Queen Anne’s Lace, Daucus carota, roadside rest,
Ontario Province, Canada
One of the loveliest sights of summer is dainty Queen Anne’s Lace or wild carrot, Daucus carota in grassy places and along roadsides. A native of Europe, it grows in every State of the U.S.A. Long in cultivation, the carrots we eat are the root of the same plant, var. sativa.
Queen Anne’s Lace, Daucus carota, Acadia National Park, Maine
The flower umbels mature into an interesting ball of bristly seeds.
Ox-eye Daisy, Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (now Leucanthemum vulgare),
visited by hover-fly
Acadia National Park, Maine
The Ox-eye Daisy from Europe and Asia is found in all 48 states in open, moist places. Each white petal or ‘ray flower’ and each yellow ‘disc flower’ matures into a single seed. No wonder the daisy is so common!
Chicory, Cichorium intybus, Ann Arbor, Michigan
A beautiful sky blue, chicory flowers are seen along roadsides and in vacant lots in the morning or on cloudy days. Once the sun is full, the flowers close for the day and the tough, weedy stems are scarcely noticeable. Another vagabond from Europe, it has spread throughout the United States. The root is roasted and ground and used as a coffee substitute, or to add a different, more bitter flavor to real coffee as savored in New Orleans and other francophile places.
Common Sunflower, Helianthus annuus, at Scotts Bluff, Nebraska
The rank, weedy sunflower which brightens roadsides and fences in late summer is difficult to reconcile with the enormous cultivated sunflowers on stout stems that are grown for their seed and for floral bouquets, yet it is the same species. An American native, one of the earliest examples of its domestication is from the Hayes site in Tennessee dating back to around 2300 B.C. Another find from the Olmec site of San Andrés, Mexico dates to some time before 2100 B.C. (source: Wikepedia). Farmers grow the plants for the seed which is pressed for cooking oil or to produce biodiesel fuel, or added to bird seed mixes. The seeds are roasted into tasty snack morsels, and when hulled, added to salads and breads as a nutritious and flavorful supplement.
Tractor vs. Sunflower — Sunflower Wins! Helianthus annuus,
Forest City, Iowa
In this member of the Asteraceae, formerly known as Compositae, only the central brown florets each form a single seed in a dry coat; the outer yellow ray flowers are sterile.
Goldenrod and White Aster, Kaslow Prairie, Iowa
It’s mid-September and the Asteraceae family is at its most conspicuous.
Some 20 species of Goldenrod, Solidago sp., with tiny brilliant yellow flowers, bloom in prairies and edges of fields and creeks all over the United States. Formerly shunned because falsely believed to be allergenic, (Ragweed is the real culprit), they are finding a place in ornamental horticulture.
White Aster, Aster ericoides appears slender and dainty among tall green grasses, or as a low white mass in the dry, short-grass prairie of Nebraska. Growing from the east coast across two-thirds of the United States, I began to recognize it in bud in mid-August in Acadia National Park, Maine.
New England Aster, Aster novae-angliae, Gering Arboretum, Nebraska
New England Aster is a stout 3 to 6 foot perennial with purple “daisy” flowers that is found in nearly all of the United States. Many shorter compact varieties have been developed for horticultural use with colors varying from pink to dark purple. Some were just opening in the U.S. Botanical Garden in Washington D.C. in early August.
Common Mullein, Verbascum thapsus, Estes Park, Colorado
Not all late summer flowers are daisies. Wooly gray leaf rosettes on the ground (the first year) or 2 to 4 ft. tall stems (the second year) in barren places will call your attention to common mullein. This native of Europe and North Africa grows in all of our United States, and early assumed a role as an herbal remedy, the leaves being smoked by Indians. Teas prepared from the leaves, carefully filtered to eliminate the irritating hairs, seem to be helpful in pulmonary diseases.
Common Mullein, Verbascum thapsus, Estes Park, Colorado
The yellow flowers peep out of wooly pale green sepals on the stout stems, and are pollinated by bees. The capsules of this member of the Snapdragon family turn brown, split and shed their tiny seeds and the whole plant becomes a dry, dead stick.
Butter and Eggs, Linaria vulgaris, Acadia National Park, Maine
It’s a delight to spot a cluster of Butter and Eggs. I have photographed this lovely flower from Maine to California: in Ann Arbor, MI, the Tetons and Yellowstone, WY, Grand Coulee and Mount St. Helens, WA. It photographs best from below, so expect bruised elbows from the prostrate position in gravelly ground. The snapdragon-like flowers seem too pretty to be a weed that came to us from the Mediterranean region.
F.Y.I.
Search the name of any native plant in your favorite browser. An amazing amount of information is available. Look for “PLANTS Profile for (Latin name), (common name)” from //www.plants.usda.gov to see photos and a distribution map. Wikepedia references provide uses and history. [For fun, Google “Plants, Pawek” and “Pawekiae”]
