Joe Pye Weed

This is one of my favorite North American wildflowers -- Eutrochium purpureum (formerly Eupatorium), commonly known as Joe Pye Weed.  Eutrochium is a tall (6-7') summer flowering perennial, typically with pink flowers as seen below.  Part of the reason that this plant is now Eutrochium and not Eupatorium is because the former has whorled leaves (indeed, trocho is Greek for wheel-like, thus whorled) and the latter has opposite leaves. Both genera remain in the Asteraceae family.

Below, a white flowering variety, less common than the purplish pink flowers.  One way to distinguish E. purpureum from E. maculatum (these plants are often confused) is the presence of pink spots along the entire stem of E. maculatum, as opposed to the clear green or purple stems on E. purpureum.

Joe Pye weed is a pretty terrific common name, too.  It's named for a Native American who was known by colonists as Joe Pye.  As legend goes, he used the roots of this plant to aid a colonist who was ill with typhus.  The plant induced sweating which broke his fever. The plant was also used by Native Americans as an ailment to "breakbone fever" (which is now known as dengue fever), thus another common name of boneset (though boneset is usually considered the common name for Eutrochium perfoliatum, a close relative). 

You need a fair amount of real estate to use this plant, as large as it gets.  But if you have the space, it's a great addition as it provides habitat to bees, butterflies and birds.

Shooting Star

Here's another spring perennial from the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden in DC.  Seriously, if you need some inspiration for spring perennials, take a walk through these lovely gardens.   This plant is Dodecatheon meadia or shooting star.  Its basal rosette of leaves (leaves which have some relief to them) and elongated stems on which the flowers sit (those stems are called peduncles) are typical characteristics to the primrose family (Primulaceae), to which this plant belongs.

It's a gorgeous plant and native to boot.  It's found in the eastern United States from Georgia to Michigan.  It's typically found in wooded shady locations and prefers moist soils.  It has a high tolerance to alkaline soils as well.  It aestivates by mid-summer (i.e., it loses its leaves and goes dormant) but spreads easily and can be divided without trouble.  It is endangered in some states, primarily due to overcollection.

The common name, shooting star, is pretty obvious.  But Dodecatheon -- that's a bit more obscure.  Evidently, a similar primrose was christened with this name by Pliny the Elder himself (one of the first botanists).  He named it because he believed this plant was under watch by gods, twelve of them in fact.  In Greek, dodeca means twelve and theos means God.

Wood Poppy

I absolutely love learning a new plant.  I saw this at a client's property in Maryland last week and was informed it was wood poppy, or Stylophorum diphyllum.  Though not a true Papaver it is indeed in the poppy, or Papaveraceae family.

I'm chagrined because at first glance I thought it was a buttercup, or member of the Ranunculaceae family.  The yellow flowers influenced my snap judgment, which is always a good reminder to look more carefully when inspecting plants in the field.

If I had paid closer attention, I would have noted the poppy-like fuzzy flower buds and the soft hairs on the flower's peduncle -- both typical to poppies and not at all common on buttercups. Also like poppies, when the stem is broken a milky sap exudes from the plant.

Stylophorum is a native wildflower and naturalizes damp woods with ease.  The genus name simply means "having styles" which are the stem(s) that supports the female flower part - the stigma.  Diphyllum refers to the pair of leaves that usually are found at the base of the flower.  The plant is also commonly called celandine poppy.

Aster simplex

Here are a few shots from this morning's run.  Aster simplex, or panicled aster.  The more current botanical name for this plant is actually Symphyotrichum lanceolatum, but its older name can still be applied.  As I've mentioned before, I think the word 'Aster' is decidedly less of a mouthful than Symphyotrichum. 

 

This specimen was found growing along an unmowed roadside and is very common this time of year.  It blooms in mid to late summer until the first frost.  It's not as showy as other asters, but you can buy seeds of the native plant from various sources.  To me, it's a great addition to a wildflower meadow and the small white flowers would be a great alternative to baby's breath (Gypsophila) for cut flower arrangements. 

Finally, like all members of the Asteraceae family, this flower structure is composed of disc florets and ray florets.  The disc florets are the very small yellow petals that compose the inside 'eye' of the flower.  They are the seed-producing flowers, whereas the ray florets (in this case, the white petals) are decorative; primarily present to attract pollinators.