Chickasaw Plum Prunus angustifolia

Chickasaw Plum Prunus angustifolia. A thicket forming, twiggy bush which has sharp thorns along the branches, this fruit tree is common on open land along water courses and road sides.  Blooming later than P umbellate, which produces umbels of flowers on the ends of stems, Chickasaw Plum produces white flowers along the full length of stems, making a display of total white “bottle brushes”.  The ½” fruit begins green, turns red, then yellow when it is ripe.  The leaves are soft and serrated along the edges, but longer and thinner than P umbellate.  Like other members of the cherry and plum family, the leaves are toxic to livestock and rabbits.  Each individual, sweetly fragrant flower is composed of 5 oval petals surrounding a central pistol with many filamentous stamen.  Known clumps are most prevalent under the power lines along the DORBA trails. (401) 3/21/19; 20 no obs;

3/21/19

Note: Chickasaw Plum blooming with masses of fragrant, white flowers from nodes along entire stems

Note; thicket forming habit of Chickasaw Plum

Note; dense masses of blooms along entire stems

Note; leaf bearing twigs can form into long, sharp thorns along the small, twiggy trunks.

Johnny-Jump-Up (Wild Pansy) Viola tricolor

Johnny-Jump-Up Violet (Wild Pansy) Viola tricolor. This soft stemmed plant is occasionally perennial, but in most zones is a self-seeding annual. An immigrant from the Mediterranean, this violet ranges in color from solid yellow to dark purple, the most common pattern being painted, purple lip with yellow stripes, the petals split between yellow and lavender. The elongated leaves, which have coarsely toothed margins, alternate along a squared, somewhat trailing stem.  The parent stock of commercial pansies, V tricolor produces viable seeds.  This wild stock bears 3/8” flowers on long stems, one at a time.  An uncommon visitor, this wild pansy escaped cultivation, and no occasionally blooms along forest margins, like Sunset Walk.  Not in books. 3/15/19-3/29/19; 20 no obs;

Note; Johnny Jump Up, or Wild Pansy, single 3/8″ blue flowers with white stripes radiating from a yellow center, born in slow succession on long stems

Note; elongated, coarsely toothed leaves alternating along squared, slightly trailing stems

Note; blue, 5 petal flowers born singly in slow succession.

note; buds forming within deep bracts at leaf nodes

Texas Yellow Star

Texas Yellow Star Lindheimera texana. A soft stemmed, fuzzy, if not bristly annual of medium height, the Yellow Star has opposite pairs of soft, clasping, fuzzy, light grey-green lanceolate leaves with smooth margins.  The single stems do not clump, and only weakly branch, going dormant by the time summer turns hot.  The 1” to 1.5” yellow-orange flowers are born in a loose, branching spray, opening one at a time, as a slightly bell-shaped 5 pointed, yellow “star” framed by 5 thick sepals.  Each petal is veined linearly, with a noticeable notch in the end.  Soft seed capsules split, spilling tiny brown-black seeds.  Preferring partial shade, it is found along forest margins of CC, PDU. (202) 4/2/15 – ; 3/15/16; 3/22/17- ; 4/22/18; 3/20/19; 3/25/20

Texas Yellow Star habit; a medium height, fuzzy, weakly branching plant with opposite, clasping leaves and terminal clusters of yellow, 5 petal flowers

Note; clasping, fuzzy, lanceolate leaves with smooth margins arranged in opposite pairs

Note; seed capsules full of tiny black seeds.

Boneset; Late Boneset

Boneset; Late Boneset Eupatorium serotinum. A tall, slightly hairy looking , with opposite, long, lance shaped leaves that are rough to the touch, born on stems 2” long.  The leaves have 3 prominent, longitudinal veins and a deeply toothed margin.  Common in marshy areas.  The plant is stiff and strongly upright, but rarely branches until the nearly flat topped flower head forms.  Flower sprays bud from the axils of upper leaves and terminus, forming dense panicles of small flower heads, each with 5-7 filamentous flowers. The normal range of E serotinum is Illinois.  The more common Boneset, E perfoliatum, native to North Texas, has clasping leaves that grow together so that the plant stem seems to run through the leaf, leading early homeopathic herbalist to believe it might help in healing broken bones.  In fact, tea made from the leaves and flower heads can cause sweating, thereby reducing fevers, but it does not heal bones.  Marshy areas. (Not in book, 110 related). 9/18/18; 19 no obs; 20 no obs;

Late Boneset habit; a tall, rough or hairy looking plant, with opposite, rough, deeply toothed leaves, bearing panicles of white flower heads

Note; opposite, lanceolate leaves have prominent, longitudinal veins and deeply toothed margins, and are born on stems nearly 2″ long

Note; readily branching flower head, composed of buds from leaf axils and terminal buds, forms a nearly flat topped panicle

Note, panicle is made up of many flower heads, each containing 5-7 filamentous, white flowers

Spiderwort, Ohio Spiderwort

Ohio Spiderwort (Bluejacket) Tradescantia ohiensis.  Like other spiderworts, including Asiatic Dayflower, this monocot has soft stems that zig-zag between nodes, any of which can take root if they touch soil, and folded, grass like leaves with parallel veins, that clasp the stem.  Ohio Spiderwort stems can reach 20” tall if supported by vegetation, otherwise weakly upright.  The terminal set of leaves form a spathe from which the buds emerge. Bright ¾ blue-purple flower have three equal sized, egg shaped petals, and yellow stamens that protrude vertically out of the nearly flat flowers.  Flowers are born from a bunch of smooth (non-hairy) buds which open in succession, the 3 green bud sepals visible between petals.  Each flower is short-lived, closing by early afternoon.  Broken stems and leaves exude a clear gel. More common along roadsides, invasive of gardens and disturbed soil, considered a garden weed.  And, oh, by the way, “wort” is an old Anglo word for plant, and so it has nothing to do with warts, or that it causes skin problems.  But it is frequently the haunt of small spiders, dangerous only if you are the size of a gnat.  .  (338) 5/1/15-5/20/15; 5/20/16; 17 no obs; 18 no obs. 19 no obs;

Ohio Spiderwort habit; tall, zig-zag stems of alternating, clasping, parallel veined, slightly folded leaves, bearing terminal clumps of bright blue flowers

Note; the folded, grass like, alternating leaves with parallel veins clasp the stems, which zig-zag at every node

Note; bright blue flowers with three green sepals, three bright blue, egg shaped petals, and yellow stamens arranged brush-like around the pistol

Note; terminal clusters of smooth buds emerge from a terminal spathe, opening to short lived blue flowers in slow succession

Milkweed, Snow on the Prairie

Snow on the Prairie (Smoke on the Prairie) Euphorbia bicolor. A tall (2’ – 3’), slender, pithy, variegated (green and white) milkweed which branches into 3 stems, and the flower heads into three bunches. The narrow, lance shaped, light grey-green leaves are arranged in a spiral around the stems.  Like all Euphorbia, stems and leaves bleed white irritating sap when cut or bruised.  Long (2” – 3”), narrow, showy, variegated green petal like bracts with white fringes are not part of the flower, just bracts that frame the small (3/8”), round, cream flowers that are composed of 5 white petals arranged around a central yellow pistol. When in bloom, the showy bracts literally make the prairies look white, or hazy.  Flowers convert to hairy, three lobed capsules.  Like other milkweed, this plant serves as food for Monarch Butterfly caterpillars, the bitter sap making them unpalatable to birds and other insectivores. PDU, CC, SWk, PL (74) 8/15/14; 8/20/15-; 16 not recrd; 8/?/17; 18 not recrd; 19 not recrd;

Snow on the Prairie habit; a tall, pithy milk weed that branches into sets of three, with alternating, lance-like grey-green leaves, and showy green and white bracts.

Note; long, showy, variegated green and white flower bracts frame the round, white flowers

Note; small, flat flowers have 5 white petals arranged around a central, yellow pistol and anthers

Note; stems branch into threes, repeatedly, each stem lined with lanceolate, stemless, oblong leaves

Note; light grey-green leaves bleed white sap when cut or broken

Note; three lobed, hairy seed capsules.

Sida, Spreading Fanpetal Sida

Spreading Fanpetal Sida Sida abutifolis (filicaulis).  A tough-stemmed, sprawling weed that invades lawns and heavily mowed areas, with narrow, lance-shaped, deeply veined, leaves with rounded, toothed margins.  Buds and seed capsules are five cornered pyramids.  Light yellow flowers have 5 irregular petals, the left-most lobe being longer than the right, giving the flowers a shape reminiscent of an electric fan blade, earning it the moniker, “Fan-Petal Sida”.  Like the related mallows and hibiscus, the anthers form a bottle brush around the upper end of the pistol, near the stigma.  Flowers are easily confused with Three Lobed False Mallow M coromandelianum, except that plant is strongly upright.  Common on Lawn, mowed roadsides, and short grasses, this Sida cannot compete with taller growing plants. (166) 5/12/15; 6/1/16; 4/22/17- ; 4/22/18; 19 no obs; 20 no obs;

Spreading Fanpetal Sida habit; a sprawling plant with narrow, toothed, lance shaped leaves, and yellow flowers with lopsided petals.

Note; anthers form a brush around the upper end of the pistol.

Note; one lobe of each petal is larger than the others, like a fan blade

Note; pyramidal, five sided bud

Sage, Mealy Sage

Mealy Sage Salvia farinacea. This upright, pithy stemmed perennial forms dense clumps of pithy stems lined with elongated, slightly hairy, drooping, leaves with a coarsely toothed margin. Clumps of light, sky blue tube flower emerge from dark blue, tubular bracts, arranged in whorls along the terminal spikes and from upper leaf nodes.  The tube unfolds from under a hairy sepal “cap”, into five lobes, dominated by a flared, down-turned lip with two broad “wings”, each marked with a prominent, white mark.  Stamens protrude slightly beyond the dark blue, fuzzy, cap like “head”.  The long lasting spikes bear flowers from early spring to at least mid summer, longer if rains persist.  Though not used for seasoning, the leaves produce a sage smell when cut or crushed.  Blue Sage S azurea is similar, and more commonly grown as an ornamental, but the lip of that species does not have white marks on it.  PDU, PL. (374) 4/10/15- winter into spring 16; 4/5/16; 3/29/17- ; 4/5/18; 5/4/19; 3/28/20

Mealy Sage habit; dense clumps of long, pithy stems lined with narrow, opposite, coarsely toothed leaves,, with dark blue-grey terminal flower spikes

Note; drooping, opposite leaves with coarsely toothed margins,

Note; dense stands of Mealy Sage on mixed prairies

Note; tube flowers emerge from fuzzy, dark blue bracts arranged in whorls along blue terminal spikes.

Note; bright blue, downturned, two lobed lip sporting twin white spots emerges from a fuzzy cap.

Rosinweed, Roughstem Rosinweed

Roughstem (Starry) Rosinweed Silphium radula. A lanky, unbranching, pithy plant with clasping, lance-shaped leaves up to 2” long by ¾” wide which grow all the way up the stem.  Like the Compass Plant S albiflorum (another Rosinweed) Amerind kids used to chew the stems for their pithy texture and sweet taste. The leaves and stem are rough to the touch, giving the plant its descriptive name. The 3” bright yellow flower, which looks remotely like a sunflower, is born singly, cradled in a bed of rough, heart-shaped bracts.  An Aster, the flowers are composed of as many as 25 smooth ray florets, each with two linear veins, surrounding a flat disk of over 100 yellow disk florets.  Prominent stamen have a black speck on the tip, and a filamentous yellow anther.  Only observed along shaded roadsides on forest margins. (not in book) 6/8/17- ; 18 no obs; 19 no obs

Roughstem Rosinweed habit; tall, unbranched, pithy stems with rough, alternating leaves, bearing a loose spray of large, bright yellow ray flowers.

Note; flowers couched in layers of stiff, pointed bracts

Note; the  stems and leave have a rough surface of bumps and bristles

Note; thick, lance shaped, clasping, leaves alternating along the pithy stem

Note; 25 bright yellow, smooth ray flowers, each with two linear veins which end in sharp points

Note; central disk of green pistols surrounded by filamentous stamen, each with a black dot, and tipped with yellow anthers.

Puffballs

Puffballs Marshallia caespitosa. At first visible as a white globe flower suspended on a long (6-10”), smooth, undulating, pithy stem which seems to float in space.  The flower stem traces back to a tight clump of linear, only slightly fuzzy, narrow leaves, each with 3 linear veins.  Smaller leaves are arranged alternately along the bottom of the stalk.  The flower is a ball of individual, white, curly tube flowers, the pistol and stamens emerging past the petals.  Only found in chalk flats along roads. (Not in Book, genre 160) 5/10/16-6/10/16; 4/14/17- ?; 4/25/18; 19 no obs; 5/5/20;

Puffballs habit; a tight clump of long, narrow leaves which gives rise to a long, smooth, pithy stalk bearing a white flower head

Note; the globe flowers born on long, undulating, smooth, pithy stems seem to hang in space.

Note; basal rosette of long, linear leaves with three parallel veins

Note; globe flowers composed of individual tube flowers with curly petals.  The stamen extend beyond the petals.