Wild, Unknown Thing
I’m not sure what this pretty little flowering plant is. My Peterson guide suggests it might be Wild Bergamot (monarda fistulosa), but the leaves don’t match the example in the book. The leaves are toothed, but they appear to be alternate rather than opposite on the stem.
This is a wild thing. It is not one that L and planted. I’m not sure where I was when I took the picture, but I suspect I was near the lake in the area that gets plenty of sun. It was a pleasant discovery where ever it was found.
I know where the flower below was found. I took this photo on the Wildflower Island, but I can’t find a match for it in my Peterson guide or my old copy of Missouri Wildflowers. Perhaps it is a sire of the canister of seeds we had heedlessly scattered on the island before our realization that we would cultivate only native plants at Roundrock.
August 26th, 2005 at 5:14 am
Do you have a larger photo of the first flower that you could post or send to me? [dgugler@allstream.net]
The second flower appears, from here, to be Common Flax (Linum usitatissimum). Note from Newcomb’s Wild Flower Guide says, “Blue flowers, 3/4″ wide, with 5 broad petals. Leaves narrowly lance-shaped, 1/2-1 1/2″ long. 1-2′ high. The flax of commerce; occasionaly in waste places. Summer. Flax Family.” I find it in odd places here in southern Ontario and wou ld love to have it on our property but no luck yet.
August 26th, 2005 at 6:42 am
Without checking, I agree with OW on the flax.
The first flower might be ironweed, Vernonia spp, although which one, I can’t tell. Very desirable; our butterflies love them.
August 26th, 2005 at 3:11 pm
Ironweed was my first impulse on flower number one also. But then I thought, “Why would Pablo’s ironweed be blooming before mine?”
August 26th, 2005 at 7:33 pm
Ahh, FC – I have Baldwin’s ironweed (V. baldwinii) which started flowering over a month ago, and New York ironweed (V. noveboracensis), which just started flowering. I should look to see what other species are around, but looks like there’s quite a range in flowering time! Which is nice – intense purple flowers all summer long.
August 26th, 2006 at 4:03 am
[...] One year ago today I was posting about another wild, unknown flower. Several kind commentors, who are more knowledgeable than I, suggested that one might be ironweed. [...]