Tag Archives: wildflowers

One-flowered broomrape: our fourth plant without chlorophyll

Posted on June 3, 2013 by | 3 Comments
Oneflowered Broomrape (Orobanche uniflora)
One-flowered Broomrape (Orobanche uniflora)

One-flowered broomrape (Orobanche uniflora) is also known as oneflowered broomrape, naked broomrape, cancer root, one-flowered cancer root, pipes, ghost pipes, squawdrops, and squirrel’s grandfather. It is the fourth plant that we’ve dealt with here that has no chlorophyll. Without chlorophyll the plant is unable to nourish itself through photosynthesis, so it lives its life as a parasite, siphoning off its nourishment from other plants. Unlike the previous parasitic plants that we’ve discussed, this one doesn’t get its food by tapping into tree roots. Instead it feeds off non-woody (herbaceous) plants like Asters.

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Lakeside Daisy State Nature Preserve

Posted on May 12, 2013 by | 12 Comments

The Lakeside daisy is Ohio’s rarest, native plant species. This plant only grows in four areas. Its largest population is in Ohio’s Marblehead peninsula, part of Ottawa County. This is where the Lakeside Daisy State Nature Preserve is located. Lakeside daisies are also found in Michigan’s upper peninsula, and in Ontario, Canada they can be found in the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island.

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A trio of Lakeside daisies (Hymenoxys herbacea).

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April Wildflowers at Fort Hill

Posted on April 29, 2013 by | 17 Comments

I was delighted at how many species of wildflower were in bloom at Fort Hill this past weekend. We saw many of the same flowers that appeared in April Wildflowers at Lake Katharine State Nature Preserve. So rather than posting duplicate flower photos, I’ll just post ones that were newly seen at Fort Hill.

Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)

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April Wildflowers at Lake Katharine State Nature Preserve

Posted on April 15, 2013 by | 14 Comments

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources lists Lake Katharine State Nature Preserve as being one of the nine state nature preserves in Ohio that are among the best for seeing spring wildflowers. Having never been to this nature preserve in Jackson County, we decided to see what was blooming there in mid-April.

Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum)

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Posted in Nature, Nature identification, Southwestern Ohio

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Common Spring Wildflowers in Ohio

Posted on April 10, 2013 by | 16 Comments

This post illustrates a couple of dozen, common species of spring wildflowers in Ohio. The scientific name in each caption links to an article where you can learn more about that species (a Wikipedia article, if possible). It also lists the months in which you can expect to see each species bloom in central Ohio. In southern Ohio they will bloom a little earlier and in northern Ohio a little later.

The original inspiration for this post was a handout on what spring wildflowers can be seen at different locations along the boardwalk in the Inniswood Metro Garden in Franklin County, Ohio. The locations are identified relative to numbered posts along the trail. Since most of these flowers are perennials, the same flowers can be seen year after year near the same place. I have preserved the information on post location that is specific to this Metro Park; if you are trying to identify wildflowers elsewhere, you can disregard the numbered posts.

A few placeholders remain for species that I hope to photograph later this year.

Between Posts 3 and 4

Cutleaf Toothwort

Cut-leaved toothwort (Cardamine concatenata) Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata / Dentaria laciniata); blooms April through June

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Lamping Homestead in Wayne National Forest

Posted on February 3, 2013 by | 11 Comments
Eastern Box Turtle, male An eastern box turtle next to the trail at Lamping Homestead Recreation Area.

Lamping Homestead Recreation Area is located in the Marietta Unit of Wayne National Forest. It offers opportunities for camping, fishing, hiking, mountain biking, and picnicking. A 4.5 mile loop trail is open to both hikers and mountain bikers.

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Posted in Nature, Nature identification, Southeastern Ohio

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October wildflowers

Posted on November 7, 2012 by | 11 Comments

Now that it’s November, the wildflower season has come to a close. But let’s take a last look at those hardy wildflowers that saw the season out.

New England Aster

New England Aster

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Can you spot the crab spider?

Posted on October 2, 2012 by | 1 Comment
Hidden crab spider

There’s a crab spider lurking in the cluster of flowers pictured above. Crab spiders pretend to be part of a flower, and when an unsuspecting insect arrives to sample the flower’s nectar, he’ll pounce on it and have it for lunch. If you’ve spotted him (or given up trying), click the “Continue reading” link to see him plainly.

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September Wildflowers

Posted on October 2, 2012 by | 10 Comments

Below are a couple of dozen wildflowers that I photographed last month. I have numbered all the photos, so you can refer to the flower’s number if you want to talk about a specific one. I haven’t been able to identify all of them, so if you see one that you recognize please leave me a comment. Oh, and if you think I’ve misidentified any, I’d love to hear from you.

Ozark Tickseed Sunflower (Bidens polylepis) by Deborah Platt at Flickr (1) Ozark Tickseed Sunflower (Bidens polylepis)

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Beechdrops: Our third plant without chlorophyll

Posted on September 24, 2012 by | 2 Comments
Beechdrops (Epifagus americana)

The open blossoms of a beechdrop (Epifagus americana).

Most plants are green because of their chlorophyll which both tints their leaves and allows them to manufacture their own nutrition. However there are plants without chlorophyll; these plants aren’t green, nor do they have leaves. So they turn to other living things to meet their nutritional needs. There are two categories of plants without chlorophyll depending on whether the plant directly gets its nutrition from another plant, or indirectly via a fungus which in turn gets its food from a plant. Those plants that directly “feed” off other plants are parasites. The beechdrops pictured above are examples of such parasitic plants. Beechdrops get their food by tapping into the roots of their host plant, the American Beech tree.

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