two plants identified as the same species may look very much different in the photographs. There are numerous factors that can change the appearance, form, and growth of a plant. Some flowers may take on different colors based on differences soil pH. One species growing in a wet environment looks totally different when found in a drier habitat. A plant constantly grazed upon by cattle or bison looks different from one not grazed upon. A plant at one elevation looks very much different when found at another elevation. That’s why botanists have to take copious field notes. I didn’t pursue that option. Instead, I let the photograph do the documenting and I relied upon numerous regional flora and wildflower guides for my identifications. Where possible, I confirmed the identification with my volumes of the Flora of North America. A list of manuals, floras, guides, and information sheets used can be found at the end of this book.
The question becomes how to organize 140 families, 577 genera and 1,089 species? Fortunately, for someone with a little background in taxonomy, that’s already answered. The problem becomes that of whose scheme of classification do you follow? If there are 40 botanists in a room, there are probably 40 schemes of classification and each botanist will insist there’s is the only correct one.
For me, I decided to follow the arrangement of the Flora of North America Project. The project officially kicked off in 1966 and is still not complete. The project is attempting to categorize all vascular (and some nonvascular - mosses and liverworts) flora in North America. It will ultimately consist of 30 volumes (one volume is the introduction and the last volume will be a cumulative index). As of May 2019, there are 21 published volumes of which I am the proud owner. Hope springs eternal for the other nine. Unfortunately, the publication of the volumes does not follow any particular order and I am awaiting the publication of volumes 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 18, 29 and 30 and cumulative index. Each volume has its own team of botanists who contribute their expertise to a particular family, genus or species. Getting all the botanists participating on a specific volume to agree to taxonomy and nomenclature is much akin to herding cats (or Democrats) so it’s anyone’s guess as to when the project will be finished.
My hope is that about half of this book is text and about half photographs. A few of my photographs, I have to admit, are drop dead gorgeous. You can put that down to the automatic feature on my cameras, not me as the photographer. I also wish to warn you some of the photographs are not beautiful but were taken simply to help me identify the plant. You will see close up of leaves and stems which may make little sense unless you are trying to identify the species.
One addition note. My graduate work was from 1974-1977. Knowledge of DNA was only beginning to work its way into the textbooks of the day and I can assure you none of my professors at the graduate level had anything but cursory knowledge of DNA and its potential as a tool in taxonomy. It was in 1988 that DNA was first admitted as evidence in a court of law (Florida, of course). Early attempts of DNA analysis in plants was difficult and unwieldy. To begin DNA analysis in plants you needed so many pounds of dried plant material. You have to dry a lot of plants to get a pound and you almost wiped out the colony of plants you wished to analyze.
In 1985, Kary Mullis invented polymerase chain reaction technique which allowed for minute amounts of DNA to be cloned in order that sufficient DNA could be obtained for study (and you no longer had to denude the population of plants). As a result, the field of taxonomy and systematics has undergone a revolution. Family names have been changed, plants moved from one family to a totally different one, genera changed and species have changed. For me, it was like relearning everything. However, I admit, it’s been enjoyable.
I hope I can bring a little beauty into life with the photographs and a little interest in botany with the accompanying text.
Chapter 2
Organization of flora
Walking Fern (Asplenium radicans L.)
The organization of this book is based on the taxonomic hierarchy provided by the Flora of North America Project, more or less.
Let me take you back to high school and remind you of the basic classification scheme of life on earth. Working from the largest grouping to the most specific grouping, it is: Kingdom, Phylum (botanists use Division instead of Phylum), Class, Order, Family, Genus and Species. Botanists concentrate of Orders, Families, Genera and Species because they already know they are dealing with the Plant Kingdom.
I will follow the breakdown provided below with the emphasis on families, genera and species. I’ll also follow the convention of italicizing the genus and species of plants and provide the authority (person or person who named or misnamed species). For some reason, in zoological nomenclature, authorities are not given when writing genus and species.
You will notice some peculiarity in the arrangement of the families, genera and species. Since there are outstanding volumes of Flora of North America, I reverted to their arrangement of families and genera as they anticipate the arrangement. Even the published volumes cause problems. In some, the genera are listed alphabetically. In other volumes, the genera are listed evolutionarily. I followed whatever form provided in the published editions.
One thing I appreciate about botanical taxonomy is the standardization of names. For example, in plants, Divisions end in “-ophyta”. By looking at the end of the word, you can tell where you are in the taxonomic scheme. Families end in “-aceae”. If you are lucky enough to discover a new species, you get to name it as long as, if it is an adjective, as most are, it must agree in number, case and gender with the genus which is a Latin noun. For example, Equisetum sylvaticum. Equisetum is the genus and sylvaticum is the adjective species meaning of woodlands.
I’ve never had Latin and my only knowledge of terms comes from what I picked up in plant taxonomy. However, as a specific adjective, depending on the noun that makes up the genus, it could be sylvaticus, sylvatica, sylvatici, sylvaticae, sylvaticorum, sylvaticarum, sylvatico, sylvaticam, sylvaticos, sylvaticas, sylvaticis, or sylvatice. For more in depth explanation of Latin declensions, you can refer to Memorial Press’ “Latin Conjugations and Declensions. To further complicate things, some specific names are not adjectives but are nouns and still must agree with the genus.
Pteridophytes (Ferns and Fern Allies - plants that reproduce by spores) — Feel free to skip this next part! Go to Equisetophyta.
► Division: Equisetophyta
Family Equisetaceae
► Division: Lycopodiophyta
Family: Lycopodiaceae
Family: Selaginellaceae
Family: Isoëtaceae
► Division: Psilotophyta
Family: Psilotaceae
Division: Polypodiophyta
Family: Ophioglossaceae
Family: Osmundaceae
Family: Pteridaceae
Family: Dennstaedtiaceae
Family: Aspleniaceae
Family: Dryopteridaceae
Family: Polypodiaceae
Gymnosperms - plants that do not produce flowers but produce seed
► Division: Cycadophyta
Family: Zamiaceae
► Division: Ginkgophyta
Family: Ginkgoaceae
► Division: Coniferophyta
Family: Pinaceae
Family: Cupressaceae
Family: Taxaceae
► Division: Gnetophyta
Family: Ephedraceae
Division: Magnoliophyta - what are known as flowering plants which produce either dry or fleshy fruits.
► Magnoliaceae
► Annonaceae
►Calycanthaceae
► Lauraceae
► Aristolochiaceae
► Nymphaeaceae
► Ranunculaceae
► Berberidaceae
► Papaveraceae
► Fumariaceae
► Urticaceae
► Juglandaceae
► Myricaceae
► Fagaceae
► Betulaceae
► Nyctaginaceae
► Aizoaceae
► Cactaceae
► Amaranthaceae
► Portulacaceae
► Montiaceae
► Caryophyllaceae
► Polygonaceae
► Plumbaginaceae
► Cucurbitaceae
► Hypericaceae
► Violaceae
► Turneraceae
► Passifloraceae
► Malvaceae
► Cistaceae
► Tamaricaceae
► Salicaceae
► Brassicaceae
► Grossulariaceae
► Saxifragaceae
► Crassulaceae
► Primulaceae
► Myrsinaceae
► Symplocaceae
► Diapensiaceae
► Styraceae
► Ericaceae
► Rosaceae
► Buxaceae
► Combretaceae
► Elaeanaceae
► Fabaceae
► Melastomataceae
► Myrtaceae
► Onagraceae
► Polygalaceae
► Surianaceae
► Vitaceae
► Zygophyllaceae
► Rhamnaceae
► Celastraceae
► Oxalidaceae
► Rhizophoraceae
► Euphorbiaceae
► Chrysobalanaceae
► Linaceae
► Ximeniaceae
► Comandraceae
► Cervantesiaceae
► Santalaceae
► Viscaceae
► Simmondsiaceae
► Cornaceae
► Hydrangeaceae
► Anacardiaceae
► Apiaceae
► Geraniaceae
► Sapindaceae
► Apocynaceae
► Convolvulaceae
► Gelsemiaceae
► Gentianaceae
► Loganiaceae
► Solanaceae
► Boraginaceae
► Fouquieriaceae
► Heliotropiaceae
► Hydroleaceae
► Namaceae
► Polemoniaceae
► Lamiaceae
► Oleaceae
► Verbenaceae
► Plantaginaceae
► Scrophulariaceae
► Linderniaceae
► Phrymaceae
► Orobanchaceae
► Acanthaceae
► Aquifoliaceae
► Bignoniaceae
► Campanulaceae
► Caprifoliaceae
► Goodeniaceae
► Lentibulariaceae
► Linnaeaceae
► Rubiaceae
► Valerianaceae
► Viburnaceae
► Asteraceae
► Alismataceae
► Arecaceae
► Araceae
► Commelinaceae
► Eriocaulaceae
► Juncaceae
► Bromeliaceae
► Cyperaceae
► Poaceae
► Pontederiaceae
► Liliaceae
► Iridaceae
► Agavaceae
► Smilacaceae
► Dioscoreaceae
► Orchidaceae
Chapter 3
Equisetophyta
Equisetum telmateia subsp. braunii (J. Milde) Hauke
Giant Horsetail (Equisetum telmateia subsp. braunii (J. Milde) Hauke)
This was growing in Muir Woods National Monument just outside of San Francisco during my first visit to Muir Woods (I’ve been there a total of three times). It grows a least waist high and is a stunning sight in the understory of coastal redwoods.
The Division Equisetophyta has but a single order, Equisetales and there is only one family within the order still living today - Equisetaceae. They are commonly called horsetails (the photo above shows why that common name) or scouring rushes. These are spore producing plants but they can also reproduce by underground stems (rhizomes). If a “stem” comes in contact with the ground, roots can arise at the joints of the stems and provide new growth. Since Equisetum produces spores, like ferns, it is sometimes referred to as a fern ally.
The common name scouring rush comes from the ability of the plant to accumulate silicon dioxide (sand) in the stem. It’s said early settlers used the stems to scour pots and pans but that could just be lore. It’s certainly rough enough to use as a pot scrubber. The stems are the photosynthetic part of the plant. There are scale-like structures which resemble leaves but are technically called microphylls (see glossary). They are not photosynthetic.
On my travels, I’ve found 4 species of Equisetum. Most species produce “branchlets” from the main stem but Equisetum hyemale typically does not. Flora of North America reports 11 species in North America1.
Equisetum hymaele L.
Common Scouring Rush (Equisetum hyemale L.)
I first encountered this plant while taking an undergraduate course in plant identification called “Spring and Summer Flora of Mississippi” with Dr. Thomas M. Pullen at the University of Mississippi in 1970. It’s such an exotic looking plant that florists often use it in arrangements and you can often find it in decorative planters in and around buildings.
Dr. Pullen would take the class on field trips and I will never forget when he showed us this plant. It was growing on a creek bank next to a farmer’s field. The scouring rush was encroaching on the farmer’s crops so the farmer’s answer was to mow them down with a bush hog. What he didn’t realize was he was speeding their propagation by breaking up the stems and providing more opportunity for the plant to root and send shoots up. I still get a “rush” when I find this plant - it’s like reconnecting with an old friend.
Equisetum arvense L.
Common Horsetail (Equisetum arvense L.)
This particular photo was taken at the Gold Bluffs of Redwoods National Park in California. The bluffs indeed did have a golden hue to them.
Gold Bluffs - Redwoods National Park
Turn away from the bluffs and you got a great view of the Pacific Ocean.
Common Horsetail (Equisetum arvense L.)
You can see why this might be commonly called horsetail. If you look closely, you can see the black, nonphotosynthetic, scale-like microphylls (there are no true leaves in the fern allies) at the joints of the stem. In the upper right you can see the spore structure called a strobilus. It’s composed of spore bearing microphylls called sporophylls. Attached to the sporophylls are sac-like structures called sporangia which contain the spores. The spores are hygroscopic. In dry weather, they have paddle-like structures which expand and catch the wind for spore dispersal. When the spore comes near a water source, such as a stream bank, the paddle-like structures, called elaters, coil up and the spore drops to the ground, hopefully the bank of a stream, and germinates.
In graduate school I was Dr. Pullen’s lab assistant for general botany. I often demonstrated to students how the elaters reacted to moisture. You would crush some sporangia on a microscope slide and dry out the exposed spores using the heat from the light of the microscope. Then while a student looked into the microscope, you fogged the slide with your breath and they got to see the elaters coil up. I made sure to stock up on breath mints on those days.
Common Horsetail (Equisetum arvense L.).
Notice that even though the same species as the one above, it looks significantly different. This is a more mature plant and the photo was taken in Sequoia National Park in California at significantly higher elevation.
Equisetum sylvaticum L.
Horsetail (Equisetum sylvaticum L.)
This was found at Emerald Lake in British Columbia’s Yoho National Park. Our tour bus stopped for lunch and my friend John and I walked around the lake which happens to be the largest of Yoho’s 61 lakes. The ground was quite boggy and at some points, the trail was underwater.
John and I shared a room on this trip and the only reason I agreed to was his insistence he didn’t snore because he only sleeps on his side. Our first night in the Bugaboos, he climbed into bed and within 30 minutes was flat on his back and snoring to beat the band. He was too far away to hit. I didn’t get a lot of sleep that trip.
Species/Locationocation
Equisetum hyemale
Zion National Park
Grand Teton National Park
Bugaboo Lodge, British Columbia
Jedediah Smith State Park, CA
Equisetum telmateira var. braunii
Muir Woods National Monument
Equisetum sylvaticum
Lake Louise, Yoho National Park, Alberta
Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park, British Columbia
Equisetum arvense
Sequoia National Park
Point Reyes National Seashore
Glacier National Park
North Cascades National Park
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Section 1
Lycopodiaceae
Bristly Clubmoss (Lycopodium annotinum L.)
- Diphasiastrum complanatum
- Diphasiastrum digitatum
- Lycopodium annotinum
- Lycopodium obscurum
- Lycopodium clavatum
- Lycopodium dendroideum
Flora of North America reports seven genera and 27 species of this family in North America.2 My first encounter with clubmosses was teaching botany laboratory as a graduate assistant at Ole Miss in 1974. I never knew anything about them prior to that. Later, I took the graduate course “Morphology of Plants” with Dr. Pullen and learned about them in great, great detail much to the chagrin of my future students.
My first exposure other than preserved lab specimens in formaldehyde was on a canoe trip to Quetico Provincial Park in northwestern Ontario with three graduate student buddies.
Charlie, Chris, Bill and I hauled two canoes on a trailer to Ely, Minnesota for the trip. We had purchased Duluth packs that would carry up to 200 lbs. The canoes weighed in at 80 lbs each. The idea was to canoe lakes and portage between. We traveled quite a distance. To be honest, carrying an 80 lb. canoe or a 200 lb. Duluth pack is about the same. The canoe is difficult to maneuver through brush and trees even though it is lighter than the pack.
Chris was the big fisherman in the group. Actually, he was a fanatic about it. He brought along three or four very expensive rods and reels with all the accompanying gear. We were getting ready for our first camp after about 15 miles of canoeing and Chris goes to unpack his fishing gear. We heard a stream of curses. Chris had left everything in the car and failed to pack a single fishing item.
After a long time, he finally agreed to use our gear and the pain was eased once he had caught a lake trout.
Anyway, the point of this is when you canoe the Quetico you can find areas that probably had no human footsteps in hundreds of years. Clubmosses like moist environments like lake shores and you could find a carpet of the stuff that looked as though it had never been trod upon.
Since that time, I’ve been fortunate enough to encounter two of the seven genera: Lycopodium and Diphasiastrum. The clubmosses are some of the most primitive plants in existence today and their survival to current times merits some notice. It’s still a thrill when I encounter them on the trail, especially when they have their reproductive “club” rising above the greenery.
Diphasiastrum companatum (L.) Holub.
Ground Cedar (Diphasiastrum complanatum (L.) Holub.)
Unfortunately, this particular plant didn’t have the “club” (reproductive) structures when I photographed it. It was found growing out of a bed of feather-like moss along a trail to Avalanche Lake in Glacier National Park. The hike was through a rainforest and the understory was spectacular.
If ever in north/central Montana, be sure to stop in at Glacier. It’s become one of my favorites. The Avalanche Lake Trail is one where you walk through a rain forest to your destination. All the while, there’s a beautiful stream gurgling you along.
Ground Cedar (Diphasiastrum complanatum (L.) Holub.)
If you look carefully, you can see why this might be confused with a seedling of cedar, hence the common name.
Diphasiastrum digitatum (Dill.) Holub.
Running Cedar (Diphasiastrum digitatum (Dill.) Holub.
I think the specific name comes from the stem’s appearance to fingers radiating from a central point. You can clearly see the strobilus (which contain the sporangia, which contain the spores).
Running Cedar (Diphasiastrum digitatum (Dill.) Holub.
Running Cedar (Diphasiastrum digitatum (Dill.) Holub.
I have to admit this is a pretty good close up shot with my little backpacking camera. I got over lugging my big Canon with the heavy lenses pretty quickly on hikes. It clearly shows the strobili and you can see the individual sporophylls (green leaf-like structures) making up the strobilus. If you were to pry back on the the sporophylls, there would be a kidney shaped structure at the base of each sporophyll - the sporangium - and inside each sporangium would be thousands of spores.
The spores may be harvested and you perhaps performed an experiment in high school physics where you rolled a ball down a “u” shaped tube or a wooden block down an incline plane. To help negate the effect of friction, you dusted the tube or plane with lycopodium powder (the spores of Lycopodium). The powder, by the way, is highly flammable. The spores are so small and the surface area is so great, if you toss the dust in the air and ignite, it will explode.
One unusual use of lycopodium powder, at one time, was as a dry lubricant in prophylactics. This was before the day of silicon lubricants. The condoms were dusted in lycopodium powder and then rolled and packaged.
Genus Lycopodium
The first time I found this genus in Mississippi was when I was park manager of Golden Memorial Park outside of Walnut Grove, Mississippi (better known as the state’s best tornado magnet - the environs periodically get flattened). The lake in the park was spring fed and formed by a dam. The dam leaked. Crawfish would burrow into the dam and the pressure of the water in the lake would cause water to bubble up through the holes dug by the crawfish. As a consequence, the base of the dam was constantly moist. I found Lycopodium adpressum there.
As park manager, I had to combat the crawfish (or risk a dam failure) and fell back on an old tried and true remedy I learned as a child. My grandfather taught me to put a spoonful or two of calcium carbide down the crawfish hole. Mixed with water, it forms acetylene gas. You then throw a match down the hole to ignite the gas and it blows the crawfish hole into oblivion. That’s the same calcium carbide that used to be used in miner’s lamps.
Interestingly, in Flora of North America, Lycopodium adpressum is not listed and no species is recorded for Mississippi even though the herbarium at the University of Mississippi has specimens on file. It just shows you how the taxonomy of plants is still in flux.
Lycopodium annotinum L.
Bristly Clubmoss (Lycopodium annotinum L.)
From the looks of it, this was growing in a fern bed and I see one leaf of an orchid in this view (dead and dead center). The microphylls, which are not true leaves, are arranged in a whorl around the upright stem.
Lycopodium obscurum L.
Flat-branched tree clubmoss (Lycopodium obscurum L.)
Clubmosses are evergreen and they really pop against a brown background of dead leaves. That’s what makes them so exciting when walking through the woods. If you look carefully, the “branches” do indeed look flat on this species. I also like to think the specific name refers to how unusual it is to find this plant in the wild.
Flat-branched tree clubmoss (Lycopodium obscurum L.)
Note how the microphylls on the stem and sporophylls on the “club” have a little needle-tip to them. The technical term for that is mucronate and it is sometimes a definitive feature in identification.
Lycopodium clavatum L.
Running Clubmoss (Lycopodium clavatum L.)
You may be curious as to the derivation of the word Lycopodium. The “podium” part, of course means "foot” and the “lycos” part refers to wolf or wolf spider. Some people think this plant looks like the hairy paw of a wolf, hence the name of the genus.
Running Clubmoss (Lycopodium clavatum L.)
As the spores mature, the sporophylls turn brown and eventually pull back from the strobilus. The sporangium ruptures. Wind and rain thus distribute the spores.
Lycopodium dendroideum Michx.
Tree Ground Pine (Lycopodium dendroideum Michx.)
This was an exciting find for me. (Yes, I know, they are all exciting for me to find!) It really does look tree-like. Even though you see some dead leaves around the plant, it looks like some wild ginger is popping its head above the leaf litter in anticipation of spring.
Genus/Species
Species/Location
Diphasiastrum complanatum
Glacier National Park
Diphasiastrum digitatum
Julian Price Memorial Park, Blowing Rock, NC
Voyageurs National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
South Mountains State Park, Connelly Springs, NC
Lycopodium annotinum
Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park, British Columbia
Glacier National Park
Isle Royale National Park
Lycopodium obscurum
Julian Price Memorial Park, Blowing Rock, NC
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Lycopodium clavatum
Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota
Lycopodium dendroideum
Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota
Section 2
Selaginellaceae
Selaginella corallina (Riddell) Wilbur & Whitson, Margaret K.
Riddell’s Selaginella (Selaginella corallina (Riddell) Wilbur & Whitson, Margaret K.)
Flora of North America reports 27 species of this plant.3 Unlike the genus Lycopodium, you do not see an obvious strobilus that contains the spores. Like Lycopodium, these are spore producers but they produce two types of spores: megaspores and microspores. Megaspores are found in the axils of the sporophylls toward the base of the less obvious strobilus and microspores are found more towards the apex. Microspores, when released, germinate to produce a tiny plant with half the number of chromosomes as the parent plant and that tiny plant produces flagellated sperm. The megaspores germinate to produce a separate plant with half the chromosome number of the parent and they produce egg cells. Moisture or rainfall is required for the sperm to swim over to the egg and form the offspring of the parent plant. This condition of two spores is called heterospory.
Riddell’s Selaginella (Selaginella corallina (Riddell) Wilbur & Whitson, Margaret K.)
Although this close up does not show any strobili with spores, if it did, it would not look significantly different from what you see here. You would see a minute difference in the tips of the plants if strobili were present.
For those of you who either live in Texas or have visited, you probably are familiar with Enchanted Rock. I first visited this massive formation near Fredericksburg in the early 80’s with my cousin Jo.
I had just dropped out of the PhD program in microbiology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. I had completed all but one course and had no doubt I could finish. I just didn’t relish another four years of post doc work and boring research. To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t sure I was capable of original thought for research that I felt was needed for a PhD.
In any case, I moved in with my cousin Jo in San Antonio. Believe it or not, I found a job working as a gofer for an interior designer. I stayed a few months, moved to Atlanta, and from there got a job offer at Broward College.
At the time, there was not much there at Enchanted Rock- just barely a primitive parking lot. I returned in 2019 and was pleased to note it had been designated a natural area (the designation apparently carries more protective status than a state park). If you climb the rock (it was a lot easier 40 years ago) you’ll find small grooves worn into the surface of the rock where you can find a fairly diverse flora. One of the plants clinging to the face of the rock is Riddell’s Selaginella.
Genus/Species
Location
Species/Location
Selaginella corallina
Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, Fredericksburg, Texas
Section 3
Isoëtaceae
Isoëtes engelmannii A. Braun
Quillwort (Isoetes engelmannii A. Braun)
To say the above is a special plant for me is a gross understatement. In 1974, when I settled on Tishomingo State Park for a floristic study for my masters, Dr. Pullen suggested I be on the lookout for several species of plants unknown to Mississippi at the time. Tishomingo State Park is in the northeast corner of the state and is said to be in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. He suspected I would find plants endemic to the Appalachians but not the rest of the state of Mississippi.
One of the plants he was interested in my finding was quillwort. Not one to disappoint my major professor who had my career in his hands, I looked especially hard for those species he thought might be in the park. Eventually I was able to find 5 species new to the state in the park, but quillwort escaped me the first year of collecting.
A graduate school buddy, Charlie Cooper (working on his doctorate in limnology) often would travel to Tishomingo with me. He loved the park as much as I and he was as avid an outdoorsman as I and I didn’t have to beg too hard to get him to accompany me. Come to think about it, I had a lot of friends at Ole Miss that would accompany me to that park.
In any case, Charlie and I happened to be roaming the park and he was taking water samples for his entertainment. We decided to check the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) pond dug by the CCC in the 30’s to provide freshwater for the workers while they constructed the park. It was winter and all seemed dead and brown around the pond but I noticed this bright green color standing among the sedges and cattails around the pond.
I did a cursory examination with a field lens and told Charlie I thought we had found a quillwort. We hurriedly loaded up everything and headed to Ole Miss and the biology department with one single plant. I called Dr. Pullen. It was Sunday morning and he was just about to leave for church but he knew Charlie and I sounded excited so he drove over after services.
By that time, Charlie and I had put the plant under a stereoscope for better examination and we both confirmed a diagnostic feature of the plant. If you remove one of the long, green sporophylls, at the base is a short, triangular flap of white tissue called a ligule. The ligule was prominent in the stereoscope.
Dr. Pullen arrived and confirmed our find. Unfortunately, the only way to identify species in this plant is to look at mature megaspores (Like Selaginella. Isoëtes is heterosporous). We had to wait the entire spring and late summer until it produced microspores and megaspores. Different species of Isoëtes have different patterns of sculpturing on the megaspores and are diagnostic for the species.
I identified it as I. engelmannii and it was confirmed by Dr. Pullen. I later learned the botanist who replaced Dr. Pullen upon his retirement reclassified the plant to a different species, but I. engelmannii is the only one reported anywhere near Mississippi in the Flora of North America, so I stand by my original classification.
Charlie and I both got a scientific note out of the discovery in Castanea so we were both published as graduate students.
I returned last year to the park and for old times sake, walked around the CCC pond. I was delighted to see that not only had the plant survived, it seemed to be thriving.
Isoëtes lithophilia N. Pfeiff.
Quillwort (Isoëtes lithophila N. Pfeiff.)
Back to Enchanted Rock and Fredericksburg (I like that town’s name). Some of the depressions, at least in the rainy season, have standing water and are called vernal pools. In those, you get a totally different group of plants. One of those is quillwort. I’m not convinced they look like porcupine quills, but we’re stuck with the common name. This species is much smaller than I. engelmannii but that is to be expected since it has harsher conditions in temporary pools on an exposed surface. I like the specific epithet - lithophila - rock loving!
Enchanted Rock, Fredericksburg, Texas
Vernal Pool atop Enchanted Rock
Genus/Species
Location
Species/Location
Isoëtes lithophila
Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, Fredericksburg, Texas
Isoetes engelmannii
Tishomingo State Park, Tishomingo, Mississippi
Chapter 5
Psilotophyta
Psilotum nudum L.
Whisk Fern (Psilotum nudum L.)
The common name comes from the idea it looks a little like whisk brooms that used to come in the glove box of any new car you bought in the 50’s.
There is only one family and two genera in this Division of plants. All the rest are extinct. Only one genus is found in the United States and that is the genus Psilotum (Tmespiteris is found only in islands in the South Pacific) and there is only one species in the U.S. Psilotum nudum. It has been reported in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and southern Florida.4 This is news to me. When last I checked, it was only Arizona, Texas, Louisiana and Florida. Flora of North America does state that New Mexico and Texas are unconfirmed. I wonder if the new states reported are simply where spores were transferred in mulch which germinated into the plant.
As a graduate assistant, I taught botany students about this plant in laboratory but I never saw it in the wild. My knowledge was strictly book knowledge and observations from preserved specimens in lab. I did write a graduate paper on it for a “Morphology of Plants” course but that was it.
Imagine my great surprise when I moved to Florida in 1985 and explored the Everglades by renting a motor boat at Holiday Park in west Broward County and found Psilotum growing atop one of the canal banks.
Later, I found in growing in the flower beds of Broward College, South Campus and it was a constant fight to keep the groundskeepers from pulling it up as a weed. I even found it growing out of one of my flower pots at home. I suspect that a lot of the mulch used in flower beds in south Florida comes from areas which are rich with Psilotum.
The trilobed sporangia among the branches of the photosynthetic stem of Psilotum nudum.
Psilotum is the most primitive living vascular plant in the world. It’s a throwback to the age of dinosaurs and earlier. It’s ancestor is dated to the Devonian period of the Paleozoic.5 That it has survived so long is amazing. It reproduces by spores (only one type and therefore homosporous). When that spore is released, it forms a barely visible to the unaided eye plant with half the chromosome number of the parent. That tiny plant will grow but only with the help of an endomycorrhizal fungus to absorb water and nutrients for the tiny plant. Without the fungus, it dies.
There are no true roots and no true leaves on the plant. The microphylls are scale-like and not particularly photosynthetic. It’s the dichotomously branched stem that is photosynthetic and unusually, the stem has stomata (like plant leaves).
Genus/Species
Location
Species/Location
Psilotum nudum
Broward College, South Campus, Pembroke Pines, Florida
Chapter 6
Polypodiophyta - The Ferns
Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn)
There are probably no more beautiful or graceful plants in the forests than ferns. Some are evergreen and bring a bit of green against the dreariest of leaf litter while others pop up during the spring and mature during the summer. All are interesting. Their identification in the field can be a problem but many are so unique in their properties (like the above Bracken Fern) that even the most casual observer can recognize them.
Bold suggests ferns probably date back to the middle of the Devonian period and constitute over 10,000 species worldwide.6 Flora of North America counts 63 genera and 324 species.7
The fern allies (Psilotum, Lycopodium, Selaginella, Isoetes, and Equisetum) all produce leaf-like structures called microphylls. The ferns produce a much larger leaf structure called a frond or macrophyll. Like the fern allies, they produce spores for reproduction and like the fern allies, some of the ferns are homosporous and some are heterosporous.
Ferns are basically divided into two major groups based on how the sporagnium begins. To make it easy for everyone (and less technical) I’ll simply follow the arrangement of genera outlined in Chapter 2: Organization of Flora. That organization is more or less based on the evolutionary history of the genera with the most primitive listed first.
Ophioglossaceae
Botrychium virginianum (L.) Sw.
Rattlesnake Fern (Botrychium virginianum (L.) Sw.)
Flora of North America reports 3 genera and 38 species.8 During my graduate school days, I saw both Botrychium and Ophioglossum. Both are interesting. I’ve never seen the third genus Cheiroglossum, but since it is only found in Florida in North America, hope springs eternal.
You really have to be observant to see this small fern growing among all the vegetation of the forest floor. In the view above, it’s growing out of a bed of violets. It’s called rattlesnake fern because in the fall of the year, the sporangia (seen arising out of the fronds) get hardened after the spores have been released and when you brush against the sporangia, it gives a rattling sound.
Rattlesnake Fern (Botrychium virginianum (L.) Sw.)
I first ran into this fern in Tishomingo State Park on a collecting trip for my thesis. It was growing below the dam at Haynes Lake in some bottomland. At the time, I had never seen anything like it and it still is kind of exciting when I stumble across it again.
This photo was taken along the trail to upper Linville Falls along the just off the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Genus/Species
Location
Species/Location
Botrychium virginianum
Linville Falls, Blue Ridge Parkway, Marion, North Carolina
Osmundaceae
Osmundastrum cinnamomeum (L.) C. Presl
Cinnamon Fern (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum (L.) C. Presl)
This family of plants, as far as North America is concerned, has but a single genus Osmunda, and 3 species. I’ve collected 2 of them and seen the third. The one that I have seen but not photographed or collected is commonly called interrupted fern (Osmunda claytoniana). The fertile portion of this frond is found in the middle of the vegetative portion of the same frond.
Cinnamon fern is aptly named with a separate “frond” that serves as the reproductive structure. The “cinnamon” color of the spike is near perfect. The reproductive frond is so distinctive from the other fronds, the condition is said to be dimorphism.
I found this is Lake George State Forest near De Leon Springs, Florida. I was just getting into camping again and was about to depart on my first long cross country trip. This was bear country and it was one of the two times I failed to take my bear repellent with me while hiking in the area.
As I mentioned before, because of DNA analysis, the taxonomy of plants is in flux. Years ago when I first collected this in Tishomingo State Park, it was named Osmunda cinnamomeum. The Plant List is a web site with a beginning list of all known plant species in the world and it is the most up-to-date authority I have found for determining family, genus and species. The list has not been changed since 2013, but it certainly postdates the 1993 edition of Flora of North America which uses the old genus Osmunda.
Various herbaria and gardens produced the list which provides accepted names, synonyms of scientific names, and unresolved issues.
Osmunda regalis L.
Regal Fern (Osmunda regalis L.)
Unfortunately, this photo of regal fern does not show why it is so named. It sends a fertile spike upwards that some say resemble a scepter. The origin of the name of the genus Osmunda is a little cloudy. Some say it is Saxon for the Norse God Thor who hid his family in a clump of these ferns (they grow quite tall) to protect them from an enemy. Then there is Osmund, king of Sussex. I say go with the Thor model. It’s more exciting. This particular species was photographed in a swampy area near Lake George in Florida. You can see the cypress knees in the background. It has yet to produce its “scepter.”
Both O. cinnamomeum and O. regalis are deciduous. They die back in winter and thing come back in the spring of the year. Genus/Species
Location
Species/Location
Osmundastrum cinnamomeum
Lake George State Forest, De Leon Springs, Florida
Osmunda regalis
Lake George State Forest, De Leon, Springs, Florida
Pteridaceae
Adiantum pedatum L.
Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum pedatum L.)
The genus Adiantum is called maidenhair ferns, perhaps because of their very delicate nature. You may, on your walk through the woods, find one or two popping up among the leaf litter or run into a mass of them. Either find is special.
In my journeys, I’ve found three species of the genus. The one above is on the trail to High Shoal Falls at South Mountains State Park in North Carolina.
Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum pedatum L.)
This above photo was taken on Deep Creek Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Bryson City, North Carolina. I was just getting back into hiking and bit off a little more than I could chew on this trail. I had a 45 lb pack on my back, and as you probably know, the trails in the Smokies only go up, up and up.
Backpacking Magazine had an interesting article several years ago about hiking out west versus hiking in the east. The opinion is the eastern trails are more difficult. The reason, according to them, is that out west, you start out at 7,000 feet and hike to 8,000 feet. In the east, you start out at 3,000 feet and hike to 6,000 feet.
The spores are found on the undersides of the fronds on individual leaflets called pinnae. Sporangia on ferns may either be exposed to the environment (albeit mostly under the frond) or protected by a flap or tissue called an indusium. Maidenhairs protect their sporangia but do so by curling a part of the pinna over the sporangia.
Adiantum jordanii C.H. Mull.
California Maidenhair (Adiantum jordanii C.H. Mull.)
This fern was growing along the Balconies Trail to Balconies Caves, a talus formed cave at Pinnacles National Park. It was a new species for me and one that looked to me like a stunted variety of another maidenhair species.
California Maidenhair (Adiantum jordanii C.H. Mull.)
One of the features of the maidenhairs, in general, is an ebony stipe where the pinnae attach. I’m not sure you can see it in this photo but the veins of ferns, in general, are exhibit dichotomous venation - like a fork that forks, that forks…..
Adiantum capillus-veneris L.
Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum capillus-veneris L.)
As you gather knowledge in botany, you begin to look out for specific plants. I’ve looked for this a very long time and even though it is listed in the southeastern U.S., it was in Zion National Park, Utah where I found this one growing along the north fork of the Virgin River.
Compare this to the first fern shown. The first fern (Adiantum pedatum), if you will, looks “organized” as to its pinnae. The first one discussed, Adiantum capillus-veneris) looks disheveled. Veneris is from the Latin Venus or goddess of love and a derivation of venus is veneris which may be interpreted as intercourse. Perhaps botanists do have a sense of humor after all.
Acrostichum danaeifolium Langsd. & Fisch
Giant Leather Fern (Acrostichum danaeifolium Langsd. & Fisch.)
This is a very, very large fern. There are no native tree ferns in North America but you may think you’ve found one when you run across this fern. It can reach 15 feet high in some locations. Look for this in moist, shady areas in south Florida.
Giant Leather Fern (Acrostichum danaeifolium Langsd. & Fisch.)
Look closely at this photo. I intensionally wanted to get a view of the undersurface of the leaves. There is a velvety appearance to the undersurface. Those are the thousands of sporangia coating the undersurface, each with thousands of spores inside each sporangium.
One nice thing about Broward County is the number of city and county parks scattered through a thoroughly urban area. Secret Woods, where I found this specimen, has a very nice nature trail that runs through a mangrove swamp just off the New River. It was here that I caught a glimpse of the fern. It took a while to get a photo because the wooden crosswalks didn’t get close enough to get a good shot. Finally, I got just the perfect spot.
Chelianthes eatonii Baker
Eaton’s Lipfern (Chelianthes eatonii Baker)
To be honest, these are not very attractive ferns. They always look a little ragged and dusty. It’s not because they grow in dry, dusty climates, although some do, but because they often have tiny hairs all over the fronds making them look dirty. They often grown on rocks or in rocky areas. This particular one was found at Enchanted Rock near Fredericksburg, Texas. I probably took the photo on my way to the top of Enchanted Rock - any excuse to take a break in climbing!
Eaton’s Lipfern (Chelianthes eatonii Baker)
Flora of North America report 28 species of this xeric fern.9 Because these often grow in very dry environments, the pubescence (hairs) provide surface area to hold on to any moisture after a rain or heavy dew.
Chelianthes gracillima D.C. Eaton
Lace Lip Fern (Chelianthes gracillima D.C. Eaton)
You can seem some resemblance of this fern to the previous one. Again with the pubescence and again the rocky surface. This was taken at Stehekin next to Chelan Lake. Stehekin abuts North Cascades National Park, a park we share with Canada.
Lace Lip Fern (Chelianthes gracillima D.C. Eaton)
If you look closely, you’ll see the pinnae are more separated in this species than in C. eatonii. This area of north Washington gets large amounts of snowfall, but once that melts, there’s not much rainfall.
Aspidotis densa (Brack.) Lellinger
Indian’s Dream, Pod Fern (Aspidotis densa (Brack.) Lellinger)
This has to be one of the strangest ferns I’ve run into in my travels. At first, I thought it was a cedar of some type. I was hiking the Lakeshore Trail in Stehekin along Chelan Lake.
You can still see snow at the tops of the peaks. This was one of the most beautiful trails I’ve ever hiked. In any case, this fern caught my eye.
Indian’s Dream, Pod Fern (Aspidotis densa (Brack.) Lellinger)
The fronds are quite leathery to the touch. That’s due to a waxy coating on the frond which helps prevent water loss in the dry season.
Indian’s Dream, Pod Fern (Aspidotis densa (Brack.) Lellinger)
When new growth occurs (usually from rhizomes) the frond uncoils in a particular way - called circinate vernation. If you look closely, can you imagine how the end of a violin looks? No one but botanists call it circinate vernation. Instead, most people call them fiddle heads.
Pellaea ovata (Desv.) Weath.
Ovate Cliffbrake Fern (Pellaea ovata (Desv.) Weath.)
I did a double take when I saw this on my hike up Enchanted Rock. It threw me for a second and then I realized it was a type of cliffbrake fern. My first exposure to cliffbrakes was in Tishomingo State Park. I found enough species of ferns and other flora in Tishomingo that it gave me a good working knowledge of plants so that I could recognize genera in other locations of the U.S. Don’t let me fool you. There are plenty of genera out there I have no idea about when I see the plant, but I found in Tishomingo 114 families of plants with 355 genera and 672 species. Since that time in the 70’s I’ve photographed 584 genera and 1107 species on my travels, so you can see Tishomingo State Park was a great proving ground for me.10
Ovate Cliffbrake Fern (Pellaea ovata (Desv.) Weath.)
There’s something really characteristic about cliffbrake ferns. This fern looks nothing like the one I was exposed to in Tishomingo State Park (Pellaea atropurpurea) but the genus was still recognizable to me. The specific name ovata is very descriptive of the pinnae of this fern.
Species/Location
Adiantum pedatum
South Mountains State Park, Connelly Springs, North Carolina
Deep Creek Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Bryson City, North Carolina
Adiantum jordanii
Balconies Trail, Pinnacles National Park, California
Adiantum capillus-veneris
Zion National Park, Utah
Acrostichum danaeifolium
Secret Woods Nature Center, Dania, Florida
Chelianthes eatonii
Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, Fredericksburg, Texas
Chelianthes gracillima
Rainbow Falls Trail, North Cascades National Park, Stehekin, Washington
Aspidotis densa
Lakeshore Trail, North Cascades National Park, Stehekin, Washington
Pellaea ovata
Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, Fredericksburg, Texas
Section 4
Dennstaedtiaceae
Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn
Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn)
This is probably the very first fern I learned - back in my Boy Scout days. It’s probably the most widely distributed fern in the United States, at least some variety is found everywhere in North America.
Mr. Polk, our scoutmaster, decided we were going to learn edible plants for the annual Boy Scout Exposition held at the fairgrounds in Jackson, Mississippi. He had mounted quite a collection of edible plants as Riker mounts and our job was to learn the names of the plants and their edible qualities. It was pretty critical to know what you were talking about. People would show up at your booth and you may or may not be talking to a judge, so everyone had to have a pretty good grasp of the species. Mr. Polk was pleased we won a blue ribbon that year. I guess you can say that started me on my path to botany.
In the spring of the year, new fiddle heads of this fern appear and it’s reported they are edible. I’ve only eaten fiddle heads once in my life - at a fancy restaurant in Fort Lauderdale - and I have to admit they were delicious. I assume they were bracken fern fiddle heads. I think you cook them much like asparagus.
Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn)
The top photo, from Lake George State Forest, was taken in the summer and the bottom photo, from Manatee Springs State Park, was taken in the spring. As the spring fern matures, the very delicate fronds begin to toughen up and become darker and more leathery. They tend to die back in the winter months.
Genus/Species
Location
Species/Location
Pteridium aquilinum
Lake George State Forest, De Leon Springs, Florida
Manatee Springs State Park, Manatee Springs, Florida
Section 5
Aspleniaceae
Asplenium radicans L.
Walking Fern (Asplenium radicans L.)
Welcome to my absolute favorite fern in all the world - Asplenium radicans, or as I knew it when I first found it Tishomingo State Park, Asplenium platyneuron. This is an evergreen fern so you can find it at any time of the year growing attached to rocks, often growing out of a mosses adhering to the rock face. The common name comes from the extension of the frond down the side of the rock and where the tip of the frond lands, a new fern develops. Therefore, it cascades or “walks” down the rock face forming new ferns wherever the frond touches. It’s an excellent form of vegetative reproduction, although it also reproduced by spores.
My first discovery of this fern in the park was off the road down a steep embankment near the CCC pond in the park. I was trudging back up the embankment and happened upon it on a rock face. Later, I found a couple of more sites within the park, all near the CCC pond.
Some forty years later, I was back in the park retracing some of my old collection trails. I was pleased to see the fern still growing in some of the same locations.
Asplenium platyneuron (L.) Britton, Sterns & Poggenb.
Ebony Spleenwort (Asplenium platyneuron (L.) Britton, Sterns & Poggenb.)
The common name ebony comes from the color of the stipe and rachis. The stipe is the part of the frond that attaches to the rhizome. The rachis is the part where the pinnae attach. Spleenwort comes from the doctrine of signatures dating back to Dioscorides that suggested parts of plants that resembled portions of the human body could be used to treat ailments of that body part. I’ve never seen a spleen that looked like any part of this plant in all the dissections I’ve done but apparently someone thought the pinnae looked like a spleen.
This has to be, along with bracken fern, one of the most common ferns in the southeastern U.S. I’ve found it growing on the forrest floor, out of rock crevices, rotten logs, and just about anywhere you can think in a terrestrial environment. This was a small specimen but they can get quite tall if the habitat conditions are right. This particular one was growing along the nature trail of Secret Woods Nature Center.
Flora of North America reports 28 species of Asplenium. Over the years, I’ve seen four species: A. radicans, A. platyneuron, A. pinnatifidum, and A. trichomanes. A. pinnatifidum deserves special mention. It also grows in Tishomingo but not in such luxurious growth as A. radicans. A. pinnatifidum grows in crevices of cliff faces. Some of the cliff faces in Tishomingo are exceptionally high, 30 feet or more, and I was once able to scramble up those and hold on for dear life while collecting of photographing the plants. On my last visit to the park I was not so daring.
Genus/Species
LocatioSpecies/Location
Asplenium radicans
Tishomingo State Park, Tishomingo, Mississippi
Asplenium platyneuron
Secret Woods Nature Center, Dania, FLorida
Section 6
Dryopteridaceae
Cystopteris fragilis (Linnaeus) Bernhardi
Fragile Fern (Cystopteris fragilis (Linnaeus) Bernhardi)
Although called fragile fern, it seems pretty hardy to me. I found it growing under a boulder at Devil’s Tower National Monument when I made a side trip from Rapid City, South Dakota in July of 2013.
The spores are in sori on the undersides of the fronds. NAPA reports this throughout the western U.S. some midwestern states and the northeast as well as much of Canada.
Nephrolepis biserrata (Sw.) Schott
Boston Fern (Nephrolepis biserrata (Sw.) Schott)
So many people are familiar with this fern because it is often used by florists in arrangements and by landscapers in landscape design. For that reason, it’s a fairly common fern throughout the southeastern U.S. There are four species in Florida and it’s tricky to separate them out from one another.
One thing that was important to me as a teacher is that this fern has an indusium (flap of tissue) over the sori (clusters of sporangia). When I taught botany on South Campus of the college, I always collected an indusiate and nonindusiate fern to show students the difference. I could simply walk down a breezeway on South and pick a frond from those growing in flower beds and have the indusiate fern.
These two photos came from Secret Woods Nature Center in Fort Lauderdale. If you look at the image below, you’ll see a semitransparent membrane covering the sori and some of the sori sticking out from under the membrane.
Boston Fern (Nephrolepis biserrata (Sw.) Schott)
I would have students place a drop of water on a microscope slide and then use a moistened, sharp probe, scrape under the indusium and deposit what stuck to the probe into the drop of water. Add a coverslip and place under a microscope and this is what you would see.
Actually, the image above is from a prepared slide of Asplenium which also has an indusium. What you see is a single sporangium on high power (430x). The thickened row of cells toward the bottom is called an annulus. It is hygroscopic and in dry weather, the sporangium rips along two lip cells and bends backwards, catching some spores in it. When the moisture content of the air is high enough, the annulus quickly returns to this position, catapulting the spores out from the parent plant. It’s an excellent means of spore dispersal. The slide comes from my archived web site from the college. The image below shows Golden polypody fern with nonindusiate sori.
Golden Polypody (Phlebodium aureum (L.) J. Sm.)
Genus/SpeciesSpecies/LocationLocation
Cystopteris fragilis
Devil’s Tower National Monument
Nephrolepis biserrata
Secret Woods Nature Center, Dania, Florida
Section 7
Polypodiaceae
Polypodium polypodioides (L.) Watt
Of course, there’s a story. There’s always a story. This one has to do with the genus Polypodium. The species P. polypodioides is called resurrection fern. In very dry weather, the fern fronds curl up and looks quite dead. The curling is a way to retard water loss. The image below came from a growth of the fern on my bottle palm in my side yard. If you look closely at the bottom-most frond, you’ll see what appears to be little brown dots. These are scales on the undersurface of the frond.
Resurrection Fern (Polypodium polypodioides (L.) Watt)
However, when it rains, the plant “resurrects” and comes back to life. The image below was taken on an oak tree on my morning walk down Riverland Road in Fort Lauderdale. The transformation is pretty astounding.
Resurrection Fern (Polypodium polypodioides (L.) Watt)
But wait, that’s not all. Another species, P. virginianum is found dipping down from the mid-Atlantic States, the northeastern U.S. and seemingly ends at the state line in Mississippi. Dr. Pullen was hoping I would find P. virginianum. Unfortunately, it was not to be. However, last year while hiking the Lewis Springs Falls Trail in Shenandoah National Park, guess what I found!
Polypodium virginianum L.
Common Polypody (Polypodium virginianum L.)
About the only real difference is this species is a little more slender and delicate than resurrection fern and the scales are not found on the undersurface.
Common Polypody (Polypodium virginianum L.)
The small green dots on the undersurface are immature sori (clusters of sporangia). Not a scale in sight! Two species down and nine to go (according to Flora of North America.11
Phlebodium aureum (L.) J. Sm.
I mentioned Phlebodium previously when writing about nonindusiate ferns.
Golden Polypody (Phlebodium aureum (L.) J. Sm.)
My first exposure to this fern was on South Campus of the college. It typically grows among the dead leaf bases of saw palmettos.
The reason for the “golden” part of the name comes from the scales found on the rhizomes of the fern. In some cases, they really can appear golden. These look like a rusty brown, but I have seen them very much golden in color.
As you can see, they are wedged tightly in the palms leaf bases. It’s almost impossible to remove them intact and as a consequence, even though a hurricane may strip all the fronds, the rhizomes remain and new growth begins.
You’ve seen this photo before but it shows the clusters of sporangia (sori) on the undersurface of the pinnae.
Genus/Species
Species/Location
Polypodium polypodioides
Riverland Road area of Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Polypodium virginianum
Lewis Springs Falls Trail, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
Phlebodium aureum
South Campus, Broward College, Pembroke Pines, Florida
Chapter 7
Cycadopyhta
Cycads are an ancient group of plants that one time, botanists thought were on their way to extinction. However, today, there are some viewpoints they are still evolving. Technically, they are considered gymnosperms (naked seeds) and as such, are related to pine trees. Cycads produce seeds in cones, like pines but their leaf structure is more like the ferns in appearance.
At one time, it was thought all cycads were wind pollinated but an accidental discovery by an observant worker at Fairchild Tropical Garden in Miami proved that at least some species are insect pollinated - in the case of Fairchild, a beetle.
Speaking of Fairchild, it’s the largest tropical garden in the continental U.S. It’s south Florida’s subtropical climate that allows Fairchild to have such a diverse flora. Hawaii, of course, is the largest tropical garden in the U.S. as Hawaii is entirely tropical. Fairchild also has the largest collection of cycads anywhere in the United States.
The rarest plant in the word is a cycad in South Africa. There is only one species and only one plant of that species known. Unfortunately, the plant is a male (cycads are dioecious) so it will never reproduce. Cloning is the only way to spare the plant from extinction.
South Florida has a lot of cycads - grown as ornamentals. For example, the familiar (to Floridians) Sago Palm is not a palm but a cycad of the genus Cycas. There is only one species native to Florida and that is Florida coontie or Zamia pumila.
Zamiaceae
Zamia pumila L.
Florida coontie (Zamia pumila L.)
I used to joke with my botany students to pick a day of the week and the scientific name of this plant will change. It has been identified as Zamia integrifolia, Zamia floridana, and Zamia pumila. In some cases, it has been reported that there are two species in Florida. The Plant List, my go-to arbiter on plant names, classifies it as Zamia pumila. This classification comes from data provided in 2012. Flora of North America reports it as Zamia integrifolia (L. f. ex Aiton) as of the 1993 publicaton12 and debunks the idea of the other specific names and says there is only one species in the state (and North America). Wait a few years (or weeks) and the name will change again.
I learned in graduate school, Seminoles, (the tribe, not the football team) would grind the shortened, vertical stem (called a corm) into powder and use it as a form of flour. Early settlers of Florida also supposedly used it for that purpose. Like some other root and stem structures, you had to wash the flour numerous times to remove toxins.
You might wonder if flour making from the plant was worth the effort since you seldom see the plant any more, but it was more abundant at one time in South Florida and it still pops up in yards. I’ve even heard there were coontie farms at one time in south Florida. People often think of it as a weed until they see the price nurseries charge for the plant in landscaping.
The roots of the plant are apogeotrophic, meaning they often come up above the ground. The reason seems to be a symbiotic blue-green algae found in the roots which provides excess photosynthetic products to Zamia. The corm of the plant is also pulled deeper into the ground as the plant matures.
There are separate male and female plants (dioecious). Both produce a cone-like structure resembling pine cones. The male cone is smaller than the female and much more slender. Pull away one of the scales (actually, a microsporophyll) on the cone and you’ll find attached sac-like structures called microsporangia which produce pollen.
This is a male cone of a cycad. If you broke it open, you would see yellowish microsporangia that contain pollen grains.
The female cone is much larger and produces megasporangia which contain egg cells. Surrounding the seed, at maturity is a yellow pulp and a red seed covering. It’s not safe to handle the seeds. The mature seeds are said to be carcinogenic. This information came to me much later after graduate school, and I can attest I’ve peeled those seeds many times to show students. Perhaps the fact that in graduate school they were preserved in formaldehyde has protected me from cancer all these years.
This is a female cone broken open. The seed coat is no longer red due to the effects of formaldehyde. The white structure is an individual seed.
Two species of beetles have been shown to pollinate the female plant. The beetles crawl on the male cones and pick up pollen. The female cones secretes an attractant to the beetle and the beetles transfer the pollen to the female cones.
My first exposure to this plant in the wild came at Holiday Park at the end of Griffin Road in Davie, Florida. After classes or on Saturday mornings, I used to drive out to Holiday Park and rent a small motor boat and fish. After a while, nature would call and it was easier to pull the boat onshore one of the canal banks, find a sufficiently large tree and let fly. After zipping up, I would look around and that’s when I found one growing on the canal bank.
Genus/Species
Species/Location
Zamia pumila
Secret Woods Nature Center, Dania, Florida
Chapter 8
Ginkgophyta
Ginkgoaceae
Ginkgo biloba L.
Maidenhair Tree (Ginkgo biloba L.) The biloba comes from how some of the leaves have a notch in them.
This is an easy one. The division contains a single order: Ginkgoales, a single Family: Ginkgoaceae, a single Genus: Ginkgo and a single species: biloba.
Most textbooks refer to the plant as a living fossil and there is debate as to whether the tree exists any longer in the wild. There are a couple of ancient trees in China that may or may not be wild but they could have simply be planted a long time ago.
My first exposure to ginkgo or maidenhair tree (common name usage here) was a huge tree growing next to a friends house in Jackson, Mississippi. Sadly, for the neighborhood, it was a female ginkgo. The ginkgo, like pines, produces a naked seed but the female tree produces a seed with a fleshy covering called an aril. When the seed matures, it falls off the tree with the fleshy covering. The fleshy covering has an absolutely horrible smell. To be perfectly honest, it smells like fresh vomit. You can smell it for blocks.
I was told in graduate school that it takes approximately 15 years for a Ginkgo to mature to produce either male cones or female ovules. I was also informed that it is impossible to sex the seedlings to determine whether you have the rather innocuous male plant or the foul smelling female plant. A 15 year old Ginkgo can get to be a rather large size and you’ll definitely be motivated to remove it if it is female.
It’s called maindenhair tree because the deciduous leaves of the ginkgo resemble maidenhair ferns. Also, like the ferns, the leaves are dichotomously veined.
Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum capillus-veneris L.)
Since the tree is considered a living fossil (oxymoronic, I know) it is artificially maintained in the environment by planting. You may wonder why anyone would plant the tree if the female is so foul. The answer is the tree is glorious in the fall. The leaves turn a bright golden color before shedding. Nurseries graft a male scion onto the rootstock of trees insuring they only sell male trees.
Genus/Species
Species/Location
Ginkgo biloba
DeYoung Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA
Chapter 9
Coniferophyta
- Pinaceae
- Cupressaceae
- Taxaceae
The gymnosperms (naked seeds) and the Coniferophyta, given their own devices, would be well on their way to extinction. They are artificially maintained on the earth, to a large degree, for their commercial usages: think paper products, building materials, etc. The term where a species is artificially maintained is disclimax. We maintain them by replanting what has been harvested as many of you know with tree farms throughout the southeastern U.S., grown for pulpwood to make paper.
As a Boy Scout in the central Mississippi town of Morton, we were surrounded by longleaf, shortleaf and loblolly pine. I was pretty good at identifying these and it was much later that I realized there were other pine species within the state.
When I began hiking and camping out of state while in graduate school, I was first exposed to firs, spruce, and other gymnosperms. Then I made a trip out west and was exposed to a whole new group of pines, firs, and spruces.
To be honest, I’m pretty hopeless with most members of the Coniferophyta. They still give me fits with identification. Most who have been trained in some forms of taxonomy have one or two genera that drives them crazy. My major professor, Dr. Pullen absolutely hated the sedge genus Carex. He cringed when I would bring in specimens for identification. Strangely, I found Carex to be quite straight forward - not so with gymnosperms.
There are more than one or two genera that drive me crazy but the entire plant division of Coniferophyta drives me to dispair. However, I’m pretty sure on the identification of what follows or I would not have included them.
Section 1
Pinaceae
- Abies
- Larix
- Picea
- Pinus
The pine family includes firs (Abies), hemlocks (Tsuga), Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga), larches (Larix), spruces (Picea), and pines (Pinus). I’ve actually seen all members in my travels but only have photos of specific ones, so I’ll restrict myself to those I can provide photographic proof.
Abies concolor (Gordon) Lindl. ex Hildebr.
White Fir (Abies concolor (Gordon) Lindl. ex Hildebr.)
This photo dates back to 2011 when Nancy, Michel and I were on the Tauck tour. I took this at the Grand Canyon National Park on the north rim of the canyon. Our tour guide told us only 10% of the visitor to the Grand Canyon ever make it to the north rim, so this was quite a treat. There is significant differences in the vegetation between the north and south rims since the plant and animal communities have been separated millions of years by the canyon.
Our tour guide, Jim, was living in Arizona at the time and was very familiar with the geology and the vegetation. It was Jim that got me started back into the plant identification business.
White Fir (Abies concolor (Gordon) Lindl. ex Hildebr.)
What I love about the firs are their cones. The scales fall off one by one leaving the axis of the cone still attached to the tree. Look closely at the needles. They emerge from the stem pretty much like the bristles of a tooth brush. In some species, the needles are twisted on their tips.
Larix occidentalis Nutt.
Western Larch (Larix occidentalis Nutt.)
I took this photo at Silver Basin near Frenchman Mountain in the Bugaboos in British Columbia. Therein lies a story. My friend John and I got in the habit of looking through Tauck catalogs for their trips. The catalogs remind me of the old Sears Roebuck catalogs - wish books of the past. Tauck is not the most expensive tour company in the business but probably the second or third most expensive. However, I’m a great believer in “you get what you pay for.”
I’ve run the numbers on designing my own trips as well as using tour companies, and when all is said and done, Tauck’s prices are pretty comparable. Some tour companies don’t offer as many meals, some require you to provide your transportation after arrival to the tour site - you get the idea. With Tauck, only a few meals are not included. The last times you touch your suitcase is when they pick you up at the airport and when they deposit you at the airport for your return. Otherwise, it magically appears in your room at every stop.
I’ll also say Tauck’s reputation gets you in places other tour companies will not. I remember a winter Tauck trip to Yellowstone where our next destination was through passes under threat of avalanche. Our guide was very experienced and had been on avalanche patrol in his younger days. It looked like we were not going to make our next destination - Grand Teton National Park. I overheard his conversation with the desk clerk. He told the desk clerk to hold our rooms. She said that was impossible, that another tour group was scheduled to come in behind us. He politely, but firmly told the desk clerk that we were Tauck, and the rooms would remain ours until we released them. She never said another word.
I digress. John and I noticed a new trip in the catalog. It was a “Heli-hiking the Bugaboos. One of the founders of Tauck was instrumental in establishing the sport of heli-skiing. The sport became so popular they built a lodge, The Bugaboo Lodge, to accommodate the crush of people wanting to participate.
The real problem was the down time in the summer. Tauck decided to run heli-hiking tours to fill the lodge during summer months. You take a Tauck bus to Spillimacheen in the Columbia Mountain Range and then board a helicopter shuttle to the lodge. This has to be one of the best trips I’ve ever taken. It was wildflower heaven.
The pilot would fly one hiking group to one location, return, pick up another hiking group, and then take them to another location. It was on the last day and the last trip that my group was flown to Silver Basin near Frenchman Mountain. The scenery was drop dead goreous.
The Bugaboos - Heli-hiking the Purcell Mountain Range, British Columbia
Silver Basin near Frenchman Mountain
It was here I found western larix growing on the hillside you see in the foreground.
Western Larch (Larix occidentalis Nutt.)
Larches are deciduous. They shed their needles all at once. Also note that the needles are found in clusters on the stem.
Picea engelmannii Parry ex Engelm.
Right next to it was an Englemann spruce.
Englemann Spruce (Picea engelmannii Parry ex Englelm.)
The needles of the spruce are found individually on the branch, not in clusters. With this information on these species, perhaps you can see why I have trouble remembering these species and identifying them in the field.
Sorry for the Tauck commercial, but it’s a great company. I’ve been on three Tauck tours. Michel and Nancy have been on at least four, and I think John has lost count of the number he’s been on.
Pinus sp.
Who knew there were so many pines? Flora of North America list 38 species in the genus Pinus.13
Pines I have known:
Loblolly (Pinus taeda)
Longleaf (Pinus palustris)
Short Leaf (Pinus echinata)
Slash (Pinus eliottii)
Sand (Pinus clausa)
Pond (Pinus serotina)
Piñon (Pinus edulis)
Bristlecone (Pinus longaeva)
Limber (Pinus flexilis)
Ponderosa (Pinus ponderosa)
Lodgepole (Pinus contorta)
Whitebark (Pinus albicaulis)
Virginia (Pinus virginiana).
And these are just the ones I remember seeing!
Pinus elliottii var. densa Little & K.W. Dorman
Florida Slash Pine (Pinus elliottii var. densa Little & K.W.Dorman)
It took a while, but I finally convinced physical plant on South Campus to start planting some native species on campus and one of the most important they put in place was the Florida Slash Pine. There were no pines of any kind on South Campus when I first arrived in 1985.
If you own a home in south Florida that was constructed before the 60’s, it’s likely the trusses in the roof are made from heart wood of Dade County pines (Florida Slash Pine). The heart wood of these pines contains lignin, a compound important in the formation of cell walls of plants. It is waterproof and not easily broken down, particularly by termites. Heart wood is so tough, termites can’t destroy it. You can’t drive nails into it with any ease. Your best option is to drill into the wood, but you’ll also go through numerous drill bits before you make much headway. It’s practically indestructible.
Unfortunately, with development in South Florida, most of the native pine trees have been cut down. In the Redlands area of Miami are some stands of native pines but I suspect the pressure is on by developers to clear cut these areas.
Florida Slash Pine (Pinus elliottii var. densa Little & K.W.Dorman)
A lot of the identification of pines is based on the needles. Florida Slash Pine generally has needles in groups of two, sometimes three. You can tell from the first photo the needles are fairly long and you might confuse this pine with longleaf pines.
Pinus clausa (Chapm. ex Engelm.) Casey ex Sarg.
Sand Pine (Pinus clausa (Chapm. ex Englem.) Casey ex Sarg.)
As you might guess by the common name, this one is found in sandy soil. That’s pretty harsh environmental conditions but these sometimes get to be pretty large trees. This particular one was photographed at Archbold Biological Station near Venus, Florida. If you don’t know where Venus is (a little bump in the road) its south of Lake Placid, Florida.
Archbold Biological Station was established by Richard Archbold. He had the best of all worlds: money and a desire to spend it on science. He would fly all over the world exploring areas, taking notes, and collecting specimens. He needed a home base. He met Donald Roebling and through him, purchased the property from Donald’s father, John Roebling, the engineer who built the Brooklyn Bridge.
John Roebling wanted to have a home in Florida to relax with his new bride. He built, what is now Archbold Biological Station as a warehouse to store materials for the construction of his home and had a railroad spur put in to bring in the construction materials.
The warehouse was converted to laboratories, offices, and a library.
John had seen the devastating effects of hurricanes in Florida and wanted to build a house for his wife that would withstand hurricanes. He decided the warehouse needed to be as strong. The walls are poured concrete and a foot thick. John’s wife died before construction of the house could begin, so he was willing to sell it to Archbold. The house was never built.
For years, I would take students on field trips to Archbold. Most of my students, if they had seen a pine tree had only seen Florida Slash Pines, so this was a new experience for them. The sand pine produces a serotinous cone. This type of cone is so tightly closed, the only way it will open is from the heat of a forest fire. After the fire has passed, the cone opens and begins to helicopter seeds away from the parent. The seeds land in burned over areas and thus when they germinate they have no competition from understory plants. The tree literally needs fire to reproduce.
If I had not yet taken students to Archbold but needed to address the term serotinous in class, I always had a few cones from the station I could show. I would pop them in the microwave for a few seconds and the cones would open and you could shake the seeds out into their hands. It also meant the biology lab had a wonderful aroma of pine sap wafting through the air after the microwaving.
Pinus edulus Engelm.
Piñon Pine (Pinus edulus Engelm.)
If you like pesto, you’ve probably been exposed to pine “nuts.” Native Americans in the southwest used these seeds as a food source. This photo was taken on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. The Rim Trail is a great day hike. I began mine near the park headquarters and hiked to Hermit’s Rest, 7.8 miles away. It’s deceptive. You are hiking at 6,820 feet elevation and there is no water on the trail. The good news is if you get tired, there are shuttle buses that put in at the various observation points and you can ride back to your starting point.
Piñon Pine (Pinus edulus Engelm.)
This cone has opened and you can see some of the “nuts” in the cone. They are not true nuts but are simply seeds.
Pinus longaeva D.K. Bailey
(Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva D.K. Bailey)
Obviously, the common name tells you a key feature. Sadly, this photo does not show the bristles at the ends of the bracts of the cone. That means its an older cone and the bristles have worn off. These are quite long-lived trees. At one time, we thought the Bristlecone Pine was one of the oldest living things on earth.
This photo was taken at Inspiration Point at Bryce Canyon National Park. Elevation there is 8,100 feet and you get a spectacular view of the hoodoos of Bryce.
Hoodoos of Bryce Canyon National Park from Inspiration Point
Pinus flexilis E. James
Limber Pine (Pinus flexilis E. James)
These pines are fairly common in the mountainous west. This particular one was next to my tent at Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho. Flexible is an apt name. The wind that night was blowing like crazy and it was good for me the pine was flexible and didn’t snap off in the winds and hit my tent - and me.
I was scheduled for two nights at Craters but on the second day, my iPhone weather alert said a blizzard was heading my way. I packed up the tent and headed south. I ended up in Wells, Nevada for the night. Wells is apparently a big stop for the trucking industry and also for ladies of the night. Remember, prostitution is legal in Nevada and they were very good about advertising to the truckers. Legalized prostitution seemed to help the local economy - not me - the truckers.
Pinus ponderosa Douglas ex C. Lawson
Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa Douglas ex C. Lawson)
As someone who grew up watching Bonanza, first in black and white, and then in color, I got to know Ponderosa Pines fairly early - at least by reputation. Only later did I get to see them up close and personal.
The needles are fairly long, but not as long as loblolly and longleaf. The trunks often grow very straight and are thus commercially valuable for lumber. These two photos were taken at Bryce Canyon National Park at Inspiration Point.
Hoodoos before dawn at Sunrise Point, Bryce Canyon National Park
This was my first Tauck trip “Canyonlands of the Desert Southwest” and they had something called the Dawn Patrol. You’d wake up around 4:30 am and meet our tour leader Jim and head out to see the sunrise. This is a photo of the hoodoos near the lodge at Sunrise Point. It’s light, but the sun hasn’t “hit” the hoodoos as yet.
Now you can see the sun has just peeked over the horizon.
Pinus contorta Douglas ex Loudon
Lodgepole Pines growing next to Old Faithful Inn (Pinus contorta Douglas ex Loudon)
Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta Douglas ex Loudon)
I had heard of lodgepole pines, mostly through my exposure to Native American culture in the Boy Scouts, but had never seen them. Old Faithful Inn is constructed entirely from lodgepole pines.
If you look carefully, you’ll see the lodgepole pines reaching all the way to the ceiling. We were told the average height of a lodgepole at maturity is 76 1/2 feet. That’s the height of the ceiling inside Old Faithful Inn.
If you return to the photo outside the inn, you’ll see some pennants flying from the top of the inn. Typically, there are four other flags flying atop the Inn but they are raised approximately at 8 am and lowered at sunset. The flags are the Old Glory, the state flags of Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho. You may ask why Idaho? A very tiny sliver of Yellowstone National Park takes in Idaho and the people of Idaho were upset their flag was not flown from atop the Inn. It started a political uproar with the National Park Service, hence the Idaho flag.
On this trip, Michel, Nancy and I saw some people raising the flags one morning and they looked touristy, like us. We asked around and found that a woman by the name of Natasha who was a baggage handler, was assigned flag duty that week. We found her and asked about getting to raise the flags. She agreed.
We were up at the crack of dawn, but not Natasha. Seems there was a workers party the night before and everyone was a little hung over. In any case, better late than never. We climbed to the top of the inside of the inn, then exited a door to the roof and climbed more steps to the top of the inn. You could see everything in the upper geyser basin of Yellowstone. You also could get a good case of vertigo. There was but one rail between you and 76 1/2 feet down. Since I once lived in Montana, I got to raise that flag.
Nancy raising the Wyoming flag.
Apparently, it’s more common than you think, slinking tourists up to raise the flag. It’s a good way for the workers to earn an extra tip. After one episode of flag raising, Natasha was stopped by another worker who asked her if it had been a rough night. She asked why? He pointed to the Wyoming flag. The Wyoming flag has a bison on it. The bison was upside down.
Michel raising the Idaho state flag.
Nancy and Natasha
Pinus ablicaulis Engelm.
Whitebark Pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.)
Sad to say, you can only see a little of the bark of the stem in this photo but the bark is whitish or at least light gray. This photo was taken next to the spruce and fir at Silver Basin, Bugaboos, British Columbia.
Genus/Species
Species/Location
Pinus elliottii var. densa
Broward College, South Campus, Pembroke Pines, Florida
Pinus clausa
Archbold Biological Station, Venus, Florida
Pinus edulis
Canyonlands National Park, Utah
Grand Canyon National Park, North Rim
Joshua Tree National Park
Mesa Verde National Park
Pinus longaeva
Bryce Canyon National Park
Pinus flexilis
Craters of the Moon National Monument
Pinus ponderosa
Bryce Canyon National Park
Pinus contorta
Upper Geyer Basin, Yellowstone National Park
Pinus albicaulis
Silver Basin, Bugaboos, British Columbia
Abies concolor
Grand Canyon National Park, North Rim
Larix occidentalis
Silver Basin near Frenchman Mountain, Bugaboos, British Columbia
Picea engelmannii
Bryce Canyon National Park
Dunraven Pass, Yellowstone National Park
Silver Basin near Frenchman Mountain, Bugaboos, British Columbia
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Section 2
Cupressaceae
- Sequoia
- Sequoiadendron
- Taxodium
- Cupressus
- Thuja
- Juniperus
Giant Sequoia, Giant Redwood (Sequoiadendron giganteum (Lindl.) J. Buchholz)
I’m not sure why taxonomists separate this and the next family from the Pinaceae. There is probably some reasonable justification, but I haven’t found it. In any case, the family contains some very interesting species, the coastal redwoods, the giant redwoods, cypress, bald cypress, arborvitae and cedars. Nothing, and I mean nothing can be as impressive as a grove of coastal redwoods or giant redwoods.
Sequoia sempervirens (D. Don) Endl.
Coastal Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens (D. Don) Endl.)
One of the most peaceful moments I ever experienced was a walk through Muir Woods in Marin County, across the bay of San Francisco. Coastal redwoods are taller than their cousins - the giant redwoods, which are more massive - and with the moisture brought in from the ocean, the understory beneath the coastal redwoods, the trickling of streams with salmon, all provide an experience that must be lived at least once in your life.
Coastal Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens (D. Don) Endl.)
I’ve visited Muir woods three times - once by myself, once with a guide, and once with my friend Wade of San Francisco. I would visit 300 more times if possible.
Tour Guide Tom Martell in Muir Woods
If you are ever in San Francisco with time on your hands, take Tom Martell’s tour of Muir Woods. I don’t think he would be offended if I referred to him as a hippy botanist. He loves his work and provides an excellent tour. He’ll take you places in the national monument unvisited by the casual tourist to the area. He picks you up at your hotel, provides a lunch, and drops you at the Sausalito ferry for your return to the city. One caution, everyone in California is in great shape - even aging hippy botanists, and his pace can be somewhat rapid up and down some of the ravines.
Once you visit, you’ll understand why the United Nations Conference on InterNational Organization visited prior to hammering out the organization of the United Nations (done in the War Memorial, better known as the San Francisco Opera House). You can also understand why the Bohemian Club (all male) met in Muir Woods in 1892.
One of the things I enjoyed when I taught botany labs was to show students the cones of various gymnosperms. I would show them a sugar pine cone and then a redwood pine cone. The sugar pine is the tallest of pine trees in the U.S. and has the largest cone. The sugar pine, according to Wikipedia, may grow up to 195 feet tall. The coastal redwood my reach a height of 379 feet. The coastal redwood cone is so puny compared to the sugar pine.
Coastal redwood cones
Sequoiadendron gigantea (Lindl.) J. Buchholz
Giant Sequoia, Giant Redwood (Sequoiadendron giganteum (Lindl.) J. Buchholz)
Nothing prepares you for the size of these trees. It is one of the largest biomasses on earth. As you see from the the photo, it is common for the centers to rot out. The bark provides protection against wildfires because the surface bark burns off quickly and leaves the tree mostly unscarred. Like any tree that requires fire to propagate, the seeds of the giant redwood can’t stand competition for sunlight from the understory. After a fire sweeps the understory away, the seeds are dispersed and germinate, free to get a foothold before the understory makes a comeback.
The General Sherman Tree in Sequoia National Park
The General Sherman redwood is the largest tree in the world according to the National Park Service at 275 feet tall and 36 feet in diameter at the base. The tree is located in Sequoia National Park.
Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich.
Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich.)
Bald cypress, after all the years of study, is still an enigma. It’s a gymnosperm that sheds it needles every fall, therefore is deciduous unlike most gymnosperms.
For years, taxonomists argued the pond cypress was a separate species (pond cypresses are the ones that grow in the Everglades, among other places). The Plant List, my go-to on taxonomic nomenclature, now classifies the pond cypress as a variety of Taxodium distichum.
Cypress Knees at Hornet Trail at Manatee Springs State Park
I know of two different papers I read over the years that definitively state cypress knees are used to provide oxygen to the tree when most of the tree is submerged and two different papers that definitively state that there is no evidence of providing oxygen whatsoever. Choose your poison. I personally don’t see the knees providing oxygen. However, they are entertaining. On state road 27 on the way to Lake Placid, Florida and Archbold Biological Station, there used to be a cypress knee museum. I would always stop and have students tour the museum to see all the strange shapes of the knees.
The Lyceum at the University of Mississippi. When the building was renovated many years ago, they found a swimming pool between the second and third floors.
Okay, why the photo of the Lyceum? On the right side of the front of the building was a massive bald cypress (no longer there). Most people think bald cypress only grow in swamps. The reality is they can grow in water or on high, dry land. The reason for the misconception is that bald cypress is a very valuable timber tree. The wood is not susceptible to rot and insect damage. It has been logged in all the convenient locations of growth, e.g. dry land. The cypresses you see today in swamps are either protected in parks and state and national forests, or have once been logged and the growth you see is regrowth.
Cypress is so valuable that logs which are found at the bottom of rivers are salvaged at great expense.
Just one other note. I’m amazed at the number of people who live in the South and see a bald cypress without its needles and think the tree is dead. Why do they think it’s called bald cypress?
Cupressus macrocarpa Hartw.
Monterey Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa Hartw.)
This genus is commonly called cypress (as opposed to bald cypress). Unlike the bald cypress, this is an evergreen. Flora of North America reports seven species of Cupressus.14 All the leaves are scalelike and cling tightly to the branchlets. If you notice the cones, the bracts are tightly closed. That usually means it takes fire to open the cones and release the seeds.
This particular photo was taken on Santa Cruz Island in the Channel Islands National Park off the coast of Ventura, California.
Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don
Western Redcedar (Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don)
This is not the same redcedar we find in the southeastern U.S. That redcedar is taxonomically the genus Juniper. Nor is Western redcedar a true cedar. True cedars belong to the genus Cedrus. Now that I have thoroughly confused you, back to this photo. Notice how flat the branchlets are. The scale-like leaves, like that of cypress and junipers, are held tightly to the branchlets.
A little clarification. My spelling is bad, but not terrible. Note that redcedar is one word. In science, you separate terms if, and only if, it is true to type. For example, house fly is two words because the house fly is a true fly, the genus Musca, species domestica in the order Diptera (true flies). However, dragonfly is one word because dragonflies are not true flies, they are members of the order Odonata. A true “red” cedar would be of the genus Cedrus, not Thuja.
This particular photo was taken on Avalanche Trail in Glacier National Park. The trail passes through what can be aptly classified as a rainforest.
Thuja occidentalis L.
Northern Whitecedar (Thuja occidentalis L.)
A photo I was reluctant to take because of difficulty (for me) in identification. This one was at Isle Royale National Park while waiting on a sea plane to take me back to the mainland. Notice the similarities to the previous of western redcedar. The only way to separate them for me was to recognize this species was endemic to the island.
Juniperus sp.
Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma (Torr.) Little)
As per my little digression above, true junipers belong in the genus Juniperus. The reason I emphasize this, the juniper I grew up with was Juniperus virginiana, commonly called Eastern redcedar. It’s not a cedar, it’s a juniper.
Most junipers are decay resistant and insect resistant. Think of “cedar” - actually juniper - chests to protect clothes from moths. They really do work. You can’t beat the smell of a cedar chest or closet, or box.
They also make good fence posts because once the end of the post is buried in the ground, it generally will not rot out at the base.
Like other members of this family, they have scale-like leaves that closely adhere to the branchlets. I personally find them a difficult group taxonomically, but no one else seems to have that problem. Maybe a little knowledge (on my part) is a dangerous thing.
The ones you see below I’m pretty sure of the classification simply because the distribution of that species is so specific. It certainly helps to realize Eastern redcedar is not found in Montana.
Before I moved to Florida where everything is fancier than Mississippi, we used redcedar as Christmas trees. After I moved to Florida, no one would deign to use a redcedar - instead everyone preferred the Cadillac of Christmas trees, the balsam fir. Redcedar Christmas trees at home were free - find one on a roadside and use your saw. Balsam firs run around $60 for a 6 foot tree these days.
Juniperus californica Carrière
California Juniper (Juniperus californica Carrière)
California juniper is fairly common in the Mojave desert of California. These photos were taken at Joshua Tree National Park in 2016.
California Juniper (Juniperus californica Carrière)
Notice how tightly the scale like leaves adhere to the branchlets, even more so than some members of this family. This, along with a waxy coating, helps retard water loss, an important characteristic in desert environments.
Juniperus horizontalis Moench
Creeping Juniper (Juniperus horizontalis Moench)
The specific name is very descriptive. There is a decorative horizontal juniper, also called creeping juniper, found in nurseries, and I suspect this is probably the source.
Creeping Juniper (Juniperus horizontalis Moench)
Juniper “berries” are actually fleshy cones. The main gustatory sensation in gin (other than a buzz from the alcohol) is due to juniper “berries” (Juniperus communis). If you take a cone from any juniper and crush it between your fingers, you’ll get the distinct aroma of gin.
These photos were taken on the Coal Vein Nature Trail of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, South Unit, North Dakota.
Coal Vein Nature Trail, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, South Unit
If you look at the middle of the photograph, you can see why it’s called Coal Vein Nature Trail. The black layer is a seam of coal. Seams along this trail caught fire in 1951 and burned for 26 years. Fortunately, the fire is now out.
Montana Conservation Corps (Americorps)
While hiking this trail, this group of workers for the Montana Conservation Corps arrived to work on the trail. They were on loan to North Dakota to help restore some of the trails in TRNP. I have to admit, the section of the trail that had already worked on was excellent.
Juniperus scopulorum Sarg.
Rocky Mountain Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum Sarg.)
Junipers seem to cling to the worse habitats. This particular one was on the mesa of Dead Horse Point State Park and seemingly doing well. Again, the reason I was able to identify it is the region it was growing. That shows the value of local guides in identification.
Dead Horse Point State Park, Utah
Dead Horse Point is a must visit in Utah. This was part of a Tauck package for Michel, Nancy and me. Tauck took us to Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park that day and instead of heading back to our lodge for the night, decided on an open air, sit down dinner for our tour group to see the sunset at Dead Horse Point.
Dinner Picnic for 60 at Dead Horse Point
By the way, Dead Horse Point is the location for the famous drive over the cliff scene in the movie Thelma and Louise.
Jupnierus osteosperma Carrière
Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma Carrière)
The reason I show you this again is to explain that the dead trunk and the green are both Utah junipers. They can live for quite a long time but when they die, they leave behind contorted trunks that can be quite attractive.
Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma Carrière)
Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma Carrière)
Here you see the fleshy cones and the tightly appressed scales. These three photos were taken on the Chimney Rock Trail of Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.
Chimney Rock. The trail leads to the top of the mesa where you are eye level with the “chimney”. The first part of the hike is quite strenuous.
Capitol Reef is so named because of the dolomite domes found throughout the park that someone once fancifully associated with the capitol dome in D.C.
The capitol dome in Capitol Dome National Park
Capitol Reef is an amazing place. It’s as if you were allowed to drive through the bottom of the Grand Canyon. You really have to want to visit the park. It’s not on any major highway nor really near much of anything, but the trip is worth it.
Species/Location
Sequoia sempervirens
Muir Woods National Monument
Jedediah Smith State Park, Crescent City, California
Sequoiadendron gigantea
Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park
Sequoia National Park
Kings Canyon National Park
Taxodium distichum
Secret Woods Nature Center, Dania, Florida
Cupressus macrocarpa
Santa Rosa Island, Channel Islands National Park
Thuja plicata
Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park, British Columbia
Avalanche Lake Trail, Glacier National Park
Thuja occidentalis
Isle Royale National Park
Juniperus californica
Joshua Tree National park
Juniperus horizontalis
Coal Vein Trail, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, South Unit
Juniperus scopulorum
Dead Horse Point State Park, Moab, Utah
Juniperus osteosperma
Capitol Reef National Park
Mesa Verde National Park
Section 3
Taxaceae
- Taxus
- Torreya
As you see, this family has two genera. Both are rare in the United States. Flora of North America reports three species of Taxus and two species of Torreya.
Taxus brevifolia Nutt.
Pacific Yew (Taxus brevifolia Nutt.)
This rather rare tree found mostly in the Pacific northwest has become decidedly important. Like the yews of England, Native Americans made bows from the wood. This is not the same species as the yew of English longbows which won the battle of Agincourt in 1415, but it still makes excellent bows.
The real importance of this species was a discovery of the compound taxol from the bark of the yew. Taxol and its derivatives are used in treating some forms of breast cancer. Like all gymnosperms, Taxus is in disclimax and is already rare. Fortunately, Wikipedia reports that a semi-synthetic is now used instead of stripping the plants for their bark.
Pacific Yew (Taxus brevifolia Nutt.)
These produce a seed which is covered by a fleshy aril. The aril is toxic and poisonous, so leave it alone if you see it. Don’t get the urge to crush it between your fingers and smell like you would a juniper.
These photos were taken on the Avalanche Lake Trail in Glacier National Park.
Avalanche Lake, Glacier National Park
If you get a chance to go to Glacier, by all means, do so. The Going-to-the-Sun Road is a religious experience, and I’m an atheist.
Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park
Torreya taxifolia Arn.
Florida Torreya (Torreya taxifolia Arn.
This is the rarest tree in Florida and probably the rarest plant in the state. It’s native to the panhandle of Florida in the Apalachicola River Basin but has been extensively cut for timber. There are probably less than 200 trees left and many of them are in Torreya State Park. This photo was taken near the park headquarters and the trees were specifically planted so people would not tromp through the woods trying to find them.
I was starting my very first cross country trip and my second night of camping was at Torreya State Park. I hiked into the campsite, set up camp, cooked dinner, ate dinner, washed dishes and was about to crawl into my sleeping bag when my weather alert beeped. A hurricane, which I thought was further out in the Gulf, was predicted to make landfall just a few miles from my location the next day. It predicted 75 mph winds. My tent was rated for 50 mph. I quickly packed everything back up and backpacked out to my jeep in the dark. I drove into Mariana, Florida and spent the night in a motel. No rain, no hurricane, fake news.
Torreya claims to have the steepest trails in Florida, not that is anything to write home about - we’re talking an elevation 300 feet. I’ve hiked several of the trails and, for Florida, they are steep. However, the most difficult trail I’ve hiked in Florida is at Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Preserve State Park near Haines City, Florida. It sits amid the Lake Wales Ridge which runs down the center of the state. These were sand dunes that were not under water when the rest of the state was during the ice ages. Hiking sand dunes is very difficult, even if you are in shape, and at the time I was not. And it was in August.
Genus/Species
Location
Species/Location
Taxus brevifolia
Avalanche Trail, Glacier National Park
Torreya taxifolia
Torreya State Park, Bristol, Florida
Chapter 10
Ephedraceae
Nevada Jointfir (Ephedra nevadensis S. Watson)
There is no refuting the weirdness of this plant. It looks otherworldly. It’s most often found in the desert southwest. It has its uses. One common name for it is Mormon tea which gives you an idea of one use. However, it is the presence of the chemical ephedrine in the plant that gives its widest use - as an anti-histimine.
Ephedra nevadensis S. Watson
Nevada Jointfir (Ephedra nevadensis S. Watson)
Ephedra sometimes grows in very large masses and in some areas of the west, form major parts of the vegetation. Everything about the plant screams “save water!” The branches are round (the technical term is terete) and that shape provides less surface area for evaporation. The leaves are scale like and not obvious. It’s the stem that is photosynthetic. The plants typically have separate sexes. This particular photo was taken at Saguaro National Park, Ricon Mountain District.
Ephedra chilensis C. Presl
Ephedra (Ephedra chilensis C. Presl)
I taught about Ephedra in all my botany classes. We saw dried specimens in lab, studied the floral anatomy, and discussed its use as a drug. With all that, I never had seen it before in the wild until the “Desert Southwest” Tauck tour with Michel and Nancy. The stuff was everywhere and I’m pretty sure I made a fool of myself going around and photographing what everyone else thought was a stupid weed. The photos of this species came from Arches National Park where we did a sunrise tour. I had to wait for daylight to get a decent photo.
Ephedra (Ephedra chilensis C. Presl)
Ephedra (Ephedra chilensis C. Presl)
Ephedra viridis Coville
Green Jointfir (Ephedra viridis Coville)
It’s pretty obvious where it gets the common name. This plant seems to stay green forever. I kept running into this one at Capitol Reef National Park on several of my hikes.
Genus/Species
Species/Location
Ephedra chilensis
Arches National Park
Dead Horse Point State Park., Moab, Utah
Ephedra viridis
Grand Canyon National Park, North Rim
Capitol Reef National Park
Ephedra nevadensis
Saguaro National Park, Ricon Mountain District
Chapter 11
Anthophyta
Eastern Pasqueflower (Pulsatilla patens (L.) Mill.
This division is composed of flowering plants - or what most people recognize as flowers (and weeds). The previous group, the gymnosperms, produce naked seeds (albeit surrounded by a cone) but angiosperms - the flowering plants - produce “covered” seed. This means they produce a fruit. The fruit may be either fleshy or dry.
Angiosperms are divided into two groups. Forgive me here but I cling to the old terminology on this one: monocots and dicots. Modern terminology uses the term eudicots for dicots. Sometimes you cannot teach old dogs new tricks.
It reminds me of the movie Goodbye Mr. Chips where Robert Donat in his role of Mr. Chips refused to pronounce Cicero [SISS er oh] in the modern form of [KICK er ro].
In any case, monocots are characterized typically by parallel venation in leaves, fibrous root systems, flower parts in 3’s or multiples of 3’s. When the seed germinates, it typically produces one seed leaf (monocotyledon).
Dicots, on the other had, typically have net venation in leaves, tap roots, flower parts in 2’s, 4’s, and 5’s or multiples of those. When the seed germinates, it typically produces two seed leaves (dicotyledon).
Notice the emphasis on typically. Some monocots produce net venation and some dicots have parallel. Some monocots have tap roots and some dicots have fibrous roots, some monocots produce two seed leaves and some dicots produce one. You might also have caught that a multiple of 3 is 6 and a multiple of 2 is 6.
To readily distinguish monocots from dicots, its best to have 3 of the 4 characteristics to assign it as a monocot or dicot.
Back in the dark ages, when I took botany, monocots were considered the more primitive evolutionarily than the dicots. They have fewer petals and sepals (typically) and parallel venation was considered more primitive than net venation.
Today, monocots are considered more advanced evolutionarily than dicots. Instead of being the first in taxonomic manuals, they are now last. Part of the idea of this is that monocots have reduced their parts to the essentials. Loss of excess parts is considered more evolutionarily advanced. I’ll follow that idea in the presentation of the flowering plants - monocots last.
Another note. There is often confusion about fruits and vegetables. Fruits are the result of a mature ripened ovary from the flower of a plant. Vegetables, instead, come from leaves, stems, and roots. The lowly turnip is a vegetable. You may eat the leaves and the roots of turnips. The peach is a fruit because it comes from a mature, ripened ovary of a flower.
The tomato, botanically, is a fruit. However, in a landmark case, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled it legally as a vegetable. It seems a majority of the justices failed botany.
Chapter 12
Magnoliaceae
Umbrella Magnolia (Magnolia tripetala (L.) L.
The most primitive of the flowering plants are in the magnolia family. All you have to do is look at the numerous petals, stamens, and ovaries in this plant and realize that if a reduction in parts is more evolutionarily advanced, then this is a primitive plant. Appropriately, we find the genus Magnolia in this family. There are only two genera in the family: Magnolia and Liriodendron (better known as tulip poplar).
Flora of North America reports eight species of Magnolia and only one species of Liriodendron.15
Magnolia grandiflora L.
Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora L.)
Forgive the poor quality of the image but this tree has tremendous significance to me. I grew up playing in this tree with my brother and cousins. It is still located outside the abandoned house that used to be my Dad’s parents in Pulaski, Mississippi - or I should say the outskirts of Pulaski. The tree is well over 100 years old and it seemed massive when we were kids.
If you have never played on a magnolia, you don’t know how dirty the tree is. The bark is blackish with a little green tint that I suspect comes from a symbiotic algae. As you play on the tree, the bark rubs off on you and pretty soon everything about you is sooty. The good news is if enough kids play on it long enough, the rough outer bark is worn away and you are left with a smooth trunk and branches.
Grandmother would let us play on the tree but we could not come inside the house until we washed off. That meant well water and a bar of lye soap. You’ve never been clean until you’ve had a bath with lye soap. Grandmother Searcy made her on soap.
We would strip naked and lather up and rinse off. She’d have to wash our clothes and dry them before she even thought of letting us go home.
The wash pot was in the side yard. She’d build a fire under the pot, pour water in, add her lye soap and hand me a boat paddle. I was the agitator of the “washing machine.” Then she’d scoop the clothes up with the paddle, put them in a washtub of cold well water, and rinse them twice. Then they would go on the line and after they were dry, we’d put the clothes back home and be ready for our parents when they came to pick us up.
My Grandmother’s old wash pot.
Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora L.)
Spring and summer were the best because the tree was in full bloom. The aroma was intoxicating and whenever I smell a magnolia today, it takes me back to my childhood.
That tree at my Grandmothers was somewhat of an anomaly in that it grew on a hill. Magnolias like moisture and often grow in swamps. You’ll find more southern magnolias naturally in bottom lands than in well drained soil.
Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora L.)
The stamens look like matchsticks. Look how many of them there are in this photo. In the photo prior to this one, you can see the female reproductive structure. Magnolia produces what is known as an aggregate fruit. That means there are numerous pistils (female reproductive structure) that are fused together to form one structure. The fruit of the magnolia is technically called a follicle, considered the most primitive of all fruits. It is a dry fruit, not fleshy.
Magnolia virginiana L.
Sweet Bay (Magnolia virginiana L.)
Another Boy Scout plant. My Scoutmaster was Hiram D. Polk. He was a graduate of Mississippi State University in animal husbandry. He pretty much was in charge of one of the largest egg hatcheries in the state just outside of Morton, Mississippi. He apparently had courses in botany and he took it upon himself to make sure the members of his Boy Scout troop knew poisonous and edible plants. This was one of the ones we were taught to identify in the woods.
If you notice the common name, it makes you think of bay leaves. Bay leaves come from a tree of the genus Laurus or laurel. However, in a pinch, you can use these as bay leaves.
Sweet Bay (Magnolia virginiana L.)
This bay is about to bloom. You can see the resemblance to a bud in a magnolia. However, it is much smaller in size than a magnolia.
Magnolia tripetala (L.) L.
Umbrella Tree (Magnolia tripetala (L.) L.
At first, I thought this was bigleaf magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla). I’ve seen bigleaf magnolia in the wild before and by the size of the leaves of the one above, it can be confused. However, the shape of the leaf gives it away. The widest part of the leaf in the umbrella magnolia is towards the tip. In bigleaf magnolia, it is in the middle.
This was my first encounter with Magnolia tripetala. I was camping at South Mountains State Park in North Carolina and was hiking up a mountain. I was getting tired. I stopped and was overwhelmed by a sweet smell much like that of a gardenia. I looked around and at first couldn’t locate the source. I kept looking and about 50 yards away in the canopy, I saw a magnolia in bloom.
Later, I found the park was awash with blooms of this magnolia. Fortunately for me, I did not have to break a new trail to get a photograph. I found some growing by the roadside that very nicely posed for me.
Umbrella Tree (Magnolia tripetala (L.) L.
Liriodendron tuliperifera L.
Tulip Poplar (Liriondendron tulipifera L.)
This is probably my favorite tree, again, another Boy Scout introduction thanks to Mr. Polk. The tree grows amazingly straight and is a great timber tree for furniture. The wood is very easy to work or carve and it is abundant throughout the southeastern United States. It also produces one of the more unusual blooms you’ll ever see. That’s a really bright orange spot on each of the petals.
Tulip Poplar (Liriondendron tulipifera L.)
Again, note the numerous stamens. That’s considered a primitive feature. The blooms do have an aroma but nothing like a magnolia. The leaves are tulip shaped which, I suppose, is how it got its common name.
Genus/Species
Species/Location
Magnolia virginiana
Lake George State Forest, De Leon Springs, Florida
F. D Roosevelt State Park, Warm Springs, Georgia
Magnolia tripetala
South Mountains State Park, Connelly Springs, North Carolina
Liriodendron tulipifera
F. D. Roosevelt State Park, Warm Springs, Georgia
High Falls State Park, Jackson, Georgia
Chapter 13
Annonaceae
Scrub Pawpaw (Asimina obovata (Willd.) Nash
Flora of North America lists three genera and 12 species in this family found around the tropics, including subtropical Florida and the southern U.S.16 In Boy Scouts, we recognized one particular plant - pawpaws. The fruit of the pawpaw is edible but I never found a ripe one, or at least a ripe one I would eat. The ones I came across were green on the tree. Botanically, the pawpaw is a berry but it always looked like a bumpy green banana to me. Also included in the family is the custard apple - something I became exposed to when I moved to south Florida in 1985.
Annona glabra L.
Pond Apple, Custard Apple (Annona glabra L.)
My first real exposure to this was at Secret Woods Nature Center where I could get an up-close look at the plant. Later, I noticed it growing along the canals as you travel west towards the Everglades or Tampa/St. Pete area. What’s noticeable about them is the ripened fruit with a yellowish color.
Tomlinson reports it is found on both sides of the Atlantic in the tropics and that south Florida is the northern most limit in the United States.17
Nelson says the fruit is edible, but not very tasty.18 I wouldn’t know, I’ve never tried it. In any case, it’s an aggregate fruit of follicles (again, a very primitive type of structure) but unlike the magnolia which is a dry fruit, floral parts make this a fleshy fruit.
Asimina obovata (Willd.) Nash
Scrub Pawpaw (Asmina obovata (Willd.) Nash)
This is not the pawpaw of my childhood. The one I knew was Asimina triloba and that’s the one I collected for my masters thesis at Tishomingo State Park. For all the years I have found pawpaw, I’ve never seen one bloom, so this was especially nice to find one in bloom at Archbold Biological Station. These don’t grow too large, particularly compared to A. triloba. This was photographed in April 2016 and there were plenty in bloom along the nature trail.
Scrub Pawpaw (Asmina obovata (Willd.) Nash)
The specific name obovate comes from the leaf which is broadest near the tip of the leave, instead of in the center of the leave.
Genus/Species
SpeciesLocation
Annona glabra
Secret Woods Nature Center, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Asimina obovata
Nature Trail, Archbold Biological Station, Venus, Florida
Chapter 14
Calycanthaceae
Calycanthus floridus L.
Sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus L.)
My first exposure to this plant was as an ornamental on the campus of the University of Mississippi. For my undergraduate plant id course, Dr. Pullen would often walk us around campus pointing out plants and this was one. It’s called Sweetscrub because if you crush the flowers, they have a wonderfully, spicy aroma. The petals and sepals of this flower look basically the same and as a result, they are called tepals.
Sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus L.)
The leaves are not particular interesting, but they are opposite each other on the stem and also have the same sweet, spicy smell when crushed although it is more pronounced in the flowers.
I never saw these in the wild during my undergraduate or graduate school days and have never found the plant in Florida although Flora of North America does show the plant in the panhandle of Florida and the extreme northeastern edge of Florida.19
The only other species of this genus in North America is found in Washington state and California20 and it is C. occidentalis.
Sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus L.)
My first “wild” experience was on the Wolfden Loop Trail, part of the Pine Mountain Trail at Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park near Warm Springs, Georgia. It was spring and these were in bloom several places on the trail. It was like seeing an old friend and visiting with my mentor.
My next run-in was in Pisgah National Forest outside of Asheville. I was visiting and old friend Reed, his wife and two kids. We did some waterfalls in the area.
My third run-in was in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2016. I was trying to get into shape for a cross country trip where I planned to do a lot of hiking at elevation. You really can’t do that a 9 feet above sea level where I live, so I decided to hike the Deep Creek area near Bryson City, North Carolina to get a little elevation challenge going.
The one thing about the Smokies is they are all up hill. The Deep Creek branches off to the Indian Creek Trail. I hiked 8.3 miles that day and it nearly killed me. I just wasn’t in any shape. The only consolation was getting to see the sweetshrub in bloom along with other spring wildflowers.
Sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus L.)
Flora of North America states the plant contains a compound chemically related to strychnine and thus is poisonous. They also reference the Cherokee used the plant medicinally but did not say how.21
Genus/Species
Species/Location
Calycanthus floridus
Wolfden Loop Trail, F.D. Roosevelt State Park, Warm Springs, Georgia
Little River, Pisgah National Forest, Asheville, North Carolina
Deep Creek Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Chapter 15
Lauraceae
This is the laurel family. As an example, the genus Persea is the source of bay leaves used in cooking. The family is mostly evergreen shrubs or trees. Flora of North America lists nine genera and 13 species.22
Sassafras albidum (Nutt.) Nees
Sassafras (Sassafras albidum (Nutt.) Nees)
As I write this, I’m amazed at how many plants are of my childhood. Again, the Boy Scouts, again Mr. Polk, the scoutmaster. If you pull the plant up by the root and dry the root, you can shave off pieces of the root to make sassafras tea. I got into this habit in the Boy Scouts and again while in college and as an adult. A cup of sassafras tea on a cold winter night is very satisfying. I stopped when reports of carcinogens started appearing in the press. I miss it to this day.
If you dry the leaves and grind them into a powder, you have filé powder used in Creole dishes, particularly gumbo. This is a very versatile plant.
Sassafras produces three leaf forms. One leaf is entire, another is bilobed like a first baseman’s mitt and a third leaf type is trilobed. You can see some trilobed leaves in the above photo. There’s only one other plant that I know that does this and that is the mulberry. Mulberry leaves are rough and papery to the touch whereas sassafras leaves are shiny, smooth, and thicker.
Persea borbonia (L.) Spreng
Red Bay (Persea borbonia (L.) Spreng)
The leaves of this plant are really beautiful but unfortunately, this photograph is of old foliage. The new spring foliage has not appeared as yet. When it does, the underside of the leaves have a beautiful covering of tiny hairs. In a pinch, you can use these dried leaves in cooking.
Red Bay (Persea borbonia (L.) Spreng)
Genus/Species
Species/Location
Sassafras albidum
Wolfden Loop Trail, F.D. Roosevelt State Park, Warm Springs, Georgia
Persea borbonia
Nature Trail, Archbold Biological Station, Venus, Florida
Chapter 16
Aristolochiaceae
This is the Dutchman’s pipe family of plants. The name of the family comes from the flowers of the genus Aristolochia which someone though resembled ornate pipes - like meerschaums. Although I’ve previously collected A. serpentaria (snakeroot) and A. tomentosa (pipevine) I don’t have any photos of those.
What I do have photos of is another genus in the family Asarum or wild ginger. These flowers look like they are from another planet.
Asarum canadense L.
Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense L.)
The specific name canadense is perhaps apt since I first saw this at Isle Royale National Park which is on the border with Ontario, Canada. I was hiking the Huginin Cove Trail near the Windigo Park Headquarters in June 2018. Previously, in March, I had twisted my ankle in the Channel Islands and retwisted it at Pinnacles National Park so I was limping along Huginin Cove Trail when I found the ginger. There was not much in bloom in June at Isle Royale. As a matter of fact, there was still snow on the ground in places and I was told to pitch my tent inside the leanto to protect me from the cold.
Isle Royale is one of the least visited of national parks. It’s primarily due to how you have to arrive - either by boat or by seaplane. I opted for seaplane in case there were a lot of campers and competition for the shelters. I wanted to beat the boat. I need not have worried. There were vacant shelters all over the place.
The seaplane ride was my second. I had previously done a seaplane to Dry Tortugas and Fort Jefferson National Park in the Florida Keys. Our pilot this trip was very young - I thought him a teenager, but he made a very smooth landing.
Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense L.)
This is not the ginger in grocery stores. That is the genus and species Zingiber officinale. However, the roots of this plant have a similar aroma to them and you can use it as a ginger substitute - but please don’t. It’s too beautiful to pull up. The petals are vestigial. What you are seeing are the sepals of the plant.
Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense L.)
The leaves of the genus Asarum either heart shaped as in A. canadense or arrowhead shaped as in A. arifolium.
Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense L.)
There’s a good bit of variation in the flowers as you can see in the comparison of A. canadense. Flora of North America points out that variation can cause problems in identification, specifically from dried herbarium specimens.23
Asarum caudatum Lindl.
Long-tailed Ginger (Asarum caudatum Lindl.)
I think you can see from where the common name is derived. The petioles of the leaves are rather extreme. No flowers were available at this time of the year (April in North Cascades National Park.
Asarum arifolium Michx.
Little Brown Jugs (Asarum arifolium Michx.)
April at Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park had a lot of wildflowers in bloom, unfortunately, just not this one. The reason for the common name is the flowers (more purple than brown) point upright and look like a vase or jug with the mouth pointing towards you.
Genus/Species
Species/Location
Asarum candense
Huginin Cove Trail, Isle Royale National Park
Lewis Springs Falls Trail, Shenandoah National Park
Asarum arifolium
Wolfden Loop Trail, F.D. Roosevelt State Park, Warm Springs, Georgia
Asarum caudatum
Agnes Gorge Trail, North Cascades National Park
Chapter 17
Nymphaeaceae
Spatterdock (Nuphar lutea (L.) Sm.)
Nuphar lutea (L.) Sm.
My introduction to this plant was through my first graduate taxonomy course “Aquatic Plants” with Dr. Pullen. It was also my first exposure to some of my fellow graduate students with whom I made lifelong friendships. Field trips were a given in this course, the question was when? Dr. Pullen hemmed and hawed about what day of the week. We asked him if he was willing to do Saturdays and he seemed taken aback. I don’t think he had students before that were willing to go on field trips on weekends. That settled, off we went slogging through sloughs, ponds, ditches, streams and lakes like little children playing in mud puddles on a rainy day.
Flora of North America does not list this genus but does list two genera with 17 species.24 The Plant List as of 2012 does list the species and since I feel comfortable with their desgination over Flora, I’ll stick with it. The other genus in the family is Nymphaea. I’ve seen it in the wild but have no photos.
Spatterdock (Nuphar lutea (L.) Sm.)
I’m not sure from where the common name spatterdock comes. The flower produces a simple fleshy fruit which is berrylike. The undersurface of the leaves of this plant are very slimy. If you are collecting plants and pressing them in an plant press for drying, add double the amount of time to dry the plant because of the slimy leaves.
Genus/Species
Species/Location
Nuphar lutea
Everglades National Park
Lake George State Forest, De Leon Springs, Florida
Chapter 18
Ranunculaceae
Tall Buttercup (Ranunculus acris L.)
Most floras refer to this family as the crowfoot family. I have no idea why. I assume because some of the leaf structures resembled what someone thought was a crow’s foot. My preference is call the family the buttercup family since the genus Ranunculus is so common throughout the United States.
It’s a large family with Flora of North America reporting 22 genera and 284 species.25 I’m providing photos of nine genera and 30 species. Most members of the family are poisonous to livestock (and humans).
- Ranunculus
- Anemone
- Clematis
- Actaea
- Caltha
- Acontium
- Delphinium
- Aquilegia
- Thalictrum
- Anemonella
Ranunculus bulbosus L.
Bulbous Buttercup (Ranunculus bulbosus L.)
As you might guess from the common and specific names, the base of the plant is bulb-like. This is not a native plant but was introduced from Europe.26 It’s pretty much considered a weed, but I think even weeds have their attractions. The deep yellow flowers are an eye catcher in early spring against the drab background of leaf litter. This particular photo was taken along the Smokemont Trail Loop in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This particular trail is rated great for wildflowers and I have to agree.
As with any loop trail, there are two ways to hike it: clockwise and counterclockwise. Name your poison. There’s either a very steep climb as you begin with an easy descent or a long, gradual climb at the beginning and a steep climb at the end. On this particular trail I chose the steep ascent first.
Bulbous Buttercup (Ranunculus bulbosus L.)
These flowers have numerous stamens and the fruit is a head of achenes. An achene is a one seeded dry fruit with the seed attached to the dry covering at only one point (think sunflower seeds). The fruit generally does not open. Achenes and numerous stamens are considered primitive characteristics.
Ranunculus californicus Benth.
California Buttercup (Ranunculus californicus Benth.)
Three guesses where I found this one. Actually, it was in Redwoods National Park near Crescent City, California. Redwoods is an unusual national park in that it shares parts of its boundaries with Jedediah Smith State Park. Redwoods is also in two parts. Combined, the the state park and national park make up a huge section of northwestern California.
Point St. George outside of Crescent City
I had a little extra time during my hikes in Redwoods National Park and decided to drive outside of Crescent City to Point St. George. There I found a field of flowers overlooking the Pacific. It was filled with all kinds of wildflowers but one that especially caught my eye was the California buttercup.
Ranunculus repens L.
Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens L.)
The specific name repens refers to how this plant grows close to the ground. It’s certainly not the showiest of buttercups but on a bright day in the sun, it opens up. This one was photographed at the old WWII radar station off Klamath Beach Road, in Del Norte Coastal Redwoods State Park.
Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens L.)
In buttercups, there are two major criteria in identification: leaf structure and achene structure. Leaves may be pubescent (hairy) or non-pubescent, divided into lobes or entire, dissected or not, etc. The achenes can be pubescent or not, beaked or not, ridged or not, etc. Even Flora of North America believes the genus is in need of further study.27
Ranunculus acris L.
Meadow Buttercup (Ranunculus acris L.)
By now, you should be getting the idea all buttercups look alike, at least superficially. You can see why botanists have trouble with them as far as identification.
Meadow Buttercup (Ranunculus acris L.)
However, compare the leaf of this buttercup with the previous and you’ll see a big difference.
Meadow Buttercup (Ranunculus acris L.)
These are the fruits (achenes) of the meadow buttercup. Notice that each achene has a little “beak” and that the achenes seems to be slightly inflated and there is a ridge line running down the length of the achene. This stuff gets really technical! These photos were taken at Lake Louise in Alberta.
Lake Louise is magnificent but there is a disturbing green color due to the minerals ground down by the Victoria Glacier.
Lake Louise and the Victoria Glacier and my bald head.
Ranunculus alismifolius Geyer ex Benth.
Plantain Leaf Buttercup (Ranunculus alismifolius Geyer ex Benth.)
Even I was easily able to identify this one based on the leaves of the plant. The leaves resemble those of the English plantain (Plantago lanceolata) - see next photo.
English Plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.)
However, after identifying the genus and species, you’ve only just begun. Flora of North America lists six varieties of the plants.28 There was no way I could identify down to variety just from a photograph. The photo of the buttercup was taken at the South Fork Baker Creek/Timber Creek Trailhead at Great Basin National Park.
Great Basin National Park from Lehman Caves Visitor Center
I had intended on hiking in Great Basin but I did something entirely stupid with my jeep and had to take it in for repairs at Ely, Nevada, so I only got one day in the park. In any case, most of the trails were not open due to snowfall.
The stupid thing I did was put diesel exhaust fluid in the diesel tank. Diesel exhaust fluid is basically urea which is acidic. It would have eventually corroded the diesel fuel tank. In any case, I was in the parking lot of an auto parts store when it happened. I checked on line and it said whatever you do, do not start the engine.
I called my AAA number and they found a tow service but said it would be an hour. I called my UConnect service and they said 15 minutes. Fifteen minutes came and went. The person who UConnect uses told me he never received their phone call or instructions. Later, the AAA guy told me the other guy really only did big jobs like semis.
It took three of us, the AAA guy, me, and the manager of the parts store to figure out how to put my jeep in neutral without cranking the engine. AAA hauled it to the local jeep dealership. They were exceptionally nice but told me they couldn’t get to it today, the next day, nor possibly the third.
I had reservations at a resort near Great Basin. I had to cancel two nights at the resort and book two nights in a motel in Ely, Nevada. Fortunately, the jeep dealership got to it on the third day, drained the fuel tank, changed two fuel filters, bled the system, etc. etc. etc. I was prepared for a huge cost. I had Googled what to do and how much to expect in costs for this. It would be in the thousands if I did it in Florida. The jeep dealership charged me a little over $300. I almost wept.
To top it off, I got to spend the third night at the resort near Great Basin. I offered to pay for the two nights I had booked and missed and they said “thank you for offering” but it wasn’t necessary. I was the only guest at the resort.
Ely, Nevada will always have a soft spot in my heart for all the help offered to me by the parts store, AAA towing service, the jeep dealership and the owner or the resort.
Ranunculus abortivus L.
Small-flowered Buttercup (Ranunculus abortivus L.)
As is so often the case, this goes by several common names but small-flowered buttercup is as good as any, and at least, descriptive. It does look as though the bloom aborted but the petals are just not showy. Again, note the leaf in comparison to the leaves of the other buttercups.
Small-flowered Buttercup (Ranunculus abortivus L.)
Note the achenes in the upper left had corner of this photo. The term for the hook-shaped tip is called uncinate. Also notice how the sepals (light green at the base of the flower) are reflexed or bent back on themselves, a characteristic of this species. Both photos were taken in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park albeit in different locations and dates.
Ranunculus hispidus Michx.
Hairy Buttercup (Ranunculus hispidus Michx.)
The specific name comes from the word hispid which means it has long stiff hairs. If you look carefully at the flower, you may be able to see some of the white hairs protruding from the base of the ovary.
The leaves of the plant are often hispid as well. These photos were taken in the Deep Creek Campground of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park near Bryson City, North Carolina in 2016. This was a jumping off point for a hike that nearly did me in.
One thing to know about national parks. They do not typically have showers. After my hike, a was one dirty, smelly human. I needed a shower and a soft bed in the worst way. I used Trip Advisor to find a vacancy at the Park Vista in Gatlinburg. When I checked in, they must have be taken aback by my appearance but they never batted an eyelash and checked me right in. When I think about it, hikers in the Smokies probably have a habit of doing what I did and so they were used to it.
Ranunculus glaberrimus Hook.
Sagebrush Buttercup (Ranunculus glaberrimus Hook.)
It really doesn’t remind me of sagebrush. However, the leaf structure was different enough I could identify it by that and its location. The leaves also have some resemblance to plantain leaf buttercup. This photo was taken at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park on the Oak Flat Trail. I suspect, upon further study, botanists will probably merge the species. That’s where DNA analysis becomes invaluable.
Ranunculus occidentalis Nutt.
Western Buttercup (Ranunculus occidentalis Nutt.)
Note the unopened flower bud upper right. It has very long hairs. As the plant matures, these may be worn away or drop off, so you have to have a sense of development when identifying these plants. This was photographed on the Yurok Loop Trail in Redwoods National Forest.
The trail began a little disconcertingly.
It pays to take the sign close to heart. The trail is close to Klamath but north of the trail is Crescent City. Slate reports that since 1933, 31 tsunamis have hit the area. SF Gate reports on the most damaging tsunami to hit the area in 1964 with the Good Friday earthquake that shook Alaska.
The area is quite beautiful but you can see how it might be susceptible with the low lying coast. Unlike a lot of California, it doesn’t have steep cliffs oceanside.
Yurok Loop Trail
Ranunculus testiculatus Crantz
Bur Buttercup (Ranunculus testiculatus Crantz)
Another genus change from my graduate school days. At one time, this was Ceratocephala testiculata. Somewhere over the years, it was placed in the genus Ranunculus.
I found this in two places out west: Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Theodore Roosevelt National Park. There’s nothing about the plant that makes me think of testicles.
Anemone berlandieri Pritz.
Ten-Petal Anemone (Anemone berlandieri Pritz.)
Well, sometimes it has more than 10 petals - but you get the idea. Anemones are sometimes called wind-flowers because the seeds, like dandelions often get carried off in a breeze. Anemones, in zoology, are animals with numerous tentacles and some zoologist apparently thought of the resemblance to the flower anemone in naming the animal.
Ten-Petal Anemone (Anemone berlandieri Pritz.)
This is one of the most attractive anemones I’ve photographed. Interestingly, it has a blue/purple version in the same species.
Ten-Petal Anemone (Anemone berlandieri Pritz.)
I’m not sure why the blue variation but it could possibly have something to do with the soil. For example, there are red, white and blue hydrangeas (very patriotic plants, those) and flower color is due to the pH of the soil. Hydrangeas growing in acidic soil are red, basic soil are blue, and neutral soil is white.
These anemones were photographed at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area near Fredericksburg Texas.
Anemone drummondii S. Watson
Alpine Anemone (Anemone drummondii S. Watson)
I wasn’t able to get the blooms of these anemones, nor even the seeds. The winds were pretty severe in this area of the Columbia Mountains in British Columbia, so everything had been blown off the stems. However, the stems with the flower receptacles were attractive enough to photograph!
Alpine Anemone (Anemone drummondii S. Watson)
The leaves of anemones tend to be highly dissected.
Alpine Anemone (Anemone drummondii S. Watson)
This particular anemone is a very early bloomer, particularly for that elevation (7,000-10,000 feet). It’s some of the most glorious scenery on the planet! The above photos of alpine anemone were taken at Rocky Point Ridge and Powder Pig Trail. I have to admit, the hiking was pretty strenuous because of the elevation.
Rocky Point Ridge and Powder Pig Trail in the Bugaboos, British Columbia
Anemone occidentalis S. Watson
Western Pasqueflower (Anemone occidentalis S. Watson)
My first exposure to this plant was Crater Lake National Park. The park is a must visit but you really have to want to go to get there. There is nothing anywhere near this park. This was taken on the Watchman Lookout Trail.
Watchman Lookout Trailhead
It doesn’t look that bad but it is at 8,025 feet above sea level and its a 1.6 out and back trail with an elevation gain of 387 feet. I was not in shape for this. I made it, but only after numerous rest stops along the way.
Watchman Lookout
Western Pasqueflower (Anemone occidentalis S. Watson)
Western Pasqueflower (Anemone occidentalis S. Watson)
You can see the seeds attached. These readily blow off in the wind for seed dispersal.
And yes, Crater Lake really is as blue as the photographs you see. The photo was not manipulated to get the blue.
Crater Lake, from Crater Lake Lodge
Anemone parviflora Michx.
Northern Anemone (Anemone parviflora Michx.)
This particular anemone produces seeds that look like cotton bolls. If you look at the rightmost stem, you’ll see the head that has lost all the seeds looks similar to the alpine anemone previously shown. The leaves are in a basal rosette in this anemone. Notice also there are no leaves on the stem. The botanical term for a leafless stem is scapose. The alpine anemone, unlike the northern anemone has leaves attached to the stem.
This photo was taken at Kickback Meadow in the Bugaboos of British Columbia. My trip was probably a few weeks too early to see northern anemones in bloom.
Anemone virginiana L.
Tall Thimbleweed (Anemone virgiana L.)
This was a great find for me. I’ve been to the Smokies numerous times and a couple of times in the Blue Ridge, but this was the first time I saw this in bloom. I had pulled over to the Deerlick Gap Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway and found this growing next to the parking lot. Notice this one is not scapose. Also, there is a columbine in the upper left corner.
Tall Thimbleweed (Anemone virgiana L.)
The bloom is about as delicate as you could wish and I love the way the green stamens stand out against the background of the white petals.
If you have time, go back and look at the leaf structures of all the anemones and you’ll see how much variation there is in the species.
Clematis drummondii (Torr. & A. Gray)
Texas Virgin’s Bower (Clematis drummondii Torr. & A. Gray)
A word about one of the authorities of this plant. If you notice, there’s always a series of names after the scientific name. Some are abbreviated and some are short enough and are not abbreviated. As I mentioned in the beginning, botanists emphasize the person responsible for naming the plant. Asa Gray, listed in this name is considered the father of American botany.
Obviously, the plant has gone to seed on this photo, but I think that is what makes it beautiful. I took this photo at Lost Maples State Natural Area near Vanderpool, Texas in September of 2016. My first visit to Lost Maples was with my cousin Jo back when I was in the Coast Guard and stationed aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Reliance in Corpus Christi. It had been a long time since I had been on a hike and when I visited Jo in San Antonio, she suggested we go. Lost Maples was love at first sight.
Campsite C Along East-West Trail at Lost Maples
Texas Virgin’s Bower (Clematis drummondii Torr. & A. Gray)
I love the way this looks against the blue of the sky. The term used for the hairs attached to the achenes is “silky”. Flora of North America states the leaf petioles are tendril-like.29 These tendrils attach to anything to which they come in contact thus holding the plant upright. What’s unusual is leaves serving as tendrils. Usually, tendrils are modified stems, not modified leaves.
Clematis pitcheri Torr. & A. Gray
Leatherflower (Clematis pitcheri Torr. & A. Gray)
I assume the name “leather” comes from the texture and thickness of the flower. It’s a stunning purple. What you are seeing here are the sepals of the plant. The edges are curled back and are covered with wool-like hairs. The botanical tern for that is tomentose. Notice the leaf. There are three leaflets per leaf.
Leatherflower (Clematis pitcheri Torr. & A. Gray)
I stumbled upon this on The Windows Trail at Big Bend National Park.
The Windows Trail - Big Bend National Park
Big Bend is at the very bottom of Texas and right on the border with Mexico. I got stopped by Immigration and Naturalization Service agents prior to entering the park and my car given the once over. I was stopped a second time upon exiting the park with the same quick scan procedure. You really have to want to see Big Bend to get there. It’s pretty much an eight hour drive from San Antonio.
The Windows - Big Bend National Park - that’s about an 800 foot drop behind me!
Actaea pachypoda Elliott
Doll’s Eyes (Actaea pachypoda Elliott)
The plant is called doll’s eyes because it produces a white berry that looks like it has a little black dot in the end - the pupil on a doll’s eye. The black dot is really the stigma of the female part of the flower that is retained in fruit.
Doll’s Eyes (Actaea pachypoda Elliott)
The white berry stands out even more than the white flowers. It looks as though there are no petals on this flower - only stamens. However, if you look closely, the stamens are the slender ones with a club-tip. The actual petals are slightly thicker and there is no club-tip. This photo was taken on the Deep Creek Trail outside of Bryson City, North Carolina in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Deep Creek Trail - Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Actaea rubra (Aiton) Willd.
Baneberry (Actaea rubra (Aiton) Willd.)
Baneberry is found more in the northeastern U.S., most of Canada, and the western U.S. whereas doll’s eyes is mostly eastern in distribution.30 The berries, in this case are red, but they may also be white. The same can be said for doll’s eyes but I’ve only seen the white berries in that species. This particular plant was growing around Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park, British Columbia.
Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park, British Columbia
Emerald Lake was one of our stops on the Heli-hiking tour with Tauck.
Caltha palustris L.
Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris L.)
This one took my breath away when I saw it growing in ditches on my way to Voyageurs National Park. I kept wanting to stop and take a photo but the traffic was to heavy for me to safely stop. Later, in the park, I found some blooming, again in a very low, moist area of the park.
Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris L.)
I had mixed emotions about going to Voyageurs. I have been to the Quetico in Canada canoeing three times and I knew this park was going to be similar. As a matter of fact, there’s very few trails within the park that you don’t first have to get to by canoe. I decided I wasn’t doing any canoeing so I found a couple of trails close by that I could drive to.
Beaver Pond Overlook - Voyageurs National Park
Aconitum columbianum Nutt.
Columbia Monkshood (Aconitum columbianum Nutt.)
It’s a strange plant. Members of the genus Aconitum contain alkaloids and many species are extremely toxic. Based on information in Flora of North America, there are two subspecies of Aconitum columbianum31 but The Plant List has only one accepted as a variety. Someone fancifully thought the top petal looks like the cowl of a monk.
Columbia Monkshood (Aconitum columbianum Nutt.)
Delphinium glaucum S. Watson
Tall Larkspur (Delphinium glaucum S. Watson)
Delphinium is another troubled genus. For one thing, it hybridizes with other species. Add to that, European species are grown ornamentally in the U.S. and you have a doctoral dissertation awaiting some future botanist.
Characteristic of the genus is the spur at the back of the flower. This photo was taken at the WWII Radar Station off the coast of California near Crescent City.
Delphinium nudicaule Torr. & A. Gray
Canyon Larkspur (Delphinium nudicaule Torr. & A. Gray)
You can see this hasn’t come into full bloom but the spur is obvious. Note there is a reddish tinge to the spur. This flower can be red, orange or yellow. The specific name refers to how leafless the stem tends to be. Most of the leaves are basal.
Canyon Larkspur (Delphinium nudicaule Torr. & A. Gray)
These photo were taken at McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park, the second oldest in California. I was staying at a B&B in Redding, CA and touring Lassen Volcanic National Park. There are two entrances to the park and on the first day I tried the northern entrance. It was totally snowed in and the visitor center was closed for the season.
Manzanita Lake entrance to Lassen Volcanic National Park
My hosts suggested I try Burney Falls as an option. I was glad I did. There’s a great loop trail that takes you down by the falls and then across the river and back up behind the falls. I found the larkspur growing on the trail leading up around the falls.
Burney Falls
I later tried the southwest entrance to Lassen and was successful getting to an open visitor center and a short hike along a road to Sulfur Works - a bubbling sulfur pit.
Sulfur Works near Kohn-Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center
Delphinium patens Benth.
Zigzag Larkspur (Delphinium patens Benth.)
I like the common name of this one. It’s very appropriate for the way the flowers are arranged on the stem.
Zigzag Larkspur (Delphinium patens Benth.)
If you look carefully at the upper right flower, you’ll see the anthers of the stamens hanging down. These photos were taken on the Balconies Cave Trail in Pinnacles National Park.
The caves at Pinnacles are talus caves - formed when large rocks and boulders come together to form the cave.
Entrance to Balconies cave. Note the head lamp on the one hiker.
The Balconies cave was, in my opinion, quite dangerous. There were some steep drop offs in the cave and if you did not have a flashlight, you’d be in trouble. I did have one and I was in trouble anyway. I had crawled through the cave and made it to the other side. The park was less than efficient with signage for the continuing trail so I decided to retrace my steps.
Inside Balconies cave - it was total darkness. This was taken with a flash.
In doing so, I re-twisted my ankle from the twisting in Channel Islands. Not only that but I had to drop about 8 feet into total darkness.
Aquilegia canadense L.
Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis L.)
My first ever viewing of colubines was on the “Spirit of the Desert Southwest” tour with Tauck. I was thrilled upon seeing this genus for the first time after seeing it so often in guides and manuals. Of course, the name columbine has become problematic with the mass shooting at the high school in Colorado. Yet, it is a very beautiful flower.
Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis L.)
There are several flowers that produce a single spurred petal but columbines produce one spur for each petal - five in all. In my discoveries of these over the years, most have been found in moist woods or moist cliff faces or moist creek beds.
Aquilegia chrysantha A. Gray
Golden Columbine (Aquilegia chrysantha A. Gray)
This is a bunch of golden columbine cascading down a wet cliff face at Zion National Park. Zion was my first sighting of columbines ever. I found one single bloom along the trail to Temple of Sinawava. Then, as I hiked a few more trails, I saw the stuff everywhere. I have to admit, this really lit a fire under me to do plant photography.
Golden Columbine (Aquilegia chrysantha A. Gray)
These photos were taken along the Weeping Rock Trail at Zion.
Golden Columbine (Aquilegia chrysantha A. Gray)
Aquilegia formosa Fisch. ex DC.
Western Columbine (Aquilegia formosa Fisch. ex DC.)
Of all the columbines I’ve seen over the last few years, I think this is my favorite. The colors are fantastic.
Western Columbine (Aquilegia formosa Fisch. ex DC.)
There were again on a wet cliff face. These were again photographed in Zion National Park.
Thalictrum dasycarpum Fisch., C.A. Mey. & Avé-Lall.
Purple Meadowrue (Thalicturm dasycarpum Fisch., C.A. Mey. & Avé-Lall.
My first experience with meadowrues was in Tishomingo State Park when I collected Thalictrum thalictroides in the park. Since that time, the genus has changed and it is now known as Anemonella thalictroides.
This particular species was photographed near Dunraven Pass near Yellowstone National Park on the way back from Grand Teton National Park.
I’ve now seen this and one other species, Thalicturm revolutum.
Thalictrum revolutum DC.
Waxy Meadowrue (Thalictrum revolutum DC.)
As you can see, these grow quite tall. I was hiking down to Crabtree Falls off the Blue Ridge Parkway. After making it down to the falls, I was hiking back up the opposite side and came across this one.
Waxy Meadowrue (Thalictrum revolutum DC.)
Flowers are unisexual in this plant and these are the male staminate flowers.
Crabtree Falls- 70 feet
Waxy Meadowrue (Thalictrum revolutum DC.)
It’s funny as to what keys me into the identity of a plant. In the case of the genus Thalicturm, it’s the leaves. They are so unusual to me, I can spot them quickly even when everything is green around them.
Anemonella thalictroides (L.) Spach
Rue Anemone (Anemonella thalictroides (L.) Spach
I don’t know why this was reclassified into a different genus than Thalictrum. However, since it was the first “rue” I found it’s still my favorite. I’ve seen it in a lot of different locations but this was taken at Florida Caverns State Park outside of Mariana, Florida.
Genus/Species
Species/Location
Ranunculus bulbosus
Smokemont Loop Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Ranunculus californicus
Balcones Trail, Pinnacles National Park
Point St. George, Crescent City, CA
Ranunculus repens
Dijon, France
WWII Radar Station, Klamath Beach Road, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, Crescent City, California
Ranunculus acris
Lake Louise, Banff National Park, British Columbia
Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park, British Columbia
Julian Price Memorial Park, Blowing Rock, North Carolina
Brandywine Falls, Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Bass Harbor Head Light, Acadia National Park
Ranunclus alismifolius
South Fork Baker Creek/Timber Creek Trailhead, Great Basin National Park
Ranunclus abortivus
Deep Creek Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Smokemont Loop Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Ranunculus hispidus
Deep Creek Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Smokemont Loop Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Ranunculus glaberrimus
Oak Flat Trail, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Ranunculus occidentalis
Yurok Loop Trail, Redwoods National Park
Ranunculus testiculatus
Devil’s Overlook, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Anemone berlandieri
Enchanted Rock State Nature Area, Fredericksburg, Texas
Old East Entrance, Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Anemone drummondii
Rocky Point Ridge and Powder Pig Trail, The Bugaboos, British Columbia
Anemone occidentalis
Watchman Lookout Trail, Crater Lake National Park
Eva Lake, The Bugaboos, British Columbia
Anemone parviflora
Kickoff Meadow, The Bugaboos, British Columbia
Anemone virginiana
Deerlick Gap Overlook, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina
Clematis drummondii
Lost Maples State Nature Area, Vanderpool, Texaas
Clematis pitcheri
The Windows Trail, Big Bend National Park
Actaea pachypoda
Deep Creek Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
The Ledges, Virginia Kendall State Park, Cleveland, Ohio
Actaea rubra
Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park, British Columbia
Caltha palustris
Voyageurs Forest Overlook, Voyageurs National Park
Isle Royale National Park
Aconitum columbianum
Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park
Castle Crest Loop, Crater Lake National Park
Delphinium glaucum
Hayden Valley, Yellowstone National Park
WWII Radar Station, Klamath Beach Road, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park
Delphinium nudicaule
McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park, Burney, California
Aquilegia canadense
Deep Creek Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Deerlick Gap Overlook, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina
Brandywine Falls, Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Aquilegia chrysantha
Zion Canyon along North Fork of Virgin River, Zion National Park
Weeping Rock Trail, Zion National Park
Aquilegia formosa
Zion Canyon along North Fork of Virgin River, Zion National Park
Castle Crest Loop, Crater Lake National Park
Thalictrum dasycarpum
Dunraven Pass, Yellowstone National Park
Thalictrum revolutum
Crabtree Falls, Blue Ridge Parkway, Barnardsville, North Carolina
Craggy Gardens Trail, Blue Ridge Parkway, Black Mountain, North Carolina
Anemonella thalictroides
Deep Creek Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Florida Caverns State Park, Mariana, Florida
Smokemont Loop Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Chapter 19
Berberidaceae
This is the family in which you find barberries. There’s only one genus represented in North America as a true barberry and that is the genus Berberis. Berberis is most often a shrub and as such was often planted as wind breaks in the west.
If you’ve ever spent time out west, you know there’s little to break the wind as it roars across the plains. When the loose soil from agriculture (mostly wheat in western states) is very dry, the wind picks up the soil and carries it for many miles. Soil erosion, therefore, is a major enemy of farmers. To break the wind, wind rows of barberry were often planted.
Unfortunately, some species of barberry is infected with black stem-rust of wheat (Puccinia graminis Persoon) which can devastate a wheat crop (farmers found this out after the fact). Black stem-rust is a type of fungus with five types of spores. Some of the spores infect wheat and some infect barberry and one stage overwinters in the ground. To treat the fungus would mean you would have to stop all five spore stages which is impractical.
Instead, the sale or transport of infected barberry plants is illegal in the United States.32 Flora of North America reports eight genera and 33 species in this family of plants.33
I’ve photographed three genera and five species over the years. Alas, again there is some controversy as to their classification. Flora of North America lists the genus Mahonia as a synonym for Berberis. The Plant List recognized both Mahonia and Berberis as separate species. In truth, I cannot distinguish what is Mahonia and what is Berberis. I await further studies.
Berberis aquifolium Pursh
Oregon Grape (Berberis aquifolium Pursh)
What I like about this plant is the beautiful yellow flowers which stand out against a green background. When the flower bears fruit, it produces blue berries. Oregon grape is the state flower of Oregon and it is resistant to black stem-rust of wheat.34
I’ve found this in California, Oregon, and Washington.
Berberis haematocarpa Wooton
Red Barberry (Berberis haematocarpa Wooton)
I found this growing on the north rim of the Grand Canyon National Park. Notice how much more pronounced the spines are on the leaflets of this one as opposed to the Oregon grape shown previously. Unfortunately, this one does transmit black stem-rust of wheat.35
As you might suppose, the berries are reddish when ripe.
Berberis repens Lindl.
Creeping Barberry (Berberis repens Lindl.)
Most guides and manuals put this in the genus Mahonia but I’m following The Plant List which places it in the genus Berberis. Like red barberry, I found this on the north rim of the Grand Canyon.
It is resistant to black stem-rust of wheat and Flora of North America reports native Americans used the root medicinally for stomach troubles.36
Diphylleia cymosa Michaux
Umbrella-leaf (Diphylleia cymposa Michaux)
This plant is endemic to the Blue Ridge mountains and has been reported in Alabama, Georgia, South and North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia as well as along the Blue Ridge Parkway (Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center).
It has white flowers but I was only able to photograph it while in fruit. The leaves have the petiole in the center of the blade which is referred to as peltate in attachment.
Umbrella-leaf (Diphylleia cymposa Michaux)
At first, the inflorescence looks like an umbel where all the pedicels of the flower or fruit arise from a single point, but in reality, it is a cyme. In a cyme, the pedicels arise from different points but the fruits tend to be the same height. I stumbled across this at the Linn Cove Viaduct along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina.
Mahonia fremontii (Torr.) Fedde
Fremont’s Barberry (Mahonia fremontii (Torr.) Fedde
This plant just screams drought resistance. I found this on the Chimney Rock Trail in Capitol Reef National Park. It was a pretty good size bush.
Fremont’s Barberry (Mahonia fremontii (Torr.) Fedde
What makes it so drought resistant is the waxy leaves. Also, you might guess the spines on the leaflets are pretty lethal. I suspect you would have to be very adept to get to the fruit of these once ripe without getting stabbed.
Flora states it is resistant to black stem-rust of wheat and that the Apache used it ceremonially.37
Fremont’s Barberry (Mahonia fremontii (Torr.) Fedde
Fremont, of course, is John C. Frémont and early explore of the west, soldier in the Civil War for the union side, and was the first nominee of the Republican Party. He lost. You’ll find the name Frémont everywhere in the west. According to some books I’ve read and according to Wikipedia, he is a mixed bag as far as soldier, statesman, and manager. That hasn’t kept him from being honored with his name associated with several plant species in the western U.S.
Podophyllum peltatum L.
Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum L.)
Mayapple was probably the very first plant I was able to recognize in the Boy Scouts. I can safely say I’ve found it pretty much everywhere in the state of Mississippi. It’s also easily identified. It often grows on shaded hillsides in very rich soil. We were taught the “apple” was edible.
Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum L.)
The plant grows from a rhizome and sends up two palmate leaves with the petiole attaching in the center of the leaf. The term for leaves attaching in their center to the petiole is peltate. It’s an unusual enough feature that Boy Scouts can easily identify it.
Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum L.)
The flower is attractive but fairly short lived. Flora reports that all other parts of the plant, other than the fruit, are toxic. The lignins and glycosides in the rhizome are said to inhibit tumors. A semi-synthetic compound called etoposide is used in treatment of testicular cancer and small-cell lung cancer.38
It’s found throughout the eastern U.S. However, it’s only found in the panhandle of Florida.
s/Species
Species/Location
Berberis aquifolium
Balcones Trail, Pinnacles National Park
Seaquest State Park, Castle Rock, Washington
Stehenkin, North Cascades National Park
Berberis haematocarpa
North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park
Berberis repens
Zion Canyon along North Fork of Virgin River, Zion National Park
Point Imperial, North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park
Diphylleia cymosa
Linn Cove Viaduct, Blue Ridge Parkway, Banner Elk, North Carolina
Mahonia fremontii
Chimney Rock Trail, Capitol Reef National Park
Capitol Gorge Road, Capitol Reef National Park
Rimrock Trail, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Podophyllum peltatum
Crabtree Falls, Blue Ridge Parkway, Barnardsville, North Carolina
Brandywine Falls, Cuyahoga Valley National Park
South Mountains State Park, Connelly Springs, North Carolina
Chapter 20
Papaveraceae
This is the poppy family of flowers.
John McCrae - 1872-1918
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing fly
Scare heard amid the guns below.
We were the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
When you hear of super blooms of wildflowers out west and particularly in California, its the California poppy that most often comes to mind. I’ve never been fortunate enough to be present during a super bloom but I have seen fields of California poppies and they can be spectacular.
Flora of North America reports 17 genera and 63 species of the family.39
I’ve photographed three genera and four species.
Eschscholzia californica Cham.
California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica Cham.)
One of the more interesting features of this plant to me is the variation in color. The deep orange you see above is not as common as a more golden color.
California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica Cham.)
I’m not sure which color form I prefer. Both can take your breath away, particularly on a dry California hillside. Even though it’s called the California poppy, I’ve seen it in several western states.
Like the opium poppy, the fruit is a capsule, but these are not globe-shaped. Instead the capsules in California poppy are more linear.
My first exposure to the California poppy was a trip to San Francisco in 2014. I was looking for something different to do in town. I’d been to San Francisco several times and done most of what could be done. The one thing that always stood out to me as Sutro Tower at Twin Peaks. I did some searching on Google and found someone had described a hike up to Twin Peaks using the city streets.
Atop Twin Peaks
Bill Choisser wrote a detailed description of the walk up to Sutro Tower. I’ve hiked it twice now and it’s a great walk. If you get the chance, be sure to do it but wear a good pair of hiking shoes or boots, take plenty of water. I also recommend a sandwich for lunch at the top.
By my count there are 191 steps here. The way up to Twin Peaks is completely paved except for the last few feet, but it is 700 feet uphill.
I later was fortunate enough to meet Bill and his partner. The world is a small place. He actually went to high school in Fort Lauderdale when Pine Crest School (private school) was on East Broward Boulevard. I told him it had moved to a new campus and he wouldn’t recognize the place. Sadly, Bill passed away a couple of years ago.
Oh, by the way, you can take a bus up to Twin Peaks instead of walking. If you do walk be very cognizant of traffic. There have been several deaths of pedestrians/hikers reported from wayward cars. If you drive to Twin Peaks, keep an eye out for your car. There are numerous reports of break-ins. Regardless, it’s a great view from the second tallest peak in San Francisco.
Eschscholzia glyptosperma Greene
Desert Gold, Mohave Poppy (Eschscholzia glyptosperma Greene)
Honestly, I can’t distinguish between the two species (E. californica and E. glyptosperma). The only reason I feel this is correct is the location I collected it and the local guide available for the name. These were photographed in Saguaro National Park.
Desert Gold, Mohave Poppy (Eschscholzia glyptosperma Greene)
There are two features that distinguish this for me. The leaves of the Mohave poppy are much more finely divided and if you look at the flower, the California poppy has more orange extending up the petals.
Sanguinaria canadensis L.
Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis L.)
I’ll never forget the day in Tishomingo State Park when I saw this bloodroot in bloom. Perhaps in other parts of the country where it is more common, it’s easier to see them in bloom, but this photo is the first and last time I’ve ever seen it in bloom. This photo is from the back cover of the wildflower book I wrote sponsored by the Graduate School of the University of Mississippi. It grew out of my thesis on the flora of the park. Getting it published by the Mississippi Park Commission was an interesting exercise. Not only had I graduated but I was in a job with the Bureau of Land Management in Miles City, Montana before it ever came to fruition.
The title is Ferns and Wildflowers of Tishomingo State Park. You can access the entire book at the link. What made the book was the illustrations by Carole Ritchie. She was Dr. Pullen’s assistant in the herbarium. When she saw my poor sketches of plants, she promptly informed me she thought she could do better. I told her to knock herself out. She had never had an art lesson and her drawings were unbelievably accurate and proportional.
Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis L.)
The leaf is unique enough you really don’t need the bloom to identify the plant.
Flora of North America includes this statement about bloodroot. “Sanguinaria canadensis has been reported from Mississippi, but no specimens are known.” 40
Either they never checked the herbarium at the University or the herbarium has misplaced my specimen.
Back to bloodroot. The bloom is ephemeral. It lasts but a single day and then is gone. The flower, if pollinated, produces a single capsule. It’s called blood root because if you cut into the root, a red sap comes out. To this day, it is still an exciting find for me.
Platystemon californicus Benth.
Cream Cups (Platystemon californicus Benth.)
These really threw me when I found them on the hillside at Point St. George near Crescent City, California. I had never seen anything like them before, so it was a new genus and a new species for me.
Cream Cups (Platystemon californicus Benth.)
I guess they do look a little “poppy-like” with all the stamens. Note the very long trichomes (hairs) on the stem of the plant. Again, the term used to describe the stem is hispid.
Species/Location
Eschscholzia californica
Twin Peaks, San Francisco
Lands End, San Francisco
Point Reyes National Seashore
Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park
Balcones Trail, Pinnacles National Park
River Trail, Redding, California
Eschscholzia glyptosperma
Saguaro National Park, Rincon Mountain District
Sanguinaria canadensis
Tishomingo State Park, Tishomingo, Mississippi
Brandywine Falls, Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Smokemont Loop Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Platystemon californicus
Point St. George, Crescent City, California
Chapter 21
Fumariaceae
Pacific Bleeding Heart (Dicentra formosa (Haw.) Walp.)
My very first experience with this family came at Lands End in San Francisco. I was looking for something different than hike up Twin Peaks. One of my favorite places to visit in San Francisco is the Legion of Honor museum at the terminus of Lincoln Highway (at the Lincoln Park Golf Course, of all places). The view from the Legion of Honor of the bay is spectacular and on clear days, you can get a decent view of the Golden Gate Bridge.
In any case, on previous visits I kept seeing signage for Land’s End Trail. In June of 2015, I took the hint. I took the 33 bus at Church Street to 18th, changed to the 38 at Geary and Arguello, and then finally the 18 to the Legion. I always buy a week Muni pass as I exit San Francisco airport. With it, you can ride cable cars, Muni subway and buses.
From the Legion of Honor I walked the road down to Eagle Point Overlook and then started my hike along Lands End. You get to walk along the cliffs looking out at the bay.
Lands End Trail, San Francisco
It’s a 3.4 mile loop but I intended to hike to the Cliff House and then bus back to my B&B. I was lucky that all along the trail wildflowers were in bloom. I was less lucky in lugging my very heavy Canon and heavy lenses. I was constantly having to shuffle from one lens to another to get vistas and close ups with a macro lens.
One small flower kept jumping out at me and I had never seen anything like it. It was, I later determined, the genus Fumaria. Since that time, I’ve photographed three different genera and five species in this family. Flora of North America reports four genera and 23 species.41
If you are ever in San Francisco, the Legion of Honor is a must but also take some time to walk Lands End. It’s not the easiest hike but there were people of all age groups and body types making the hike, so if they (and I) can do it, so can you.
Dicentra formosa (Haw.) Walp.
Pacific Bleeding Heart (Dicentra formosa (Haw.) Walp.)
When I found this, I assumed it was what I knew as Dutchman’s breeches. I knew Dutchman’s breeches was mostly in the eastern U.S. but didn’t know if it was in the west. Indeed, it is. Flora places it also in Oregon and Washington.42 Later, I was at Crater Lake and saw the plant again, and since Dutchman’s breeches was the only one I knew, I referred to it as that to some local hikers. They looked at me a little funny. Later, I realized the actual plant referred to as Dutchman’s breeches is D. cullcularia (L.) Bernh not D. formosa which is called bleeding heart.
To be fair, the flowers look similar.
Pacific Bleeding Heart (Dicentra formosa (Haw.) Walp.)
One of the best trails for wildflowers at Crater Lake is the Castle Crest Loop through a meadow. It was there I met this little beauty. Someday, I hope to actually get a chance to photograph the real Dutchman’s breeches. Until then, I’ll be content with Pacific bleeding heart!
Corydalis aurea Willd.
Golden Smoke (Corydalis aurea Willd.)
I had to travel a bit to find this one. I was at Great Sand Dunes National Park and was on the Medano Pass Primitive Road. I was interested in taking my jeep off road and this was suggested in park brochures as the ideal place. My first indication it would be a challenge was signage every so often warning you not to attempt the road unless you had four-wheel drive and the ability to re-inflate your tires.
After a while the sandy road had a sign that said to let air out of your tires or you would not make it through. I stopped and let the air out and actually made it quite well with the four wheel drive. It’s when I got to boulder hopping instead of sand I finally stopped.
Medano Pass Primitive Road
It was at this point I decided to turn around. Once I got back to the point I had to deflate the tires, I needed to re-inflate them. In planning the trip, I invested in a small pump that hooked to the lighter. It was slow but it worked.
Re-inflating the Tires
While waiting for the tires to get back to pressure, I looked around and found this species of golden smoke. The blooms were not too obvious at first. Everything was kind of brown.
Golden Smoke (Corydalis aurea Willd.)
At one time, this genus was placed in the Papaveraceae family but has since been separated.
Corydalis micrantha (Engelm. ex A. Gray) A. Gray ex Count)
Harlequin (Corydalis micrantha (Engelm. ex A. Gray) A. Gray ex Count)
You can tell by the number of authorities after the scientific name this has undergone some revisions. I was camping at Manatee Springs State Park near Chiefland, Florida. On a previous visit to the area, I had biked the Nature Coast Trail from Fanning Springs State Park to Trenton, Florida. The Nature Coast Trail is a paved bike trail along old railroad lines.
The segment from Chiefland to Fanning Springs is a nine mile segment. The problem with riding a bike and having an interest in plants, is that you stop every few feet for another photograph. The trip to Fanning Springs took forever. Since I had photographed everything I wanted on the way up, the trip back to Chiefland was much quicker.
I was just about to reach Fanning Springs when I caught a little yellow out of the corner of my eye. It’s amazing what you can see while biking at a pretty good clip. I think this was my last photo on that particular bike trip.
Fumaria officinalis L.
Fumitory (Fumaria officinalis L)
This was the species I found at Lands End. I really didn’t know what to make of this when I photographed it but I was later able to find it in Plants of the San Francisco Bay Region.43
I was to later find the same species in Florida along the Nature Coast Trail on my way to Trenton, Florida. Wikipedia lists several medicinal uses for the plant and it is sometimes referred to as drug fumitory. It is not native to the United States. It was introduced from Europe.
Fumaria capreolata L.
White Ramping Fumitory (Fumaria capreolata L.)
I sweated for this photograph. Mainly because it was on a sandy trail along the Lake Wales Ridge in August - in Florida. I was backpacking to a campsite at Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Preserve State Park which was my first night on my 2016 cross country trip. I have no idea what possessed me to think of backpacking in August in Florida in beach sand. By the way, Allen David Broussard was a naturalist who died too early at 29. His parents donated the land for perhaps the longest named park in the United States. Somewhere in the middle of the park, they erected a monument to him.
Monument to Allen David Broussard
Genus/Species
Species/Location
Dicentra formosa
Castle Crest Loop, Crater Lake National Park
Plaikni Falls, Crater Lake National Park
Corydalis aurea
Catalina State Park, Tucson, Arizona
Mendano Pass Primitive Road, Great Sand Dunes National Park
Wellington Ditch Trail, Great Sand Dunes National Park
Corydalis micrantha
Nature Coast Trail, Chiefland, Florida
Fumaria officinalis
Lands End, San Francisco
Nature Coast Trail, Trenton, Florida
Fumaria capreolata
Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Preserve State Park, Florida
Chapter 22
Urticaceae
Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica L.)
Urticaceae is the nettle family of plants with Flora featuring eight genera and 21 species.44 The one with the greatest reputation is probably stinging nettle but probably more common are species found in you yard.
Urtica dioica L.
Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica L.)
I seem to remember reading in Boys Life many, many years ago that stinging nettle was edible. If I remember correctly, you had to parboil the leaves, throw out the water, and then cook as you might spinach. If so, I’d hate to be the one to pick the nettle.
I inadvertently made contact with stinging nettle in 2016 on the Stewart Trail to Wildcat Camp at Point Reyes National Seashore. I had seen the nettle growing in wet areas along the trail and knew enough to leave it alone. However, I kneeled down to take a photograph of another plant and didn’t pay attention to a nettle next to it. I actually knelt directly on the nettle.
The pain was immediate and severe. In most cases I’ve experienced when stung by plants or animals, the sting goes away. Not this time. It stayed with me for one entire day. The pain kept me awake at night in the tent and into the morning. Only after I began the hike out and back to the jeep the next day did the pain begin to subside and it was irritating for a few days afterwards but not of the intensity as the initial sting.
Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica L.)
The business end of the plant are the trichomes. If you brush up against the plant, the tips of the trichomes break off and serve as a hypodermic. You can have an inflammatory response to the hairs embedding in your skin as well as a reaction to the chemicals associated with the hairs. I think I’ll stick with spinach.
Laportea canadensis (L.) Wedd.
Wood-nettle (Laportea canadensis (L.) Wedd.)
Thank goodness, this one does not sting. Nettles are pretty obvious in the woods but getting a photo of them in bloom is a little tricker. This particular one I photographed on the trail to Linville Falls of the Blue Ridge Parkway in June.
There’s not much to see of the bloom. The flowers are unisexual and you can’t really distinguish between petals and sepals, so they are collectively referred to as tepals.
Parietaria floridana Nutt.
Florida Pellitory (Parietaria floridana Nutt.)
For many people in south Florida, this is a noxious weed and I confess to a small war with it in my yard. On its own, it’s quite attractive but it gets out of hand in yards and flowerbeds.
Florida Pellitory (Parietaria floridana Nutt.)
The flowers are tiny and can be either unisexual or bisexual. Again, like Laportea, you can’t distinguish with the unaided eye sepals and petals, ergo, tepals.
Pilea microphylla (L.) Liebm.
Artillery Plant (Pilea microphylla (L.) Liebm.)
This is the bane of my yard and flowerbeds. It gets everywhere. It’s mostly tropical but Flora also reports not only Florida (the entire state) but also Georgia, Louisiana and South Carolina.45
I never could understand why it is called artillery plant but I found on the Missouri Botanical Garden site a statement about how the male flowers explosively discharge pollen from the anthers. If you look very closely at the center of the photo you can see the tepals of little, tiny white flowers.
Species/Location
Urtica dioica
Stewart Trail, Point Reyes National Seashore
Yurok Loop Trail, Redwoods National Park
Laportea canadensis
Linville Falls Trail, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina
Parietaria floridana
Home in Fort Lauderdale
Pilea microphylla
Home in Fort Lauderdale
Chapter 23
Juglandaceae
Scrub Hickory (Carya floridana Sarg.)
The Juglandaceae include the hickories and walnuts. During my graduate school days, these two genera gave me fits. They are a difficult group taxonomically and you must pay attention to the terminal bud scales, the bark, and the husks of the nuts in order to distinguish among species. Then to make your life extra difficult, they hybridize with other species in the genus. One of their redeeming values is as a food source, mostly for animals. If you’ve ever tried to get at the “meat” (seed) of a native walnut or hickory, you know its a lot more effort than what you get out of it. As it happens, I have only one photo of the genus Carya and the name was provided. It’s the scrub hickory found on the Lake Wales Ridge at Archbold Biological Station.
I don’t have a photo of a walnut but there are six species in Flora of North America.46 I was taught in the Boy Scouts and have read elsewhere that Native Americans would harvest the walnuts with their husks on in a woven sack. They would then crush the husks within the sack and throw it into a pond or lake. There’s a chemical in the husks similar to rotenone that incapacitates the gills of fish. They asphyxiate and float to the surface to be collected for dinner.
Carya floridana Sarg.
Scrub Hickory (Carya floridana Sarg.)
Like all members of the family, the scrub hickory has unisexual flowers. You don’t notice the female flowers until they turn into hickory nuts but the male flowers are fairly noticeable. The male flowers form a spike of flowers that falls entire of the plant. When a spike of flowers falls entirely off the plant, it is called a catkin.
Hickory is one of the stronger woods. It’s almost indestructible when well seasoned (dried). I remember my grandfather on my Dad’s side making me a bow from hickory. I also have a hiking stick that I use to this day that must be over 55 years old.
My hiking stick at Hall of Mosses Trail, Hoh Rainforest, Olympic National Park, leaning against a coastal redwood.
Species/Location
Carya floridana
Archbold Biological Station, Venus, Florida
Chapter 24
Myricaceae
This is the wax-myrtle family, so named because you can make candles from the berries of some of the species. I’ve always had trouble identifying the various genera and species within this family, particularly when there are no flowers or fruit present - just leaves to base your identification.
There are several species of Myrica but I only photographed one because the nature trail guide identified it for me while on the trail.
Myrica cerifera Linnaeus
Wax-myrtle (Myrica cerifera Linnaeus)
Wikipedia lists numerous common names other than wax-myrtle, but I suspect this is the most common term in the south. The distribution of the plant is southeastern U.S.
I have seen wax-myrtle candles for sale in novelty stores but honestly, you would have to pick a ton of berries to get enough to melt down to obtain the wax. I found this along the nature trail at Lake George State Forest.
Species/Location
Myrica cerifera
Lake George State Forest, De Leon Springs, Florida
Chapter 25
Fagaceae
Tubinella Live Oak (Quercus turbinella Greene)
The Fagaceae include not only the oaks but the beeches and chestnuts.
I realize I frequently seem to write the family or genus is difficult to identify, but there are some families and genera that are especially difficult to separate taxonomically. The genus Quercus is another example. My only photos are of the genus Quercus and Lithocarpus. Flora of North America reports 90 species of oaks47 and freely admits they hybridize among species.
One of the axioms of plant identification I came across is “beware of the forester who walks through the woods and seemingly names every tree”. The reality is most species, herb, shrub or tree, requires close examination and often microscopic as well as macroscopic examination. Another axiom is “beware of fat foresters” who supposedly cruise timber for sale. They are obese for a reason. They don’t walk the acreage they are assessing. In my defense of casting aspersions on foresters, the two statements above were made to me by a forester.
Lithocarpus densiflorus (Hooker & Arnott) Rehder in L.H. Bailey)
Tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus (Hooker & Arnott) Rehder in L.H. Bailey)
One of the more unusual “oaks” is tanoak which is not an oak at all but in the genus Lithocarpus. This was growing in the understory of Muir Woods. The leaves are definitely oak-like and it does produce a fruit similar to the acorn but with higher tannins (Wikipedia). It has also undergone further study and some botanists change the genus to Notholithocarpus (Wikipedia).
I have to thank my tour guide to Muir, Tom Martell for the identification.
Quercus agrifolia Née
Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia Née)
I admit this is the strangest oak I think I’ve come across. Oaks can either be evergreen or deciduous and most of the ones I’ve been exposed to in recent years are evergreen. This particular oak is found along the coast of California and I photographed this one at the visitor center for Channel Islands National Park in Ventura, California.
Quercus chapmanii Sarg.
Chapman’s Oak (Quercus chapmanii Sarg.)
Chapman’s Oak is one of at least four scrub oaks found in Florida, particularly along the Lake Wales Ridge which runs down the center of the state. There is some similarity to a Mediterranean biome on the Lake Wales Ridge with the sandy, well-drained soil with prolonged periods of drought (spring, fall and winter). I’ve run into scrub oak communities on the Lake Wales Ridge, areas in Broward and Palm Beach counties, and on the west coast of the United States.
Major characteristics of these scrub oaks are directed towards water retention. There are various mechanisms among oaks for that: pubescence (hairs) under the leaves to keep dew on the leaves, waxy coatings on the surfaces of leaves, some leaves are in-rolled, small leaf surface areas to prevent excessive evaporation, etc.
The scrub oaks I’ve run into at Archbold Biological Station are Q. chapmanii, Q. inopina, Q. geminata, and Q. myrtifolia. They, like most oaks hybridize and you have to be careful in your identification.
The scrub oak communities along the Lake Wales Ridge are important habitat for the Florida scrub jay, Aphelocoma coerulescens.
Florida Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens)
These jays are unusual in that they mate for life and have extended families living within one territory. There may be children and grandchildren all within one family’s territory. They feed directly on acorns of the scrub oaks and store them by burying them in the sand at the base of the oaks. To this day, no one knows how the jays know the locations of the acorns after they are buried.
One jay within the family always serves as a lookout for predators such as hawks and eagles. They have no fear of humans and have a natural curiosity about them. I’ve had them land on my shoulder to look at what I was doing as I knelt to photograph some plant.
Back When I Had Hair!
Unfortunately, the scrub habitat is fast disappearing in Florida and the scrub jay is considered vulnerable.
Male Catkins of Chapman’s Oak (Quercus chapmanii Sarg.)
Quercus cornelius-mulleri Nixon & K.P. Steele
Muller’s Scrub Oak (Querucs cornelius-mulleri Nixon & K.P. Steele)
This oak comes armed. Note the very stiff spines on the leaves. The leaves are very leathery and thick. This was found in the Mohave desert at Joshua Tree National Park on a trail near the Jumbo Rocks campground.
Jumbo Rocks
This is a very harsh environment for any plant and that an oak could survive here is testament to its ability to retard water loss.
Jumbo Rocks is a very nice campground. For some reason, the park service makes no attempt to keep you from climbing the rock formations and I admit to giving in and doing so.
I climbed the rocks next to my tent and did some night photography. There are two shooting stars in this photo. It wasn’t a good night for star photography since the moon was so bright.
Here, you can see what I mean. This is my moon shadow.
Quercus gambelii Nutt.
Gambel Oak (Quercus gambelii Nutt.)
I don’t normally make a habit of photographing oaks. Somehow, the photos don’t turn out well. However, I made an exception on my trip to Grand Canyon National Park, north rim when I saw this one with male catkins. I later found the same species in two other parks.
Gambel Oak (Quercus gambelii Nutt.)
The leaves have a resemblance to post oaks (Quercus stellata Wangenh.) found in the southeastern U.S.
Quercus geminata Small
Sand Live Oak (Quercus geminata Small)
This is another scrub oak from the Lake Wale Ridge. Notice how narrow the leaves are and if you look underneath, you’ll find the margins of the leaves in-rolled to retard water loss.
The authority on this one is John Kunkel Small who published in 1933 a two volume Manual of the Southeastern Flora.48 When I was in graduate school, I had access to his manual but Dr. Pullen frowned on my using it and he would only use it as a last resort. Small collected extensively in Florida (and Dr. Pullen was originally from Florida).
In taxonomy, as in life, there are two groups: lumpers and splitters. Taxonomically, a lumper is someone who thinks all the variations within a species are only one species. A splitter is someone who thinks the most minor difference constitutes a new species. Small was a splitter. He came up with so many “new” species that for years, he lost credibility in some botanical circles.
I find it interesting that since the application of DNA analysis to botanical systematics, Small seems to be regaining influence. DNA analysis seems to confirm many plants he said were new species is really are new species. What goes around comes around.
Quercus turbinella Greene
Turbinella Live Oak (Quercus turbinella Greene)
Zion National Park had two oaks that interested me and this was the more unusual of the two. I was hiking up to Weeping Rock when I came across this one. This one looks similar to Muller’s oak but the leaves are much thinner and the points on the leaves are not nearly as robust.
Species/Location
Lithocarpus densiflorus
Muir Woods National Monument
Quercus agrifolia
Channel Islands National Park Visitor Center, Ventura, California
Quercus chapmanii
Archbold Biological Station, Venus, Florida
Quercus cornelius-mulleri
Joshua Tree National Park
Quercus gambelii
Zion National Park
Grand Canyon National Park, North Rim
Mesa Verde National Park
Quercus geminata
Archbold Biological Station, Venus, Florida
Quercus turbinella
Weeping Rock Trail, Zion National Park
Chapter 26
Betulaceae
Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britton)
There are five genera and 33 species of this family in North America.49 The family includes members popularly known as birches, alders, hornbeans, hop-hornbeans, and hazelnuts.
Betula alleghaniensis Britton
Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britton)
I collected birches in Tishomingo many years ago and have seen them on my hikes the last few years but this was a new species for me. I did a short hike of Craggy Gardens Trail just off the Blue Ridge and this was at the head of the trail where you parked.
The sexes are separate and what you see here is a female catkin. Flora of North America says if you crush and smell or taste the young branches you get the sensation of wintergreen.50 I wish I had known that at the time of the photo but I suspect I still would not have tried because there were too many people around. The trail was quite busy that day.
Craggy Gardens Trail
Betula papyrifera Marshall
Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera Marshall)
This is the famous paper birch of birch-bark canoes. As a kid growing up, I was always fascinated that someone could strip the bark from this tree and make a canoe. This particular photo was taken at Voyageurs National Park along the Oberholtzer Hiking Trail just outside of International Falls, Minnesota.
Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera Marshall)
These are the male catkins which fall off the tree as one unit.
Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera Marshall)
These are the female catkins. They likewise fall off the tree as one unit.
Alnus alnobetula (Ehrh.) K.Koch)
Siberian Alder, Mountain Alder (Alnus alnobetula (Ehrh.) K.Koch)
Some guides call it Siberian alder and others mountain alder. I’m sure there are several other common names but these two will suffice. I’ve photographed it in two widely separated areas: Crater Lake National Park and Acadia National Park. You can’t get too much further apart than that. Flora of North America lists this as Alnus viridis51 while The Plant List assigns A. alnobetula as accepted status. Since The Plant List was more recent of the two sources, I stuck with their nomenclature.
Corylus americana Walter
American Hazelnut, Filbert (Corylus americana Walter)
The genus Corylus includes the European hazelnut C. avellana as well as C. americana and C. cornuta. If you like hazelnut flavored coffee, this is for you. I’ve collected specimens in Tishomingo years ago but there were no hazelnuts (or filberts) on the trees. This tree was growing along the upper deck to view Brandywine falls and it was the first time I had seen the “nuts” attached.
Species/Location
Betula alleghaniensis
Craggy Gardens Trail, Blue Ridge Parkway, Banardsville, North Carolina
Betula papyrifera
Spillimacheen, British Columbia
Glacier National Park
Oberholtzer Hiking Trail, Voyageur National Park
Corylus americana
Brandywine Falls, Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Chapter 27
Phytolaccaceae
I think the plant that some people may have familiarity with in this family is poke salad (Phytolacca americana). I’m intimately acquainted with the plant because in Boy Scouts, this was the very first edible plant I ever tried eating. Actually, was forced to try. Our scoutmaster, Mr. Polk, insisted we harvest the plant’s leaves, parboil them and stir fry them with an egg. It supposedly tastes like spinach. Back then, I hated spinach since the only spinach available in Mississippi was in a can.
I cooked it up. He pronounced it delicious. I tasted it and threw the rest away. I suspect if I were to cook a batch of poke salad today I would like it since I now like spinach.
I was surprised when I found a member of the family at Big Bend National Park.
Rivinia humilis L.
Rouge Plant (Rivinia humilis L.)
This was growing trailside to The Windows at Big Bend National Park. The flowers are similar to poke salad, as you might expect.
Over the years, as I hiked, I’ve learned to take frequent rests. Mostly it is to get my heart rate down to a reasonable rate but partly to give myself a chance to observe my surroundings. Invariably, when I do take a break and begin to look around, I can always find something that draws my attention. You would think these pink flowers would be obvious on the trail but I almost missed them. I was hot, tired, and perhaps getting a little cranky with myself and decided to stop at the first shade on the trail I came to. The rouge plant was my reward.
Rouge Plant (Rivinia humilis L.)
There is some possibility this plant will be removed from this family and placed in another. The taxonomy seems confused. NAPA reports this is the only genus and species in North America.
Species/Location
Rivinia humilis
The Windows Trail, Big Bend National Park
Chapter 28
Nyctaginaceae
Snowballs (Abronia elliptica A. Nelson)
The Nyctaginaceae is the four-o’clock family of plants. I used to jokingly ask my students when they thought four-o’clocks opened their blooms. When the said 4 pm, I would ask daylight savings or standard.
My first exposure to four-o’clocks came as a child of around 9 when I visited my Aunt Buleah and Uncle Milton in the neighboring town of Forest, Mississippi. Actually, they were my great aunt and uncle. Aunt Buleah was my grandmother’s sister on my mother’s side.
Aunt Buleah was an outstanding baker. Every birthday she would make me a birthday cake. My favorite at first was caramel cake and she baked that for me for years. Later, I switched to German chocolate and she still used to bake them for my birthday up until and after I entered college.
In her front yard, Aunt Buleah had a huge live oak tree and there was a bench all the way around the trunk. It was a perfect place to sit on a hot summer day for all the shade provided by the oak. She would also keep potted four-o’clocks on the bench because they needed some shade and protection from the sun. It always seemed a miracle to me to watch the opening of the blooms over a period of time.
One of the features of the flowers of the family is the petals are fused into a floral tube and they look a bit trumpet like. Flora of North America reports 13 genera and 18 species.52
Abronia elliptica A. Nelson
Snowballs (Abronia elliptica A. Nelson)
These are aptly named because from a distance they really do look like snowballs. My first exposure to this genus was in Utah since none are found in Mississippi or Florida - states where I have most of my botanical exposure.53
These were growing all over the overlook to Dead Horse Point State Park in Utah. You couldn’t help but notice them amid the grasses. Dead Horse Point is probably one of the most famous views you’ve never heard of. It’s been the backdrop for many movies over the years but most people never see it in person. Instead, they visit the nationals parks near it: Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef.
Dead Horse Point
Abronia fragrans Nutt. ex Hook.
Fragrant Sand Verbena (Abronia fragrans Nutt. ex Hook.)
These look similar to snowballs but there are fewer flowers to the cluster and they don’t have as much “snowball” effect. I found these growing in a field along Zion Canyon near the North Fork of Virgin River. I don’t remember if they were fragrant or not.
Boerhavia diffusa L.
Red Spiderling (Boerhavia diffusa L.)
It’s interesting what you can find walking around in your neighborhood. I kept seeing this along sidewalks either in peoples’ yards or along the swales. I couldn’t figure it out for the life of me.
I consulted manuals, guides - anything I could get my hands on and came up with absolutely nothing. I then started to type in characteristics of the plant: ovate, opposite leaves, red petals, inferior ovary, etc. and I finally got an identification of the plant. It’s not native to Florida and is introduced into the U.S. and is primarily considered as a weed.
Wikipedia lists several traditional medicinal uses for the plant.
Red Spiderling (Boerhavia diffusa L.)
As you can see by the vegetative portion of the plant, it easily spreads from one location to another. The fruit of the plant is sticky and easily attaches to anything that passes by - dogs, humans, iguanas - and can be carried quite a distance.
Boerhavia purpurescens A. Gray
Purple Spiderling (Boerhavia purpureescens A. Gray)
As I mentioned previously, we have red spiderling (Boerhavia diffusa) growing as a weed in lawns and swales of south Florida.
Purple spiderling is a more robust plant. I found it growing in the desert of Big Bend National Park.
Purple Spiderling (Boerhavia purpureescens A. Gray)
Purple Spiderling (Boerhavia purpureescens A. Gray)
The flowers of purple spiderling are larger than red spiderling and strangely, the leaves seem more delicate in purple spiderling despite the harsh habitat.
This was photographed on The Windows Trail at Big Bend National Park.
The Windows Trail - Big Bend National Park
This photo seems almost surreal to me. It reminds me of dioramas in natural history museums. It had nothing to do with my photographic skills. The setting of the camera was on automatic.
Mirabilis nyctaginea (Michaux) MacMillan
Wild Four-O’Clock (Mirabilis nyctaginea (Michaux) MacMillan)
This is not you grandmother’s four-o’clocks. Neither is it my Aunt Buleah’s.
Wild Four-O’Clock (Mirabilis nyctaginea (Michaux) MacMillan)
This is not a showy plant. The flowers are pale green before they open and barely make it to white once they do. NAPA reports this as the most widely distributed of the genus Mirabilis but I had never seen it before - it doesn’t occur in Florida.
Species/Location
Abronia elliptica
Dead Horse Point State Park, Moab, Utah
Abronia fragrans
Zion Canyon North Fork of Virgin River, Zion National Park
Boerhavia diffusa
Flamingo Park Neighborhood, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Boerhavia purpurescens
The Windows Trail, Big Bend National Park
Mirabilis nyctaginea
Mount Rushmore National Monument
Chapter 29
Aizoaceae
This family is known as the fig-marigolds and I suppose the fruits may look fig-like but I know them mostly as succulents found along the east and west coast near the high tide line. A succulent is a plant with fleshy stems or leaves (think Aloe vera) whose purpose is to store water for the dry periods.
I used to see members of this family in the Florida Keys when I took students down to the Keys Marine Lab. Students always wanted to dive the reefs around the Keys but my favorite spot was near the lab in a mangrove canal. You could pull yourself along the mangrove roots while snorkeling and see a huge variety of marine life.
The canal had a small shelf you could step down into the water but the next step was about 15 feet deep. I am super cautious with students around water. I always gave the speech about if you are an unsure swimmer, there’s no need to go into the water. I explained the canal dropped off drastically after the shelf.
One student said he didn’t swim and I told him to either wait for us on the canal bank or go back to the marine lab. He seemed amenable. I turned my back and as I turned around, I saw him step off the shallow shelf into deep water and immediately start thrashing about. Fortunately, a colleague was with me and closer and he reached out and pulled the kid in.
After coughing out a bunch of sea water, I asked him why he stepped off the shelf and into the deep water. He said he didn’t believe me it was that deep and wanted to see. Soon after, I quit field trips to the Keys.
You could either bring your own snorkeling equipment or use the equipment provided by the Keys Marine Lab (KML). I was, at one time, going to suggest to the KML folk to hide the flippers. You give someone a pair of flippers and they feel they need to use them.
In the mangroves, it was not necessary - you simply pulled yourself along in the mangrove roots. The real problem was an upside down jelly fish, Cassiopea, that rested, you guessed it, upside down, on the floor of the mangroves. The jellyfish needed shallow water to expose symbiotic algae in the jellyfish to the sun.
After the first student passed over the jellyfish with overactive flippers, the jellyfish would release stinging cells called nematocysts into the water. The nematocysts didn’t hurt but the next student who came by would feel like they had been wading through fiberglass. I may be slow but I learned quickly to be the lead swimmer in the mangroves. It didn’t take long for the students to learn not to use their flippers. (Yes, I did warn the students before they started swimming in the mangroves!)
Sesuvium portulacastrum (L.) L.
Sea Purslane (Sesuvium portulacastrum (L.) L.)
This particular photo was taken at Bahia Honda State Park at Big Pine Key in the Florida Keys. I had gotten reservations for a couple of nights down there in May. You have to make reservations almost a year in advance for spring months because the camping spaces are so crowded.
Bahia Honda has always fascinated me. The bridge has been partially deconstructed to facilitate boat traffic and to make sure idiots didn’t try to drive over the old trestle.
Bahia Honda Bridge
What a lot of people don’t know is the train to Key West used to travel on the bottom tier but once the railroad was destroyed in the hurricane, motor traffic used the upper tier. That would have been a frightful trip.
Even though it was May when I was there, it was hot in the Keys. Fortunately, I had an ocean-side campsite with a constant sea breeze and a canopy of trees shading the tent. Even so, I kept a battery powered fan in constant use at night.
The bridge is blocked and you cannot go out on to it. The location is also one of the deepest areas that had to be bridged for Flagler’s Railroad.
Carpobrotus chilensis (Molina) N.E. Brown
Sea Fig (Carpobrotus chilensis (Molina) N.E. Brown)
This was another exciting find! I’d never seen this plant before and the flowers were so unique. The plant is a succulent - with fleshy leaves and stems. I found it at the end of the trail growing on an area overlooking the ruins of the famous Sutro Baths, at one time, the largest indoor swimming pool.
Sea Fig (Carpobrotus chilensis (Molina) N.E. Brown)
After I found this, I headed to the Cliff House for a well earned martini. You can’t beat those bright pink colors of the petals. The martinis weren’t too bad either.
Species/Location
Sesuvium portulacastrum
Bahia Honda State Park, Big Pine Key, Florida
Carpobrotus chilensis
Lands End Trail, San Francisco, California
Chapter 30
Cactaceae
Claretcup (Echinocereus triglochidiatus Engelm.)
I think everyone has a concept of cactus but there is a lot of misunderstanding about the family. First, Flora of North America says cacti may be trees, shrubs, subshrubs and even vine-like.54 It lists 34 genera and 189 species.55
Cacti are new world plants. They are not naturally known in Europe or Asia. When you see a movie supposedly filmed in the Sahara and you see a true cactus, you know it was probably filmed in the Mohave Desert or Arizona and New Mexico or the Great Basin in Nevada.
The business end of a cactus is a spine. The term is specific here. There are thorns, spines and prickles in botany. A spine is a modified leaf. A thorn is a modified branch, and a prickle is an outgrowth or enation of the epidermis. Roses have prickles, locusts have thorns, and cacti have spines.
Since spines are modified leaves, if you overwater some species of cacti, the spine will revert to a leaf and form a blade. However, other cacti, if you overwater them, you will kill them off.
Cacti are succulents. They have taken the idea of water retention to an art form. Leaves have a lot of surface area for evaporation of water vapor inside the leaf. Turn that leaf into a spine and you reduce the surface area for evaporation. What you recognize as the body of a cactus is a succulent stem which stores water. Indeed, the barrel cactus has become adept at that function.
What some people consider to be cacti are not at all. Instead, they belong to the family Eurphorbiaceae or the spurge family. That family can produce species that look very cactus-like, even with with what looks like spines but are really thorns. Like cacti, some spurges are succulents.
Cacti are not necessarily restricted to deserts but the greatest number of them are found in the deserts of the western United States.
If you are a botanist interested in cacti, there is a whole new set of terms you must master for identification purposes.
Carnegiea gigantea (Engelm.) Britton & Rose
Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea (Engelm.) Britton & Rose)
This is our most impressive cactus. They can live for quite a long time and they serve as a condominium for wildlife. Note the number of holes in the cactus - all nesting areas for birds and other species.
As much as anything, they are fascinating for their shapes.
Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea (Engelm.) Britton & Rose)
The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum gives the life span of a range of 150-200 years. The heights ranges from 40-60 feet and the weight between 3200-4800 pounds.
These are found only in the Sonoran Desert (Arizona and Mexico) and a great place to see them is in Saguaro National Park outside of Tucson. The park is divided into two regions: Tucson Mountain District and Rincon Mountain District with Tucson in the middle.
Desert Ecology Trail, Rincon Mountain District, Saguaro National Park
As you can see from the photo, there are one or two (thousand) Saguaros in this view of the park.
Most desert plants, like cacti, use a form of photosynthesis referred to as Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM). Other than small differences from two other forms of photosynthesis, plants using CAM photosynthesis open their stomata only at night. Remember from high school, stomata are openings in the leaves that allow the passage of carbon dioxide, oxygen, and water vapor back and forth through the leaf.
If a desert plant opened its stomata during the day, the chance of dehydration would be too great. By opening their stomata and carrying out the light independent reactions of photosynthesis at night, the plants eliminate that hazard.
Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa (Engelm. & J.M. Bigelow)
Buckhorn Cholla (Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa (Engelm. & J.M. Bigelow)
Except for the genera Optunia and Echinocerus, the largest genus of cacti is Cylindopuntia, better known as chollas. Since my botany is mostly Mississippi and Florida, I am familiar with Opuntia but chollas were something totally new and very confusing for me. I admit to using signage in the park for the identification of most of these species.
I find chollas to be fascinating. They often are knobby is shape with the sections breaking off and forming new cacti (as most cacti do). Their spines look terribly lethal.
Buckhorn Cholla (Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa (Engelm. & J.M. Bigelow)
Cylindropuntia arbuscula (Engelm.) F.M. Kunth)
Pencil Cholla (Cylindropunti arbuscula (Engelm.) F.M. Kunth)
This was probably the most abundant cholla I saw in Saguaro National Park. It seemed they were everywhere.
Pencil Cholla (Cylindropunti arbuscula (Engelm.) F.M. Kunth)
If you are familiar with the “pears” of prickly pear cactus (Opuntia), you’ll recognize the same fruiting structure in chollas.
Apparently, bears like prickly pears to eat (as do people).
Bear poop at Big Bend National Park colored by prickly pears.
Rest assured, I kept an eye out for bears after this encounter.
Cylindropuntia echinocarpa (Engelm. & J.M. Bigelow) F.M. Kunth
Silver Cholla (Cylindropuntia echinocarpa (Engelm. & J.M. Bigelow) F.M. Kunth
I hate to say it but most chollas are nothing special to look at but this is an exception. It really is eye-catching and fairly easy to distinguish.
Cylindropuntia fulgida (Engelm.) F.M. Kunth
Chain-Fruit Cholla (Cylindropuntia fulgida (Engelm.) F.M. Kunth)
This was probably the second most abundant cholla in the park.
Chain-Fruit Cholla (Cylindropuntia fulgida (Engelm.) F.M. Kunth)
It does give the appearance that portions of the plant form chains.
Cylindropuntia ramosissima (Engelm.) F.M. Kunth
Pencil Cholla (Cylindropuntia ramosissima (Engelm.) F.M. Kunth)
There are a lot of chollas referred to as “pencil” chollas. By now, if you have been paying attention to the authorities, Engelmann did a lot of the early work on cacti, Bigelow added to the knowledge of chollas and Kunth revised everything they did. Such is the life of a botanist. One minute, you have the ability to assign a name to a new species and then comes the second guessing.
Pencil Cholla (Cylindropuntia ramosissima (Engelm.) F.M. Kunth)
To me, one of the most fascinating aspects of cacti is the arrangement and patterns of the spines on the stems.
Echinocereus fasciculatus (Engelm. ex B.D. Jacks.) L.D. Benson
Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus fasciculatus (Engelm. ex B.D. Jacks.) L.D. Benson)
These are some very long spines. I think they were anywhere from 4 to 6 inches in length. Can you imagine walking a trail and tripping and falling into one of these?
Echinocerus triglochidiatus Engelm.
Claretcup (Echincocereus triglochidiatus Engelm.
This was the one cactus that everyone I met on the trail seemed to know. Several people told me they had seen a claretcup on their hike. I can see why it has become a favorite of people living in the west. The reds are startling in such a brown landscape.
Claretcup (Echincocereus triglochidiatus Engelm.
Again, the pattern of spines is fascinating (and lethal).
Opuntia humifusa (Raf.) Raf.
Pricklypear Cactus (Opuntia humifusa (Raf.) Raf
The pricklypear (Opuntia) is the largest genus in the family and probably the most widespread. You’ll find pricklypears pretty much anywhere in the United States. Yes, the pricklypears are edible but as you might guess, a little prep work is needed to get past those spines.
Pricklypear Cactus (Opuntia humifusa (Raf.) Raf
Opuntia flowers can vary from yellow to orange to red.
Opuntia littoralis (Engelm.) Cockerell
Coastal Pricklypear (Opuntia littoralis (Engelm.) Cockerell
This cactus was on a hike on Santa Cruz Island in the Channel Islands National Park.
Coastal Prickly Pear (Opuntia littoralis (Engelm.) Cockerell
The Opuntia in our area are more oval. The sections on this one are more elongated. The reason I was able to identify it is there is only one species of Opuntia found in the islands.
Opuntia macrorhiza Engelm.
Plains Pricklypear (Opuntia macrorhiza Engelm.)
This little beauty was in Zion National Park along the roadside. The pink flowers are really startling against the pale green background.
Plains Pricklypear (Opuntia macrorhiza Engelm.)
Species/Location
Carnegiea gigantea
Saguaro National Park
Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa
Desert Discovery Nature Trail, Saguaro National Park, Mountain District
Cylindopuntia arbuscula
Desert Discovery Nature Trail, Saguaro National Park, Mountain District
Desert Ecology Trail, Saguaro National Park, Rincon Mountain District
Cylindropuntia echinocarpa
Joshua Tree National Park
Cylindropuntia fulgida
Desert Ecology Trail, Saguaro National Park, Rincon Mountain District
Cylindropuntia ramosissima
Joshua Tree National Park
Echinocereus fasciculatus
Desert Discovery Nature Trail, Saguaro National Park, Mountain District
Echinocereus triglochidiatus
Hickman’s Bridge, Capitol Reef National Park
Opuntia humifusa
Archbold Biological Station, Venus, Florida
Reed Bingham State Park, Adel, Georgia
Opuntia littoralis
Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park
Opuntia macrorhiza
Zion National Park
Chapter 31
Amaranthaceae
A very strange family of plants. It includes some very familiar ones: spinach, beets, and quinoa. Then there is the rest of the family. Twenty-seven genera and 168 species are in Flora of North America56 but I’ve only seen three genera and have photographs of only two.
The closest relative of this family seems to be the next one on the list: Portulacaceae.
Atriplex canescens (Pursh) Nutt.
Four-winged Saltbush (Atriplex canescens (Pursh) Nutt.)
At first glance, this doesn’t look like too much - just a green shrub. However, if you look a little closer, it gets a little more interesting.
Four-winged Saltbush (Atriplex canescens (Pursh) Nutt.)
The fruit of the female flowers (the flowers are unisexual) look amazingly like cotton bolls. You can’t see it here but the female flower is subtended by bract-like structures which is the most obvious feature of the flower.
Four-winged Saltbush (Atriplex canescens (Pursh) Nutt.)
You can see the bractioles of the female flowers on the previous photo. There are no petals to the flowers, just the bractioles. I found this growing along The Windows Trail at Big Bend National Park. Atriplex is by far the largest genus in the family. Although some species are found in the eastern U.S., Atriplex is mostly a western species. As a result, you’ll find many species are halophytic or salt-loving so they can grow in desert soils.
Chenopodium californicum (S. Watson) S. Watson
Soaproot (Chenopodium californicum (S. Watson) S. Watson)
Apparently the plant produces a suds-like substance. The Natural History of Orange County, California reports that some Native Americans used the roots for soap and others used the leaves for a shampoo.
Soaproot (Chenopodium californicum (S. Watson) S. Watson)
The flowers are attached directly to a stem to form what is known as a spike of flowers. This particular plant was photographed on Santa Cruz Islands in Channel Islands National Park.
Potato Harbor, Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park
I was so busy taking photographs on Santa Cruz I did not realize I was in the middle of an earthquake. It was later reported to be centered just off Santa Cruz Island and registered as a 5.3 seism. My first inkling that something was going on was I heard what sounded like rain falling. I heard people shouting get away from the edges (I was safely on a trail away from the edge) and I realized what I was hearing was rocks from the cliffs falling into the waters around the island. It was quite the topic of conversation among the campers and day hikers that day.
Chenopodium glaucum L.
Oak-foot Goosefoot Chenopodium glaucum L.
It’s a good thing I’m documenting these plants since I’ve run across a few species I felt I needed to reclassify. In this case, I had this as the genus Atriplex but when I started checking the distribution maps, the species I had for this did not exist where I found this plant - Mount Rushmore.
After about an hour, I realized I was barking up the wrong genus and it is indeed Chenopodium. Not to be outdone, The Plant List now places both Atriplex and Chenopodium in Amaranthaceae instead of Chenopodiaceae. Life evolves.
Alternathera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb
Alligatorweed (Alternathera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb.)
This is pretty much an aquatic plant. When I find aquatic plants, I think of the graduate course I took with Dr. Pullen at Ole Miss. It was tough to find enough aquatics in bloom in the spring for the term, so we extended the definition of aquatics to include semi-aquatics, meaning sometimes found in water.
Alligatorweed is found mostly in the southeastern U.S. It’s native to South America and this is introduced into the U.S. where it seems to have found a home.57 It is apparently not hot enough in the southeast for the plant to produce seed. It is said to reproduce vegetatively in the states.58 I wonder if when you find it in southern Florida, it might reproduce by seed or if global warming may have an effect and start to seed production in the southeast.
What you see in the photo is referred to as a “head” of flowers. That term gave me fits when I first encountered it in class because it confused me with the term used in members of the aster family. In essence, a head of flowers is a cluster of flowers emanating from a common point.
Froelichia floridana (Nutt.) Moq.
Cottonweed (Froelichia floridana (Nutt.) Moq.
These really don’t look like flowers, do they? The petals and sepals look alike and are thus referred to as tepals. They form a tube with just the edges of the tepals free. This is the only species in Florida.
Species/Location
Atriplex canescens
The Windows Trail, Big Bend National Park
Chenopoidum californicum
Potato Harbor Trail, Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park
Chenopodium glaucum
Mount Rushmore National Monument
Alternathera philoxeroides
Reed Bingham State Park, Adel, Georgia
Froelichia floridana
Allan David Broussard Catfish Creek Preserve State Park, Haines City, Florida
Chapter 32
Portulacaceae
Purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.)
If you decide to work on a PhD in taxonomy, you generally restrict yourself to either a single family or a single genus (if complex enough). Dr. Pullen’s speciality was the family Portulacaceae which is interesting to me because it’s not well represented in Mississippi. In Florida, it’s more common. In Florida, we have the genus Portulaca that often grows as a weed in our lawns and swales. You can even buy Portulaca at your local nursery. The native ones can be attractive but the ones from the nurseries often have more showy flowers.
One feature of this plant is interesting. When the flowers mature in Portulaca, they produce a dry fruit known as a capsule. What’s interesting about this capsule is how it opens to release it seeds. Some capsules split lengthwise along their sutures (seams). These particular capsules split around the circumference of the capsule and the top of the capsule pops off. This means of opening of the capsule is called circumscissile dehiscence.
Calandrinia ciliata (Ruiz & Pavón) de Candolle
Red Maids (Calandrinia ciliata (Ruiz & Pavón) de Candolle)
Talk about small! I barely noticed these in a field of very showy wildflowers. The term ciliata is appropriate, particularly when you look at the margins of the leaf. These were in the wildflower field at Point St. George at Crescent City, California.
The rose color is exquisite.
Cistanthe umbellata (Torr.) Hershkovitz
Umbellate Pussypaws (Cistanthe umbellata (Torr.) Hershkovitz
This was a stunning find along the rim of Crater Lake, mostly along the roadsides at pretty high elevations. I’m not sure why they are called pussypaws because they really don’t look like cat’s feet but they certainly are attractive. The flower stem arises from a basal rosette of leaves. While at Crater Lake, I found these in white to pale pink to these very dark pink ones.
The term umbellate refers to how the flowers are attached to the stem. Each flower has a pedicel that attaches it to the stem. If all the pedicels arise from the same point on the stem, it is called an umbel.
Portulaca oleracea L.
Purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.)
If you live in the U.S. and you find a wild Portulaca, this will probably be it. It’s the most widespread species of Portulaca in the U.S. The flowers are small and sometime not noticeable when they are closed. Notice the leaves look fleshy. This is a good plant for xeriscaping because it is a succulent and can withstand long periods of drought.
Species/Location
Cistanthe umbellata
Rim Road, Crater Lake National Park
Portulaca oleracea
The Windows Trail, Big Bend National Park
Calandrinia ciliata
Point St. George, Crescent City, California
Chapter 33
Montiaceae
This family of plants was originally included in the Portulacaeae but The Plant List has separated them out into their own family with 13 other genera. I only have photos of the genus Claytonia.
Claytonia carolina Michx.
Spring Beauty (Claytonia carolina Michx.)
An aptly named flower if ever there was one, these beauties pop up among some of the first spring flowers. You can find them individually on your walks but they are far more impressive as masses of flowers as you see here. The term candystripe is sometimes applied to how the white flowers are lined with pink veins.
Claytonia lanceolata Pursh
Lanceleaf Spring Beauty (Claytonia lanceolata Pursh)
At first glance, the flowers of this one looks the same as the one above but look very carefully. The anthers on this one are pink while on the previous one are white to yellowish. Also note that C. carolina has petals that are yellow at the base of each petal whereas C. lancelata has a pinkish tint to the base of the petals. The most obvious feature is the size of the lance-shaped leaves of C. lanceolata.
Claytonia perfoliata Donn ex Willd.
Miner’s Lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata Donn ex Willd.
I first saw this plant at Zion National Park and was amazed by it. I did not immediately connect it to the genus Claytonia but when I did, I was even more excited. The specific name perfoliata comes from how the stem pierces the leaf in the middle. The blooms are very tiny but when you examine them with a hand lens, you see the distinct type of flower of Claytonia.
Wikipedia refers to the common name and explains miners during the California gold rush would eat the plant as a means to prevent scurvy.
Claytonia sibirica L.
Siberian Spring Beauty (Claytonia sibirica L.)
It seems the more I traveled, the more species of spring beauty I found. In graduate school I was familiar with C. virginica but the west opened up a new world of the genus to me. I found C. sibirica in both California and Oregon.
One location was at a WWII Radar Station on the California coast disguised as a couple of farm buildings.
Claytonia viriginca L.
Eastern Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica L.)
If you plan on finding a spring beauty in the southeastern U.S., this is probably the species you will find. It pretty much is found everywhere in the southeast. Note the pink stamens of the flower. It’s still my favorite of all the species I’ve photographed. This photo was taken in the Smokies.
Species/Location
Claytonia carolina
Forney’s Creek, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Claytonia lanceolata
Road to Rainbow Falls, Stehekin, Washington, North Cascades National Park
Oak Flat Trail, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Claytonia perfoliata
Zion Canyon along North Fork of Virgin River, Zion National Park
Balcones Trail, Pinnacles National Park
Claytonia virginica
Brandywine Falls, Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Chapter 34
Caryophyllaceae
Fire Pink (Silene virginica L.)
Some refer to this as the pink family but I learned it as the chickweed family of plants. The characteristics of members of the family vary significantly but one characteristic (the pink color) is due to a pigment called anthocyanin. The significance is the pigment is water soluble.
When a botanist collects plants, it’s essential they take field notes about the plants they collect. One reason is water soluble pigments like anthocyanin. If the plant you collect has pink or red flowers, upon drying, the water soluble pigments bleed out of the ruptured, dying cells. When you unpack the plant dryer and look at the plant you collected, what was red in the field may be white, brown or black after drying.
If you have ever pressed a red rose in the pages of a book and come back much later and looked at the rose, the red rose is now brown and the pages of the book are stained. That’s the effect of the leaking of anthocyanin from the cells.
Most botanists collect large numbers of plants in a single day and may dry as many as 100-200 plants a day. Without good field notes, you cannot possibly remember which plant had red flowers, blue flowers, white flowers, etc.
Another characteristic found in several genera is deeply cleft petals. They may be so deeply divided as to seem to be double the number of actual petals. The genera Cerastium and Stellaria exhibit this characteristic.
Drymaria cordata (L.) Willd. ex Schult.
Drymary (Drymaria cordata (L.) Willd. ex Schult.)
This is a very easy plant to overlook in your yard. Most consider it a weed and it is, indeed, a non-native. It was introduced from Mexico, the West Indies, and South America.59 It has worked its way into Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida and I expect it to continue its way into the southeastern U.S.
Drymary (Drymaria cordata (L.) Willd. ex Schult.)
Until I moved to Florida, I had never seen the plant before. As you can tell from the photos, the flowers are quite small. The most noticeable part of the plant is the opposite leaves on the stems. What looks like 10 petals is in reality five deeply cleft petals.
Spergularia marina (L.) Besser
Salt Sandspur (Spergularia marina (L.) Besser
Based on both the common name and the specific name, you get the idea of where you may find this plant. Notice the terete (slightly tapering, cylindrical) leaves. That means it is a succulent and stores water in the leaves during dry periods.
Salt Sandspur (Spergularia marina (L.) Besser
The flower color is variable in these plants as you can see in the two photos. The flowers, although small, are not nearly as small as Drymaria.
Although The Plant List recognizes this species, Flora of North America does not. Flora says S. marina is a synonym for S. salina.60 The Plant List is based on data in 2012 and Flora is 2005 so I defer to The Plant List.
Since it is found near the sea and in sandy soils, it’s halophytic (salt loving). I found this on a cliffside at Santa Cruz Islands, Channel Islands National Park.
Eremogone capillaris var. americana (Maguire) R.L. Hartm. & Rabeler
Fescue Sandwort (Eremogone capillaris var. americana (Maguire) R.L. Hartm. & Rabeler
My first exposure to this genus was at Yellowstone National Park, then later, several places in the west. It goes by several common names throughout the west but I’ll stick with fescue sandwort because the leaves do look a little like the grass fescue.
Fescue Sandwort (Eremogone capillaris var. americana (Maguire) R.L. Hartm. & Rabeler
For a small plant, it has some very showy flowers. Some species of this genus are not nearly so obvious. This photo was taken at Signal Mountain in Grand Teton National Park.
Eremogone congesta (Nutt. ex Torr. & A. Gray) Ikonn.
Baldhead Sandwort (Eremogone congesta (Nutt.) ex Torr & A. Gray) Ikonn)
I’m making this up but I assume the common name is the flowers are closely backed together to get the appearance of a bald head. Who knows where they get some of these common names. Although you can’t see too well in these two photos of E. capillaris and E. congesta there is a difference in leaf types. E. congesta was photographed in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park.
Eremogone fendleri (A. Gray) Ikonn.
Fendler’s Sandwort (Eremogone fendleri (A. Gray) Ikonn.
For most sandworts, you have to look hard for them. This is an exception. It formed a mass of flowers in Zion National Park along the roadside.
Fendler’s Sandwort (Eremogone fendleri (A. Gray) Ikonn.
Individual flowers are quite attractive but they get lost in the masses of blooms. The day I found this I had left the tour group to do some wildflower exploring. I was walking along the roadside of Zion when I came across this species. As I bent over to get the photograph, the tour group passed me in a park tram on their way to somewhere in the park. They were happy, I was happy.
Eremogone pumicola (Coville & Leiberg) Ikonn.
Pumice Sandwort (Eremogone pumicola (Coville & Leiberg) Ikonn.
Another aptly named plant since it is found on the rim of an extinct volcano - Crater Lake National Park. It looks as though this plant has a real struggle for existence on the rim of the crater. Usually, part of the rim road is closed in winter but I took this in the summer months. Don’t be fooled. There can still be snow in summer at Crater Lake.
Pumice Sandwort (Eremogone pumicola (Coville & Leiberg) Ikonn.
For such a harsh environment, it has very delicate looking flowers. The genus Eremogone seems to be mostly western in distribution in the U.S.
Moehringia laterifolia (Linnaeus) Fenzl
Blunt-leaved Sandwort (Moehringia laterifolia (Linnaeus) Fenzl)
Sandworts were not much on my agenda in graduate school. They seem to be more of a western species of several genera. This was a particularly attractive species growing roadside of the Park Loop Road of Acadia National Park. It actually looked more like a chickweed (see Stellaria)to me when I first saw it.
Cerastium arvense L.
Field Chickweed (Cerastium arvense L.)
The chickweeds are an interesting genus of plants in this family. They are characterized by deeply cleft petals. What looks like 10 petals here is really five that are deeply divided. That’s a characteristic of the genus and one easily determined in the field. Can we assume chickens eat the seeds?
Another species of chickweeds are in the genus Stellaria.
Stellaria corei Shinners
Core’s Chickweed (Stellaria corei Shinners)
The chickweed species that I was familiar with in Mississippi was S. media. This was a new species for me and I find it rather interesting.
Core’s Chickweed (Stellaria corei Shinners)
If you look closely at the flower, the sepals (green) are as long or longer than the petals. That’s characteristic of this species. I found this growing along the Smokemont Loop Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Remember, there are only 10 petals, just deeply cleft.
Stellaria pallida (Dumort.) Crépin
Lesser Chickweed (Stellaria pallida (Dumort.) Crépin)
I’m not sure why this is “lesser” but it does grow close to the ground.
Lesser Chickweed (Stellaria pallida (Dumort.) Crépin)
It grows so close to the ground, it is said to be prostrate (not prostate). The leaves are typical of the chickweeds but perhaps less hairy than most.
Stellaria pubera Michx.
Star Chickweed (Stellaria pubera Michx.)
Again, look closely at the petals. In this case, the petals are as long or longer than the sepals. That’s diagnostic of the species. I found this growing at the trailhead to Chimney Top in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Remember, there are only 10 petals, just deeply cleft.
My favorite story of Chimney Tops (well, one of them at least) was when my buddy Crag and I were hiking up Chimney Tops in late fall. Large portions of the trail had iced over and Crag and I didn’t have any ice cleats. We would literally take two steps forward and slide one backwards.
After a while, we decided we needed a prolonged rest since we were not making much headway. As we rested, two young teenage boys came up the trail. They decided they needed a rest also. We conversed about trail conditions and then I asked if how often they had hiked Chimney Tops. They said that this was their first attempt but their grandmother, back down the trail and on her way up had hiked it numerous times.
Crag and I decided if it was the last thing we ever did, we would not let the grandmother catch us on the trail and pass us.
Star Chickweed (Stellaria pubera Michx.)
Again, this was a new species for me. I am always thrilled when I find something new on my trips.
Bridge across a branch of the Little Pigeon River at the trailhead to Chimney Tops, Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Silene latifolia Poir.
White Champion (Silene latifolia Poir.)
The genus Silene is best known commonly as the champions. I find that most species have white flowers but my favorite has a dark red (Silene virginica). S. latifolia is widely distributed in the U.S. I’ve photographed it in Montana as well as North Carolina.
White Champion (Silene latifolia Poir.)
Again, there are only five petals but deeply divided.
Silene parryi (S. Watson) C.L. Hitchc. & Maguire
Parry’s Champion (Silene parryi) (S. Watson) C.L. Hitchc. & Maguire
This little beauty was growing alongside the road to Glacier National Park. It was a new species for me and I was surprised at the size of the plant. Some champions are noted for their inflated floral tube and this one is slightly inflated at the base of the petals. It’s as almost the flower is so heavy, they tend to droop on the stem.
Silene virginica L.
Fire Pink (Silene virginica L.)
It’s hard to believe mother nature can produce something this red. Unfortunately, when dried for mounting on herbarium paper, the red turns to black - those anthocyanin pigments. This was the first species of Silene I ever encountered - at Tishomingo State Park - and I’ve always loved finding it in the wild. Let’s face it, you can’t miss that red coloration.
This particular plant was waiting for me as I finished up the Wolfden Loop Trail, a part of the Pine Mountain Trail system near Warm Springs, Georgia. I was sucking wind about this time on the trail and I welcomed a rest. Looking around, I saw this staring back at me. I’ve since photographed it along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina.
Silene vulgaris (Moench) Garcke
Bladder Champion (Silene vulgaris (Moench) Garcke)
This is known as bladder champion because of the inflated base of the flower. Actually, I don’t think it is any more inflated than Parry’s champion. I took this photo at the Calvin Coolidge Hunting Lodge at Custer State Park, South Dakota. If you want to see bison, this is the place to see them. I disagree with the specific epithet of vulgaris. It looks perfectly sophisticated to me.
Bison traffic jam at Custer State Park
If you ever get to South Dakota, Custer State Park is a great place to go. There are three tunnels in the park for the roadbed. They are just wide enough for a bus to pass through with at least a quarter of an inch to spare on either side.
The tunnels were constructed in such a way as to frame Mount Rushmore. Even more remarkable, Mount Rushmore had not been started when the engineer designed the tunnel. He knew the location for the proposed site and he did such a good job, they do perfectly frame the monument.
One of three tunnels that frame Mount Rushmore
Species/Location
Drymaria cordata
Casa Searcy, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Spergularia marina
Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park
Eremogone capillaris
Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park
Signal Mountain, Grand Teton National Park
Black Forest Peak, The Bugaboos, British Columbia
Rocky Point Ridge and Powder Pig Trail, The Bugaboos, British Columbia
Eremogone congesta
Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park
Moose Falls, near Grand Teton National Park
Eremogone fendleri
Roadside, Zion National Park
Eremogone pumicola
Rim Road, Crater Lake National Park
Cerastium arvense
Bass Harbor Head Light, Acadia National Park
Moehringia laterifolia
Roadside of Park Loop Road, Acadia National Park
Stellaria corei
Smokemont Loop Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Stellaria pallida
Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, Fredericksburg, Texas
Stellaria pubera
Trailhead to Chimney Tops, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Silene latifolia
Hefner Gap Overlook, Blue Ridge Parkway, Ashford, North Carolina
Silene parryi
Roadside, Glacier National Park
Silene virginica
Pine Mountain Trail, F.D. Roosevelt State Park, Warm Springs, Georgia
Wilson Creek Valley Overlook, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina
Silene vulgaris
Calvin Coolidge Hunting Lodge, Custer State Park, Custer, South Dakota
Chapter 35
Polygonaceae
Cushion Buckwheat (Eriogonum ovalifolium Nutt.)
All my previous experiences with this family (the buckwheat family) are with two genera: Rumex (docks and sorrels) and Polygonum (knotweed). It was only when I moved to Florida I was exposed to the genus Coccoloba (seagrape) and when I started going out west that I ran into the genus Eriogonum (wild buckwheat).
Other than knowing it is a cereal grain used for breakfasts, I knew nothing about it. Eriogonium is considered the largest genus in the family (35 genera and 442 species) with Eriogonum representing 224 of those 442.61
I always had trouble with the genus Polygonum when I was in graduate school but Flora of North America states with conviction that no genus is as difficult to identify to species as Eriogonum62 and recommend you to consult local floras. I don’t feel to badly about my troubles in identification.
I find that statement an amazing admission of insecurity as to species in the Flora because local floras are notoriously contradictory to one another.
In my visits out west, I photographed what I assume to be 14 different species of the 224 of Erigonum. Indeed, it is mostly a western species.
Eriogonum arborescens Greene
Santa Cruz Island Buckwheat (Eriogonum arborescens Greene)
If one thinks of buckwheat, which I’m sure you constantly do, one thinks of herbaceous plants. Right off the bat is this exception - a shrub. Not only that, but it’s a shrub found only on Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and Anacapa Islands of Channel Islands National Park.63
Santa Cruz Island Buckwheatonum arborescens Greene)
As I became more and more exposed to the genus, I realized one of the difficulties in identification was because most of the flowers are so tiny and so congested, it’s difficult to make much from them with a dissection scope. These flowers were large, obvious and quite beautiful.
Eriogonum arcuatum Greene
Baker’s Wild Buckwheat (Eriogonum arcuatum Greene)
I found this while hiking from from Bright Angel Lodge to Hermit’s Rest on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was a 7.9 mile hike, one way. I intelligently took the shuttle back after the hike. The views along the rim were amazing and in several places, the trail took you right to the edge of the canyon. If you have a fear of heights, there were portions of the trail that would not be for you.
Baker’s Wild Buckwheat (Eriogonum arcuatum Greene)
My hike was in August and I think I drank a gallon of water on the hike. I was surprised to find so many species still in bloom along the trail. Yellow shows up quite well in the Grand Canyon area and these easily caught my eye.
Trailview Overlook, South Rim, Grand Canyon National Park
Eriogonum fasciculatum Benth.
Redtop Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum Benth.)
This looks totally dead but it isn’t. This was on the Skull Rock Nature Trail next to Jumbo Rocks campground. The rust color on the plant made it easily visible against the sand background but it was only when I got closer I realized it must be a buckwheat.
Redtop Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum Benth.)
The clusters of flowers look like pompoms. I assume this will be a feast for birds once it produces seeds.
Skull Rock near Jumbo Rocks campground
Skull rock really does look like a skull. It’s one of the more popular areas for visitors since you can access it directly from the road and not have to hike a trail to get there. What was amazing to me is the park service allows you to climb all over the rocks.
Eriogonum flavum Nutt. ex Benth.
Yellow Buckwheat (Eriogonum flavum Nutt. ex Benth.)
This seemed to be the most common buckwheat in Yellowstone. This particular photo was taken at Moose Falls just past the Yellowstone National Park South Entrance. Our tour guide, Nick, had stopped to show us the falls.
Nick at Moose Falls
Nick was quite a character. She worked as a tour guide for Xanterra which ran the Old Faithful Inn. She was a stickler for rules and regulations of the National Park Service. When we got to the falls (look just above her hat) there was family playing in the falls. To get to the falls, you have to walk down a pathway clearly marked with signage saying the falls are off limits for swimming.
Nick hailed them and told them in a very nice way what they were doing was illegal and that they were lucky she was not a park ranger. We took our photos, enjoyed the sights, and then re-boarded our antique touring bus when park rangers appeared and began grilling the family. As we pulled away, the rangers were busy writing tickets. Remember, that’s a federal offense.
These are the reconditioned 1920’s tour buses used by Xanterra to take tourists around the park. The roof is canvas and comes off on sunny days. A strange feature if you are sitting in the front passenger seat is you seem to be driving down the middle of the road. It’s a peculiar feature of the bus that is unnerving. You want to grab the driver’s wheel and pull it back over the midline. Nick explained the driver’s seat is offset as well as the passenger’s seat to give the illusion of driving down the mid-stripe.
Yellow Buckwheat (Eriogonum flavum Nutt. ex Benth.)
The individual flowers of yellow buckwheat are tightly clustered to form a head. It’s hard to tell where one flower begins and another ends.
Another Nick story. I was riding shotgun in the bus and Michel and Nancy were together in the sea directly behind Nick. I began to smell something that was unmistakably flatulence. I caught Nancy’s eye and she scrunched her nose so I knew she smelled it also. Later, on a break, she broached the subject of the smell. She thought Michel was the source and suggested she needed to buy some Beans at the first opportunity. Michel was about to kill her when I saved Nancy by telling her the source was our driver.
As you might guess, this became a frequent source of laughter among us for the rest of the trip.
Eriogonum grande Greene
Island Buckwheat (Eriogonum grande Greene)
This is sometimes referred to as Pacific Island Buckwheat and is found on Santa Cruz, Anacapa, and Santa Miguel Islands of the Channel Islands and San Clemente and Santa Catalina off the California Coast.64
The leaves are very leathery to the touch and you can tell the plant is designed to withstand harsh environmental conditions.
Island Buckwheat (Eriogonum grande Greene)
Note the thickness of the leaves and the very waxy coating. Flora lists this at E. grande var. grande65 but The Plant List has it only as E. grande with no variety.
Eriogonum hemipterum (Torr. & A. Gray) S. Stokes
Chisos Mountain Buckwheat (Eriogonum hemipterum (Torr. & A. Gray) S. Stokes)
At least you can say the genus Eriogonum has some color to it with yellows, reds, rusts, etc. This particular photo was taken on The Windows Trail of Big Bend National Park.
Chisos Mountain Buckwheat (Eriogonum hemipterum (Torr. & A. Gray) S. Stokes)
The Chisos Mountain Range is the only mountain range to be contained entirely within the boundaries of a national park. The specific name is interesting because Hemiptera is an order of insects known as the “true” bugs. Think stinkbugs and bedbugs. The term hemiptera means half winged. Why it has been applied to the specific name, I haven’t a clue.
Eriogonum inflatum Torr.
Desert Trumpet (Eriogonum inflatum Torr.)
This plant looks like something straight out of Dune. That may be appropriate since the photo was taken in Death Valley National Park. The leaves are all basal and the stems are inflated with carbon dioxide. The stems and leaves are both photosynthetic. The inflation of stems doesn’t seem to be related to dry conditions. As a matter of fact, the inflated part of the stem decreases in dry times.66
As I drove through the west, I would see these along the roadside but it was never convenient (or safe) to stop. I finally got my chance in Death Valley.
Eriogonum latifolium Sm.
Coastal Buckwheat (Eriogonum latifolium Sm.)
Coastal buckwheat is appropriate. This was taken on Twin Peaks in San Francisco and you can get more coastal than that unless you are at Lands End. At least in this photo you can see green leaves which are heavily coated on their undersurface with white hairs. Most of the ones I saw on the way up to Twin Peaks had leaves that were covered in dust.
Eriogonum leptocladon Torrey & A. Gray
Sand Buckwheat (Eriogonum leptocladon Torrey & A. Gray)
This was a startling sight as I rounded a bend on the South Rim trail to Hermits Rest in the Grand Canyon.
Sand Buckwheat (Eriogonum leptocladon Torrey & A. Gray)
The individual flowers are not much to look at but the masses together are quite attractive. I would estimate the mass of plants was at least 10 feet wide.
Inside Hermit’s Rest - built in 1914
Hermit’s Rest was originally built as a camp for hikers but has now been turned into a gift shop and cafe. Unlike me, most of the tourists arrived by bus. I think I had a better time walking the trail.
I would like to see it turned back into a hikers rest and get rid of the gift shop.
Eriogonum marifolium A. Gray
Marumleaf Buckwheat (Eriogonum marifolium A. Gray)
What, you may ask, is a marum? After Googling it, I was eventually lead to the tree Moringa oleifera. Something sounded familiar to me about that and then I saw it was also called the horseradish tree. Small world. I, at one time, had two of them growing in the yard.
Horseradish Tree (Moringa oleifera Lam.)
The tree is reported to be very nutritious and medicinal. I was told the roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits are edible and it comes by its name honestly. All parts really do have a taste of horseradish. Sadly, both trees eventually died.
Marumleaf Buckwheat (Eriogonum marifolium A. Gray)
In any case, the leaves of this buckwheat supposedly look similar to the leaves of horseradish tree.
Marumleaf Buckwheat (Eriogonum marifolium A. Gray)
I can attest they do not in any way resemble the leaves of the horseradish tree!
Eriogonum microthecum Nutt.
Slender Buckwheat (Eriogonum microthecum Nutt.)
The prefix micro- is apt for this plant because everything on it is small.
Slender Buckwheat (Eriogonum microthecum Nutt.)
Like so many of my buckwheat photos, this was also taken on the Rim Trail to Hermit’s Rest at Grand Canyon National Park.
Eriogonum ovalifolium Nutt.
Cushion Buckwheat (Eriogonum ovalifolium Nutt.)
I think this is my favorite buckwheat. We had just finished visiting Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park and were on the way back to the tour bus when I saw these sticking up in the sand. They fascinated me in their ability to grow in nothing but pure sand. I also like the way the shadows are cast from the heads onto the sand.
Mesa Arch, Canyonlands National Park
Eriogonum ovalifolium var. nivale (Canby) M.E. Jones
Cushion Wild Buckwheat (Eriogonum ovalifolium var. nivale (Canby) M.E. Jones)
I don’t normally try to identify anything to variety without a dissection scope and a manual of the flora of the region or the United States, however, this one was easy enough. This was taken in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park and the location alone was enough to classify it to variety.
Eriogonum tomentosum Michx.
Wild Buckwheat (Eriogonum tomentosum Michx.)
To be honest, there’s nothing tomentose about this plant. As a matter of fact, when you look at the leaves, it probably should be called nudicalum.
Wild Buckwheat (Eriogonum tomentosum Michx.)
This is one of the few species of Eriogonum found in the eastern U.S. I photographed it in Torreya State Park, Florida.
Eriogonum umbellatum Torr.
Sulfur Buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum Torr.)
With this species, we’re back out west to the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park. Upper Geyser Basin is where you find Old Faithful. The flowers varied from white to sulfur yellow.
Michel, Nancy and I did a tour with Xanterra (they run the Old Faithful Inn) in July of 2013. We stayed in the part of the inn that was constructed in 1913. It, of course, was made from lodgepole pines and that part of the inn still had bison hair caulking between the logs. We had to share bathrooms with other guests but we had a lavatory in our room. Our bedroom windows looked out on Old Faithful and approximately every 120 minutes it would erupt for us. You got used to the sound at night and it did not keep you awake.
As a perk (it was a couples tour even though I was stag) we each got a bottle of champagne in our room. We were going to save the champagne and get drinks at the upstairs bar in the inn, but it was too crowded.
By accident, we found a perfect viewing place for the eruption of Old Faithful. It was a covered walkway between the 1913 addition and the original lodge on the second floor. No one knew about it and we always went up there around 4 pm to await the eruption and toast it with champagne. Most of the time we were the only ones there.
Old Faithful - champagne and Old Faithful every afternoon!
On our final day, we took up our usual observation place and were later joined by an entire family from Wisconsin - kids, grandkids, parents, grandparents. We all squeezed in on the benches and we shared our champagne with the adults and the adults of the family shared their beers.
Coccoloba uvifera (L.) L.
Seagrape (Coccoloba uvifera (L.) L.
As a Mississippi boy, I had never seen anything like this before. I first encountered it on the campus of Broward College where they used it as a hedge. Later I realized these things get to be massive trees. The “grapes” turn purple when ripe and are supposed to make a decent jelly.
Seagrape (Coccoloba uvifera (L.) L.
The flowers are easily overlooked until the fruit sets.
Rumex acetosella L.
Sheep Sorrel (Rumex acetosella L.)
Ah, the famous sheep sorrel! It’s edible! However, it’s best not to ingest in large quantities. Like the genus Oxalis, it contains oxalates which are toxic to humans and other animals. It’s OK to use as an edible garnish or in salads. We used to gather it in the Boy Scouts for salad.
Rumex hastalus Baldwin
Sour Dock (Rumex hastalus Baldwin)
At first, this looks very similar to sheep sorrel but there’s enough difference upon closer examination to separate it out. The difference is mainly in the leaf structure. The term sour comes from the oxylate crystals, also present in the plant.
Rumex hymenosepalus Torr.
Canaigre (Rumex hymenosepalus Torr.)
This photo was taken in Arches National Park on one of our Dawn Patrol hikes with Tauck tours. I knew immediately it was a type of dock but I had never seen anything this large before. As you saw with sheep sorrel and sour dock, the flowers in those are very small and difficult to work with on identification. With this plant, it was like I had been handed a dissection scope to view this plant.
Rumex obtusifolius L.
Bitter Dock (Rumex obtusifolius L.)
I don’t know how bitter because I didn’t taste it but I’ll take the plant’s name for what it is worth (again, the oxylate crystals). This was growing along lakeside at Reed Bingham State Park in Georgia.
Bitter Dock (Rumex obtusifolius L.)
As you can tell from this photo, the fruits are winged. The technical name for the fruit is an achene (see glossary).
Rumex occidentalis S. Watson
Western Dock (Rumex occidentalis) S. Watson
I stumbled on this one while on tour to Mount Rushmore. I assume all docks and sorrels are edible to some degree, however, I would be a little judicious with the western species. I would be afraid they would absorb some of the minerals in the soils of the west like loco weed does.
Oxyria digyna (Linnaeus) Hill
Mountain Sorrel (Oxyria digyna (Linnaeus) Hill)
If you compare this with some of the members of the genus Rumex previously written about, you’ll be hard pressed to distinguish between the genera. It was, at one time, in the genus Rumex.
This was growing near Black Forest Peak in The Bugaboos. I later found another growing near Vowell Glacier, also in The Bugaboos.
Vowell Glacier - The Bugaboos, British Columbia
The glacier has retreated significantly. One marker placed near the field marked 1980 as the boundary of the glacier with no sign of ice anywhere near it. The ice was very gray due to the dirt particles mixed with the ice.
The rock in front of the last two hikers marks the spot of the glacier in 2000. You can see the foot of the glacier at the end of the water in 2015.
Bistorta bistortoides (Pursh) Small
American Bistort (Bistorta bistortoides (Pursh) Small)
This is an unresolved species. Flora has it as Bistorta67 but The Plant List recognizes it as still under debate and it could be Polygonum bistortoides. I found this along the Castle Crest Wildflower Trail at Crater Lake National Park. I try to make it to this trail every time I go to Crater Lake. So far, I’ve been three times. It’s a beautiful meadow. It’s a short 1.2 mile loop with easy walking.
Castle Crest Wildflower Trail, Crater Lake National Park
I was familiar with bistort because I had seen it so many times in books as I worked to identify plants. I had just never found it in the wild.
Polygonum davisiae W.H. Brewer ex A. Gray
Davis’ Knotweed (Polygonum davisiae W.H. Brewer ex A. Gray)
Another of those unresolved issues in taxonomy, I decided to stay with the genus Polygonum on this one. No real reason but since the name issue is unresolved, why not.
Davis’ Knotweed (Polygonum davisiae W.H. Brewer ex A. Gray)
This is a very tiny plant and easily overlooked. I accidentally saw it on the Watchman Lookout Trail at Crater Lake. The small stature is probably due to the very harsh environmental conditions. The trail was pretty harsh and I took an extended rest break when I looked down and saw this.
Species/Location
Eriogonum arborescens
Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park
Eriogonum arcuatum
North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park
Eriogonum fasciculatum
Jumbo Rocks, Joshua Tree National Park
Eriogonum flavum
Moose Falls, Yellowstone National Park
Eriogonum grande
Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park
Eriogonum hemipterum
The Windows Trail, Big Bend National Park
Eriogonum inflatum
Roadside, Death Valley National Park
Eriogonum latifolium
Twin Peaks, San Francisco, California
Eriogonum leptocladon
The Rim Trail, Grand Canyon National Park
Eriogonum marifolium
Rim Road, Crater Lake National Park
Eriogonum microthecum
The Rim Trail, Grand Canyon National Park
Eriogonum ovalifolium
Grandview Overlook, Canyonlands National Park
Eriogonum ovalifolium var. nivale
Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park
Erigonum tomentosum
Torreya State Park, Bristol, Florida
Eriogonum umbellatum
Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park
Coccoloba uvifera
Secret Woods Nature Center, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Bahia Honda State Park, Big Pine Key, Florida
Rumex acetosella
Rim Road, Crater Lake National Park
Rumex hastalus
Reed Bingham State Park, Adel, Georgia
Rumex hymenosepalus
The Windows, Arches National Park
Rumex obtusifolius
Reed Bingham State Park, Adel, Georgia
Rumex occidentalis
Mount Rushmore National Monument
Oxyria digyna
Black Forest Peak, The Bugaboos, British Columbia
Vowell Glacier, The Bugaboos, British Columbia
Bistorta bistortoides
Castle Crest Wildflower Trail, Crater Lake National Park
Polygonum davisiae
Watchman Lookout Trail, Crater Lake National Park
Chapter 36
Plumbaginaceae
Ah, the leadwort family, whatever that means. We have the genus Plumbago in our neighborhood and if you ever experience it you know there are very sticky hairs associated with the flower. When I used to walk Rocky in the neighborhood, it was unusual for him not to come back home with a few flowers sticking to him and his collar from the glandular hairs.
Another genus is Armeria, commonly called seathrift.
Armeria maritima (Mill.) Willd.
Seathrift (Armeria maritima (Mill.) Willd.)
My first encounter with this was at Point Reyes National Seashore. You’ll easily overlook this if it is not in bloom. I managed not only to walk down the steps to the Point Reyes Light, more amazingly, I was able to walk back up the stairs.
Stairs down to Point Reyes Lighthouse, Point Reyes National Seashore. There are 313 steps.
Point Reyes Lighthouse, Point Reyes National Seashore
Once you make it down to the light, there is a museum in the old light keeper’s house. You can walk around the lighthouse and you can see the Fresnel lens that was once used. From the point, you can look back towards San Francisco Bay and on a clear day, you can see some of the buildings of downtown San Francisco. The lighthouse has recently undergone a renovation and has only recently been reopened to the public.
Seathrift (Armeria maritima (Mill.) Willd.)
I later found the plant at Point St. George near Crescent City when I visited Redwoods National Park.
Species/Location
Armeria maritima
Point Reyes Light, Point Reyes National Seashore
Point St. George, Crescent City, California
Chapter 37
Cucurbitaceae
As you might guess by the family name, this is the cucumber family. Cucumbers belong to the genus Cucumis and the one everyone eats is C. sativus. I never took Latin but over the years, I’ve learned enough through science to get me by on scientific names. Sativus means cultivated. You’ll find many of our cultivated crops have either the male ending - us or the female ending - a in their specific name. For example, Cannabis sativa is getting a lot of attention these days. People forget that it has long been cultivated.
I’ve seen several species in this family over the years but I have photos of two genera: Momordica and Marah.
Momordica charantia L.
Balsam-pear (Momordica charantia L.)
Like almost all members of the family, the flowers are unisexual. There are male flowers on the (mostly) vines and female flowers. Of course, only the female flowers produce the fruit. In this case, the fruit, when ripe, turns a brilliant orange. It’s a fleshy capsule with seeds with a red fleshy covering over them.
It pretty much is a pest in my yard and I spend a lot of time ripping out the vines. The plant has a very distinctive odor when you tear it out. It’s not unpleasant, just very distinctive.
It is edible and is considered medicinal. Wikipedia provides a whole list of culinary and medicinal uses of the plant. I probably should let it grow or even encourage it instead of ripping it out.
I’m sure you realize Facebook can be a fount of false information. One of my cousin-in-laws posted on Facebook that you can tell the sex of a cantaloupe by the shape of the melon. If the shape is enlongated, the post said, then it came from the male flowers. If the shape is more oval, it came from female flowers. Of course, that’s hokum. Only female flowers produce fruits - and cantaloupes.
Marah fabacea (Naudin) Greene
California Manroot (Marah fabacea (Naudin) Greene)
The common name man-root lets you know it forms tubers underground, supposedly in the shape of humans. Again, the flowers are unisexual.
California Manroot (Marah fabacea (Naudin) Greene)
The flowers you see here are all female. Once the flower becomes fertilized, it produces a very ominous looking capsule.
California Manroot (Marah fabacea (Naudin) Greene)
Marah oreganus (Torr. & A. Gray) Howell
Manroot (Marah oreganus (Torr. & A. Gray) Howell
I owe Tom Martel who gives tours of Muir Woods for the identification of this plant. I saw the vine sans flowers and he was able to identify it for me. After several more trips to the west coast of the U.S. I came across it several times.
Most of the difference in these two species seems to be the capsules. In this species, the capsules have dark green striping at maturity68 while in M. fabacea the capsules are yellowish-green when mature.69
There seems to be some difference between Flora of North America and The Plant List as far as suffixes for M. oreganus. The Plant List provides a male ending to the specific name - oreganus while Flora provides the feminine suffix - oregana.70
I’m no Latin expert, but I do know that the specific epithet is supposed to agree with the genus. I’m not sure which “sex” Marah is but if it is called manroot, I suggest The Plant List is probably correct.
Species/Location
Momordica charantia
Secret Woods Nature Center, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Marah fabacea
Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park
Balcones Trail, Pinnacles National Park
Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, Crescent City, California
Marah oreganus
Muir Woods National Monument
Chapter 38
Hypericaceae
This family is known as the St. John’s wort (and sometimes St. Andrew’s cross) family of plants. When you see the ending “wort” after a name, it means a plant used either for food or for medicine. The most common use of St. John’s wort today is as an herbal remedy for depression. That particular plant used is Hypericum perforatum. The National Institutes of Health says it isn’t “consistently effective” for depression and in many cases can interfere with prescribed medications.
Regardless, it’s a very interesting plant and can be quite attractive in a native plant garden. I suspect the St. Andrew’s cross common name is derived from some species which produce four petals at right angles to each other - in the form of a cross.
Hypericum chapmanii W.P. Adams
Chapman’s St. John’s Wort (Hypericum chapmanii W.P. Adams)
This is a particularly showy species of Hypericum. It had to be. I was trudging through sand hills at Allan David Broussard Catfish Creek Preserve State Park in August about to go into sunstroke when I saw this yellow beacon. It was enough reason to stop and photograph and get a drink of water before moving on. This one has five petals. Note the very tiny, terete (see glossary) leaves to restrict water loss in the very dry sand hills of the Lake Wales Ridge.
Hypericum formosum Kunth
Western St. John’s Wort (Hypericum formosum Kunth)
This was, indeed, a western species. I found it growing along Avalanche Lake Trail in Glacier National Park. Some species of Hypericum (see above) can grow in very arid conditions. Other times, you can find it growing in very wet areas. Avalanche Lake Trail basically took you through a rain forest.
Hypericum was one of the genera Dr. Pullen allowed us to collect for our “Aquatic Plants” course since several of the species grow at water’s edge. I got an early introduction to the genus and have, for some reason, been able to identify it fairly easily.
Avalanche Lake Trail, Glacier National Forest
Hypericum graveolens Buckley
Mountain St. John’s Wort (Hypericum graveolens Buckley)
I found this growing along the trail to the Linn Cove Viaduct on the Blue Ridge Parkway. If you’ve been to Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina, you’ve probably traveled the viaduct. It was the very last segment of the Blue Ridge Parkway to be completed (1987 according the the Blue Ridge Parkway website).
It is composed on individual concrete segments and gracefully curves along the side of the mountain for 1,243 feet (Wikipedia).
Linn Cove Viaduct
My cousin Jimmie, her husband Stephen, and I had stopped at a visitor’s center for a bathroom break - something that is getting more common for me as I age. I saw the trail that led up under the viaduct and we walked up under the bridge. The viaduct was more impressive from below than from above.
Mountain St. John’s Wort (Hypericum graveolens Buckley)
Hypericum produces numerous stamens. The ovary may be partitioned with seeds within the partition. The stigma and styles are typically the same number as the partitions of the ovary. On one species, you may see a single stigma and style and in other species, there may be two or three stigmas and styles.
For some reason, the broadleaf versions of Hypericum are easy for me to identify, even if the plant is not in flower. Go figure!
Hypericum hypericoides (L.) Crantz
St. Andrew’s Cross (Hypericum hypericoides (L.) Crantz
If you are familiar with the flag of Scotland, you are familiar with St. Andrew’s cross. It’s a large white “X” on a field of blue. Negating the white cross and blue field, I suppose you can imagine the flower to represent the cross of St. Andrew.
This was the very first Hypericum species I ever saw back in the mid 70’s when I was taking graduate taxonomy courses at Ole Miss. It’s like an old friend calling to me.
Hypericum scouleri Hook.
Western St. John’s Wort (Hypericum scouleri Hook)
This is another four petal species and I suppose it could resemble the Maltese Cross - the symbol of the Order of Saint John. What I like about the flower is the red buds. As the flower opens, you can see a little of the red peaking through from the undersurface of the petals.
Hypericum tetrapetalum Lam.
Fourpetal St. John’s Wort (Hypericum tetrapetalum Lam.)
I like this photo mainly for the ice crystals on the surface on the petals. I had been camping at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park and it had gotten pretty cool that night - there was frost. When I got up the next morning, I was looking for a hike and found this growing along a trail. The sun had melted the ice crystals and the moisture was still on the petals.
Species/Location
Hypericum chapmanii
Allan David Broussard Catfish Creek Preserve State Park, Haines City, Florida
Hypericum formosum
Avalanche Lake Trail, Glacier National Park
Hypericum graveolens
Lake George State Forest, De Leon Springs, Florida
Hypericum hypericoides
Silver Basin near Frenchman Mountain, The Bugaboos, British Columbia
Hypericum scouleri
Silver Basin near Frenchman Mountain, The Bugaboos, British Columbia
Hypericum tetrapetalum
Lake George State Forest, De Leon Springs, Florida
Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, Okeechobee, Florida
Myakka River State Park, Sarasota, Florida
Chapter 39
Violaceae
Johnny Jump-up (Viola pedunculata Torr. & A. Gray)
There are two genera in this family: Hybanthus and Viola. I’ve never seen Hybanthus even though there are five listed in Flora of North America with two listed for Florida and one in the southeastern U.S.71 That’s what I love about plants - there’s always another challenge.
As far as Viola is concerned, I collected six different species in Tishomingo State Park72 and have now photographed 18 species in the past years.
The genus is difficult to identify because of a proclivity for hybridization between species and phenotypic variation (color of flower, leaf size, hairiness, etc.) due to environmental conditions.73
I do know the genus gave me fits when I was trying to figure out five of the six species. The only one easy for me to identify was Birdsfoot violet because of the shape of the leaves of the violet, but others were more problematic.
You might then wonder how I can list 18 species based on photographs. The answer is plain and simple. I cheated. Early on I found there are plant lists for many of the areas I visited. An excellent one online is Calflora. These checklists will tell you which species are found within a given area. I would use a local guide book and combine that with a checklist. I’d confirm a particular species was found within an area and oftentimes based on flower color: yellow versus blue, for example. I could determine the species. It’s not 100% accurate but I feel comfortable enough with the results. I would then check the description of the plant in either a local flora or the Flora of North America for final confirmation.
The process sounds tedious but I enjoy it. It’s much like solving a mystery à la Sherlock Holmes.
There are all different methods of dividing the violets into smaller and smaller categories for easier identification but the one that seems most natural to me is to look for a spur on the flower. Some violets have a spur on a petal, some don’t.
Beaked Violet (Viola rostrata Pursh) - a spurred violet.
Two other features of violets fascinate me. One is that some violets have underground flowers (as well as above the ground flowers). The technical term for flowers found underground is cleistogamous (literally, cleistos - closed + gamos - marriage from Wikipedia). The underground flowers are self pollinated in case you wondered.
As another example of the term cleistogamous with which you may be more familiar, is peanuts. All peanut flowers start their existence above the ground but after fertilization, the peduncle of the flower grows longer and bends downward sending the flower below ground. The “peanut” develops totally underground.
When the above ground flowers of violets are pollinated, a capsule may develop. In some violets, the seeds are forcibly ejected from the capsule pretty much like a canon shot. This distributes the seeds far enough away from the parent to avoid competition.
In other violets, the flowers hang downward and typically their seeds are not forcefully ejected - instead they simply drop to the ground. That’s when you get clusters of violets all in one place.
Viola adunca Sm.
Early Blue Violet (Viola adunca Sm.)
I photographed this in June of 2015 at Crater Lake National Park. Believe it or not, June is early for wildflowers in the park, hence the apt common name of “early” blue violet. There was snow in the park but there was a clear patch where I found the violet.
Early Blue Violet (Viola adunca Sm.)
I admit the photo isn’t great but to be honest, getting the right focal length is difficult in plants with very small flowers - at least for me. I might add my eyesight isn’t what it once was. If you look carefully, you’ll notice five petals. Two are found on top, two on the sides and one on the bottom. This is the typical pattern in violets. Sometimes the throat of the violet is bearded (hairs), sometimes it can be brightly colored, sometimes it can be streaked. All are things needed to be considered in identification.
Viola blanda Willd.
Sweet White Violet (Viola blanda Willd.)
There are two features that stand out on this violet for identification: the specific shape of the leaves (ovate) and the purple streaks on the lower petal. This particular photo was taken on the Smokemont Loop Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. There was no snow on the trail but it was in the 40’s in the early morning.
Viola canadensis L.
Canada Violet (Viola canadensis L.)
I haven’t photographed this one in Canada but I have photographed it at Isle Royale National Park - about a close as you can get without crossing the border. This particular photo, however, was taken in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park which shows the wide range of this violet. It looks very similar to V. blanda, particularly with the purple streaks on the lower petal but there is a distinct difference in the leaves. The leaves of V. canadensis are more papery than V. blanda and there is more of a point on the end of the leaf of V. canadensis.
Viola glabella Nutt.
Stream Violet (Viola glabella Nutt.)
Actually, I found this on the South Fork of the Smith River at Stout Grove in Jedediah Smith State Park, not a stream. There are some beautiful coastal redwoods at Stout Grove. This is the largest cluster of violets I think I’ve ever come across. Normally, when hiking, I see a violet here, one there, and then nothing until further down the trail. To see a patch like this is unusual.
Stream Violet (Viola glabella Nutt.)
There are purple strips on the petals but what is interesting about this one is the peduncle which attaches the flower to the plant, hangs down. It’s even more pronounced in the next photo.
Stream Violet (Viola glabella Nutt.)
Since the flowers hang down, the capsule probably does not shoot the seeds out like a cannon shot, they simply fall to the ground. Maybe that’s why there is such a large number of violets in one place.
Viola hastata Michx.
Halberd Leaf Violet (Viola hastata Michx.)
The term hastate means “spear-like” which is appropriate from the name of halberd on a spear. You can’t miss the shape of the leaves on this violet. This photo was taken at South Mountains State Park in North Carolina.
If you get a chance to go to the park, be sure to stop and see High Shoals Falls. You can hike the trail one of two ways: clockwise and counterclockwise. Counterclockwise is faster to the falls but much, much steeper. The clockwise method is longer but with a gentler gradient. I accidentally took the route with the gentler gradient and was pleased I did.
High Shoal Falls, South Mountains State Park, North Carolina
Viola macloskeyi F.E. Lloyd
Small White Violet (Viola macloskeyi F.E. Lloyd)
This is a very small violet. However, the white stands out enough that it catches your eye. I found this at the Voyageurs Forest Overlook in Voyageurs National Park. I then later found it in the north section of the park near International Falls, Minnesota. It must be hardy to survive the winters there. International Falls has some of the coldest temperatures in the U.S. excluding Alaska.
Viola nuttallii Pursh
Nuttall’s Violet (Viola nuttallii Pursh)
It’s interesting that Nuttall’s violet was not discovered by Nuttall but by Pursh. Pursh honored Nuttall by naming the violet after him. I kept running into this violet in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, both the north and south units of the park.
Nuttall’s Violet (Viola nuttallii Pursh)
It seems to have one of the most perfectly formed violet flowers I’ve run across. Note the leaves. They are oval with tapered petioles toward the base of the plant - very diagnostic. Nuttall should be proud. It’s a beautiful violet.
Viola obliqua Aiton
Marsh Violet (Viola obliqua Aiton)
This was found in some marshy area near Ship Harbor at Acadia National Park. The flower was quite large but it was the leaf that really stood out on this violet.
Marsh Violet (Viola obliqua Aiton)
If you look carefully at both photos, you’ll notice the area behind the petals (the sepals and peduncle) are hairy. You’ll also be able to see the tiny hairs on the leaf.
Ship Harbor, Acadia National Park
At Acadia, my ankle was still bothering me and I knew I was not going to be able to make a hike of any length. The day before, I did the touristy bit and took a tour bus through the park. It gave me some ideas of where I might like to go the next day. While waiting for the tour to start, I got into a conversation with one of the ticket takers and they suggested I drive across the island to Bass Harbor Light. She said there were several short trails near the light. I was glad I did.
There’s the usual story of how Ship Harbor was used by smugglers. To be honest, it looks too shallow for a ship of any size to make it through the narrows but I suppose you could off load contraband via rowboat.
Viola orbiculata Geyer ex Hook.
Roundleaf Violet (Viola orbiculata Geyer ex Hook.)
Apparently, the leaves were sufficiently round I didn’t bother to take a photograph of them - only the flower which you have to admit, is attractive enough.
Roundleaf Violet (Viola orbiculata Geyer ex Hook.)
Now you can see why it is called roundleaf violt. When the leaf fully opens, it does look pretty much like a circle. The first photo was taken at Crater Lake National Park and the second photo was taken at North Cascades National Park.
Viola palmata L.
Early Blue Violet (Viola palmata L.)
This is the second violet to be commonly named early blue violet. That’s the problem with common names and the reason Linnaeus began the system of binomial nomenclature. By the way, Linnaeus is italicized since it is the latinized version of his name. His actual name was Carl von Linné after he was made a noble.
Linnaeus was a character. He started out as a physician to the rich and often jumped from one patron to another who paid him more. Finally he had enough of sick people and became a naturalist. He did most of his collecting in Lapland. Later, it was found his journals fudged some of his findings. He’s still considered the father of the system of binomial nomenclature.
This “early” violet was found at Manatee Springs State Park and it was indeed about the only thing in bloom in the park itself. The palmata comes from the palm-shaped leaves.
Viola pedata L.
Birdsfoot Violet (Viola pedata L.)
This species is special to me. I used to collect it on the dam of Haynes Lake at Tishomingo State Park during my graduate school days. It has the largest bloom of any violet I’ve yet seen. The leaf structure is unique. It’s deeply divided and I guess it does look something like a bird’s foot.
Birdsfoot Violet (Viola pedata L.)
What also stands out is the orange splash against the white of the lower petal. I was hiking along the Pine Mountain Trail in F.D. Roosevelt State Park near Warm Springs, Georgia when I stumbled across this one. I had not seen it since my Tishomingo days.
Viola pedunculata Torr. & A. Gray
Johnny Jump-ups (Viola pedunculata Torr. & A. Gray)
I do like the common name here. They do seem to jump up at you as you walk along the trail. I suspect it is due to the very long peduncle that attaches the flower to the plant.
Johnny Jump-ups (Viola pedunculata Torr. & A. Gray)
In any case, you can’t miss the brightly colored flower with the almost red streaks on the lower petal. This photo was taken along the Balcones Trail of Pinnacles National Park.
Viola pubescens Aiton
Downy Yellow Violet (Viola pubescens Aiton)
Sometimes people name a violet and then after a little further study, the specific epithet (and common name) don’t always fulfill their expectations. You can find this violet with hairs all along the undersurface of the leaves, the stems, and the sepals. However, it is also quite commonly hairless, as in this case. I suspect habitat has something to do with whether there are hairs or not or it simply may be an unknown hybrid. This was found at Isle Royale National Park.
Viola purpurea Kellogg
Goosefoot Violet (Viola purpurea Kellogg)
There’s nothing wrong with your eyes. The violet’s flowers are a little out of focus. I was about halfway up Watchman Lookout Trail sucking wind when I saw this and stopped to catch my breath and pretend I was interested in the violet. Some people came up behind me and I did a quick snap to further my alibi. In any case, one yellow violet looks like another but the leaves were unusual - not that they look like a goosefoot to me. However, you can see from the photo that the flowers hang down. That means they probably don’t shoot their seeds out from the capsule - they simply drop to the ground.
The specific name purpurea refers to the purple on the leaves, not the color of the flower.
Viola rostrata Pursh
Beaked Violet (Viola rostrata Pursh)
I led off the family discussion with this violet. I have been exposed to violets all the way back to my Boy Scout days but I have never, until I took this photo, seen a beaked violet. I had read about them but never seen one. This was a special find for me.
Beaked Violet (Viola rostrata Pursh)
It’s not exceptionally large - about normal - for violets but I think particularly attractive. Note the hairs of the surface of the leaf. This was on the Smokemont Loop Trail of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Viola sempervirens Greene
Redwood Violet (Viola sempervirens Greene)
Very aptly named, I found this in the Lady Bird Johnson Grove of Redwoods National Park. The specific name sempervirens is the same as coastal redwood (Sequoia sempervirens).
Redwood Violet (Viola sempervirens Greene)
I found this growing in the moss at the foot of the coastal redwoods in the grove.
I have to say the Lady Bird Johnson Grove is one of the more peaceful places on the planet - or at least those I’ve been to.
Lady Bird Johnson Grove, Redwoods National Park
Viola sheltonii Torr.
Shelton’s Violet (Viola sheltonii Torr.)
I’ve never seen leaves like this on any violet before - nor much of anything else. That’s what attracted me to take the photo - not the bloom.
Shelton’s Violet (Viola sheltonii Torr.)
The blooms were larger than normal for violets and the leaves so distinct there was no mistaking this one. This was on the Agnes Gorge Trail at North Cascades National Park.
I had been hiking the Agnes Gorge Trail for a while when I started running into snow patches. Pretty soon the patches became swaths and then continuous. I could still follow the trail because someone had been walking in front of me and I was following their footsteps.
When I finally looked down at the footsteps, I was taken aback.
I had been following a grizzly’s footprints. I have to admit I got a little nervous but I realized the track was at least a day old. However, I did keep my bear repellent close after that.
Everything in North Cascades is beautiful but I think the Agnes Gorge Trail is one of the more spectacular ones I’ve been on. How do you beat this view? It makes me think I am Nelson Eddy tracking Jeanette McDonald in the movie Indian Love Call.
Viola sororia Willd.
Common Blue Violet (Viola sororia Willd.)
Finally, last, but not least, is the common blue violet. The richness of colors - the dark green leaves and the deep purple flowers - make it anything but common.
Common Blue Violet (Viola sororia Willd.)
I’ve found this both in Florida and in North Carolina. Note the hairs at the base of the central petal. The term used for that is “bearded.”
Species/Location
Viola adunca
Crater Lake Lodge, Crater Lake National Park
Viola blanda
Deeplow Gap Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Smokemont Loop Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Viola canadensis
Self-guided Nature Trail, Isle Royale National Park
Brandywine Falls, Cuyahoga Valley National Park
The Ledges, The Virginia Kendall State Park, Cleveland, Ohio
Smokemont Loop Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Viola glabella
Yurok Loop Trail, Redwoods National Park
Stout Grove, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, Crescent City, California
Viola hastata
South Mountains State Park, Connelly Springs, North Carolina
Viola macloskeyi
Voyageurs Forest Overlook, Voyageurs National Park
Oberholtzer Hiking Trail, Voyageurs National Park
Viola nuttallii
Yurok Loop Trail, Redwoods National Park
Stout Grove, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park
Viola obliqua
Brandywine Falls, Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Ship Harbor Trail, Acadia National Park
Viola orbiculata
Watchman Lookout Trail, Crater Lake National Park
Agnes Gorge Trail, North Cascades National Park
Viola palmata
Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, Florida
Viola pedata
Pine Mountain Trail, F.D. Roosevelt State Park, Warm Springs, Georgia
Viola pedunculata
Balcones Trail, Pinnacles National Park
Viola pubescens
Huginnin Cove Trail, Isle Royale National Park
Viola purpurea
Watchman Lookout Trail, Crater Lake National Park
Viola rostrata
Smokemont Loop Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Viola sempervirens
Lady Bird Johnson Grove, Redwoods National Park
Viola sheltonii
Agnes Gorge Trail, North Cascades National Park
Viola sororia
Lake George State Forest, De Leon Springs, Florida
Smokemont Loop Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Chapter 40
Turneraceae
There are two genera in this family in North America: Piriqueta and Turnera from which the family gets its name. William Turner was an English naturalist and lived from 1508-1568 (Wikipedia).
I’ve only seen and photographed Piriqueta.
Piriqueta cistoides (Linnaeus) Grisebach subsp. caroliniana (Walter) Arbo
Pitted Stripeseed (Piriqueta cistoides (Linnaeus) Grisebach subsp. caroliniana (Walter) Arbo)
This is probably more a tropical or subtropical species since it is only found as far north as South Carolina (NAPA).
I photographed it at Silver Springs State Park in Florida.
Pitted Stripeseed (Piriqueta cistoides (Linnaeus) Grisebach subsp. caroliniana (Walter) Arbo)
I assume by the common name the seeds are pitted with depressions and striped.
Species/Location
Piriqueta cistoides subsp. caroliniana
Sand Hill Trail, Silver Springs State Park, Silver Springs, Florida
Chapter 41
Passifloraceae
Corkystem Passionflower (Passiflora pallida L.)
If you believe Flora of North America, the above photo is Passiflora pallida.74 If you believe The Plant List, it is Passiflora suberosa. The edition of Flora is 2015 and the date of The Plant List is 2012. I guess you can use any name you wish.
I’m indebted to Chris, a fellow former professor at Broward College for the gift of the plant for my backyard. I planted it next to the mailbox in my backyard (it’s a long story and no the postman does not deliver to my backyard). That plant seemed to have died within the year but I next found it growing in and among my Cabada palms. I thought I accidentally killed those but this year they are back stronger than ever.
About the mailbox in my backyard. One summer, I received a photocopy of a letter (off center)from our local post office stating everyone had 30 days to put all mail boxes curbside. It has some scrawl of an initial at the bottom certifying the letter came from the post office. I was about to leave on an extended trip so I immediately looked up the regulations online for a curbside mailbox (they were not included in the letter) and purchased the box and the post at the local home improvement store. It took me a while to get it the correct depth and correct height for the box. I then packed for my trip and left.
I returned home about two months later and read an article in the Miami Herald about the brouhaha about the totally unofficial letter. It seems our regular mail carrier was put out that he had to walk up to a house and deposit the mail. On his own, he typed up the letter, photocopied it and placed it in everyones’ mailboxes. Without permission of the local branch, without the knowledge of the person in charge of the local branch and without the knowledge of the USPS.
Turns out some single women on fixed income finally complained about the expensive outlay required so quickly (you’d be surprised at the cost of a mailbox and post and ready mix concrete.
It all came to light the mailbox requirement was a lie. If you build a new house or you buy a house in the neighborhood, you must have a curbside mailbox but I (and many others) were grandfathered in.
I admit I could have left it curbside but I was incensed I had been tricked. I decided the best place for it was in my back yard. The only “mail” it has in it is a discarded bird’s nest.
The carrier’s supervisor slapped him on the wrist and all was forgiven.
Passiflora pallida L.
Corkystem Passionflower (Passiflora pallida L.)
The flowers are tiny. The sepals are green. The filaments radiating from the center is part of the petal structure called the corona. The fruit is a berry. As a child, I called the berries of Passiflora incarnata maypops. I assume the reason was if you stepped on them, they were hollow and produced a popping sound. In P. incarnata there is a fleshy aril around the seeds that is edible.
Chris introduced me to the corkystem passionflower. It indeed does have a corky stem.
Corkystem Passionflower (Passiflora pallida L.)
Note the tendril coming out of the node. The tendril, in this case, is a modified branch.
Corkystem Passionflower (Passiflora pallida L.)
The berry is almost as small as the flower. I have no idea if this is edible or not. There is a fleshy aril around the seeds that are edible in P. incarnata.
Corkystem Passionflower (Passiflora pallida L.)
The leaves are variable. They can be un-lobed, two-lobed or three-lobed.75 Note the pair of glands on the petiole at the base of the leaf. According to PLOS One, the glands seem to serve as nectaries or resin glands. PLOS One is an open access journal that is peer reviewed. The PLOS stands for Public Library of Science.
Julia Longwing Butterfly Caterpillar (Dryas julia)
Here you see a Julia Longwing caterpillar feeding on the leaf of corkystem passionflower. They will pretty much eat the plant down to the corky stem.
Species/Location
Passiflora pallida
Chez Fred, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Chapter 42
Malvaceae
Bushmallow (Malva arborea (L.) Webb & Berthel.
This is called the mallow family and it’s also the family in which you find cotton. It’s also the family that gives us chocolate, okra, hibiscus and basswood. It includes tree size plants, shrubs, and herbs.
One of the more startling things I saw when I moved into my neighborhood was a cotton plant the size of a small tree. Apparently, if you let it grow, it’ll get to a very large size.
It is reported in the Flora of North America that there are approximately 240 genera and 4350 species worldwide with 52 genera and 250 species in North America.76
A very interesting species grown as an ornamental in Florida is Hibiscus tilaceus. I was not ready for this when I moved here. It grows to a pretty good size tree. The flowers start the day as yellow with a red center. As the day progresses, the flowers begin to turn orange and then solid red and then fall from the tree. It’s an amazing process over an approximately eight hour period.
Malva arborea (L.) Webb & Berthel.
Bushmallow (Malva arborea (L.) Webb & Berthel.
This one had me stumped for a while. I knew it was in the mallow family but I couldn’t find it anywhere in the local guides. I was hiking the Lands End Trail near the Legion of Honor in San Francisco when there was a side trail to Mile Rock Beach. I saw this growing on the beach and was taken aback by the size. The flowers are an intense color. The leaves have the typical shape found in wild mallows.
I was standing at Mile Rock Beach and was about to head back when I turned around and looked up. That’s when I realized it was quite a hike from the Lands End Trail down to the beach and it was going to be a long hike back up to the top of the trail. Still, you couldn’t beat the scenery.
Malva parviflora L.
Cheeseweed (Malva parviflora L.)
We go from a very large shrub (Malva arborea) to almost a ground cover (Malva parviflora). The leaves look basically the same but the size of the plant and the size of the bloom are significantly smaller in cheeseweed.
Cheeseweed (Malva parviflora L.)
The blooms are so small you almost overlook them. I know I did for the first few I encountered.
Cheeseweed (Malva parviflora L.)
This one is just beginning to bloom and you can see the size of the sepals behind the petals. You can also see the stigmas which begin to give you the appearance you may be familiar with in hibiscus.
I was hiking to my campsite at Santa Cruz Island in the Channel Islands when I saw this. Trust me, kneeling down with a fully loaded pack to take a photograph is not easy - but it is easier than taking the pack off, taking the photo, and then lifting the pack back up on your shoulders.
Santa Cruz is a great island. Before we were allowed to move on to our campsites, the ranger insisted we go through an orientation. It included the usual “leave nothing but footprints” but also included a warning about crows and the native fox. Crows have learned to unzip tents, backpacks, and pockets. You were warned never to leave anything showing for crows to steal, particularly if it was shiny.
As for as the island foxes, they are found on six of the eight Channel Islands (not all the islands are in the national park). We were told to always zip our tents and fasten them closed with either a key ring, a safety pin, or small carabiner. Luckily, I had some very small carabiners.
The fox has learned to unzip the tent. Then they check for food stuffs and before they leave the tent, they deposit a little calling card on your sleeping bag.
My friend Terry (another retired professor) traveled to the islands about 6 months before I did and he said he never saw the island fox. I think I saw one every 15 feet. They were all over the place.
Island Fox (Urocyon littoralis)
Hibiscus coulteri (Harv. ex A. Gray)
Desert Rose Mallow, Coulter's Hibiscus (Hibiscus coulteri Harv. ex A. Gray)
I was not expecting to see this in the desert. I normally think of Hibiscus in moist, wet habitats or at least areas with plenty of rainfall. I was doing short day hikes in Saguaro National Park and had stopped to see the Signal Hill petroglyps (which, to be honest, were not that interesting).
Signal Hill Petroglyphs, Saguaro National Park, Rincon Mountain District
As I was coming down from the hill, I saw this staring me in the face.
Desert Rose Mallow, Coulter's Hibiscus (Hibiscus coulteri Harv. ex A. Gray)
It apparently has learned to adapt to desert environments. The bloom was perfect!
Sida rhombifolia L.
Wireweed (Sida rhombifolia L.)
My first exposure to this genus was as a weed in my yard. Later, I encountered it all over the state of Florida. Indeed, Flora of North America reports 19 species of Sida in North America with 16 reported in Florida.77 The plant actually gets a little taller than you might think but is kept in check by mowing. As a consequence, it spreads laterally in yards.
It’s not unattractive, just a nuisance if you are trying to maintain a nice lawn of grass. You can look at the flower and immediately see the “hibiscus” nature of the flower.
Sida ciliaris L.
Fringed Fanpetals (Sida ciliaris L.)
There are two differences to me in this species and the previous. First, the flowers are a little more robust. The flowers of S. rhombifolia are quite delicate and if you pick them, your fingers easily bruise the flowers. In S. ciliaris, the flowers are a little tougher and the leaves are distinctly different. Perhaps the flowers and leaves (which are thicker than S. rhombifolia) are tougher because I took this photo at Bahia Honda State Park near Big Pine Key, Florida. The Florida Keys can be a pretty harsh environment for plants.
Sphaeralcea coccinea (Nutt.) Rydb.
Common Globemallow (Sphaeralcea coccinea (Nutt.) Rydb.)
I was totally unfamiliar with globemallows until my initial trip out west with the “Spirit of the Desert” tour by Tauck. Flora of North America lists 26 species.78 Since then, I’ve encountered two more species of the genus. All are arresting against rather beige backgrounds.
Common Globemallow (Sphaeralcea coccinea (Nutt.) Rydb.)
I first found this in Arches National Park during one of our Dawn Patrol. If you look at the central flower above, you can see the typical hibiscus-type tube of anthers surrounding the sigma.
Sphaeralcea angustifolia (Cav.) G.Don
Narrowleaf Globemallow (Sphaeralcea angustifolia (Cav.) D.Don)
Notice the two distinct colors of the flowers. Some are light pink and others are almost a purple. I came across this one as I was beginning my hike to The Windows at Big Bend National Park. I asked the park ranger for a recommended hike and this was the one she suggested. She strongly indicated I needed to start this early in the morning because the sun would be brutal in the afternoon and I needed to be on my way back by noon. I took her advice. She was correct, the sun was brutal anyway.
Narrowleaf Globemallow (Sphaeralcea angustifolia (Cav.) D.Don)
As far as I know, all members of the family Malvaceae have the feature of fused filaments of the stamens. Only the anthers of the stamens and a little of the filament are free. They form a tube around the stigma of the flower. You can see this plainly in the above photograph.
Sphaeralcea grossularifolia (Hook. & Arn.) Rydb.
Goosefoot Globemallow (Sphaeralcea grossulariifolia Hook. & Arn.) Rydb.)
This one was photographed at Hidden Canyon Retreat near Great Basin National Park. None of the camping areas in the park were open and Ely, Nevada was 40 miles away. I needed a place to stay closer to the park (12 miles) and Hidden Canyon Retreat was open. I was the only guest.
I previously alluded to my problem with the jeep which required me to spend two nights in Ely instead of three nights at Hidden Canyon Retreat. It was due to my own stupidity.
My jeep is a diesel. Diesels these days need an additive called diesel exhaust fluid (DEF). There is, next to the fuel opening, an opening for DEF. In simple terms, DEF works similar to the catalytic converter in gasoline cars. If you run low of DEF, a light on the dashboard comes on and tells you are low and unless you refill, your jeep WILL NOT START! My light had come on. I knew I needed to add it but had enough in reserve to wait. However, my room at Hidden Canyon was not ready, so I decided to return to Ely, purchase some groceries for my stay (the place had a nice kitchen) and fill up the DEF fluid.
I’ve added DEF fluid at least three times before, so I knew the process. It takes a lot of DEF to fill the DEF tank - when it is low, it usually takes over five gallons. Auto stores know this and often keep five gallon containers. They have their own spout to pour from the five gallon container. The auto store in Ely had plenty of DEF but only in one gallon containers.
Jeep thought of this and included a pouring spout with the jeep. However, when I bought the jeep, my shade tree mechanic told me all diesels should add a fuel additive. To do that, you put the spout in the fuel receptacle and add a small amount of fuel additive.
Here’s the rub. I was used to using the spout for the fuel additive. When I got the gallon containers with no spout, I pulled my jeep spout out and automatically stuck it in the fuel receptacle and not the DEF receptacle. I had poured about 1/2 gallon of DEF into the fuel tank when I realized my mistake. Panic!
I go online (thank god for cell phones) and it said it was quite a common occurrence - I was not the only idiot to do it. However, it said whatever you do, DO NOT START THE MOTOR!
To make a long story longer, there was a problem with the towing service. I have AAA Platinum and the jeep has UConnect. UConnect directs me to one tow company who never shows up. Finally AAA gets me a tow.
The next problem is figuring out how to put the jeep in neutral without cranking the motor. It took me, the tow guy, and the guy at the auto store and the UConnect operator to figure this out.
The jeep was towed to the local jeep dealer in Ely who couldn’t promise me the jeep in any of the next three days. However, by day two they had drained the fuel tank, replaced two fuel filters, drained the water trap, and pretty much done the service by the third day.
I made it to Hidden Canyon for my third night. Everyone was more than helpful, friendly, and most of all, cheap. They could have charged me for two nights I didn’t sleep at Hidden Canyon. I offered, but they refused. They could have charged me over a thousand dollars (the price for the same process in Broward) but I got away for a little over $300. It was the nicest disaster I’ve ever gone through.
Urena lobata L.
Bur Mallow (Urena lobata L.)
This is considered a weed in Florida but I feel it is attractive none-the-less. I collected it at Myakka River State Park at the start of the Mossy Hammock Trail. The park is north of Venice, Florida and I thought I would be smart taking the back roads to the park. The traffic was amazingly heavy on the two lane road leading to the park and into Venice. We are definitely over populating the state.
I assume it is called bur mallow for the projections found on the capsules.
It was at Myakka I got up close and personal with Sand Hill Cranes.
Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis)
Actually, I didn’t get that close. I took this with my zoom. Unfortunately, there were people that were walking right up to them. The birds constantly tried walking away. Finally someone said something to the people about leaving them alone.
Wood Stork (Mycteria americana)
This was also wood stork central. I’ve never seen so many of America’s only native stork in one place. It seems Myakka River is the perfect place for them. I assume they were gathering for mating rituals.
Eremalche rotundifolia (A.Gray) Greene
Desert Five-spot (Eremalche rotundifolia (A. Gray) Greene
The desert is full of surprises. Not the least of which is the number of very showy wildflowers. This, again, was a new genus and species for me - always a thrill.
This was taken along the roadside of Death Valley National Park. Actually, there are two valleys separated by a mountain chain.
Desert Five-spot (Eremalche rotundifolia (A. Gray) Greene
As I was driving through, I couldn’t quite tell what the plant was. Only when I stopped and got a close look at the stamen tube did I realize it was a member of the Malvaceae.
Death Valley had some of the most spectacular scenery I’ve seen. I never knew the desert could have so many different shades much less the colors exhibited. I’ve enjoyed visiting all the contiguous U.S. national parks. This is one I would definitely return to in order to do some more exploring.
Herissantia crispa (Linnaeus) Brizicky
Bladdermallow (Herissantia crispa (Linnaeus) Brizicky)
There are several characteristics in this plant that remind me first of the genus Sida and others that remind me of the genus Abutilon. This is a lanky plant and it tends to fall over as it grows.
Bladdermallow (Herissantia crispa (Linnaeus) Brizicky)
The flowers are small considering the size of the plant and are very much like the genus Sida.
Bladdermallow (Herissantia crispa (Linnaeus) Brizicky)
The fruits look like small lanterns growing out out the axils of leaves.
Bladdermallow (Herissantia crispa (Linnaeus) Brizicky)
When dry, they have a bit of a rattle to them. I photographed this along the road to the campsites at Bahia Honda State Park near Big Pine Key, Florida.
Species/Location
Malva arborea
Mile Rock Beach, Lands End, San Francisco, California
Malva parviflora
Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park
Hibiscus coulteri
Signal Hill, Saguaro National Park, Rincon Mountain District
Sida rhombifolia
Chez Fred, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Sida ciliaris
Bahia Honda State Park, Big Pine Key, Florida
Sphaeralcea coccinia
Red Cliffs Lodge, Moab, Utah
Emerald Pools Trail, Zion National Park
Badlands National Park
Capitol Gorge Road, Capitol Reef National Park
Sphaeralcea angustifolia
The Windows Trail, Big Bend National Park
Sphaeralcea grossularifolia
Hidden Canyon Retreat near Great Basin National Park
Urena lobata
Myakka River State Park, Sarasota, Florida
Eremalche rotundifolia
Death Valley National Park
Herissantia crispa
Bahia Honda State Park, Big Pine Key, Florida
Chapter 43
Cistaceae
This is sometimes referred to as the rock-rose family. NAPA lists seven genera in the family: Cistus, Crocanthemum, Halimium, Helianthemum, Hudsonia, Lecha, and Tuberaria. I’ve had experience with Leechea before but none of the others until my trip to Acadia National Park. There I stumbled across the genus Hudsonia.
Hudsonia ericoides Linnaeus
Golden-heather (Hudsonia ericoides Linnaeus)
At first, I thought it a ground pine (Lycopodium) when I saw it along the Wonderland Trail at Acadia National Park. Then I saw the yellow blooms and it threw me for a loop. I finally realized the leaves were scale-like and arranged like the tiles on a roof - overlapping each other. I was later able to find it in a local guide.
AllTrails lists this as an easy 1.6 mile out and back trail with wildflowers all along the trail. I found it a nice walk even for a sore ankle.
Species/Location
Hudsonia ericoides
Wonderland Trail, Acadia National Park
Chapter 44
Tamaricaceae
Tamarix (Tamarix chinensis Lour.)
Tamarix chinensis Lour.
The only time I remembered seeing this plant was in Bourgogne region of France. I didn’t realize I had seen it a year earlier at Red Cliffs Lodge in Moab, Utah. It is not a native species and probably should be eliminated from our shores, but it seems well established.
Tamarix (Tamarix chinensis Lour.)
I’m sure the reason it is so abundant here is people plant it for the flowers. It also seems to do well in dry climates.
I was in Moab for the beginning of the “Spirit of the Desert” Tauck tour. Our rooms were spectacular. My patio backed up to the Colorado River which was in flood stage at the time.
Michel, Nancy and I arrived a day early and we decided to do something totally different for us - we did a hot air balloon ride. It was fantastic. Lou Bartell was our pilot and he took us over Canyonlands National Park. He was so good, he was able to dip the balloon down into the canyon so we could touch the walls of the canyon from the basket.
Ballooning the Canyonlands
The real trick is to land without crashing. We made it without a hitch.
Species/Location
Tamarix chinensis
Red Cliffs Lodge, Moab, Utah
Chapter 45
Salicaceae
Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.)
The family Salicaceae has four genera: Populus, Salix, Flacourtia and Xylosma. The last two I’ve never heard of. I grew up knowing some species of Populus (P. deltoides - southern cottonwood) and only one species of Salix (S. nigra - black willow).
After traveling a little around the country over the years, I’ve been introduced to a lot more of these two genera.
When I was in graduate school, Dr. Pullen indicated to us there was only one species of Salix in Mississippi and that was Salix nigra. When my good friend Charlie was getting his dissertation ready for his PhD in limnology, he had listed species associated with aquatic habitats as Salix sp. Dr. Pullen was on his committee and called him on that. He dutifully changed his references to Salix nigra.
Later we were both told by Dr. Pullen there were other species in the state. The only thing I can think of is that there was a revision of species in the state. Dr. Pullen, if anything, kept up with the literature and knew any changes that occurred. Flora of North America lists five species in Mississippi.79
My experience with the genus Salix is mostly in the west and northwest of the United States and Canada. I’m not very good at identification of the species and I’m not alone. These things hybridize like crazy and if you find a willow, the odds are it is a hybrid with another and the traits mix. It’s the ultimate challenge in taxonomy - to figure out the hybrids.
The genera Salix and Populus contain the chemical compound salicin in its leaves and bark. Salicin is the precursor to acetylsalicylic acid, the active ingredient in aspirin. It’s been long known that if you chew the leaves or inner bark of either of these two genera they serve as an anti-inflammatory. In addition, Populus is an important commercial tree.
I’ll have to start looking for Flacourtia and Xylosma! Flacourtia is reported in Flora of North America as being cultivated and naturalized in southeastern Florida so I’ll probably run across it before too long.80 Xylosma is a shrub that can be found in Texas, Mexico, Central and South America and the west Indies.81
Populus balsamifera L.
Black Cottonwood (Populus balsamifera L.)
I found this growing at Jennie Lake in Grand Teton National Park. The leaves are certainly darker than any species of poplar I’ve ever seen.
Jennie Lake, Grand Teton National Park
Jennie Lake is a spectacular glacial lake with a surface elevation of 6,783 feet. Michel, Nancy and I made a stop there in July 2013 on our way to the rest of Grand Teton National Park.
We were lucky that day. The sky was pretty clear. Before I started going out west, I always thought of the skies as crystal clear, particularly in the summers. That’s not necessarily the case. Often times there are hazes hanging around from either forest fires, mists, and even pollution.
Populus fremontii S. Watson
Fremont’s Cottonwood (Populus fremontii S. Watson)
Fremont may not have won the presidential election as the first Republican party nominee but he certainly seems to have gotten his name on a lot of things out west. I’ve found this in several locations out west but I originally found in outside my hotel room at Red Cliffs Lodge near Moab, Utah.
You can’t beat the setting at Red Cliffs Lodge. The Colorado River is outside your door just feet away. Unfortunately, when they built the lodge, the contractors skimped on insulation between rooms. I could distinctly hear every word in the rooms to either side of me. Let’s just say I heard some interesting conversations between couples.
Populus tremuloides Michx.
Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.)
My first exposure to quaking aspen was in the Quetico Provincial Park of Ontario when I first went as an adult leader with Boy Scouts to Charles L. Sommers Canoe Base. Since that first experience canoeing the boundary waters of Canada and the U.S. I’ve been back twice more. Minnesota is sometimes described as the land of 10,000 lakes. Quetico must have 50,000. You canoe a lake, get out and load the canoe or pack and portage to the next lake, repeat. It sounds like a drudge but it is some of the most beautiful scenery you’ll come across. It’s also noisy at dusk with loons calling. Don’t plan to get any sleep for the first few hours around dusk.
This particular photo was taken at Spillimachen, British Columbia . What I best like about the quaking aspens (other than the rustling of the leaves in the wind) is their color change in fall.
The next photo was taken on my way to Mineral Wells, Texas. It was perfect timing to see the leaves turn.
Along US 285 in New Mexico heading to Mineral Wells, Texas
Salix arctica Pall.
Arctic Willow (Salix arctica Pall.)
I wasn’t quite in the arctic when I took the photo but I was in the Columbia Mountain range of British Columbia at around 9,000 feet. This is a very low growing willow - in essence, a ground cover. I found in growing in a moss bed near a creek at Rocky Point Ridge and Powder Pig Trail in the Bugaboos.
It was our very last day of hiking and this was the neatest little valley with a creek running through it. There are some places in Canada that are just jaw dropping. Most of the staff who work the lodge and lead hikes and skiing trips came for one season and never left. I can see why.
Salix barclayi Andersson
Barclay’s Willow (Salix barclayi Andersson)
If you are familiar with the fluff of cottonwood seeds in the wind, you can get an idea of why Salix is related from these fluffy seeds for wind dispersal. I photographed this at Emerald Lake at the Yoho National Forest in British Columbia. My identification is based on the size of the shrub and that the University of Alberta has specimens from Emerald Lake in their herbarium.
Salix hookeriana Barratt ex Hook.
Coastal Willow, Dune Willow (Salix hookeriana Barratt ex Hook.)
As you might guess from the common name, I found this seaside on the Yurok Loop Trail as part of the Redwoods National Forest. This would form some pretty dense thickets along the trail.
Yurok Loop Trail, Redwoods National Park
Part of the trail took you through a rain forest and then you peeked out at the coastline. I could have stayed at this location for hours but I soon continued along the trail and back into the rain forest.
Salix laevigata Bebb
Red Willow (Salix laevigata Bebb)
This photo was taken on the Balcones Trail at Pinnacles National Park before I re-twisted my ankle in the cave. This was fairly easy to identify because the park had a photo card of plants with this listed on it. To me, the leaves almost look like the leaves of olives, not Salix.
Salix lasiolepis Benth.
Arroyo Willow (Salix lasiolepis Benth.)
Indeed, I did find it in an arroyo in Pinnacles National Park. I think I identified this from the CalFlora site. They do an excellent job of listing counties and also providing excellent images for comparison.
An arroyo is a stream bed within a narrow canyon. This was growing a few feet from the stream.
Species/Location
Populus balsamifera
Jenny Lake, Grand Teton National Park
Populus fremontii
Red Cliffs Lodge near Moab, Utah
Capitol Gorge Road, Capitol Reef National Park
Populus tremuloides
Sulfur Caldron, Yellowstone National Park
Spillimachen, British Columbia
Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park
Salix arctica
Rocky Point Ridge and Powder Pig Trail, The Bugaboos, British Columbia
Salix barclayi
Emerald Lake, Yoho National Forest, British Columbia
Salix hookeriana
Yurok Loop Trail, Redwoods National Park
Salix laevigata
Balcones Trail, Pinnacles National Park
Salix lasiolepis
Balcones Trail, Pinnacles National Park
Chapter 46
Brassicaceae
Rape Fields (Brassica napus L.) in Bourgogne, France
Back in the dark ages when I was in graduate school (hard to believe that was 45 years ago), the family name Brassicaceae was just coming into fashion. Until then, it had been known as the Cruciferae. Ninety-severn genera and 744 species are reported in Flora of North America but not all of them are native.82 Indeed, this family of plants includes many vegetables we like so well (mustards of various types: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, radish, turnip, collard) and ornamentals.
In France, there are huge fields of Brassica napus used to produce canola oil - probably the single most important product from the family.
I collected seven genera and 11 species of the family at Tishomingo State Park83 but I never realized how abundant the family is in the western United States. Since that time, I’ve photographed 23 genera and 34 species.
The family is easy to identify in the field. There are typically four petals, sometimes in the shape of a cross (I assume the name Cruciferae came from that). What is difficult is you often need both flower and fruit to make an accurate determination to species. That can get tricky. Luckily, some species have both on them at the same time.
Alyssum desertorum Stapf
Desert Madwort (Alyssum desertorum Stapf)
It wasn’t quite the desert but it certainly was harsh environmental conditions where I found this. This was along the trail to the old east entrance to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, south unit in a very flat field with a huge prairie dog village.
Prairie Dog Village at Old East Entrance, Theodore Roosevelt National Park
The old east entrance is no longer used and the original ranger station sits in the middle of nowhere.
Old East Entrance at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, South Unit
Cars would pull into the station by a road between the wall and the station. Since the station and walls are made of rock, it is well preserved and is an excellent example of the skill of Civilian Conservation Corps artisans.
Desert Madwort (Alyssum desertorum Stapf)
If you look carefully at a single flower, you can see the cross shape. Notice the hairs on both the leaves and flowers to catch and keep the dew.
Alyssum parviflorum Fisch. ex M. Bieb.
Black Madwort (Alyssum parviflorum Fisch. ex M. Bieb.)
Considering I had never seen this genus before, I seem to have run into a streak of finding it. This particular one was photographed at Cross Fissures in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.
Black Madwort (Alyssum parviflorum Fisch. ex M. Bieb.)
Note the very obvious pubescence on the leaves of the plant. Also, the yellow petals are somewhat cleft in this plant. That’s not uncommon in the family.
Draba incerta Payson
Yellowstone Draba (Draba incerta Payson)
Although commonly called Yellowstone draba, I’ve photographed this at Bright Angel Point, Grand Canyon National Park, North Rim and also in Yellowstone National Park.
Along the trail to Bright Angel Point
Yellowstone Draba (Draba incerta Payson)
Draba was a new genus for me and I was thrilled when I finally figured it out. If you look carefully at the lowest part of the flowering stalk you’ll see the flat fruit (technically a silicle). There are two types of fruits typically produced in the Brassicaceae: silique and silicle. If the length is much greater than the width of the fruit, it is a silique. If the fruit length is equal to or much less than the length, it is a silicle. Both types of fruit split along two sutures. The seeds are attached to a central piece of tissue called the placenta - just like in humans. The valves of the capsule are lost and the central piece of tissue, the placenta, remains.
Moneyplant (Lunaria annua L.)
The above photo shows a genus other than Draba but the white part you see is the placenta. The two valves of the capsule have been discarded. The silicles of Lunaria are often used in floral arrangements. It’s sometimes called the money plant.
Draba verna Linnaeus
Spring Draba (Draba verna Linnaeus)
At the time I photographed this plant, it was known by the genus Erophila. It has since been reclassified to its original genus of Draba. Personally, I think the “Spring” in front of Draba a bit redundant. Most of the genera I know are all spring plants. It looks as those each flower has eight petals. In reality, it’s four that are deeply cleft.
Spring Draba (Draba verna Linnaeus)
There is a neat basal rosette of leaves at the base of each flowering stem. The leaves are quite hairy. I photographed this on the road to Rainbow Falls at Stehekin, Washington, part of my visit to North Cascades National Park.
Although I’ve only photographed two species of Draba, there are 121 species listed in Flora of North America.84
Boechera divaricarpa (A. Nelson) Á. Löve & D Löve
Spreading Rockcress (Boechera divaricarpa (A. Nelson) Á. Löve & D Löve)
I had never been exposed to this genus until my western trips. It seems to be all over the western U.S. This particular one was on the trail to Pulpit Rock Overlook at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The long, terete structures are the siliques. At the base of the silique you can see a green circle of tissue. This is where the sepals, petals and stamens were attached. When mature, the silique splits along two sutures and falls away, again leaving a persistent placenta. The seeds eventually detach from the placenta.
Pulpit Rock Overlook, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Apparently church services were held at Pulpit Rock with the minister standing in the pulpit preaching to the crowds that would be in the foreground. All I can say is I would not move too far either left, right or backward from the pulpit.
It’s a long way down from the pulpit. The drop off is over 2,000 feet. The closest town is Montrose and parishioners would have a long way to travel to hear a sermon here.
Spreading Rockcress (Boechera divaricarpa (A. Nelson) Á. Löve & D Löve
This rockcress does spread, but I think they all do to some degree. Most of them produce flowers that hang downward so I assume seeds are distributed close to the parent plant. Notice the abundant hairs of the leaves giving them a velvety appearance.
Raphanus raphanistrum subsp. sativus (L.) Domin
Wild Radish (Raphanus raphanistrum subsp. sativus (L.) Domin)
I suspect this wild version would be a little hot to the taste. When I buy radishes I’m always amazed that you’ll get one or two really hot ones in a package.
Wild Radish (Raphanus raphanistrum subsp. sativus (L.) Domin)
As you can see, there’s a wide variation in the color of the flowers. The seed pod (silique) is also interesting.
Wild Radish (Raphanus raphanistrum subsp. sativus (L.) Domin)
I suspect you could also cook the leaves like you do mustard and turnips.
Sinapis arvensis L.
Charlock Mustard (Sinapis arvensis L.)
I was in Fanning Springs State Park (near, guess it, Fanning Springs, Florida) when I came across this along the bike path. It pretty much was everywhere along the path from Fanning Springs to Trenton.
Charlock Mustard (Sinapis arvensis L.)
Notice that some of the petals are white and some are yellow. When one plant is predominately one color but there is another color on the same plant, the different colored flower is called a sport.
Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medik.
Shepherd’s Purse (Capella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medik.)
When I think about it, I’m amazed to how much information I was exposed in graduate school. I had some excellent professors. I first encountered shepherd’s purse in the lab. When you study embryology of plants, this is the textbook case for dicot embryological development. It’s taught in virtually every botany lab. When you look at the capsule (silicle) of the plant, it supposedly reminded someone of a shepherd’s purse.
Shepherd’s Purse (Capella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medik.)
I don’t know about that but I do know I’ve seen hundreds of microscope slides of the embryo of this plant.
Capsella Embryo
Later, when I took a field botany course, I collected the plant. It was good to find this growing at Enchanted Rock near Fredericksburg, Texas.
Shepherd’s Purse (Capella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medik.)
You can eat the leaves of the plant and the “purses” have a little peppery taste like mustard greens.
Barbarea verna (Mill.) Asch.
Winter Cress (Barbarea verna (Mill.) Asch.)
This was another new genus for me I found along Forney’s Creek in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in May of 2016. Flora mentions it is difficult to identify to species based on flower structure alone86, but this is the most common species within the southeastern U.S.
Cardamine bellidifolia L.
Alpine Bittercress (Cardamine bellidifolia L.)
The genus Cardamine and I go back to my Tishomingo days. It’s one of the earliest of spring wildflowers in the park.
I was totally taken aback when I found this growing in the sparsest of conditions, in the middle of the trail, of Watchman Lookout Trail at Crater Lake National Park.
Alpine Bittercress (Cardamine bellidifolia L.)
You could easily step over or on this plant without seeing it. The image was taken with my macro lens and it doesn’t give you a good idea of how small it really is.
Alpine Bittercress (Cardamine bellidifolia L.)
Look at the buds in this photo. Those are very tiny hairs, again a protective feature.
Cardamine californica (Nutt. ex Torr. & A. Gray) Greene
Bittercress (Cardamine californica (Nutt. ex Torr. & A. Gray) Greene)
Appropriately to its specific name, this was found in California on the Yurok Loop Trail of Redwoods National Park. The leaves have that toothwort (common name of many in the genus) look to them. Also, note the long fruits developing. The fruit is a silique (see glossary).
Cardamine concatenata (Michx.) O. Schwarz
Cut-leaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata (Michx.) O. Schwarz)
This particular species is similar to those I collected at Tishomingo. The leaves and flowers are very much like the Tishomingo species. These flowers are nodding, but they have just had a little rain on them.
Cut-leaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata (Michx.) O. Schwarz)
In this photo you can see the four petals arranged like a cross typical of the family Brassicaceae. These are not very showy plants but when you find them in the woods in the spring, they get you a little excited about the new season.
The term toothwort comes from the idea that the roots could be used to alleviate toothaches.
Cardamine nuttallii Greene
Nuttall’s Toothwort (Cardamine nuttallii Greene)
This little gem was found in Redwoods National Park. If you check the leaves of this one, you can see there is a difference between this and C. californica. The leaves on this are mostly basal with few or no stem leaves. On. C. californica, there are stem leaves present.
Cardamine oligosperma Nutt.
Idaho Bittercress (Cardamine oligosperma Nutt.)
Contrary to the common name, this one was photographed along the Balcones Trail of Pinnacles National Park in California. Notice how dissected the leaf is on this plant. To be honest, all the flowers of Cardamine are very similar and one of the best diagnostic features is their leaves.
Nasturtium officinale R.Br.
Nasturtium (Nasturtium officinale R.Br.)
This plant is another strong memory for me. When I was a kid growing up in the small town of Morton, we rented a house from a Mr. Marler on the Pulaski Road (actually Mississippi Highway 441).
It was a gray house with an unfinished two car garage beneath the house. Dad always put up a Christmas display in from of the large picture window in the front of the house and that was where he put in a flower bed in spring. He patiently showed me how to plant seeds in the bed and one of the first flowers we grew were nasturtiums.
There is at least one other story in my life I associate with that house. My brother Archie and I shared a bedroom. I had the bed against the wall and he had the bed against the window. He’s six years older than I and lets just say we didn’t get along as kids.
I should have known something was afoot when he came in one afternoon and asked if I would like to do something with him. Stunned, I agreed. He’d never asked me to do anything with him. He didn’t like having his little brother tagging along.
He had a home made crystal radio from a kit. His idea was for us to get our cat Sylvester (who turned out to be decidedly female) and shock the cat with wires from the home made radio. (I know, animal cruelty! I was desperate for attention from my big brother.) He said for me to hold the cat and he would put one wire on the cat’s head and I would hold one wire on the cat’s tail and when he turned the radio on, it would shock the cat. What I didn’t pay attention to was his wire had insulation and mine did not.
Well, it did shock the cat but it also shocked me. It wasn’t painful, just startling. The cat screamed and ran out of the room. I screamed and fell off the bed. Mother came in and spanked both of us for being cruel to the cat. I can say I deserved the spanking.
Chorispora tenella (Pall.) DC.
Blue Mustard (Chorispora tenella (Pall.) DC.
The photo was taken on the Hidden Canyon Ranch near Great Basin National Park. After my jeep trouble, I finally got to spend one night at the ranch. I was walking around the area and spotted this clump of flowers.
Blue Mustard (Chorispora tenella (Pall.) DC.
It’s not native to the U.S. but can be found most often in waste spaces, fields and roadsides.87 Even though not native, it was kind of neat finding this.
Erysimum asperum (Nutt.) DC.
Western Wallflower (Erysimum asperum (Nutt.) DC.)
I’ve photographed this in Zion National Park in Utah and Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. Flora labels it a biennial which means it takes two years to go from seed, to plant, to flower, to fruit.88
Western Wallflower (Erysimum asperum (Nutt.) DC.)
The fruit is a silique. Like most members of the family, this is an early bloomer.
Wallflowers are fairly common in the western U.S.
Hesperis matronalis L.
Dame’s Rocket (Hesperis matronalis L.)
Another Mount Rushmore photo. When you go to Mount Rushmore, get ready for large crowds. One of the things you can do is walk a trail that leads you to the base of Mount Rushmore. You can do clockwise or counterclockwise. Michel, Nancy and I got turned around on the trail and ended up doing it counterclockwise and very much against the flow of traffic. As it turned out, we were the smart ones. The other way was tougher going.
We were fortunate there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the monument was set off against a brilliantly blue sky.
Hesperis, according to the Missouri Botanical Garden website, is considered a noxious weed. It was introduced from Eurasia and the site states the genus comes from the Greek hespera which means evening. Apparently the flowers produce an aroma in the evenings.
Lepidium fremontii S. Watson
Fremont’s Peppergrass (Lepidium fremontii S. Watson)
I’m more accustomed to L. virginicum, the common peppergrass in the southeastern U.S. where you find a solitary plant here, over there, and maybe another three yards over. This is one massive clump.
It’s called peppergrass because it produces a tiny capsule with a seed. The silicle and seed have a distinct peppery taste. This photo was at Grand View Point Overlook at Canyonlands National Park.
Grand View Point Overlook, Canyonlands National Park
This was again part of the Tauck tour of the “Spirit of the Desert.” Utah has some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet.
Lepidium montanum Nutt.
Mountain Pepper Plant (Lepidium montanum Nutt.)
This was found on the trail to Hickman’s Bridge at Capitol Reef National Park. The trail starts out steep, levels off, and then climbs to the final point of the bridge.
Hickman’s Bridge - Capitol Reef National Park
It was just in front of this couple that I found the plant growing in what looked like plain sand.
Mountain Pepper Plant (Lepidium montanum Nutt.)
I was tempted to taste one of the silicles but picking anything in a national park is a no-no. The previous day I met a couple from Australia on the Chimney Rock Trail. The guy was proud to show me a rock he had picked up as a memento for his extensive collection back home. I started to say something about picking up rocks and decided to let it go.
Lunaria annua L.
Moneyplant (Lunaria annua L.)
This is, of course, an introduced species. It’s mostly cultivated for the silicles which remain attached to the plant. Some people think they look like coins, hence the common name. They are often used in flower arrangements. Where I stumbled across this was the interesting part. It was on the trail to the top of Multnomah Falls in Oregon.
The trail is described by most books and websites as moderate with a 700 foot gain in elevation over 1.1 miles. The hike back down is much easier. To facilitate your way, there are 11 switchbacks. They post a sign at each switchback so you’ll know how many there are to go.
The view from the top is nice but there is nothing so beautiful as the view of the falls from the foot.
Multnomah Falls, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon. The upper falls are 542 feet and the lower falls are 69 feet.
Lobularia maritima (L.) Desv.
Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima (L.) Desv.
You might guess from the common name that this is a plant widely cultivated for its sweet smelling flowers and you would be correct. I photographed it on the hillside to Twin Peaks in San Francisco.
Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima (L.) Desv.
I’m not sure if someone planted it or it simply spread from a cultivar in someone’s garden. Note the silicles at the base of the flowering stem.
Noccaea fendleri (A. Gray) Holub
Wild Candytuft (Noccaea fendleri (A. Gray) Holub)
This was a strange find on Oak Flat Trail at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Not that it was a member of the mustard family - plenty of those were in bloom in the park - but that I had never seen it before. This plant is a perennial and seems to be well established in the park.
Oak Flat Loop Trail starts at the visitor center and then begins to drop down into the canyon. You don’t go all the way to the bottom but you do get pretty close. Then the trail begins to climb until you are back on top and then loop across the south rim road and back to the visitor center. I was there in May of 2018 and May is an excellent month to see wildflowers in the park.
Physaria gordonii (A. Gray) O’Kane & Al-Shehbaz
Gordon’s Bladderpod (Physaria gordonii (A. Gray) O’Kane & Al-Shehbaz)
In my visit to Saguaro National Park, I needed to find a place to camp. Saguaro allows you to camp in certain areas of the park but you have to backpack a minimum of a mile in and carry your water with you. Since I was going to be there three days, I knew I wasn’t going to backpack in three days of water. I opted to stay at Catalina State Park just outside of Tucson and perfectly situated between the two units of Saguaro National Park.
There are silky hairs on the stems, leaves, and sepals which help capture moisture from the air.
Just a quick walk around my tent site yielded a mass of wildflowers. In reality, I probably found more wildflowers at Catalina than I did in both units of Saguaro. I was a happy camper.
As the sun started to set, it painted the mountains in the background the most beautiful rust color.
Physaria ludoviciana (Nuttall) O’Kane & Al-Shehbaz
Foothill Bladderpod (Physaria ludoviciana (Nuttall) O’Kane & Al-Shehbaz)
This strange little plant was growing at Buck Hill at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, South Unit. Minnesota Wildflowers and Calflora both report it as rare, threatened or endangered but it seemed to be fairly common within the park.
Buck Hill - Theodore Roosevelt National Park, South Unit
I walked out to the end of a trail that led to an overlook and found the plant along the way. The park was in the middle of a controlled burn that didn’t look too controlled. This was one of the few pictures I was able to obtain that didn’t look charred.
Foothill Bladderpod (Physaria ludoviciana (Nuttall) O’Kane & Al-Shehbaz)
Like most members of this family, there are four petals. Notice how waxy the flower buds and leaves and stems are. This is an excellent means to prevent water loss. It’s called a bladderpod because when it does produce fruit, they do have a resemblance to an inflated bladder.
Sisymbrium irio L.
London Rocket (Sisymbrium irio L.)
Another Catalina State Park find, this plant has the longest siliques of any I’ve ever seen. It also produces copious leafy material. It’s an introduced species but seems to have adapted well throughout the west.89
London Rocket (Sisymbrium irio L.)
The siliques are so long they almost look spider-like.
Stanleya pinnata (Pursh) Britton
Prince’s Plume (Stanleya pinnata (Pursh) Britton
I kept seeing this plant from the roadside as we traveled around Moab, Utah to the national parks around Moab (Arches and Canyonlands). Once I got my hands on a local guidebook, I found out its identity. It is, indeed, princely.
Streptanthus carinatus C. Wright ex A. Gray
Lyreleaf Jewel Flower (Streptanthus carinatus C. Wright ex A. Gray)
I couldn’t make heads or tails of this plant when I came across it. I photographed it anyway and decided I could do some research on it. Later, after returning home, I was able to identify it. There are both stem leaves and basal rosette leaves on the plant. When I see that, I think either biennial or perennial. This one turned out to be a biennial.
Lyreleaf Jewel Flower (Streptanthus carinatus C. Wright ex A. Gray)
The leaves are called “clasping”. They have no petiole and are attached directly to the stem and part of the leaf base surrounds a portion of the stem.
Lyreleaf Jewel Flower (Streptanthus carinatus C. Wright ex A. Gray)
The flowers are not very obvious on the plant. Your attention is directed more towards the stem and leaves - not the flowers. However, you can see the four petals characteristic of the family Brassicaceae.
The photos were taken on the Capitol Gorge Road leading to The Golden Throne Trail.
This was the jumping off point for the Golden Throne Trail. It’s an in and out trail which means no loop back to the starting point.
The scenery along the trail is pretty spectacular. It’s a steady climb but nothing too risky.
Here is yours truly in front of the Golden Throne. I’m afraid it’s a little too high up for me to sit on.
Thlaspi arvense L.
Field Pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.)
I spent a lot of my time at Mount Rushmore not looking at the monument but looking at the plants. I had heard of this plant before but never seen it. The silicles are very large and noticeable. As you might guess, its introduced from Europe.90
Species/Location
Alyssum desertorum
Old East Entrance, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, South Unit
Alyssum parviflorum
Cross Fissures, Black Canyon of the Gunnison
Draba incerta
Bright Angel Point Trail, Grand Canyon National Park, North Rim
Draba verna
Road to Rainbow Falls, Stehekin, Washington
Boechera divaricarpa
Pulpit Rock Overlook, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Boechera fendleri
Rock Point, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Boechera holboellii
Stehekin, Washington, North Cascades National Park
Coal Vein Nature Trail, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, South Unit
Boechera perennans
Cross Fissures, Black Canyon of the Gunnison
Boechera retrofracta
Pulpit Rock Overlook, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Brassica napus
Canal de Bourgogne, Dijon, France
Brassica nigra
Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park
Yurok Loop Trail, Redwoods National Park
Brassica rapa
Klamath Beach Road, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, Crescent City, California
Cakile edentula
Lands End, San Francisco, California
Raphanus raphanistrum subs. sativus
Lands End, San Francisco, California
Sinapis arvensis
Bike Trail, Fanning Springs, Fanning Springs, Florida
Capsella bursa-pastoris
Enchanted Rock, Fredericksburg, Texas
Cardamine bellidifolia
Watchman Lookout Trail, Crater Lake National Park
Cardamine californica
Yurok Loop Trail, Redwoods National Park
Cardamine concatenata
Smokemont Loop Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Cardamine nuttallii
Yurok Loop Trail, Redwoods National Park
Jedediah Smith State Park, Crescent City, California
Cardamine oligosperma
Balcones Trail, Pinnacles National Park
Nasturtium officinale
Lands End, San Francisco, California
Chorispora tenella
Hidden Canyon Retreat near Great Basin National Park
Erysimum asperum
Zion Canyon along North Fork of Virgin River, Zion National Park
Devil’s Tower National Monument
Hesperis matronalis
Mount Rushmore National Monument
Custer State Park, South Dakota
Lepidium fremontii
Grand View Overlook, Canyonlands National Park
Lepidium montanum
Hickman’s Bridge Trail, Capitol Reef National Park
Lunaria annua
Multnomah Falls Trail, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon
Noccaea fendleri
Oak Flat Trail, Black Canyon of the Gunnison
Physaria gordonii
Catalina State Park, Tucson, Arizona
Physaria ludoviciana
Buck Hill, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, South Unit
Sisymbrium irio
Catalina State Park, Tucson, Arizona
Stanleya pinnata
Red Cliffs Lodge, Moab, Utah
Streptanthus carinatus
Capitol Gorge Road, Capitol Reef National Park
Thlaspi arvense
Mount Rushmore National Monument
Chapter 47
Grossulariaceae
Ribes aureus (Pursh) var. villosum de Candolle
This is the currant and gooseberry family. I don’t remember ever seeing these during my graduate school days and Flora of North America confirms why. None are reported in Mississippi. Florida has one species reported and strangely, Alabama has three species. In total, there are 53 species in North America.91
My first exposure to the genus was a shrub growing in front of the lodge on the north rim of Grand Canyon National Park. As I traveled more and more out west, I came across more and more species and learned to recognize it pretty well.
Here’s hoping I run across the one species found in Florida.
Ribes acerifolium Howell
Maple-leaf Currant (Ribes acerifolium Howell)
There’s something about plants trying to grow along the trail to Watchman’s Lookout Trail that decidedly leads to plants in miniature. This was an exceptionally small plant and I would have overlooked it except for the reddish flowers. The petals are united part of their length to form somewhat of a floral tube.
And this was taken in June!
Maple-leaf Currant (Ribes acerifolium Howell)
The bee is out of focus but at least I got the flower in focus. I used my macro lens. I hiked up that “hill” with three lenses and a massive camera. If you can see the leaves, they do look a little like a maple leaf.
Ribes aureus (Pursh) var. villosum de Candolle
Golden Currant (Ribes aureus (Pursh) var. villosum de Candolle)
I had just pitched my tent at the Cottonwood campground at Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the Little Missouri River was flowing about 30 yards away. I decided to investigate and ran into this little shrub. I admit I did not recognize it as a currant - so much for bragging about identifying the genus in the field.
Golden Currant (Ribes aureus (Pursh) var. villosum de Candolle)
What I liked about this little flower was the tinge of red on the corona of petals. It was about this time I looked around and noticed a bison in the field with me. Then I noticed another, and another, and then I realized I was in a small herd.
The bison seemed to like the grass in Cottonwood campground. They even decided they liked certain campsites. Fortunately, mine was not one of them but they continually grazed the campground during my stay. For a little perspective, that’s the front of my jeep at right. The bison were about the same size as my jeep.
Ribes cereum Douglas
Wax Currant (Ribes cereum Douglas)
I’ve run into this little beauty at three different locations: Devil’s Tower National Monument, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, and Crater Lake National Park. The floral tube in this species is more pronounced than in the previous one.
Wax Currant (Ribes cereum Douglas)
Some currants and gooseberries have thorns on the stems. This one does not and I think it produced one of the prettiest berries I’ve seen.
Ribes hirtellum Michx.
Hairystem Gooseberry (Ribes hirtellum Michx.)
I assume the hairy stem part comes from new growth on the plant. This photo does show some wicked prickles on the stem and thorns in the axils of the leaves (remember, there’s a difference). The gooseberries are ripe but they don’t have the beautiful color of R. cereum. This photo was taken at Mount Rushmore National Monument in July 2013.
Ribes inerme Rydb.
Whitestem Gooseberry (Ribes inerme Rydb.
The young shoots do look like they have a little white to them. Notice the remains of the petals still attached to the fruit. This was taken on the trail to Observation Point at Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park.
View from Observation Point with Old Faithful at mid-left and the Old Faithful Inn at mid-right.
Observation Point Trail is a hike worth the effort. I was first exposed to this trail by Nick, our Xanterra guide. I’ve done the hike again since that first time and I always get a thrill (and a little out of breath at that altitude). You are only gaining 160 feet in elevation and it’s only a 1.1 mile loop, however, you are starting at a pretty good altitude (7,349 feet).
It’s really neat to see Old Faithful erupt from Observation Point. You’ll have to wait a while, but you’ll need the rest after the hike up, so it’s all good. One of my best experiences at Observation Point was seeing my favorite geyser, Beehive, erupt. Beehive’s eruption is longer than Old Faithful and, in my opinion, much more forceful.
Beehive Geyser from Observation Point - notice the snow on the conifer.
Ribes lacustre (Pers.) Poir.
Prickly Currant (Ribes lacustre (Pers.) Poir.)
Prickly is a good name for this one. John and I had taken a side trip to Moraine Lake in Banff National Park in Alberta. This was part of our Bugaboos adventure. John thinks Moraine Lake is the most beautiful in Canada.
We were lucky. Our tour bus was the very last vehicle allowed in the park. Moraine is so popular they have to close the road periodically until some tourists leave.
Prickly Currant (Ribes lacustre (Pers.) Poir.)
See why prickly is such a good name for this one?
Ribes leptanthum A. Gray
Trumpet Gooseberry (Ribes leptanthum A. Gray)
This is another “three-fer” location-wise. I’ve photographed this at Mesa Verde National Park, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, and Great Sand Dunes National Park.
Trumpet Gooseberry (Ribes leptanthum A. Gray)
These are some of the stoutest thorns I’ve seen on currants and gooseberries.
Trumpet Gooseberry (Ribes leptanthum A. Gray)
You can see some minute hairs on the corolla tube and the petals.
Trumpet Gooseberry (Ribes leptanthum A. Gray)
Again, notice how the floral tube stays attached to the ripened berries. I would suspect any animal that feeds on these has to be watchful for the thorns.
Ribes oxyacanthoides L.
Northern Gooseberry, Canadian Gooseberry (Ribes oxyacanthoides L.)
If you are close to Canada, it’s called Canadian gooseberry, otherwise northern gooseberry. I’ve photographed it very close to Canada (at Voyageurs National Park near International Falls, Minnesota) and along the North Kaibab Trail heading to the Supai Tunnel on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.
The trip to the Supai Tunnel was the more interesting of the two locations. First it was on the back of a mule called Ronnie and secondly, because it always looked as though Ronnie was about to walk off the edge.
Kaibab Trail - and that’s a long way down!
Ronnie, however, was a surefooted beast. He never took a misstep for which I am eternally grateful.
Ronnie Is the one in the center
This was a great experience but the trail was so dusty, I was hesitant to pull out my camera. By the time we were finished with the round trip, everyone was coated in a thin layer of red.
Supai Tunnel on North Kaibab Trail
In case you are wondering where the trail leads (we stopped and turned around at Supai) it leads to the Bright Angel Trail, probably the most famous trail in the park.
Ribes rubrum L.
Northern Red Currant (Ribes rubrum L.)
It doesn’t look all that red to me, but we’ll go with it. I photographed this along the Huginnin Cove Trail at Isle Royale National Park in May of 2018. May is very early to go to the park. Most of the park is not open (concessions, visitor centers, etc.) The visitor center at Windigo was open, but only for a few hours a day.
The concessionaire was open only if the person running it was around. They were all getting ready for the big season in June, July and August.
The ranger kept warning about moose. I saw moose antlers, moose droppings, moose prints, but no moose.
Ribes sanguineum Pursh
Red Flowered Currant (Ribes sanguineum Pursh)
Now this is what I call red! This really jumps out at you when you are hiking a trail. I photographed this in two different locations of North Cascades National Park and in one location at MacArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park in California.
The place I found it in North Cascades was the western entrance to the park near Deming, Washington along a very attractive trail to view Gorge Creek Falls. The trail was moss covered and it was foggy and snowing.
Trail to overlook of Gorge Creek Falls
Red Flowered Currant (Ribes sanguineum Pursh)
You can see how this jumps out at you as you hike through the woods.
Species/Location
Ribes acerifolium
Watchman Lookout Trail, Crater Lake National Park
Ribes aureus
Cottonwood Campground, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, South Unit
Ribes cereum
Devil’s Tower National Monument
Crater Lake Lodge, Crater Lake National Park
Pulpit Rock Overlook, Black Canyon of the Gunnison
Ribes hirtellum
Mount Rushmore National Monument
Ribes inerme
Observation Point Trail, Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park
Ribes lacustre
Moraine Lake, Banff National Park, Alberta
Ribes leptanthum
Mesa Verde National Park
Warner Point Trail, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Medano Pass Primitive Road, Great Sand Dunes National Park
Ribes oxyacanthoides
Grand Canyon Lodge, Grand Canyon National Park, North Rim
Oberholtzer Hiking Trail, Voyageurs National Park
Ribes rubrum
Huginnin Cove Trail, Isle Royale National Park
Ribes sanguineum
MacArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park, Cayton, California
Near Newhalem, North Cascades National Park
Stehekin, North Cascades National Park
Chapter 48
Saxifragaceae
Michaux’s Saxifrage (Saxifraga michauxii Britton)
If I had not chosen Tishomingo State Park for my masters thesis, I probably would not have had any exposure to this plant until recently. The habitat in Tishomingo is very unique in Mississippi and as I wrote previously, it is considered to be in the foothills of the Appalachians. In any case, I’m always excited when I come across a member of this family of plants.
A lot of the members of this family produces basal rosettes of leaves as shown in the photo. Their leaves are also very distinct and you can sometimes identify a plant to genus by the leaves alone - without the accompanying flowers.
Flora of North America indicates this one family is closely related to as least 10 other families of plants92 and there is some disagreement as to relationships within the family. All total, North America has 23 genera and 158 species.93
I’ve photographed seven genera and 13 species. I can add to that with my collection of six genera and species for my thesis.
Lithophragma affine A. Gray
San Francisco Woodstar (Lithophragma affine A. Gray)
When I first glimpsed this I thought “poor little bedraggled flower.” Upon a closer look, it wasn’t bedraggled at all.
San Francisco Woodstar (Lithophragma affine A. Gray)
I seem to be writing “a new genus for me” a lot. Travel is supposed to be broadening, correct? I would never in a million years associate this plant with the family Saxifragaceae. It has none of the characteristics to which I’m familiar, and yet here it is.
My first exposure came on the Balcones Trail at Pinnacles National Park. I came across another species at Stehekin, Washington near North Cascades National Park. The flower of this species is arresting and I think it is one of the purest whites I have come across in all my years of photographing plants.
Lithophragma parviflorum (Hook.) Nutt.
Small Flowered Prairie Star (Lithophragma parviflorum (Hook.) Nutt.)
This strange looking plant was photographed on the road to Rainbow Falls at the end of Lake Chelan at Stehekin, Washington. From Stehekin, I was able to access the eastern portion of North Cascades National Park.
You enter the park on the Agnes Gorge Trail just outside of Stehekin.
Small Flowered Prairie Star (Lithophragma parviflorum (Hook.) Nutt.)
The leaves to me are decidedly not typical of Saxifragaceae. They look more like a member of the geranium family.
Small Flowered Prairie Star (Lithophragma parviflorum (Hook.) Nutt.)
Whereas L. affine flowers were pure white, these seem to have almost a purplish tinge to them. I would find them here and there on the road to Rainbow Falls. The Falls seem to be the main attraction in Stehekin for day trippers.
When the boat brings you in to Stehekin from Chelan, Washington, there’s a big red bus charging a moderate fee to take you to the falls. It then turns around and delivers the day trippers back to the boat for the return trip to Chelan. That’s about 4 1/2 hours total for a few minutes at the waterfall.
The big red bus waiting for the Lady Express to disgorge day trippers
To be honest, the falls are quite beautiful. It’s not a long hike to the falls, but long enough that the boat would leave you before you completed your trip so the bus is necessary.
Rainbow Falls, Stehekin, Washington - 312 feet
Heuchera pubescensPursh
Downy Alumroot (Heuchera pubescens Pursh)
This is not the plant from which you can derive alum. I’m not sure where it gets the common name alumroot but the downy comes from the pubescence of the leaves, stems, and flowers. The leaves are evergreen and distinctive enough to recognize the genus without the flowers.
Downy Alumroot (Heuchera pubescens Pursh)
The flowers are not fully open here but they tend to be pink to purple in color. These look like they are going to be more reddish than pink. I photographed this on the trail to Lewis Springs Falls in Shenandoah National Park.
Mitella diphylla L.
Bishop’s Cap (Mitella diphylla L.)
This is one of my holy grail plants. There are several plants that I have literally ached to find over the years. This is one of them. I’ve probably stumbled over the leaves without the flowers numerous times but did not recognize it from the leaf type. In 2018 while hiking the Smokemont Loop Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, I finally was able to check this one off my grail list.
Bishop’s Cap (Mitella diphylla L.)
I’m not too sure what a real Bishop’s cap looks like, but someone thought this flower decorative enough to resemble one. I love the way the petals are divided and subdivided into filamentous structures.
The flower produces a capsule that the top pops off. Apparently the capsule points skyward and raindrops drop into the capsule and splash the seeds away from the parent plant.94
Tiarella cordifolia L.
Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia L.)
I first encountered this during my hikes in the Smokies. It’s a fairly early spring wildflower and one that catches your eye against all the greenery popping up in the spring.
Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia L.)
Some of the flower racemes are dense enough to evoke the image of a foam. The term cordifolia comes from the shape of the leaves (cordate).
Tiarella trifoliata L.
Foamflower (Tiarella trifoliata L.)
To me, the leaves are the showiest part of this plant, not the flowers. This was found along the Lakeshore Trail at Stehekin, Washington.
Foamflower (Tiarella trifoliata L.)
The flowers, at least, do remind you of the Saxifrage family. In T. cordifolia, the flowers were attached to the stem in a raceme. This means the flowers are attached directly to the main axis of the stem with short pedicels. T. trifoliata has the flowers as a panicle. A panicle is where the flowers branch off the main stem axis. You can see the fruit beginning to develop in some of the flowers.
Suksdorfia ranunculifolia (Hook.) Engl.
Buttercup Suksdorfia (Suksdorfia ranunculifolia (Hook) Englm.)
Not only is this a new genus for me but I had never heard of it in my life. To top that, I found not one species but two in North Cascades National Park. Life is good.
The leaves of this remind me very much of a geranium although it is not related to that plant.
If you are wondering about the name, as I did, it is in honor of “Wilhelm Nikolaus Suksdorf, 1850-1932, a German botanist who collected in the Pacific Northwest.”95
Buttercup Suksdorfia (Suksdorfia ranunculifolia (Hook) Englm.)
The flowers are definitely typical of the Saxifrage family. Whereas most of the family has very small flowers, these were rather large.
Suksdorifa violacea A. Gray
Violet Suksdorfia (Suksdorfia violacea A. Gray)
These flowers definitely do not remind me of the family. They almost look more like a violet than a saxifrage flower. In comparison to S. ranunculifolia, these are tiny flowers.
I photographed this along the Lakeshore Trail at Stehekin, Washington.
Boykinia acontifolia Nutt.
Allegheny Brookfoam (Boykinia acontifolia Nutt.)
I seem to be running a streak of plants I have no knowledge of prior to finding them on the trail. Never heard of the genus Boykinia. I found this on the trail to Upper Linville Falls along the Blue Ridge Parkway in June 2017.
Allegheny Brookfoam (Boykinia acontifolia Nutt.)
These were large flowers that stood out on the trail up to the falls. The upper falls are accessed down a dirt road that is quite bumpy and rocky. Once you reach the parking area you descend quite steeply. The upper falls are nice but the lower falls are the real show stopper. In this case, you have to hike up to the lower falls. At least you get to go downhill after the steep climb to the lower falls.
Lower Linville Falls
Leptarrhena pyrofolia (D. Don) R. Brown ex Seringe
Leatherleaf Saxifrage (Leptarrhena pyrofolia (D.Don) R. Brown ex Seringe)
This is a very unusual leaf form. The leaves are relatively thick and notched along the edges. I can see where they got the common name.
Leatherleaf Saxifrage (Leptarrhena pyrofolia (D.Don) R. Brown ex Seringe)
The leaves are all basal and the flowering stalk is the most noticeable thing after the leaves. It’s a very bright red.
Leatherleaf Saxifrage (Leptarrhena pyrofolia (D.Don) R. Brown ex Seringe)
The flowers are exquisitely small. It took a while for me to get one in semi-focus with the zoom at its limit. It was pretty much everywhere we hiked in The Bugaboos.
Saxifraga aizoides L.
Yellow Mountain Saxifrage (Saxifraga aizoides L.)
This was a neat little find trudging through a marsh around Emerald Lake, Yoho National Forest, British Columbia. The lakeside vegetation was almost summery in comparison to the area I had just come from - the Bugaboos.
Saxifraga bronchialis L.
Spotted Saxifrage (Saxifraga bronchialis L.)
I think this was one of the most interesting of the family I have photographed - for its small size and for its location. We had hiked to the top of Black Forest Peak with sheer drops on either side. I was hanging off a rock to get the photograph.
Black Forest Peak, The Bugaboos, British Columbia
I kept having to lean closer and closer to the edge to get a closeup of the flowers.
Spotted Saxifrage (Saxifraga bronchialis L.)
If you look carefully, you can see reddish spots on the petals of the flowers.
Once we were at the top, the helicopter came to pick us up and fly us back to Bugaboo Lodge for dinner.
Helicopter coming to pick us up for dinner
Saxifraga michauxii Britton
Michaux’s Saxifrage (Saxifraga michauxii Britton)
This was my June 2017 trip to Linville Falls. I had spent two days with my cousin Jimmie and her husband Stephen. After they left, I toured along the Blue Ridge Parkway and ended up on Grandfather Mountain and did the tourist bit and crossed the bridge over the ravine atop the mountain. It was a very long way down.
The saxifrage was growing in a crevice atop the mountain.
Michaux’s Saxifrage (Saxifraga michauxii Britton)
The flowers seem so delicate for such harsh environmental conditions but maybe the rock protected it from too much wind. The narrowing of the petals near the base of the flower are significant in identification.
Saxifraga micranthidifolia (Haw.) Steud.
Brook Lettuce (Saxifraga micranthidifolia (Haw.) Steud.)
This fooled me for a second because of the thinness of the leaves. I tend to think of saxifrage with a little thicker leaf.
Brook Lettuce (Saxifraga micranthidifolia (Haw.) Steud.)
The flower is a little out of focus but you can see the resemblance to S. michauxii. I only found this in one place on the trail and that was at the beginning of the Craggy Gardens Trail on the Blue Ridge.
Craggy Gardens Trail
It’s a beautiful trail to a rhododendron bald where you can get a good panoramic view of the area.
Saxifraga oregana Howell
Bog Saxifrage (Saxifraga oregana Howell)
Bog is right! It was pretty messy. This was along the Lakeshore Trail by Lake Chelan at Stehekin, Washington. The trail followed the contours of the lake and both climbed and descended. You got dry, rocky areas and wet, boggy areas along the same trail.
Bog Saxifrage (Saxifraga oregana Howell)
There was one caution along the trail.
Fortunately, I didn’t find any on the trail.
Species/Location
Lithophragma affine
Balcones Trail, Pinnacles National Park
Lithophragma parviflorum
Lakeshore Trail, North Cascades National Park
Heuchera pubescens
Lewis Springs Falls Trail, Shenandoah National Park
Mitella diphylla
Smokemont Loop Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Tiarella cordifolia
Linville Falls Trail, Blue Ridge Parkway, Marion, North Carolina
Brandywine Falls, Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Smokemont Loop Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Tiarella trifoliata
Avalanche Lake Trail, Glacier National Park
Suksdorfia ranunculifolia
Lakeshore Trail, North Cascades National Park
Suksdorfia violacea
Lakeshore Trail, North Cascades National Park
Rainbow Falls Trail, North Cascades National Park
Boykinia acontifolia
Linville Falls Trail, Blue Ridge Parkway, Marion, North Carolina
Leptarrhena pyrofolia
Eva Lake, The Bugaboos, British Columbia
Silver Basin near Frenchman Mountain, The Bugaboos, British Columbia
Saxifraga aizoides
Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park, British Columbia
Saxifraga bronchialis
Black Forest Peak, The Bugaboos, British Columbia
Saxifraga michauxii
Grandfather Mountain, Blue Ridge Parkway, Banner Elk, North Carolina
Saxifraga micranthidifolia
Craggy Gardens Trail, Blue Ridge Parkway, Barnardsville, North Carolina
Saxifraga oregana
Lakeshore Trail, North Cascades National Park
Chapter 49
Crassulaceae
Wild Stonecrop (Sedum ternatum Michx.)
This family of plants is collectively known as stonecrops, named from where they often grow - attached to rock outcrops and surfaces. They often have succulent stems and leaves to store water in periods of drought. The family gets its name from the genus Crassula which I’ve never seen or collected. However, I have photographed three genera and six species. I was surprised to see the Flora of North America list 18 genera and 109 species96, so the family is more abundant than I suspected.
There are three types of photosynthetic pathways in plants and one is named from this group of plants, Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM photosynthesis). These plants are often found in harsh environmental conditions, especially hot, arid conditions. If these plants opened their stomata during the day for gas exchange, they would lose too much water vapor. Instead, plants that use CAM photosynthesis open their stomata only at night and carry out the light independent reactions at that time.
The light independent reactions of photosynthesis used to be called “dark” reactions since we thought, at one time, they only took place at night. With the discovery of CAM photosynthesis and the realization that those “dark” reactions could also take place in daylight, we changed the term to light independent.
Rhodiola integrifolia Raf.
Western Roseroot (Rhodiola integrifolia Raf.)
Until my travels out west, I had never heard of this plant and my first exposure to it was even more unique. I was atop Black Forest Peak in the Bugaboos waiting for a helicopter (sounds exotic doesn’t it) when I noticed this little spot of red on the rock. I do mean little. This photo was taken with a macro lens. Even through the lens, I couldn’t make out much about it but I decided it must be some time of stonecrop since (1) it was growing on stone and (2) the leaves appeared to be succulent. Good guess. Later when I had access to a local wildflower guide I found it was the genus Rhodiola. At the top of the plant are a cluster of follicles - the most primitive of fruit types in the flowering plants. How it survives at that altitude and exposure is beyond me.
Dudleya blochmanae (Eastw.) Moran
Blochman’s Liveforever (Dudleya blochmanae (Eastw.) Moran)
These are more like plants from the red planet Mars. I used to talk to students about why plants are typically green and not some other color. Plants evolved in a way that green wavelength was the least efficient in photosynthesis and therefore reflect green to the eye. I then theorized if we go to another planet with plants, it could be they would all be red because red would have evolved to be the least efficient wavelength in photosynthesis. Here’s proof of my theory - not.
These were growing atop Cavern Point on Santa Cruz Island in Channel Islands National Park. We had just experienced an earthquake and the park ranger went to inspect the point to see if it was safe for tourists.
Cavern Point immediately after earthquake
As he was coming back down, I asked if it was safe. He seemed to think so, so I walked to the top. I kept hearing something crunching under my feet and when I looked down, I couldn’t quite make out what it was. I used the macro on my hiking camera to get a closer look. That’s when I found the stonecrop. This is about as simple as you can get. Notice how “fat” they look - storing water.
Dudleya candelabrum Rose
Candleholder Dudleya (Dudleya candelabrum Rose)
It does look a little like a candleholder. Dudleya, like so many plants in the west, was a new genus for me. These plants are all the rage in Asia and theft of the plants from their native habitat is rife. The South China Post Magazine has an article on the poaching and selling of the plants. Dudleya likes to inhabit the rocky cliffs of the California shoreline and the Channel Islands.
When it flowers, it probably looks more like a candelabra in that a spike rises from the center with the flowers at the top. This photo was taken on the way to Smugglers Cove on Santa Cruz Island. Not too much later after taking this photo, I was standing atop a hill and heard some laughter from somewhere down below. I turned to look, lost my balance and fell on my left ankle. The sprain gave me trouble for the next two months of my western trip.
Dudleya cymosa (Lem.) Britton & Rose
Common Dudlyea (Dudleya cymosa (Lem.) Britton & Rose
True to form, this was also on the California coast. In this case, it was Lands End in San Francisco. I knew it was a stonecrop at the time, just not what stonecrop.
I usually concentrate on taking detailed photos of plants - basal leaves, stem leaves, inflorescences, fruits, and habitat. After a trip, I may spend weeks going through the photographs and adding names to them. Sometimes I’m lucky and can determine the family and genus with a glance. At other times, it takes me long periods of flipping through books - usually because I forgot to photograph a critical detail.
One of the more satisfying ways of identification is serendipity. I’m looking for one plant and come across another plant that I recognize that I photographed. Life is strange when you like plants.
Sedum lanceolatum Torr.
Lanceleaved Sedum (Sedum lanceolatum Torr.)
It is with great pleasure I tell you I recognized this immediately as the genus Sedum - in Yellowstone Park National Park, no less. Every once in a while, some of my botanical training comes back at the weirdest time. Nick of Xanterra had been showing us around the Upper Geyser Basin. She would point out one or two plants along the way.
I generally don’t tell anyone about my background because then they expect me to name the plants for them. Since my expertise was in the southeastern U.S., western plants are new to me for the most part and I probably know as little as the person asking the question. However, I got excited when I saw this and mentioned it to Nancy and Michel and Nick overheard. She asked if I was a botanist and I confessed.
Two years later, Michel, Nancy and I were back, this time with a Tauck Tour of Yellowstone in winter. As we were leaving Yellowstone to head to Grand Teton, we were loading up the bombardier (glorified snow cat) and but who turned out to be our driver - Nick. We explained we had taken her Xanterra tour two years before and she looked at me and said - “you’re the botanist.”
It was on this trip that our bombardier was head butted by a bison who though we were getting too close to his girlfriend.
The bombardier - manufactured in Canada and in use in the park since 1955
Sadly, the Bombardiers have been retired from Yellowstone. While durable, they used too much fuel and were considered to be polluting. My first ride in a bombardier occurred in 1977. A great friend from graduate school came out to Montana to visit me and we did a winter trip to Yellowstone. We boarded the bombardier in Jackson, Wyoming (what everyone calls Jackson Hole) and traveled into Yellowstone.
As you can see, the 1977 bombardier is basically the same as the 2015 bombardier. They are not comfortable for long hauls and are very noisy, but they are warm.
Sedum ternatum Michx.
Wild Stonecrop (Sedum ternatum Michx.)
My familiarity with Sedum dates to my Tishomingo collecting trips. White flowered stonecrops are more common to me. This particular one was on the Lewis Springs Falls Trail in Shenandoah National Park. It was all over the place on the trail.
Wild Stonecrop (Sedum ternatum Michx.)
The flowers are not very large but are showy against the green background of their fleshy leaves. I particularly like the red anthers of the stamens.
Species/Location
Rhodiola integrifolia
Black Forest Peak, The Bugaboos, British Columbia
Rocky Point Ridge and Powder Pig Trail, The Bugaboos, British Columbia
Dudleya blochmanae
Cavern Point, Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park
Dudleya candelabrum
Trail to Smugglers Cover, Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park
Dudleya cymosa
Lands End, San Francisco, California
Sedum lanceolatum
Devils Overlook, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park
Sedium ternatum
Lewis Springs Fall Trail, Shenandoah National Park
Chapter 50
Primulaceae
The family, named for the genus Primula, is commonly referred to as the primrose family, however, there are plenty of other plants commonly known as primroses not found in the family. I’ve never seen the genus Primula for which the family is named but was excited when I finally got see see Dodecatheon somewhere other than books.
Dodecatheon alpinum (A.Gray) Greene
Alpine Shooting Star (Dodecatheon alpinum (A.Gray) Greene)
This little beauty was found along Castle Crest Wildflower Trail at Crater Lake National Park. My first exposure to the genus, however, came at Zion National Park. I remember seeing shooting stars and columbines all over the park and going a little gaga.
Dodecatheon cleavelandii subs. patulum (Greene) H.J.Thomps.
Shooting Star (Dodecatheon cleavelandii subs. patulum (Greene) H.J.Thomps.)
To my eye, a lot of these species look alike. My identifications are based on plant checklists for specific locations. This one (and one similar species) were photographed along the Balcones Trail of Pinnacles National Park. There is something captivating about the flowers - how the petals bend backwards, the bright yellow and white against the purple or lavender.
Dodecatheon hendersonii A.Gray
Mosquitobills (Dodecatheon henersonii A. Gray)
Most members of this genus are scapose (no leaves on the stem). Instead, most leaves form a basal rosette. This was the second species I photographed at Pinnacles.
Mosquitobills (Dodecatheon henersonii A. Gray)
The only real difference I could make out was less yellow associated with the flowers and a little lighter lavender in color.
Dodecatheon pulchellum (Raf.) Merr.
Zion Shooting Star (Dodecatheon pulchellum (Raf.) Merr.)
I was walking with the tour group along the Virgin River in Zion National Park on the way to the access to the Temple of Sinawava. I turned to the right and saw this along the trail. It was my first experience of seeing this genus in the wild.
Zion Shooting Star (Dodecatheon pulchellum (Raf.) Merr.)
Apparently, Zion’s habitats are unique enough this was isolated long ago and evolved into a separate species. Zion has a lot of species endemic only to the park. When you learn how difficult it is to get to the park, and once in the park how difficult it is to get out, you understand how species can become isolated.
Zion is sometimes referred to as the Grand Canyon on LSD because of the vivid colors of the canyon walls. A lot of people thing the colors of Zion are much richer. I’m not sure I agree, but the canyon walls do take on a beautiful hue during sunrise and sunset.
We stayed at the lodge at Zion (more a modern hotel room) but central to most short hiking areas. One morning, I looked out the window and was surprised by a visitor.
Mule Deer - feeding on a box elder
I never made it to the Temple of Sinawava so I guess I’ll have to go back to Zion some day.
Species/Location
Dodecatheon alpinum
Castle Crest Wildflower Trail, Crater Lake National Park
Dodecatheon clevelandii
Balcones Trail, Pinnacles National Park
Dodecatheon hendersonii
Balcones Trail, Pinnacles National Park
Dodecatheon pulchellum
Trail to Temple of Sinawava, Zion National Park
Weeping Rock Trail, Zion National Park
Chapter 51
Myrsinaceae
Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis L.)
This is the Myrsine family of plants with most genera considered tropical. Since I am in a subtropical climate, you would logically conclude most of my photographs come from south Florida. In reality, my photographs are from the western U.S. and the eastern U.S., not subtropical Florida. There are species here in south Florida, I just haven’t run across many of them yet.
Trientalis borealis Raf.
Starflower (Trientalis borealis Raf.)
The local tour bus was taking us through Acadia National Park when it stopped at Thunder Hole. Since Thunder Hole was not thundering, I decided to walk around the parking lot to see what I could find and this was the first thing I came across - another new genus and species for me.
Thunder Hole - Acadia National Park
Starflower (Trientalis borealis Raf.)
I can certainly see why it would be called starflower. The arrangement of the leaves on the stem is referred to as whorled. That is where more than two leaves are found per node on the stem.
Anagallis arvensis L.
I stumbled across this at Point Reyes National Seashore while visiting the Point Reyes Lighthouse. I had walked down the unending series of steps and was on my way back up when I found this growing in a crack of the steps. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Shades of Baroness Orczy!
Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis L.)
I had a great deal of trouble identifying it until I posted it on CalFlora’s website. Someone kindly provided the identification for me and I’ve run into the plant several times since. It’s introduced, of course, and has spread throughout the United States. That little fact makes me wonder why I never encountered it before.
Lysimachia quadrifolia L.
Loosestrife (Lysimachia quadrifolia L.)
At least I had been exposed to this genus before during my Tishomingo days. This is a different species than I collected back then but I recognized the plant when I saw it at Chestoa View along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Loosestrife (Lysimachia quadrifolia L.)
Let’s face it. This is not a flower you will easily forget once you see it. The flowers are very tiny in comparison to the size of the plant but very noticeable. I love the red at the base of the petals. Also notice the stamens are fused part of the way along their filaments.
Chestoa View, Blue Ridge Parkway
Myrsine cubana A.DC.
Myrsine (Myrsine cubana A.DC.)
This is not an impressive plant. This is a Florida species and one of those that is mostly tropical in nature. I photographed it at Secret Woods Nature Center in Fort Lauderdale along the banks of the New River.
Myrsine (Myrsine cubana A.DC.)
What you see here are the fruits attached directly to the stem. Most angiosperms produce their flowers on spikes, racemes, panicles, umbels, etc. but this one has the flowers directly attached to the stem axis. The fruit is technically a drupe. Think of a peach with its pit. A drupe is a fruit with a skin-like layer, a fleshy middle layer and a stony inner layer - the peach pit. Inside the pit of the peach is the seed. The same applies here to Myrsine. I would not eat the drupes of this plant.
Species/Location
Trientalis borealis
Thunder Hole, Acadia National Park
Anagallis arvensis
Point Reyes Light, Point Reyes National Seashore
Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park
Lysimachia quadrifolia
Linville Falls, Blue Ridge Parkway, Marion, North Carolina
Chestoa View, Blue Ridge Parkway, Marion, North Carolina
Myrsine cubana
Secret Woods Nature Center, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Chapter 52
Symplocaceae
Horse Sugar (Symplocos tinctoria (L.) L’Hér
On one of the field trips Dr. Pullen would take our classes on back in the 70’s, he showed us horse sugar. The leaf is unremarkable other than it has a sweet taste if you try. The sweetness stuck with me over the years and I can recognize the plant without flowers fairly easily.
Horse Sugar (Symplocos tinctoria (L.) L’Hér
Older leaves tend to be rigid and tough but they still have a sweet taste.
Symplocos tinctoria (L.) L’Hér
Horse Sugar (Symplocos tinctoria (L.) L’Hér
It was years before I ever saw the plant in bloom and it forms clusters of flowers at the tips of branches. There’s a sweet aroma to the flowers. I do assume horses love the stuff.
Species/Location
Symplocos tinctoria
South Mountains State Park, Connelly Springs, North Carolina
Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, Florida
Dupont State Forest, Asheville, North Carolina
Chapter 53
Diapensiaceae
Galax (Galax urceolata (Poir.) Brummitt)
Galax urceolata (Poir.) Brummitt
If you are a fan of old time music (that’s a technical term, not a generality) then you are familiar with Galax, Virginia. The town was named for this plant. My first exposure to the plant was at F.D. Roosevelt State Park near Warm Springs, Georgia in April of 2016. It was not in bloom but I could recognize it by the leaves - they are that distinct. The leaves often turn rust or red in the fall.
Galax (Galax urceolata (Poir.) Brummitt
If you get a chance to go to Warm Springs, it’s worth the trip. Be sure to turn the Little White House. There’s a very nice museum on the grounds and you can walk through the Little White House and see where F.D.R. died.
You can also tour the pools where F.D.R. worked with kids with polio. The pools are drained but they have a spring in the middle of the pool so you can feel the temperature of the waters.
Historic pools of Warm Springs. I was the first visitor to the pools that day and the manager was full of information about the pools and the history of the town.
A tour of downtown Warm Springs is also worth it with the old stores and shops and old hotel.
Warm Springs is still a sleepy little Georgia town. It’s like walking back into the 1930’s.
Last but not least, visit Dowdell Knob, F.D.R.’s favorite place to picnic. You can see his old barbecue (restored) and enjoy the same view he did.
My next exposure to galax was at Linville Falls along the Blue Ridge in June 2017. Since then, it has become an old friend. I can see why the town is named after such a beautiful plant.
The flowers are born on a spike which means they are attached directly to the main axis of the stem with not pedicels of any length to the flower.
Galax (Galax urceolata (Poir.) Brummitt)
The spike of flowers is a white banner waving to you in the breeze in the green woods of spring and summer.
Species/Location
Galax urceolata
Wolfden Loop Trail, F.D. Roosevelt State Park, Pine Mountain, Georgia
Linville Falls, Blue Ridge Parkway, Marion, North Carolina
Crabtree Falls, Blue Ridge Parkway, Barnardsville, North Carolina
Chapter 54
Styracaceae
Snowdrops (Halesia carolina L.)
The family is commonly referred to as the Storax family. The main genus in the family is Styrax which I collected in Tishomingo State Park many years ago. It’s a small tree and it was growing in the flood plain of Bear Creek which runs through the park. It took me forever to get a specimen for my thesis since most of the branches were very high over my head and because it was seldom in bloom.
I’ve been more fortunate with another genus in the family - Halesia. I’ve found in three times over the last few years and luckily, it’s been in bloom those three times.
Halesia carolina L.
Snowdrops (Halesia carolina L.)
My first exposure to this was on the Deep Creek Trail out of Bryson City, North Carolina in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I had taken a small detour on the trail to Juney Whank Falls (one of the more interesting names for a waterfall). It was growing along the trail and I almost missed the fairly inconspicuous bloom.
Often, when I hike a trail, I’m looking forward to see what is coming next. Invariably, after a period of time, I tire and do more looking down. I’ve found a lot of trees and shrubs in bloom when I first notice the fallen flowers at my feet. Then I look up and see the shrub or tree in bloom. Otherwise, I would have never noticed.
Juney Whank Falls, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Unlike the genus Styrax, this seems to like well drained soils, and like Styrax, under a fairly dense canopy of other trees.
Species/Location
Halesia carolina
Deep Creek Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Manatee Springs State Park, Chieftan, Florida
Smokemont Loop Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Chapter 55
Ericaceae
Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia L.)
For some reason, when I hear the common name of this family, the heath family, I think of the Scottish moors. Perhaps that is appropriate since Scotland does have members of the heath family making up some of the vegetation of their moors.
I know the family better as containing blueberries and rhododendrons. It is well represented in North America with 46 genera and 212 species.97
Pyrola chlorantha Sw.
Greenish-flowered Wintergreen (Pyrola chlroantha Sw.)
Chlorantha means green flowers. Perhaps the flowers are a little more greenish before they are open, but the photo was taken late in the season for this plant and it was mostly setting fruit.
This photo was taken at Lake Louise along a trail that followed the lakeshore. It was boggy where I knelt down to take the photo and I remember getting my knees wet. To be honest, I always get my knees wet from kneeling for photos. We were on a walkabout with a Tauk Tour where we had a “guest” lecturer. He was mostly talking animals and I kept drifting back to take photos. Eventually the tour director came up and asked me if I was OK. I said yes but that I was more interested in the plants along the trail. She suggested I drop out and enjoy myself. That’s one of the things I like about the Tauck company. They let you explore at your own pace.
Jeff, the Naturalist, Getting Us Ready for Our Nature Walk
Moneses uniflora A. Gray
One-flowered Wintergreen (Moneses uniflora A. Gray)
I had just gotten a great view of Moraine Lake near Lake Louise when our time was up and we were walking back to the tour bus when I caught this out of the corner of my eye.
Well, it certainly is one-flowered. I’m not sure why this is not included in the previous wintergreen genus but perhaps it’s because it produces a basal rosette of leaves where Pyrola often does not. I’m sure there must be some distinction between the flower types but a lot of members of the family vary slightly in flower structure. This one seemed shy. It never wanted to face my camera and I did not want to get off the trail to take the photo.
One thing botany has taught me is to be observant - at least for plants. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been driving down a road and a plant catches my eye and before I realize it, I’m steering straight towards it in my vehicle. Fortunately, I’ve caught myself in time, every time - so far.
Chimaphila maculata (L.) Pursh
Pipsissewa (Chimaphila maculata (L.) Pursh)
What a strange common name for a plant. I Googled it (forgive the verb) and there is no one consensus as to what the meaning is other than it seems to be Native American in origin. This plant is not in bloom and I’ve never been able to catch it other than in the bud stage, however, the leaves are so amazingly distinct - the white strip, the toothed edges of the leaf, the opposite arrangement of the leaves on the stem, it would be hard to confuse with any other plant.
I’ve been fortunate enough to find it in two different locations: Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Tishomingo State Park.
Wikipedia attributes several medicinal values to it by the Creek Indians.
One of the strangest locations was Tishomingo State Park. I collected that park for almost three years and never found it within the park boundaries. My last trip to Tishomingo - kind of a remembrance run - was in 2018. What should I find but this plant sticking its tongue out at me and saying “you missed me!”
Chimaphila umbellata (L.) Nutt.
Pipsissewa (Chimaphila umbellata (L.) Nutt.)
Alas, again no flowers - only fruits. I was stumbling my way to Avalanche Lake in Glacier National Park when I found this one. I later found it again on Isle Royale National Park. An umbel is where all the flowers are on a pedicel and they all arise from the same point on a stem.
Pipsissewa (Chimaphila umbellata (L.) Nutt.)
Orthilia secunda (Linnaeus) House
One-sided Wintergreen (Orthilia secunda (Linnaeus) House)
It’s always a pleasure to find any species of “wintergreen.” I prefer it to be in flower but fruit is OK as well. This was on the Avalanche Lake Trail at Glacier National Park that was pretty much a rainforest in habitat.
The leaves were mostly basal and any stem leaves were long gone. The name comes from the flowers and fruit all align to one side of the plant. The white fibers you see are obviously roots but what they are doing above the ground and what, if anything, they have to do with the plant, I have no idea.
Pterospora andromedea Nuttall
Pinedrops (Pterospora andromedea Nuttall)
I have to admit to always getting exciting when I find a flowering plant which contains no chlorophyll. Wikipedia reports this has a parasitic relationship with a mycorrhizal fungus. Personally, if it is associated with a fungus, I would think it would be a mutualistic relationship, not parasitic.
I found these growing in a pine forest along the loop of Devil’s Tower National Monument in July of 2013.
Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton
Lowbush Blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton)
Ah, the genus Vaccinium - blueberries! Nutritious, delicious, and a bear attractant. My first experience with any blueberries was as an adult leader to the Charles L. Sommers Canoe Base in Ely, Minnesota.
Our trip coincided with blueberry season. As we canoed during the day, we snacked on them along the trail. We we camped at night, we had blueberry deserts. For breakfast, it was blueberry pancakes. It got to the point that our feces turned blue from so many blueberries and you couldn’t tell our feces from bear feces, since they were pigging out on them also.
We did have to be careful when we camped on an island or spit of land to check for bear scat first. There were several times we had to move on to another island because there was too much blue bear scat on the island to safely camp.
To safeguard our food, we piled the food under the canoes and set pots and pans on top of the canoe. The idea was if a bear tried to get the food, it would knock over the pots and pans and make a racket and we would jump out of our tents and scare it away. At least, that was the theory.
The lowbush blueberry was probably the species we kept eating the whole trip since I’ve photographed this at Voyageurs National Park near the canoe base and Acadia National Park. They indeed are low growing bushes.
Vaccinium corymbosum L.
Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.)
From low bush to high bush. When I lectured on genetics I would explain Mendel’s choice of peas for experimentation. I explained the common garden pea Pisum sativum grew in two forms: as vines growing high on a trellis or low, squat plants. You either had to reach up to gather peas or bend down to gather them. Mendel found the same thing and one cross he made was tall versus short plants. The same probably occurs with blueberries.
Actually, V. corymbosum is more of a shrub. You can see some flower buds on this as well as developing fruit. These were photographed at Lake George State Forest in Florida.
Vaccinium microcarpum (Turcz. ex Rupr.) Schmah.
Bog Cranberry (Vaccinium microcarpum (Turcz. ex Rupr.) Schmah.)
The cranberry that you eat is from America and is V. macrocarpon. The bog cranberry, V. microcarpum, is also edible but you would spend more time harvesting than its worth, the berries are very, very small.
Bog Cranberry (Vaccinium microcarpum (Turcz. ex Rupr.) Schmah.)
What struck me most about the plant was the leaves and the brilliant red fruits. This was found at Lake Louise along the trail around the lake.
The lake trail is right at the water’s edge and is an easy walk. However, you need to take into consideration the altitude. Even level walkways can be a challenge at 5, 249 feet. Then try that by stopping every few feet, kneeling, taking photographs, and then getting back up and proceeding to the next plant.
Vaccinium myrsinites Lam.
Shiny Blueberry (Vaccinium myrsinites Lam.)
There’s no flower or fruit on this plant and the only way I know what species it is, is because (1) it was growing in a place I know - Archbold Biological Station and (2) it had a sign naming the species. Thank God for labeled nature trails! To be honest, over the years, as I took students on field trips here, I had previously identified it.
I have eaten the fruit off this one and it’s OK - nothing to write home about.
Vaccinium pallidum Aiton
Hillside Blueberry (Vaccinium pallidum Aiton)
This was growing along the Lewis Springs Falls Trail in Shenandoah National Park. The leaf is the giveaway on this particular plant. It’s a low growing shrub. You can see the fruits beginning to develop.
The leaf has a leather-like texture to it - very rough to the touch yet fairly thin in thickness. Also note how the leaf is widest in the middle of the leaf.
Part of the Lewis Springs Falls Trail merges for a short distance with the Appalachian Trail (AT). I keep doing that - hiking short sections of the AT. Perhaps one day, I’ll piece it all together and say I have completed the AT!
Vaccinium stamineum L.
Deerberry (Vaccinium stamineum L.)
OK, so deer probably do eat these but so do I. One look at the photograph and you can see where it gets its specific name stamineum. You can see the brownish stamens hanging down from the flowers. This is probably the easiest species to recognize in the field from the flowers.
Deerberry (Vaccinium stamineum L.)
The berries will be black upon maturity, or at least a deep purple.
Of all the members of the blueberry/deerberry family, this is probably the one I most come in contact. I’ve photographed it at Blue Springs State Park in Florida, the Wolfden Loop Trail near Warm Springs, Georgia and at Reed Bingham State Park in Georgia. I’ve not photographed it just about everywhere else in the southeastern U.S.
Rhododendron calendulaceum (Michx.) Torr.
Flame Azalea (Rhododendron calendulaceum (Michx.) Torr.)
An azalea by any name is still the genus Rhododendron. There is no such thing as the genus Azalea. I remember seeing azaleas when I was a counselor at Boy Scout Camp at Camp Kicakapoo (don’t snicker, that’s an actual Native American tribe). Probably the one I’m most familiar with is R. canescens but this particular species is especially attractive with very large flowers that very from yellow to orange to almost red.
Flame Azalea (Rhododendron calendulaceum (Michx.) Torr.)
It’s hard to believe this is the same species but the size of the flower, the shape of the flower and leaves confirm it. It just shows how much variation there is within a species of plant.
These two were photographed on the same trip along the same strip of the Blue Ridge Parkway in June of 2017.
Rhododendron canadense (L.) Torr.
Rhodora (Rhododendron canadense (L.) Torr.)
Years ago in graduate school I was trying to read as many scientific journals associated with botany as I could possibly digest. I always felt a little behind in my knowledge back then (and more so now). One of the journals I ran across was Rhodora and the name was strange to me. As there was no Google back then much less internet, I could only guess it was a genus. It was not - just a common name. Anyway, on my trip to Acadia National Park, I heard the bus driver mention rhodora. It grows on the mountain sides in the park and I was fortunate it was in bloom. It was good to finally figure out the source of the name of the journal.
Rhodora (Rhododendron canadense (L.) Torr.)
The flowers, to me, only vaguely resemble Rhododendron flowers. It looks as though three of the upper petals stick together and the two lower petals spread outward. It’s a great shade of purple.
The first one I saw was on Cadillac Mountain. That’s quite a view from up top. You can see most of the park from there and the town of Bar Harbor.
View from Cadillac Mountain. Bar Harbor is just a little left of center just before you see the ocean.
Rhododendron canescens (Michx.) Sweet
Azalea (Rhododendron canescens (Michx.) Sweet)
Sorry, but they were not blooming when I found this. It was a little early in the spring. The photo was taken at Falling Waters State Park near Chipley, Florida.
This is the “tallest” waterfall in Florida but in reality, it’s fed artificially from a holding pond above the falls into a sink hole. Even so, it’s pretty impressive.
Anyway, when this is in bloom, the flowers are typically pink in color. It’s really exciting to round a bend in a trail and see a shrub of this is full bloom.
My first experience at this was in Tishomingo State Park and I’ve never seen so many blooms on a Rhododendron as on that bush. The commercial varieties you can buy at nurseries could not match that one bush in the park.
Falling Waters State Park, Chipley, Florida
Rhododendron catawbiense Michx.
Catawba Rhododendron (Rhododendron catawbiense Michx.)
It seems when I travel to the Smokies to see the rhododendron in bloom, I’m either too early or too late. To make matters worse, when one of the major species is in bloom, the other major species is not. I at least got a few good shots of these even though they were on their way out.
Notice the leaves hang down in this species.
Catawba Rhododendron (Rhododendron catawbiense Michx.)
Look at the spotted petal. This is indicative of the species. The other major species for which people travel to the Smokies for is R. maximum.
What I love about R. catawbiense is it can form dense thickets and tunnels which you can walk through during a hike, providing much needed shade on a hot summer day.
I was doing black and white photography many years ago and had taken some Itawamba Junior College students to the Smokies for a camping/hiking trip. I love this shot of the rhododendrons curling over the trail as one of the students hikes up the trail towards Chimney Tops.
Rhododendron maximum L.
Rosebay Rhododendron (Rhododendron maxium L.)
The flower color is variable from white to pink to red in this species. Unlike R. catawbiense, the leaves don’t droop.
Rosebay Rhododendron (Rhododendron maxium L.)
These photos were taken at South Mountains State Park, North Carolina.
Phyllodoce empetriformis (Smith) D. Don
Pink Mountain Heather (Phyllodoce empetriformis (Smith) D. Don)
This is probably the smallest shrub you’ll ever see. I was photographing some other plants at Silver Basin near Frenchman Mountain in The Bugaboos, British Columbia when I was startled to see this pink color jumping out at me. I knew it was a member of the Ericaceae by the flowers but I knew I had never seen the plant before.
Pink Mountain Heather (Phyllodoce empetriformis (Smith) D. Don)
It’s like the flowers form a topknot at the top of the stem. Also, the leaves look whorled in their arrangement on the stem but technically, they are not. They are referred to as imbricate which means overlapping like tiles on a roof.
A lot of the members of the family Ericaceae have flowers that form bell-shaped structures. This is no exception.
Kalmia latifolia L.
Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia L.)
I do admit to favorites and this is my favorite in the heath family. I first found this in Tishomingo State Park and have enjoyed finding it where ever I go ever since.
Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia L.)
The blooms are just so unique. The anthers fit into pockets of the floral tube. It’s suggested that when an insect lands on the flower, it triggers the anthers to release from the pocket and dust the insect with pollen. I’ve never seen this but why else put the stamens inside a pocket?
I had not seen this in bloom since the 70’s when I walking the trails of Tishomingo. It was on the Wolfden Loop Trail near Pine Mountain, Georgia (and Warm Springs) that I noticed some pink on the trail. I looked up and saw my old friend.
For some reason, I hit the jackpot that day. The shrub was kind enough to lead me down the trail for almost a mile of these beautiful blooms. Yea, I know, I get a little sentimental.
Gaultheria shallon Pursh
Salal (Gaultheria shallon Pursh)
Although there is a species of Gaultheria in the southeast, G. procumbens,98 I have never run across it. This is a western species. I found this on Klamath Beach Road in Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park near Crescent City, California.
Salal (Gaultheria shallon Pursh)
It’s a beautiful member of the heath family. The leaves are a little thick and the flowers and their stems are a great pink color. This was growing alongside the Klamath Beach Road.
Again, you can see the characteristic bell-shaped flowers were the petals have fused to form a tube. Even more striking to me is the pink raceme to which the flowers are attached.
Arctostaphylos insularis Greene & Perry
Santa Cruz Island Manzanita (Arctostaphylos insularis Greene & Perry)
My introduction to the genus Arctostphylos was on a western trip with Tauck. The genus is almost exclusively western in distribution with only A. uva-ursi found in the northeast as well as the west.99 Out west, species may be restricted to individual states and Flora lists 62 species.100
As indicated by the common name, it was found in the Channel Islands off the coast of California.
Arctostaphylos nevadensis A.Gray
Pinemat Manzanita (Arctostaphylos nevadensis A.Gray)
This was photographed on the Plaikni Falls Trail at Crater Lake National Park in June of 2015. I had been hiking all day and was bone tired but there is always one more waterfall. The trail is a two mile, out and back trail with a moderate elevation gain of around 134 feet, according to AllTrails. Somehow, the trail length seems longer than stated.
Plaikni Falls, Crater Lake National Park
The falls were impressive but even more impressive was the profusion of wild flowers at the base of the falls. I took a few quick shots of the falls and spent the rest of my time photographing plants.
Arctostaphylos patula Greene
Greenleaf Manzanita (Arctostaphylos patula Greene)
This species is by far the most common I came across out west. It’s also probably the most attractive of the species. The leaves are very diagnostic of the species. Notice how they seem to point up and are very smooth in texture.
It was Jim, our tour guide for my first Tauck tour that identified the plant for me. Since then I’ve seen in almost everywhere I’ve been out west and have photographed it in Redwoods National Park, Sequoia National Park, and MacArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park in California.
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng.
Kinnickkinnick, Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng.
This is the most widely distributed species in North America101 but I only ran into it in a few places. The places were exotic, for me, and it looks, at first glance, like A. patula. The leaves in this species are wider towards the apex while in A. patula, the leaves are widest in the middle.
Oxydendrum arboreum (L.) DC.
Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum (L.) DC.)
As you might guess, the leaves have a sour taste. I first encountered this in Tishomingo State Park but have seen it numerous times in other locations. The flowers can be quite attractive - forming long, hanging racemes. I was unable to get a photo of the flowers but I do have a photo of the fruits.
Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum (L.) DC.)
Those leaves, for some reason, really stand out to me and I can identify the plant without flowers or fruit. However, I almost never see it without the old panicles of fruit attached.
Lyonia ferruginea (Walter) Nutt.
Rusty Lyonia (Lyonia ferruginea (Walter) Nutt.
I was totally ignorant of the genus until I started taking students to Archbold Biological Station near Sebring, Florida. There are at least three species of Lyonia at the research station. This particular one has a rusty hair found on the bottom of the leaves. You can see the hairs in this photo but they have not, as yet, turned brown or rust colored.
Lyonia fruticosa (Michx.) G.S.Torr.
Coastal Plains Staggerbush (Lyonia fruticosa (Michx.) G.S.Torr.)
Several species have the rust colored hairs. These come on the plant quickly but are soon worn away and you get less of the rusty appearance as the leaves age.
Coastal Plains Staggerbush (Lyonia fruticosa (Michx.) G.S.Torr.)
You can tell by the flowers these are members of the heath family but what is strange about them is they appear to be top heavy, almost like in an umbel. I realize the image appears distorted but it is not. The flowers are somewhat laterally compressed.
Lyonia lucida (Lam.) K.Koch
Shiny Lyonia (Lyonia lucida (Lam.) K.Koch)
You’ll notice the leaves are devoid of hairs of any type -hence the common name. What stands out more to me is that in this species of Lyonia you see the sepals of the flower. If you refer to the previous photo of L. fruticosa, the sepals are absent.
Archbold Biological Station has changed somewhat since I last took students there. There is a brand new visitor center closer to the entrance and they have expanded programs for students in the area. In addition, they have lengthened and improved their old nature trail.
Leucothoe fontanesiana (Steud.) Sleumer
Dog-hobble (Leucothe fontanesiana (Steud.) Sleumer)
This stuff grows so thick in the Smokies you can see why it gets its common name - the stuff is too thick for dogs to forage through. The leaves seem to angle off the plant in an alternate arrangement with a raceme of flowers.
Dog-hobble (Leucothe fontanesiana (Steud.) Sleumer)
Apologies for the bee porn. What appears to be sepals at the base of each individual flower is instead a bract.
Species/Location
Pyrola chlorantha
Lake Louise, Banff National Park, Alberta
Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park, British Columbia
Moneses uniflora
Moraine Lake, Banff National Park, Alberta
Chimaphila maculata
Deeplow Gap Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Tishomingo State Park, Tishomingo, Mississippi
Chimaphila umbellata
Avalanche Lake Trail, Glacier National Park
Isle Royale National Park
Orthilia secunda
Avalanche Lake Trail, Glacier National Park
Pterospora andromedea
Devil’s Tower National Monument
Vaccinium angustifolium
Beaver Pond Overlook Trail, Voyageurs National Park
Thunder Hole, Acadia National Park
Vaccinium corymbosum
Lake George State Forest, De Leon Springs, Florida
Falling Waters State Park, Chipley, Florida
Vaccinium microcarpum
Lake Louise, Banff National Park, Alberta
Vaccinium myrsinites
Archbold Biological Station, Venus, Florida
Vaccinium pallidum
Lewis Springs Falls Trail, Shenandoah National Park
Vaccinium stamineum
Blue Spring State Park, Orange City, Florida
Wolfden Loop Trail, F.D. Roosevelt State Park, Warm Springs, Georgia
Reed Bingham State Park, Adele, Georgia
Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland, Florida
Rhododendron calendulaceum
Chestoa Overlook, Blue Ridge Parkway, Marion, North Carolina
Mount Mitchell State Park, Blue Ridge Parkway, Burnsville, North Carolina
Rhododendron canescens
Falling Waters State Park, Chipley, Florida
Rhododendron catawbiense
Craggy Gardens Trail, Blue Ridge Parkway, Banardsville, North Carolina
Lewis Springs Falls Trail, Shenandoah National Park
Rhododendron maximum
Linville Falls Trail, Blue Ridge Parkway, Marion, North Carolina
Crabtree Falls, Blue Ridge Parkway, Banardsville, North Carolina
Phyllodoce empetriformis
Silver Basin near Frenchman Mountain, The Bugaboos, British Columbia
Kalmia latifolia
Wolfden Loop Trail, F.D. Roosevelt State Park, Warm Springs, Georgia
Linville Falls Trail, Blue Ridge Parkway, Marion, North Carolina
Lewis Springs Falls Trail, Shenandoah National Park
Julian Price Memorial Park, Blue Ridge Parkway, Blowing Rock, North Carolina
High Falls State Park, Connelly Springs, North Carolina
Deep Creek, Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Gaultheria shallon
Klamath Beach Road, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park
Arctostaphylos insularis
Channel Island Visitor Center, Ventura, California
Arctostaphylos nevadensis
Plaikni Falls Trail, Crater Lake National Park
Arctostaphylos patula
Balcones Trail, Pinnacles National Park
Sequoia National Park
Kings Canyon National Park
MacArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park, Burney, California
Sunrise Point, Bryce National Park
Grand Canyon National Park, North Rim
The Pinnacles, Crater Lake National Park
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
Trail to Rainbow Falls, North Cascades National Park
Oxydendrum arboreum
Cloudland Canyon State Park, Georgia
Lyonia ferruginea
Archbold Biological Station, Venus, Florida
Lyonia fruticosa
Archbold Biological Station, Venus, Florida
Lyonia lucida
Archbold Biological Station, Venus, Florida
Leucothoe fontanesiana
Dupont State Forest, Asheville, North Carolina
Deep Creek Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Smokemont Loop Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Chapter 56
Rosaceae
Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora Thunb.)
With the exception of three very small families, the entire volume # 9 of Flora of North America is taken up with the rose family. The flora reports 68 genera and 680 species in North America.102 I have photographed 25 genera and 59 species, so this is going to be a very long chapter!
In my graduate work in Mississippi, I realized the rose family was important but the large number of species in the western U.S. astounded me. It’s interesting that some areas of the country are dominated by specific families. I found members of the rose family in totally unsuspected areas of the west.
Wild roses are really nice to come across but their identification can be difficult. What a lot of people don’t know is the original plant from which we get today’s roses had but five petals (like the one shown). The familiar multi-petal rose with which everyone is familiar is actually a mutant. It started as a mutant and was found to be more favorable in appearance and then propagated for its mutancy.
As I collected in Tishomingo, there were several specific genera I kept coming across. As I traveled out west and through the midwest and northeast, I bumped into more and more genera not found in the southeastern U.S.
Rubus cuneifolius Pursh
Sand Blackberry (Rubus cuneifolius Pursh)
Of all the genera in the rose family, the genus Rubus gave me the most trouble as a graduate student. What gave me fits was the terms primocane and floricane. For proper identification of species, you needed to collect a sample of each from a plant. A primocane is that portion of the plant that is not yet mature enough to produce flowers whereas the floricane is. My problem was how to determine what was the primocane. Dr. Pullen used to chastise me for not bringing in the primocanes. I never did get that down. My answer was to bring in as much of the plant as possible and let him decide which was the primocane. There are 37 species of Rubus listed in Flora of North America.103
This was a particularly attractive blackberry I found at Lake George State Forest. Unfortunately for me, it was not in fruit for me to taste. Fortunately for me, it was not in fruit so I wasn’t worried about bears in the campsite.
Lake George State Forest is located just southeast of Lake George and just northwest of De Leon Spring, Florida. The closest large town in Orlando, south of the forest. The forest covers 21, 473 acres of land in Volusia county. It’s mostly flat pine lands and the trails are easy hiking.
Rubus idaeus L.
Wild Red Raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.)
As you can tell from the common name, the genus Rubus includes raspberries. It also includes a lot more common names: dwarf bramble, thimbleberry, salmonberry, etc. The flowers were not very large on this plant but it was fairly common on the trail to Observation Point in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park.
Wild Red Raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.)
Either it was a rough year or the fruits of this plant are very small. A bear would have to be desperate to get many off the plant to eat. I’m not sure it would be worth it with all those prickles on the stem (remember, roses don’t have thorns or spines).
Rubus lasiococcus A.Gray
Dwarf Bramble, Creeping Raspberry (Rubus lasiococcus A. Gray)
I almost overlooked this one in June 2015 while walking the Castle Crest Wildflower loop at Crater Lake National Park. I liked it immediately because it had no prickles on the stems.
What looks like a large frilly leaf is actually a trifoliate leaf with three leaflets with indented margins, much like a three-leaf clover.
Dwarf Bramble, Creeping Raspberry (Rubus lasiococcus A. Gray)
If you visit Crater Lake (and you really should) do the wildflower loop. It’s very close to the visitor center and you can actually walk across the road from the visitor center and wind you way back to the loop. It’s the epitome of an alpine meadow and you’ll see a lot of great wildflowers in bloom from May-July. You may run into a bit of snow in May, however.
Rubus odoratus L.
Purple-flowering Raspberry (Rubus odoratus L.)
This is, without a doubt, one of the largest leaved and flowered member of the genus Rubus I’ve encountered. The leaves were larger than the palm of my hand. The flower was almost an inch across.
Purple-flowering Raspberry (Rubus odoratus L.)
I found it flowering in two different locations along the Blue Ridge Parkway: Chestoa Overlook and Mount Mitchell. Mount Mitchell is the highest mountain east of the Mississippi River with an elevation of 6, 684 feet. There was some controversy over that finding for years but the elevation has since been proven correct. It was named after Elisha Mitchell, professor at University of North Carolina who died while exploring the mountain on June 27, 1857. He’s buried at the foot of the overlook at the top of the mountain.
View from atop Mount Mitchell
The road which leads to the top is very steep and winding. I was amazed to see a contingent of young kids on bicycles on their way up to the top. I’m not sure I could have made it down the mountain on a bike without wrecking and here they were peddling up the mountain.
Purple-flowering Raspberry (Rubus odoratus L.)
As you can see from this image, there are indeed prickles on this species. Members of the rose family have multiple stamens and typically five petals and five sepals.
Rubus parviflorus Nutt.
Western Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus Nutt.)
It’s probably more appropriate to call it the midwestern and western thimbleberry since it can be found in the midwest also. This one also has pretty large leaves and flowers but not as large as R. odoratus. I’ve photographed this in three locations: Redwoods National Park, Grand Canyon National Park and Yoho National Park, British Columbia.
Western Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus Nutt.)
This large flower was on the North Kaibab Trail, north rim of Grand Canyon National Park. I have to admit it was a pretty good shot since I was clinging to the back of a mule at the time.
Rubus pensilvanicus Poir.
Pennsylvania Blackberry (Rubus pensilvanicus Poir.)
I’ve never understood why the state is spelled with two “n’s” while the species is spelled with one. If any one knows, contact me. It was not photographed in Pennsylvania but in Ohio at Cuyahoga Valley National Park at Brandywine Falls.
Brandywine Falls, Cuyahoga Valley National Park - 65 feet high.
Rubus spectabilis Pursh
Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis Pursh)
The plant is not so much spectacular as arresting. This photo was taken along Klamath Beach Road in Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, near Crescent City, California. I kept noticing red petals along the trail but when I looked overhead, I couldn’t find anything. I think the petals are ephemeral and drop within a few days of opening.
Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis Pursh)
I finally found red petals on a plant. After I saw the flower, I realized it must be some species of Rubus. Later, I found it on Yurok Loop Trail in Redwoods National Park and again later at Stout Grove at Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park.
Redwoods National Park is a little confusing. It is not one large park but two major tracts separated by some towns and two state parks. California and the U.S. have linked up to form one massive park on the state line next to Oregon.
Wikipedia reports that the berries are just OK in taste but do better in jams and jellies. They were also eaten with salmon, hence the common name.
Rubus ursinus Cham. & Schltdl.
California Blackberry (Rubus ursinus Cham. & Schltdl.)
Ursinus, is, of course Latin for bear. That makes me nervous. It seems to indicate this is a favorite food of bears. I didn’t see any around when I took the photo.
California Blackberry (Rubus ursinus Cham. & Schltdl.)
This keeps close to the ground and the blooms are not very large. However, look at the prickles on the surface of the leaves!
This was taken near the Point Reyes Light at Point Reyes National Seashore.
I had just climbed up that interminable set of stairs which goes to the light and made it back to the parking lot. This beckoned. I walked to the end and found the blackberry growing along the hillside. At the end was an overlook to the ocean with seals sunning themselves on the rocks below.
By the way, the approach to the Point Reyes Light is spectacular. If you look to the right, you see the Pacific and can often see whales spouting. I saw several on my walk to the light. However, the best was yet to come.
These trees were bent by the winds of the Pacific and formed an eye-popping tunnel on your way to the light.
Geum aleppicum Jacq.
Yellow Avens (Geum aleppicum Jacq.)
I admit to only a vague knowledge of Geum. I did collect one species in Tishomingo State Park back in the 70’s but it’s only recently I’ve become re-acquainted with the genus. Unless you look directly at the flower, you would have no idea it is a member of the rose family.
Yellow Avens (Geum aleppicum Jacq.)
This was a bashful one. I couldn’t get a good photo of this because it was growing at the very edge of Three Knobs Overlook on the Blue Ridge. It was wet ground and all it would have taken was one misstep and I would have been on my way down the mountain, butt first. There are five petals and if you look closely at the center of the photograph, you can see where it is beginning to set fruit (the yellow area). It looks a little like an undeveloped strawberry.
Geum canadense Jacq.
White Avens (Geum canadense Jacq.)
This Geum was on the trail to Lower Linville Falls near the Blue Ridge Parkway. This was the species I collected in Tishomingo and Flora of North America reports it is the most widespread and common species in the southeastern U.S.104
White Avens (Geum canadense Jacq.)
The flower definitely looks similar to the strawberry flower.
White Avens (Geum canadense Jacq.)
Like strawberries, the fruits are achenes. Unlike strawberries, there is not fleshy receptacle to eat.
Geum macrophyllum Willd.
Large-leaved Avens (Geum macrophyllum Willd.)
I was surprised to see this on the trail to Avalanche Lake in Glacier National Park. It was growing in a rain forest under the canopy of pines.
Large-leaved Avens (Geum macrophyllum Willd.)
This image hints at an unusual feature found on many of the genera, a style bent at a sharp angle. Actually, the style (long part of the ovary) is of two parts. One part of the style is persistent and stays attached to the ovary. The other part of the style does not. The persistent part of the style forms a hook at its end and the non-persistent style forms a hook on its lower part. The two hooks connect early in development but eventually the non-persistent breaks away.105
Large-leaved Avens (Geum macrophyllum Willd.)
One nice feature about the plant is you can get both flower and fruit on the same plant which makes it a great deal easier to identify. In this case, the large leaves were the give away.
Fallugia paradoxia (D.Don) Endl. ex Torr.
Apache Plume (Fallugia paradoxia (D.Don) Endl. ex Torr.)
I first encountered this at Big Bend National Park and then again at Grand Canyon National Park, south rim. There are separate male and female flowers and the female flowers are what give rise to the fruit which gives the common name.
The first photo shows a male flower. It’s a fairly small shrub with very tiny leaves.
Apache Plume (Fallugia paradoxia (D.Don) Endl. ex Torr.)
Each tiny leaf is divided into two or three or more segments.
Apache Plume (Fallugia paradoxia (D.Don) Endl. ex Torr.)
One the female flowers are fertilized, the fruits develop as achenes with long styles persistent from the ovary. The styles themselves are quite hairy and are referred to as plumose - meaning they are like feathers in the arrangement of the hairs on the style.
Apache Plume (Fallugia paradoxia (D.Don) Endl. ex Torr.)
This photo shows a female flower and you can see the stigmas and styles protruding from the receptacle.
Apache Plume (Fallugia paradoxia (D.Don) Endl. ex Torr.)
The “plumes” are quite distinctive and attractive. They easily allow the wind to disperse the seed from the plant. There is but a single species in North America.106
Rosa multiflora Thunb.
Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora Thunb.)
I’m always reluctant to take photos of roses - not because of their beauty but because of the difficulty in identification. There are just too many variables to take into account in the field. You need to collect different parts of the plant and then get it back to the lab for macroscopic examination.
However, when I can, I do make an effort based on the location of the rose, the availability of plant checklists for the area, and features distinguishing enough in the field to make the call.
I found this on the roadside of South Mountains State Park after a long hike along Turkey Ridge Trail and back down, around 2.2 miles one way.
Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora Thunb.)
I was tired and needed a stop and I was attracted by the beauty of the flower. I noticed the numerous buds and recognized that as a little unusual in wild roses. Indeed, Flora states it was introduced as an ornamental in 1811.107
Rosa woodsii Lindl.
Wild Rose (Rosa woodsii Lindl.
Again, the location tipped me off on this. It was along the trail to Observation Point at Upper Geyser Basin at Yellowstone National Park. I figured how many wild roses could there be in Yellowstone? Wrong. At least I photographed the most common rose in central and western North America with six subspecies!108
Yellowstone in summer is great but I recommend you see it in winter. It’s a totally different experience. The Old Faithful Inn is closed and you have to stay at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge.
In 1977, I moved to Montana to work with the Bureau of Land Management as a botanist/plant ecologist. While there, a good friend and fellow graduate student, Sara Hurdle, joined me and we took a trip to Yellowstone. It was deep winter.
We made it to Jackson Hole and took a bombardier into the park. We stayed at the then “ski lodge” which was really a hostel. She shared rooms with other ladies and I shared rooms (and bathrooms) with other guys.
Move ahead to 2015 and Nancy and Michel and I return to “Yellowstone in Winter” - another Tauck Tour. The hostel ski lodge was now a massive hotel with all the amenities.
To say it was cold is an understatement.
This was the view outside my room in the ski lodge.
One experience we all treasured was a snow shoe trip in the park. I had previously snowshoed with Sara that first trip in 1977. That was back when snow shoes were like putting tennis rackets on your feet. The new snowshoes are small and much, much, much better.
Nancy and Michel on our snowshoe trip.
Later, we snowshoed again at Rocky Mountain National Park at 9,000 feet!
If you go in the winter, you’ll see more wildlife than in the summer. Most animals overwinter in the park and they are often right at the roadside.
We were traveling one day in the bombardier and we stopped along the road. At first, I thought it was more bison but it turned out to be a red fox. In one of the luckiest photos of my life, I caught him midair in his jump to catch a field mouse!
Rocky Mountain Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes macoura)
Potentilla arguta Pursh
White Cinquefoil (Potentilla arguta Pursh)
Potentilla is a genus that has undergone some significant revision since I was in graduate school. Several species have been placed in other genera and some other genera have been grouped with Potentilla. It’s been a challenge trying to keep up and usually, I simply refer to the floras of the area and then double check various authorities. There are 98 species reported in North America.109
White Cinquefoil (Potentilla arguta Pursh)
I know, it looks oxymoronic to call it white cinquefoil (five leaf) but the color varies from white to yellow. The white one I photographed on the trail at Observation Point in Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone. The yellow one I photographed on Signal Mountain at Grand Teton National Park. There is a third one I photographed that is slightly between the two colors at the Upper Falls of the Yellowstone, so within the state of Wyoming, I got three different colors.
Potentilla canadensis L.
Dwarf Cinquefoil (Potentilla canadensis L.)
I collected this species and P. simplex at Tishomingo State Park during graduate school days and I have since found these again. You can see the five leaflets to make up the alternately arranged leaves of the plant.
Dwarf Cinquefoil (Potentilla canadensis L.)
I assume it is called dwarf cinquefoil because it grows low to the ground and doesn’t climb. I have photos from Warm Springs, Georgia and the Smokies.
Potentilla glaucophylla Lehm.
Blue-leaved Cinquefoil (Potentilla glaucophylla Lehm.)
The Plant List has this as unresolved but perhaps a synonym for P. diversifolia var. diversifolia as of 2011. Flora has it as P. glaucophylla as of 2014. Since it is unresolved in one place and definite in another, I’ll stick with P. glaucophylla.
Blue-leaved Cinquefoil (Potentilla glaucophylla Lehm.)
I photographed this in two separate areas of Yellowstone National Park: Upper Geyser Basin and Hayden Valley. Hayden Valley is where you can often see wolves in the winter.
Five wolves at Hayden Valley, January 2015
This photo was taken on the winter tour of Yellowstone with Tauck and was taken with my cell phone through a spotting scope. Let’s just say the wolves were not anywhere close to us on the road in Hayden Valley. I didn’t know you could take photos through a telescope with a phone until that day.
Blue-leaved Cinquefoil (Potentilla glaucophylla Lehm.)
You can see why it is called blue-leaved cinquefoil in this photograph. Well, at least a tinge of blue and not as green as most plant leaves. The rather dirty looking aspect of the leaves is actually due to very tiny hairs close to the surface of the leaves.
Potentilla simplex Michx.
Common Cinquefoil (Potentilla simplex Michx.)
This is probably the most widely distributed species of Potentilla in the southeastern U.S. It can often be confused with P. canadensis but usually there is but a single flower with this species on a low growing vine.
Common Cinquefoil (Potentilla simplex Michx.)
I’ve photographed this species in five different locations: Penrose, North Carolina along the Blue Ridge Parkway; Deep Creek Trail in the Smokies near Bryson City, North Carolina; Pisgah National Forest near Asheville, North Carolina; Brandywine Falls in Cuyahoga Valley National Park; and Bass Harbor Head Light, Acadia National Park.
Fragaria chiloensis (L.) Mill.
Beach Strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis (L.) Mill.
Wild strawberries are a delight. I’ve eaten my share of them over the years and have never been disappointed with the taste. They are bold, flavorful and if picked at the right time with the right amount of rainfall, very juicy.
This was a new species for me. What caught my eye, more than the bloom, was the dark green, waxy leaves. Beach strawberry is an appropriate name because I photographed it at three different locations on the California coast.
Fragaria vesca L.
Woodland Strawberry (Fragaria vesca L.)
Another new species for me found at Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone. It’s the highest pass in Yellowstone at 8, 859 feet and for several of my visits, it has been closed due to snow or I’ve gone over the pass in the Yellowstone bombardiers.
This photo was obviously in summer (July 2013). I assume it produces fruit and they fruit would be delicious. This area and Mount Washburn are good areas to see grizzlies.
As you can tell, I was a very long way away from him - which is fine by me.
Fragaria virginica Mill.
Wild Strawberry (Fragaria virginica Mill.)
This is the most widespread species of wild strawberry in North America and the one most people are familiar with when they find it in the woods. There are four subspecies listed in Flora of North America.110
Wild Strawberry (Fragaria virginica Mill.)
The fruits are smaller than the commercial varieties but much tastier.
Dasiphora fruticosa (L.) Rydb.
Shrubby Cinquefoil (Dasiphora fruticosa (L.) Rydb.)
This was my first exposure to a shrubby cinquefoil (it was at one time placed in the genus Potentilla with other cinquefoils). I photographed it in British Columbia and Alberta in August of 2017.
Shrubby Cinquefoil (Dasiphora fruticosa (L.) Rydb.)
The flowers are very similar to Potentilla and it was easy to recognize it as related. In the center of the flower are the numerous stigmas of the pistil and surround them are the stamens.
Shrubby Cinquefoil (Dasiphora fruticosa (L.) Rydb.)
The most unusual feature to me was the stems and leaves of the plant. The leaves may be both pinnately compound or palmately compound on the same plant. There are also silky hairs on the stems, leaves, and petioles.111
Sibbaldiopsis tridentata (Sol.) Rydb.
Three-toothed Cinquefoil (Sibbaldiopsis tridentata (Sol.) Rydb.
I was on my way to cross the suspension bridge atop Grandfather Mountain along the Blue Ridge when I looked down and saw this in bloom. I’ve gotten used to the strange looks from people as I kneel down and take photos of plants. Years ago, when I collected plants in Tishomingo, I would walk the park with a large plastic bag moistened on the inside with water. As I collected the plants, I put them in the bag and the water inside kept them fresh until I could return to my base camp and press them in the plant press.
On more than one occasion, people would honk at me and cheer me on, thinking I was collecting cannabis in the park. It was of the time that marijuana was making the scene again with the hippie movement and the antiwar protests.
Often, people were just curious and would ask what I was doing and I would explain.
I still get some strange looks when I photograph, but people no longer assume I’m photographing cannabis.
Three-toothed Cinquefoil (Sibbaldiopsis tridentata (Sol.) Rydb.
This was a newbie for me, both for genus and species. It really stood out and was, in my opinion, quite large compared to the other plants around it.
Agrimonia pubescens Wallr.
Downy Agrimony (Agrimonia pubescens Wallr.)
To me, what’s unusual about this plant are the stipules. Stipules are leaf-like appendages to the petiole of a leaf and may or may not be present, depending on the plant. These are definitely present. The stipules of most leaves tend to be very small, almost scale-like. These are like the giants of the plant kingdom. They also clasp the stem. The leaves are oddly pinnate (meaning there is an odd number of leaflets).
Downy Agrimony (Agrimonia pubescens Wallr.)
I think most people would not think of this as a member of the rose family at first glance but there are numerous stamens and five petals and sepals like the rose family. You can understand the specific epithet by looking at the long hairs on the stem and sepals.
I found this specimen along the roadside of the Blue Ridge Parkway near Linville Falls. The Flora of North America gives the derivation of the genus from the Greek Agremone from which is derived argemos which refers to cataract of the eye. It seems ancient Greeks used it to cure eye diseases.112
Dryas drummondii Richardson ex Hooke
Yellow Mountain Avens (Dryas drummondii Richardson ex Hooke)
Our “Helihiking the Bugaboos” group IV (we were arranged in groups based on our hiking ability and I was in the slow group) had just crested Rocky Point Ridge when I stumbled across these in seed. They were quite a sight. Not large - just showy. The leaves are very leathery and tough as you might expect exposed as they are to an extreme environment in the winter. It was a pretty large cluster of them.
Rocky Point Ridge and Powder Pig Trail, The Bugaboos
The Bugaboos are in the Purcell Mountains of the Columbia Mountain Range in eastern British Columbia and are spectacular. It was a little past the peak of wildflower season even though it was August as is evidenced by these in seed.
Yellow Mountain Avens (Dryas drummondii Richardson ex Hooke)
Most Dryas have white petals, but, as obvious by the common name, these are yellow.113 To say the achenes are plumose is an understatement.
Cercocarpus intricatus S. Watson
Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus intricatus S. Watson)
My first exposure to this was at Point Imperial in Kaibab National Forest while on our way to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Point Imperial is 8,803 feet in elevation and we were all feeling the effects of the altitude at this point.
The tour bus stopped for a view at the overlook and, as usual, after looking at the view for a few minutes, I shifted to plant mode. Cercocarpus were growing along the rim of the overlook.
Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus intricatus S. Watson)
Flora of North America treats C. intricatus as a variety of C. ledifolius, but states C. intricatus is often treated as its own species.114 I later found this also on the north Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Here’s what you see from the overlook at Point Imperial.
Cercocarpus montanus var. glaber (S.Watson) F.L.Martin
Birch-leaved Mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus var. glaber (S.Watson) F.L.Martin)
Cercocarpus is a shrub throughout its range and I can see they could be attractive in a landscape setting.
Birch-leaved Mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus var. glaber (S.Watson) F.L.Martin)
It comes by its common name honestly because the leaves do have a certain birch-like look to them. This was growing along the trail of the Balcones Trail at Pinnacles National Park.
Speaking of mahogany, those of you who live in south Florida are familiar with the mahogany trees that line our streets and dot our swales. That is Swietenia mahogoni, a totally different genus and species from these “mahoganies.” According to Wikipedia, the south Florida tree is native to Florida but also the West Indies, Cuba, and throughout the Caribbean. It was once an important timber tree for furniture. The one most used for timber and furniture today is S. macrophylla, native to Mexico and the southern Amazon River Basin.
Purshia mexicana (D.Don) Henr.
Cliffrose (Purshia mexicana (D.Don) Henr.)
This is another plant I was introduced to with the “Spirit of the Desert Southwest” Tauck tour. I knew it was probably in the rose family - all you have to do is look at the blossoms, but that was all I knew. I asked Jim, the tour guide and he immediately identified it as cliffrose. Later, I was able to pin down the genus and species using a wildflower guide he introduced me to: Wildflowers of Zion National Park.115
What was stunning about the plant was the number of blooms on each shrub I came across. It can be a prolific bloomer. You almost can’t see the very small leaves for the blooms.
Cliffrose (Purshia mexicana (D.Don) Henr.)
Cliffrose (Purshia mexicana (D.Don) Henr.)
The leaves are divided into three, four or five lobes and are exceptionally small, probably to retard water loss. This photo was taken on the plateau of Dead Horse Point State Park in Utah. The environmental conditions are probably pretty harsh at that location.
Purshia tridentata (Pursh) DC.
Bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata (Pursh) DC.
The tridentata comes from the division of the leaf into three lobes. The flowers are smaller than P. mexicana and there’s only one achene per flower and it is not plumose like the achenes of P. mexicana.. Welsh says that in spite of the name, animals readily feed on it, especially in winter when resources are at their lowest.116
This particular photo was taken on Signal Mountain in Grand Teton National Park. Our Xanterra tour guide Nick, stopped atop the mountain and we had lunch. It also had a wonderful view of the Tetons.
Grand Teton National Park from Signal Mountain with the “big tit” in plain sight.
Another place I photographed it was at the Pinnacles at Crater Lake National Park. These are very weird formations, reminding me of the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon National Park.
These are fossil fumaroles from an extinct volcano that have been exposed. They are quite stark and foreboding due to their gray coloration. The trail head winds you along the edge of a canyon for 0.4 miles where you actually come to the park boundary.
If you hike this trail, take plenty of water. It doesn’t have a lot of shade and you are going to sweat a lot even though the trail is level.
Lyonothamnus floribundus A. Gray
Santa Cruz Island Ironwood (Lyonothamnus floribundus A. Gray)
I confess I was following behind a ranger who was showing some day trippers around the island when I heard her give the name of this. Otherwise, I probably would never have been able to identify it.
From the common name, I assume the wood to be rather hard to work.
Santa Cruz Island Ironwood (Lyonothamnus floribundus A. Gray)
The trunk of the plant is very attractive with gay and reddish brown streaks. There are several species of trees commonly called ironwoods. In Mississippi, where I grew up, the plant is Carpinus caroliniana. It’s an extremely dense wood and we were always told in Boy Scouts not to make a raft out of the tree - it would sink. We never built rafts, in any case, so we never tested the theory.
Physocarpus capitatus (Pursh) Kuntze
Pacific Ninebark (Physocarpus capitatus (Pursh) Kuntze
I kept running into this out west and it’s an interesting plant to me. This photo shows the buds about to open. This was taken in the Tower-Roosevelt area of Yellowstone in July of 2013. Tower-Roosevelt is famous for Tower Falls (which I did not see) which Thomas Moran painted. The National Park Service credits Moran’s paintings as instrumental in bringing Yellowstone to everyones’ attention and leading to the establishment as a national park in 1872.
Pacific Ninebark (Physocarpus capitatus (Pursh) Kuntze
This photo was taken at Custer State Park, South Dakota, also in July of 2013. The blooms are really quite attractive. It’s aptly named since it seems to be restricted to the Pacific Northwest (and Idaho).117
Prunus alabamaensis C. Mohr
Alabama Cherry (Prunus alabamaensis C. Mohr)
In April of 2016, I took my first trip to Warm Springs, Georgia and F.D. Roosevelt State Park. I cheated and rented a cabin for my stay.
Since my Dad was in the Civilian Conservation Corps, I’ve always had a fondness for all things CCC. The old cabins at the park were all constructed by the CCC during the depression years.
Let’s face it, it’s not often you get to have a fireplace in your bedroom with hardwood floors, pine paneling on the walls and furniture made back in the 20’s by the CCC.
Not only that, but the view from the patio of the cabin was pretty spectacular.
I decided to hike part of the Pine Mountain Trail that has an entrance just outside of the park as you go into Warm Springs. Before I started the hike the next day, I noticed the hillside below the cabin had plenty of wildflowers to view. Not only that, but there was a fairly large tree with racemes of flowers all over it. On closer inspection, I recognized it as a cherry but one I had not seen before. It turned out to be P. alabamaensis.
Alabama Cherry (Prunus alabamaensis C. Mohr)
The flowers had an aroma but nothing too sweet or anything to write home about. The racemes were quite large and honey bees were having a field day.
Prunus ilicifolia (Nutt. ex Hook. & Arn.) D.Dietr
Island Cherry (Prunus ilicifolia (Nutt. ex Hook. & Arn.) D. Dietr.)
Island Cherry is a good name since it is found on Santa Cruz Island in the Channel Islands National Park. I didn’t have to go too far to see this. It was growing a few feet from my campsite. I wonder if the crows eat the cherries. Probably not - they can eat the campers’ food!
Prunus pensylvanica L.f.
Pin Cherry (Prunus pensylvanica L.f.)
I first encountered this near Forneys Creek in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in May of 2016 and later along Ship Harbor Trail in Acadia National Park in May of 2018. There seemed to be an abundance of species of Prunus in Acadia. I found three different species in the park and town of Bar Harbor.
Lumpers and splitters are in full force with this genus.118 The number of species constantly changes with revisions of the genus with splitters adding species and lumpers combining species. Flora of North America reports 44 species.119
The genus Prunus includes some of the most important commercial species we know as almonds, peaches, prunes, cherries, apricots and nectarines. The fruits of the wild species are edible and often make good jellies.
Prunus serotina Ehrh.
Black Cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.)
This is the wild cherry of my childhood. My Mother tells the story of watching birds eat the shiny black fruits of the black cherry growing next to her house and the birds becoming drunk and falling out of the tree from the fermented berries.
In Boy Scouts, we were always warned never to make a stick to roast marshmallows from black cherry (or any members of the apple family) because the bark and seeds contains a precursor to cyanide. The University of Maryland Extension says P. serotina is the most poisonous of all the species.
Prunus umbellata Elliott
Hog Plum (Prunus umbellata Elliott)
I first ran into this (almost literally) on the Nature Coast State Trail near Fanning Springs, Florida. The trail is 32 miles paved in asphalt and follows old railroad lines across Dixie, Gilchrist and Levy counties. The longest segment is from Cross City, Florida to Trenton, Florida. From Fanning Springs, you can access that segment or head south to Chiefland, Florida.
For my first trip, I stayed at a cabin in Fanning Springs State Park and biked to Trenton which was 7 miles (14 round trip). My next trip, I went from Chiefland to Fanning Springs (9 miles) and back.
It was on my first trip from Fanning Springs to Trenton I nearly collided with a hog plum. I was just getting used to the bike for my first long trip and I was too busy looking at wildflowers.
Hog Plum (Prunus umbellata Elliott)
Although the photo does not clearly show it, the flowers are in umbellate fasicles on the stem. This really threw me. I was used to wild cherries having racemes as for as the arrangement of flowers on the stem. I recognized it as a member of the rose family, just had no idea it was a cherry.
Prunus virginiana L.
Choke Cherry (Prunus virginiana L.)
This plant started as a running joke on another tour with Michel and Nancy. Michel planned the tour where we began in Yellowstone, then headed to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore/Crazy Horse Memorial and then on to the Badlands.
She contracted with a tour group for the Mount Rushmore/Crazy Horse Memorial part of the trip that operated out of the Dances with Wolves movie set just outside of Rapid City, South Dakota.
Our bus driver was, apparently, an anti-evolutionist. He started the tour by asking if there were any geologists on the tour. I thought that peculiar until he followed that up with when there are geologists on board, he gets into trouble. He then proceeds to tell everyone on the bus that the Grand Canyon is not millions of years old but only around 4,000 years old.
From that point on, I tuned him out. However, he kept pointing out flowering shrubs along the way as choke cherries. It got to the point he became a salesman for choke cherry jelly. We thought he was joking but apparently it does make a pretty good jelly.
Pretty soon, Michel, Nancy and I started to mimic the sales pitch everywhere we went after that.
Choke Cherry (Prunus virginiana L.)
The fruits can be red, purple, blue, or black when ripe.
You might wonder why I had never heard of choke cherry before. Strangely, even though it is found in the southeastern U.S., it is not found in Mississippi or Florida120 so I never came across it.
Coleogyne ramosissima Torr.
Blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima Torr.)
This is an anomaly in the rose family. Most members of the family have five petals. If this has petals, there are only four. In this photo there are only yellow sepals.
This is a shrub of the desert southwest. In dry times, it drops most of its leaves to prevent water loss through the stomata. The branches end in very sharp tips. Wikipedia states it is called blackbrush because the gray branches turn very dark when wet.
Chamaebatiaria millefolium (Torr.) Maxim.
Fern Bush (Chamaebatiaria millefolium (Torr.) Maxim.
What’s so great to me about botany is once you think you’ve seen it all, something new comes along that pretty much levels your ego. This is one of them.
I was hiking the rim trail at Grand Canyon National Park, south rim when I stumbled upon this. The leaves of the plant look very much like a fern but the flowers look very much like a rose.
Fern Bush (Chamaebatiaria millefolium (Torr.) Maxim.
Mother Nature indeed has a sense of humor. This is a shrub that was about torso height on me and as I progressed down the trail, it became more and more common.
Fern Bush (Chamaebatiaria millefolium (Torr.) Maxim.
The surfaces of the leaves have glandular hairs and they are very aromatic. I could smell them even as I leaned close to photograph the plant. The dark structures you see against the white petals are the ovaries (which turn into follicles).
Spiraea lucida Douglas ex Greene
Birch-leaved Spirea (Spiraea lucida Douglas ex Greene)
Flora of North America has incorporated S. betulifolia which I originally identified this as into S. lucida.121 Since this volume of the flora is more up-to-date than The Plant List in this case, I’ll go with the flora’s interpretation.
Spirea was a common shrub planted in the south when I was a kid. My grandmother on my Dad’s side always had one in the yard. While doing my graduate work, I never encountered any native species. My first exposure to S. lucida came at Signal Mountain in Grand Teton National Park.
Birch-leaved Spirea (Spiraea lucida Douglas ex Greene)
I later came across it at Emerald Lake in British Columbia and then I photographed S. trifoliata in the Smokies.
If you look carefully at the leaves, they do have a birch-like appearance to them.
Petrophyton caespitosum (Nutt. ex Torr. & A.Gray) Rydb.
Rockmat (Petrophyton caespitosum (Nutt. ex Torr. & A.Gray) Rydb.)
When I first encountered this on the Rim Trail in the Grand Canyon, south rim, I couldn’t really grasp what I was seeing. Of all the plants I’ve seen in my life, this was the most unusual I’ve run across. From the photograph, it’s difficult to see how small this plant really is. I was at eye level with this and was using a macro feature of my backpacking camera. From a distance, I thought it was a moss. Only as I got closer did I realize it was a flowering plant.
Never mind I didn’t know what genus or species it was, I didn’t have any idea as to the family. Imagine my surprise when I found it in a guide and was listed as a member of the rose family.
Rockmat (Petrophyton caespitosum (Nutt. ex Torr. & A.Gray) Rydb.)
It attracted an interesting array of insects. In this photo there is a fly and a member of the hemipteran order of insects (true bugs). The fly indicates to me there is a rotted meat smell and I have no idea why a hemipteran would be attracted to the plant.
Rockmat (Petrophyton caespitosum (Nutt. ex Torr. & A.Gray) Rydb.)
It grows very compactly on soil and even on bare rocks. It almost looks like pin cushions against the background.
Rockmat (Petrophyton caespitosum (Nutt. ex Torr. & A.Gray) Rydb.)
This was the most magnification I could get with my backpacking camera and even so, you still can’t discern any rose family features. Southwest Colorado Wildflowers states that Nuttall named the plant Spiraea caespitosa in 1840 but Rydberg changed the genus to Petrophyton after he realized it was not a spirea.
Petro, of course, is the Greek for rock. Caespitosum refers to a plant growing in clumps. The U.S. Forest Service considers it as “critically imperiled.”
Holodiscus discolor (Pursh) Maxim.
Oceanspray (Holodiscus discolor (Pursh) Maxim.)
Well, it certainly could look like a spray of something. These are the leftovers from the winter. The actual flowers are white. This, thankfully, was labeled for me on the nature trail at North Cascades National Park at Stehekin, Washington.
I find it interesting that the wood gets harder when exposed to fire.
Oceanspray (Holodiscus discolor (Pursh) Maxim.)
Flora of North America states this plant has a highly variable leaf shape seemingly tied to geographical location. It also reports two varieties.122
Luetkea pectinata (Pursh) Kuntze
Partridgefoot (Luetkea pectinata (Pursh) Kuntze)
If you look very carefully at the leaves on the stem, you’ll see they are deeply clef into three lobes. Someone thought they looked like tiny birds’ feet, à la partridges.
I found these on my first day of hiking in the Bugaboos at Eva Lake. The helicopter landed us at Eva and our guide started to show us how to hike in the elevations of the Bugaboos. One thing he stressed was not to take large steps.
The idea was large steps would tire you out too quickly at altitude.
We had no sooner gotten to Eva Lake and started a little hike when one of our group spotted a grizzly. In swooped the helicopter to off lift us from the site and put us down in an area sans grizzly.
L. pectinata has previously been placed in the genus Spiraea, Saxifraga, Eriogynia, and also classified as L. sibbaldioides. There is only one species in North America, L. pectinata.123
Aruncus dioicus (Walter) Fernald
Goatsbeard (Aruncus dioicus (Walter) Fernald)
This was all over the place along the Blue Ridge Parkway in June of 2017. I pretty much saw it at every stop for every overlook. It’s hard to think this is in the rose family until you begin to look closely at the blooms.
Goatsbeard (Aruncus dioicus (Walter) Fernald)
What gives it away as a member of the rose family is the perigynous ovary and the numerous stamens. A perigynous ovary is where the stamens, petals and sepals are attached to a floral tube above the ovary. Technically the ovary is superior although it looks like every thing is superior to the ovary.
Gillenia trifoliata (L.) Moench
Bowman’s Root (Gillenia trifoliata (L.) Moench)
I’m going with Flora of North America124 on this identification. Most guides put this in the genus Spiraea. The Plant List lists Spiraea trifoliata and Gillenia trifoliata as synonyms and unresolved as of 2011. I still don’t know who Bowman is. The trifoliata comes from the three leaves at each node.
Bowman’s Root (Gillenia trifoliata (L.) Moench)
The flowers don’t look very rose-like to me.
Sorbus americana Marshall
American Mountain Ash (Sorbus americana Marshall)
I previously identified this as S. decora but Flora of North American does not report this in North Carolina whereas S. americana is reported in North Carolina. The difference seems to reside in the thickness and length and width of the leaves and I would really need both in front of me to make a comparison.125
It’s apparently a difficult genus to work with since it hybridizes not only with other species of Sorbus but may also hybridize with other genera: Amelanchier, Crataegus, Cotoneaster, Aronia, Pyrus, and Malus.126
I came across this on Mount Mitchell alongside the road as I hiked down to the parking lot from the summit.
Sorbus scopulina Greene
Cascade Mountain Ash (Sorbus scopulina Greene)
I’ve had the luck to see this in flower and fruit at various times of the year out west. I’ve photographed it at Grand Teton, Crater Lake and Glacier National Parks. In the fall, it produces brilliantly red fruits.
Cascade Mountain Ash (Sorbus scopulina Greene)
The flowers were on a shrub at Jenny Lake at Grand Teton.
Cascade Mountain Ash (Sorbus scopulina Greene)
The fruits were on a shrub I saw as I was leaving Avalanche Lake on my way back to the jeep. These were so obvious on the trail I wonder why I didn’t see them on my way in to Avalanche Lake.
The fruit, like all members of the rose family, are technically pomes. Think of an apple. If you look at the bottom of an apple, you can see remnant sepals and sometimes remnant stamens. A pome is a mature ripened ovary with its accessory parts. The part that you eat of the apple is a fleshy receptacle of the flower. The “core” of the apple is the ovary wall and the seeds are, of course, found within the core of the apple.
Aronia arbutifolia (L.) Pers.
Red Chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia (L.) Pers.)
These are eastern species with the exception of this one found also in Texas.127
I was visiting my friends in Asheville (Reed and Sandra) and we decided to do some hiking in Dupont State Forest outside of Ashville. Reed knew I liked waterfalls and he delivered with three of them.
High Falls, Dupont State Forest
Red Chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia (L.) Pers.)
I particularly liked how the red stamens stood out against the white petals.
The leaves were rather thick and if you notice, look rather saw-toothed on the edges. What looks like black dots on the edge of the tooth is a gland.
Aronia melanocarpa (Michx.) Elliott
Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa (Michx.) Elliott)
There’s not a lot to distinguish between A. arbutifolia and A. melanocarpa except that the fruit of A. melanocarpa is black and A. arbutifolia is red. There is also a minor difference in the leaves.128 This particular photo was taken on Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park.
Heteromeles arbutifolia Greene
Toyon, Christmas Berry (Heteromeles arbutifolia Greene)
I would have had no idea as to the identification of this plant if it had not been labeled at the Channel Islands National Park visitor center. What drew me to it was the leaves of the plant - almost holly-like with the sharp projections from the edges. The panicles of red pomes are attractive, but it’s the leaves that draw your attention. You can see why it gets the common name Christmas Berry.
Crataegus monogyna Jacq.
Hawthorne (Crataegus monogyna Jacq.)
The genus Crataegus is probably one of the most difficult to identify in North America. There are 169 species reported in North America with 17 hybrids.129 The Flora of North America is the first attempt at revision of the genus since 1838-1843 from the works of Torrey and A. Gray.130
My experience is mostly from the identification of four species in Tishomingo State Park.131 I can easily recognize the genus based mostly on leaf type but when it gets down to species identification, I’m at as much a loss as most taxonomists.
Most of the fruits are quite edible and are often made into jellies and jams, albeit a little tart for most tastes.
This particular species was photographed at Chagny in Bourgogne region, France. I got lucky and found a checklist of plants that allowed the identification.
Crataegus punctata Jacq.
Dotted Hawthorne (Crataegus punctata Jacq.)
This species was a little closer to home: Brandywine Falls, Cuyahoga Valley National Park. There’s a wooden walkway along the rim to the falls and this was within easy reach of the zoom feature on my lens.
All I had to do was to lean over a little and take the photo. The wooden walkway is fairly extensive and I was able to get several photos of plants that I would not normally have been able to take simply because I was eye level with the top of the tree or shrub.
Crataegus uniflora Münchh.
Oneflower Hawthorne (Crataegus uniflora Münchh.)
Any guesses as to how I determined the species of this one? Many Crataegus produce panicles of flowers but this is the first one I’ve come across with a single flower per branch.
This was taken at High Falls State Park near Jackson, Georgia. I’ve passed the park several times on my way to the Smokies and I finally camped one night in 2018. It’s a great little park with a camping area away from the busy recreational lake.
Falls of Towaliga River, High Falls State Park
The river was in flood stage and the falls were roaring.
Amelanchier alnifolia (Nutt.) Nutt. ex M. Roem.
Saskatoon (Amelanchier alnifolia (Nutt.) Nutt. ex M. Roem.)
I had heard of the city of Saskatoon and the plant, perhaps from reading Jack London. I have to admit it was a little exciting to identify the plant on my travels out west. For some reason, Amelanchier identification comes to me fairly easily. Perhaps its because there are not as many species as Crataegus (18)132 or it’s the attractiveness of the flowers.
The fruits are edible for both humans and wildlife.
Saskatoon (Amelanchier alnifolia (Nutt.) Nutt. ex M. Roem.)
You can see fruit development beginning here. Note that the remnants of the stamens are attached to a floral tube that surrounds the ovary in the center. This is the definition of a pome (apples) - a mature ripened ovary with its accessory (floral tube) parts. The pomes are black when ripe.
Amelanchier arborea (F. Michx.) Fernald
Common Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea (F. Michx.) Fernald
First, the leaves of this do not look like alder leaves like A. alnifolia. Also, note the undersurface of the leaf behind the flowers is covered in appressed white hairs. This was photographed along the park loop road in Acadia National Park as I was hiking back to the jeep. It’s not unusual for the flowers to appear before the leaves fully open as seen here.
Amelanchier bartramiana (Tausch) M. Roem.
Mountain Serviceberry (Amelanchier bartramiana (Tausch) M. Roem.)
Again, notice the leaves haven’t fully unfurled during the blooming stage. This is mostly a northeastern species with the westernmost reporting in Minnesota 133 (where I found this). I was on the Voyageurs Forest Overlook at Voyageurs National Park, deep in the woods when I found this.
Amelanchier interior E.L. Nielsen
Pacific Serviceberry (Amelanchier interior E.L. Nielsen)
I’m not sure why this has earned the moniker “Pacific” serviceberry since it is not found anywhere near the Pacific coastline. As a matter of fact, its found mostly in the mid-Atlantic states and Canada.134 Yet, most references do call it Pacific serviceberry.
Pacific Serviceberry (Amelanchier interior E.L. Nielsen)
In any case, I found this the first time on the Oberholtzer Hiking Trail, Voyageurs National Park near International Falls, Minnesota. Later, I found it on Grace Creek Overlook Trail at Isle Royale National Park. Decidedly non-Pacific.
Oberholtzer Hiking Trail, Voyageur National Park
Amelanchier laevis Wiegand
Serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis Wiegand)
At least no pretensions with this one - just plain ole serviceberry. It’s also closer to home. I photographed it at Forney’s Creek in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in May of 2016.
Serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis Wiegand)
To me, one of the characteristics of Amelanchier that set it apart from Crataegus is the length of the petals. These are exceptionally long in this species.
Forney’s Creek - Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Amelanchier utahensis Koehne
Utah Serviceberry (Amelanchier utahensis Koehne)
The Pacific serviceberry is not found in the Pacific and the Utah serviceberry is found in Utah - and a lot of other places out west. I probably saw this more times than all the other serviceberries combined. Locations include: Grand Canyon National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, and Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.
I particularly like the red streaks at the bases of the petals of the flower.
Species/Location
Rubus cuneifolius
Lake George State Forest, De Leon Springs, Florida
Rubus idaeus
Trail to Observation Point, Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park
Rubus lasiococcus
Castle Crest Wildflower Trail, Crater Lake National Park
Rubus odoratus
Chestoa Overlook, Blue Ridge Parkway, Marion, North Carolina
Mount Mitchell State Park, Burnsville, North Carolina
Rubus parviflorus
North Kaibab Trail, Grand Canyon National Park, North Rim
Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park, British Columbia
Yurok Loop Trail, Redwoods National Park
Rubus pensilvanicus
Brandywine Falls Trail, Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Rubus spectabilis
Klamath Beach Road, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, Crescent City, California
Stout Grove, Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park, Crescent City, California
Rubus ursinus
Point Reyes Lighthouse, Point Reyes National Seashore
Geum aleppicum
Three Knobs Overlook, Blue Ridge Parkway, Burnsville, North Carolina
Geum canadense
Linville Falls Trail, Blue Ridge Parkway, Marion, North Carolina
Geum macrophyllum
The Windows Trail, Big Bend National Park
Avalanche Lake Trail, Glacier National Park
Fallugia paradoxia
Canyon Rim Trail, Grand Canyon National Park, South Rim
The Windows Trail, Big Bend National Park
Rosa multiflora
South Mountains State Park, Connelly Springs, North Carolina
Rosa woodsii
Observation Point Trail, Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park
Potentilla arguta
Trail to Observation Point, Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park
Upper Falls of the Yellowstone, Yellowstone National Park
Signal Mountain, Grand Teton National Park
Potentilla canadensis
F. D. Roosevelt State Park, Warm Springs, Georgia
Smokemont Loop Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Potentilla glaucophylla
Observation Point Trail, Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park
Hayden Valley, Yellowstone National Park
Potentilla simplex
Deep Creek Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Deeplow Gap Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Craggy Gardens Trail, Blue Ridge Parkway, Barnardsville, North Carolina
Brandywine Falls, Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Bass Harbor Head Light, Acadia National Park
Fragaria chiloensis
Elk Meadow, Redwood National Park
Yurok Loop Trail, Redwood National Park
Point St. George, Crescent City, California
Fragaria vesca
Dunraven Pass, Yellowstone National Park
Fragaria virginica
Bugaboo Lodge, British Columbia
F.D. Roosevelt State Park, Warm Springs, Georgia
Deep Creek Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Linville Falls, Blue Ridge Parkway, Marion, North Carolina
Voyageurs Forest Overlook, Voyageurs National Park
Grace Creek Overlook Trail, Isle Royale National Park
Thunder Hole, Acadia National Park
Dasiphora fruticosa
Lake Louise, Banff National Park, Alberta
Rocky Point Ridge and Powder Pig Trail, The Bugaboos, British Columbia
Emerald Lake Trail, Yoho National Park, British Columbia
Sibbaldiopsis tridentata
Grandfather Mountain, Blue Ridge Parkway, Banner Elk, North Carolina
Agrimonia pubescens
Blue Ridge Parkway near Linville Falls, Marion, North Carolina
Dryas drummondii
Rocky Point Ridge - Powder Pig Trail, The Bugaboos, British Columbia
Cercocarpus intricatus
Point Imperial, Kaibab National Forest
Grand Canyon National Park, North Rim
Cercocarpus montanus var. glaber
The Balcones Trail, Pinnacles National Park
Purshia mexicana
Dead Horse Point State Park, Moab, Utah
Grand Canyon National Park, South Rim
Capitol Reef National Park
Purshia tridentata
Signal Mountain, Grand Teton National Park
Pinnacles, Crater Lake National Park
Lynothamnus floribundus
Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park
Pysocarpus capitatus
Tower-Roosevelt, Yellowstone National Park
Custer State Park, Custer, Custer, South Dakota
Prunus alabamaensis
F.D. Roosevelt State Park, Warm Springs, Georgia
Prunus ilicifolia
Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park
Prunus pensylvanica
Forneys Creek, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Ship Harbor Trail, Acadia National Park
Prunus umbellata
Nature Coast State Trail, Fanning Springs, Florida
Prunus virginiana
Tower-Roosevelt Area, Yellowstone National Park
Custer State Park, Custer, South Dakota
Acadia National Park
Colegyne ramosissima
Islands in the Sky, Canyonlands National Park
Chamaebatiaria millefolium
Rim Trail, Grand Canyon National Park, South Rim
North Crater Flow Trail, Craters of the Moon National Monument
Spiraea lucida
Signal Mountain, Grand Teton National Park
Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park, British Columbia
Petrophyton caespitosum
Rim Trail, Grand Canyon National Park, South Rim
Holodiscus discolor
Nature Trail, Cascades National Park, Stehekin, Washington
Aruncus dioicus
Deerlick Gap Overlook, Blue Ridge Parkway, Marion, North Carolina
Three Knobs Overlook, Blue Ridge Parkway, Marion, North Carolina
Crabtree Falls, Blue Ridge Parkway, Barnardsville, North Carolina
Gillenia trifoliata
Lewis Springs Falls Trail, Shenandoah National Park
Sorbus americana
Mount Mitchell State Park, Burnsville, North Carolina
Sorbus scopulina
Jenny Lake, Grand Teton National Park
Crater Lake National Park
Avalanche Lake Trail, Glacier National Park
Aronia arbutifolia
High Falls, Dupont State Forest, Asheville, North Carolina
Aronia melanocarpa
Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park
South Bubble Trail, Acadia National Park
Ship Harbor Trail, Acadia National Park
Heteromeles arbutifolia
Visitor Center, Channel Islands National Park, Ventura, California
Crataegus monogyna
Chagny, France, Bourgogne
Crataegus punctata
Brandywine Falls, Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Crataegus uniflora
High Falls State Park, Jackson, Georgia
Amelanchier alnifolia
North Kaibab Trail, Grand Canyon National Park, north rim
Lakeshore Trail, North Cascades National Park, Stehekin, Washington
Chimney Rock Trail, Capitol Reef National Park
Medora Overlook, Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Amelanchier arborea
Park Loop Road, Acadia National Park
Amelanchier bartramiana
Voyageurs Forest Overlook, Voyageurs National Park
Amelanchier interior
Oberholtzer Hiking Trail, Voyageurs National Park
Grace Creek Overlook Trail, Isle Royale National Park
Amelanchier laevis
Forney’s Creek, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Amelanchier utahensis
Bright Angel Point, Grand Canyon National Park, north rim
Chimney Rock Trail, Capitol Reef National Park
Cross Fissures, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Chapter 57
Buxaceae
Pachysandra procumbens Michx.
Allegheny Spurge (Pachysandra procumbens Michx.)
This is a small family of plants of around six genera, most of which are not native to North America and most of which are subtropical. The only one native to Florida is the genus Pachysandra. It is found mostly within the southeastern U.S.
This was one of those plants my major professor wanted me to find at Tishomingo. I tried. No luck. Since the 70’s, I’ve been looking for this plant everywhere I go. It was while visiting Florida Caverns State Park near Mariana in January of 2017 that I finally found the plant growing in the wild.
Because of the time of the year, it was not in bloom. I was only halfway to my goal since the plant was not in bloom. Later, I found horticultural varieties of the plant in bloom at Gibbs Gardens near Ball Ground, Georgia.
Allegheny Spurge (Pachysandra sp.)
Yes, there really is a place called Ball Ground, Georgia. It was so named for games Native Americans played required large flat spaces.
Gibbs Gardens is the work of Jim Gibbs who was a renown landscaper in the Atlanta area. It’s an out-of-the-way place which only makes it more attractive to me. The grounds are meticulously kept and there’s something blooming all year.
Species/Location
Pachysandra procumbens
Florida Caverns State Park, Mariana, Florida
Chapter 58
Combretaceae
This is mainly a tropical and subtropical family and the significance of the family to south Florida is that it includes two species considered as mangroves: Laguncularia (white mangrove) and Conocarpus (buttonwood).
There is no one definition of what constitutes a mangrove. In essence, they are shrubs or small trees that are salt tolerant. They often grow in brackish water or areas which may periodically may be inundated with salt water.
Florida is known for four species of mangroves: Languncularia, Conocarpus, Avicennia (black mangrove in the Acanthaceae family), and Rhizophora (red mangrove in the Rhizophoraceae family).
Wikipedia breaks mangroves into major components and minor components with ten genera as major components of mangroves and 16 genera as minor components of mangroves.
Laguncularia racemosa (L.) C.F. Gaertn.
White Mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa (L.) C.F. Gaertn.)
My experience with white mangroves is they grow just at the edge of salt water formations. Red mangroves, on the other hand, may grow directly in the water itself.
White Mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa (L.) C.F. Gaertn.)
There are two features I look for in identifying this plant. First, if you notice the leaf on the left, there appears to be a slight notch in the tip. Second, I’ve never found any white mangroves that didn’t have a salt film on their leaves. Sometimes the salt crystals are quite large.
Conocarpus erectus L.
Buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus L.)
Both Laguncularia and Conocarpus are found farther away from salt water than the black mangrove or red mangrove. However, I have found all four growing together with buttonwood furtherest from salt water, then white mangrove, then black mangrove and finally, red mangrove actually in the water. You may find some salt crystals on the surfaces of leaves of all four.
My identifying feature on this plant are the leathery-like leaves and the button-like fruit.
Species/Location
Laguncularia racemosa
Secret Woods Nature Center, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Bahia Honda State Park, Big Pine Key, Florida
Conocarpus erectus
Bahia Honda State Park, Big Pine Key, Florida
Chapter 59
Elaeagnaceae
This is referred to as the Oleaster family of plants which are mostly shrubs or small trees with good representation in North America. I’ve photographed two genera: Elaeagnus and Shepherdia.
Elaeagnus angustifolia L.
Russian Olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia L.)
Obviously, from the common name, this is not native to North America but introduced, mostly as an ornamental. Unfortunately it has escaped and has become a pest in many locales, particularly the western part of the U.S.
I was walking along the flood plain of the Colorado River at Red Cliffs Lodge near Moab, Utah when I came across this. It took me a while to find it in a book and put a name to it.
Elaeagnus commutata Bernh. ex Rydb.
Silverberry (Elaeagnus commutata Bernh. ex Rydb.)
This is a native species common to the western U.S., Alaska, British Columbia, as far east as Quebec and the upper midwest of the U.S. Wikipedia reports the fruits (a drupe - think peach) and seeds are edible.
Strangely, I found this growing in the exact same location of E. angustifolia.
Shepherdia canadenis (L.) Nutt.
Canada Buffaloberry (Shepherdia canadensis (L.) Nutt.)
Appropriately, I found this in Canada. These are some very, very red berries. These were among the plantings in the landscape for Chateau Lake Louise. I like it when native plants are used in landscaping but these are so attractive it wasn’t any doubt they would plant these.
Canada Buffaloberry (Shepherdia canadensis (L.) Nutt.)
Wikipedia reports the berries as bitter but once processed, used as a food source.
Species/Location
Elaeagnus angustifolia
Red Cliffs Lodge, near Moab, Utah
Elaeagnus commutata
Red Cliffs Lodge, near Moab, Utah
Shepherdia canadensis
Lake Louise, Yoho National Park, Alberta
References Cited
Note on citations. Normally, in a scientific document, I would follow the format of the Council of Science Editors, formerly the Council of Biological Editors. With the advent of the internet and the extremely lengthy url’s, it’s simply gotten out of hand. I’ve defaulted to more or less what I learned in college English 101, the Kate L. Turabian style, modified to my liking. I will at least try to be consistent.
As far as url’s go, I’ve simply provided a link to the site and have not listed any in References Cited. It makes life easier.
Flora of North America North of Mexico. Vol. 2. 1993. Oxford University Press: New York. p. 76.
2Ibid. p. 18.
3Ibid. p. 40-41.
4Ibid. p. 17.
5Bold, Harold C. Morphology of Plants, 3rd edition. 1973. Harper & Row: New York. p. 457.
6Ibid. p.392.
7Flora of North America North of Mexico. Vol. 1. 1993. Oxford University Press: New York. p. 263.
8Flora of North America North of Mexico. Vol 2. 1993. Oxford University Press: New York. p. 85.
9Ibid. p. 153.
10Searcy, Jr. Frederick T. A Floristic Study of Tishomingo State Park. 1977. University of Mississippi. Abstract.
11Flora of North America North of Mexico. Vol. 2. 1993 Oxford University Press: New York. p. 315.
12Ibid. p. 348.
13Ibid. p. 374.
14Ibid. p. 405.
15Flora of North America North of Mexico. Vol. 3. 1997. Oxford University Press: New York. p. 4.
16Ibid. p. 11.
17Tomlinson P.B. The Biology of Trees Native to Tropical Florida. 1980. Harvard University Printing Service: Allston, MA. p. 92.
18Nelson G. The Trees of Florida: A Reference and Field Guide, 2nd. ed. 2011. Pineapple Press: Sarasota, FL. p. 89.
19Flora of North America North of Mexico. Vol. 3. 1997. Oxford University Press: New York. p. 23.
20Ibid. p. 23.
21Ibid. p. 23-24.
22Ibid. p. 26.
23Ibid. p. 30
24Ibid. p. 66-68.
25Ibid. p. 85.
26Ibid. p. 103.
27Ibid. p. 89.
28Ibid. p. 118.
29Ibid. p. 161.
30Ibid. p. 182.
31Ibid. p. 194-195.
32Ibid. p. 276.
33Ibid. p. 272.
34Ibid. p. 284.
35Ibid. p. 280.
36Ibid. p. 284.
37Ibid. p. 280.
38Ibid. p. 288.
39Ibid. p. 300.
40Ibid. p. 305.
41Ibid. p. 340.
42Ibid. p. 346.
43Beidleman L.H., Kozloff E.N. Plants of the San Francisco Bay Region Mendocino to Monterey, 3rd ed. 2003. University of California Press: Berkeley, 246.
44Flora of North America North of Mexico. Vol. 3. 1997. Oxford University Press: New York. p. 400.
45Ibid. p. 409.
46Ibid. p. 425.
47Ibid. p. 445.
48Small, JK. Manual of the Southeastern Flora. 2 vols. 1933. Hafner: New York. 1554 pp.
49Flora of North America North of Mexico. Vol. 3. 1997. Oxford University Press: New York. p. 507.
50Ibid. p. 520.
51Ibid. p. 514.
52Flora of North America North of Mexico. Vol. 4. 2003. Oxford University Press: New York. p. 14.
53Ibid. pp. 63-69.
54Ibid. p. 92.
55Ibid. p. 93.
56Ibid. p. 258.
57Ibid. p. 448.
58Ibid. p. 449.
59Flora of North America North of Mexico. Vol. 5. 2005. Oxford University Press: New York. p. 11.
60 Ibid. p. 22.
61Ibid. p. 222.
62Ibid. p. 222.
63Ibid. p. 302.
64Ibid. p. 315.
65Ibid. p. 315.
66Ibid. p. 386.
67Ibid. p. 596.
68Flora of North America North of Mexico. Vol. 6. 2015. Oxford University Press: New York. p. 24.
69Ibid. p. 23.
70Ibid. p. 24.
71Ibid. p. 109-110.
72Searcy, F. A Floristic Study of Tishomingo State Park. 1977. University of Mississippi. p. 33-34.
73Flora of North America North of Mexico. Vol. 6. 2015. Oxford University Press: New York. p. 112.
74Ibid. p. 176.
75Ibid. p. 176.
76Ibid. p. 187.
77Ibid. p. 311-319.
78Ibid. p. 357.
79Flora of North America North of Mexico. Vol. 7. 2010. Oxford University Press: New York. pp. 23-162.
80Ibid. p. 163.
81Ibid. p. 165.
82Ibid. p. 225.
83Searcy, F. A Floristic Study of Tishomingo State Park. 1977. University of Mississippi. pp. 26-27.
84Flora of North America North of Mexico. Vol. 7. 2010. Oxford University Press: New York. p. 270.
85Ibid. p. 348.
86Ibid. p. 460.
87Ibid. p. 511.
88Ibid. p. 537.
89Ibid. p. 670.
90Ibid. p. 746.
91Flora of North America North of Mexico. Vol. 8. 2009. Oxford University Press: New York. pp. 8-42.
92Ibid. p. 44.
93Ibid. p. 44.
94Ibid. p. 109.
95Ibid. p. 124.
96Ibid. p. 147.
97Ibid. p. 371.
98Ibid. p. 514.
99Ibid. pp. 406-445.
100Ibid. p. 407.
101Ibid. p. 414.
102Flora of North America North of Mexico. Vol. 9. 2014. Oxford University Press: New York. p. 18.
103Ibid. p. 29.
104Ibid. p. 69.
105Ibid. p. 59.
106Ibid. p. 73.
107Ibid. p. 85.
108Ibid. p. 106.
109Ibid. p. 122.
110Ibid. p. 276.
111Ibid. p. 296.
112Ibid. p. 312.
113Ibid. p. 327-328.
114Ibid. p. 338.
115Welsh, S.L. 1990. Wildflowers of Zion National Park. Zion Natural History Association: Springdale, Utah. p. 64.
116Ibid. p. 65.
117Flora of North America North of Mexico. Vol. 9. 2014. Oxford University Press: New York. p. 349.
118Ibid. p. 354.
119Ibid. p. 353.
120Ibid. p. 365-366.
121Ibid. p. 404-405.
122Ibid. p.417-418.
123Ibid. p. 422.
124Ibid. p. 425.
125Ibid. p. 439.
126Ibid. p. 433.
127Ibid. p. 446.
128Ibid. p. 446.
129Ibid. p. 492.
130Ibid. p. 493.
131Searcy, F. A Floristic Study of Tishomingo State Park. 1977. University of Mississippi. p. 28.
132Flora of North America North of Mexico. Vol. 9. 2014. Oxford University Press: New York. p. 647.
133Ibid. p. 657.
134Ibid. p. 655.