Colonies – Tendrils

Woodland Sunflower

Woodland Sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus). An herbaceous perennial that often grows to 5 – 7 feet tall. It’s native to eastern and central North America and can be found along rocky trails and dry open sites.

As this example, as it dances in the dappled sunlight shows, the leaves are opposite with a smooth to slightly toothed margin and hairy underside.

Butterflies, Silvery Checkerspot (pictured above), Gorgon Checkerspot, and Painted Lady use the Woodland Sunflower as their larval host plant.

An abundance of other insects are attracted to Woodland Sunflowers. Some even to the point of exclusivity. There are certain bees which visit Woodland Sunflowers that will go to only this species of flower, or flowers of the Helianthus, or Sunflower genus. They are said to be oligolectic. Their larvae must be fed the pollen or nectar of those particular flowers in order to develop properly.

Woodland Sunflowers spread by rhizomes forming colonies. In the autumn as the flowers fade those colonies become prime territory for game birds, song birds, and small mammals gathering to enjoy the seeds.

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White and Red Dogwood Berries

Autumn is approaching. The leaves of some Flowering Dogwoods are getting richer, more and more red. Their crimson berries, or drupes, are in abundance. This is the species of Dogwood that most people think of when “Dogwood” is mentioned.

Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) and Gray Dogwood (Cornus racemosa). Two different Dogwood species. One of seventeen species native to North America. Like most Dogwood species, these two have opposite leaves as well as leaves with visible veins that curve parallel to the smooth edges.

Gray Dogwood’s creamy white berries are plentiful now too, much to the pleasure of Cardinals, Flickers, Downy Woodpeckers, Bluebirds and many other songbirds.

Flowering Dogwoods grow as single trees. Gray Dogwoods form colonies, by growing suckers and spreading. These dense colonies create a perfect space for nesting songbirds. Glad to see these berries. Autumn is approaching!

American Lily of the Valley

The Lily of the Valley that we all know, the one that used to grow in our Moms’ gardens is a native of Asia and Europe, European Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis). But there is a native too, though this designation of “native” and it being a different species is not agreed upon by the authorities. I’m going with native and a different species. American Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majuscula). This species is native to Georgia, up north to Pennsylvania and west to Kentucky.

The difference between these two species is quite subtle. In American Lily of the Valley, the plant is shy, only creating very small clumps if any. The European species is quite gregarious, creating large colonies in an aggressive manner. The leaves of the American Lily of the Valley are larger, than the European species. The racemes (a raceme is a flower cluster with the separate flowers attached by short equal stalks at equal distances along a central stem) of the American Lily of the Valley is shorter than the European species. Those racemes of the American species arch under the leaves, while the leaves of the European species stretch tall, as if standing on their tippy toes to see over the tops of the leaves.

I have both of these species and love having them. Oh MY! Such a delicious scent! I prefer the tame manner of the American species and I must say I really prefer native plants anyway for the sake of the environment. These two species bloom at different times though, which extends the time that I can enjoy their blooms and their wonderful aromas. My European species is in full bloom now and my native species is just now beginning to emerge from the soil. Many more weeks of lily of the valley beauty.

Cutleaf Toothwort

A spring ephemeral, a perennial native to eastern North America. Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata).

The “toothwort” of its name is thanks to the appearance of its rhizome.

The Cutleaf Toothwort likes woods with mesic soils covered with lots of leaf litter. This certainly must be the description of the woods where I live. Many of these plants greet the spring each year up here, including a few spots where colonies have formed.

Buds protected by four pale green sepals open to reveal four barely pale pink petals. At the center of each flower is a style with a sphere topped stigma which are surrounded by stamens with green filaments of varying lengths topped by yellow anthers.

Many different pollinators visit these blooms. Fruit of the Toothwort is a slender pod about an inch long containing a single row of tiny seeds.

When the invasive, Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata), starts growing in the area of a population of Cutleaf Toothwort its numbers soon decline. A good reason to fight those invasives.