2011 spring wildflower thread

[JohnL]

Common Speedwell

Corn Speedwell (the flowers are very tiny; about 1/8")

My first Lady's Slipper of the season

Jack in the Pulpit

I couldn't resist another shot of a Starflower.

JohnL

 

[blaze]

I love that star flower John. Excellent!

Here are a few from the Saco Heath (Nature Conservancy preserve) in Maine. Bring your bug spray!

String of Pearls

Bog Laurel buds

 

[nartreb]

Pinks:

This isn't a flowering plant (hints in background and in filename):

This is:

Lady's slippers are becoming very abundant in the Boston area, more still popping up daily.

 

[forestgnome]

wow!! I'm blown away by this thread

 

[J&J]

Here are a few more......

Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Dutchman's Breeches

Striped Maple

Dwarf Ginseng with Skeeter

A blossom of a different sort- Swamp Beacon

Apple

 

[Kevin Judy and Emma]

Some more...

First and foremost, I'd like to say that this might be the best Spring Flower Thread, yet! Thanks to all those who've taken the time to contribute, there are some marvelous photos! Second, I'd like to apologize that I haven't posted lately and I have a lot I'd like to share, so, I hope nobody minds if I post this many at once. Some have already been posted by others, and there are a few I couldn't resist... Hope you enjoy!

Colt's Foot (Tussilago farfara)

Bloodroot (Sanguanaria canadensis)

Bloodroot (Sanguanaria canadensis)

Bloodroot (Sanguanaria canadensis) and Wake Robin (Trillium erectum)

Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria)

Sessile-leaved Bellwort "Wild Oats" Uvularia sessilifolia

Wood Anenome (Anenome quinqueifolia)

Cinnamon Fern (Osmunda cinnamomea)

Large White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)

Large White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)

KDT

 

[Kevin Judy and Emma]

and Some More...

American Painted Lady (Vanessa virginiensis)

Trailing Arbutus (Epigaea repens)

Cabbage White (Pieris rapae)

Early Saxifrage (Saxifraga virginiensis)

Nodding Trillium (Trillium cernuum)

Fringed Polygala (Polygala paucifolia)

Pink Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium acaule)

American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

Wild Calla Lily (Calla palustris)

Garden Lupine (Lupinus polyphyllus)

KDT

 

[nartreb]

Kevin, that whole set is fantastic!

 

[RickB.]

Great thread and photos, despite generally lousy weather conditions! Such as Sunday...
Rose Twisted-Stalk, Mt. Sunapee, 5-22-11.

 

[cushetunk]

KDT - I'm pretty sure your fern is Cinnamon Fern (Osmunda cinnamomea).

I wouldn't want to eat those fiddleheads... or those of Bracken Fern (the Pteridium)

Great photos all around!

 

[Kevin Judy and Emma]

Thanks!

Ferns and mushrooms I should just say "Fern" or "Mushroom"! MY ID skills on these are pretty lame!

KDT

 

[griffin]

THANK YOU for all the wonderful images!

fyi, I was up on Eisenhower this weekend, and the alpine fleurs on the summit cone look like they're ready to start popping.

 

[RickB.]

We climbed Ike and Pierce yesterday, based on Griffin's encouraging trail report (thanks!). Alpine flowers were beginning to bloom on Eisenhower and were at around 80% on the peak's south slopes. Diapensia, Lapland Rosebay and Alpine Azalea were lovely and will be near peak there this weekend.

Lapland Rosebay, Mount Eisenhower, 5-25-11.

 

[1HappyHiker]

Still trying to learn my wildflowers . . . is this Rhodora that I spotted on 25-May at that place known as The Nubble (below the Peak above the Nubble).
Below is a close-up snapshot, plus a snapshot showing a cluster of it.

 

[Kevin Judy and Emma]

Yessir!

That's Rhodora! Nice shots!

KDT

 

[arghman]

That's Rhodora! Nice shots!

more specifically:

• leaves deciduous (azalea-group of Rhododendron spp. rather than the rhododendron-group which has evergreen leaves that remain on the plant, e.g. Rhododendron maximum)
• flowers w/ bilateral symmetry but unequal petals rather than radial symmetry (most other azaleas in this area are nearly radially symmetric)
• right shade of purple (most other azaleas in this area are pink or white)
• right habitat (boggy heathy subalpine, or forested bog edges)

 

[Elizabeth]

This week In Lyme, New Hampshire:


Yellow flowers growing wild in my front yard by Elizabeth W.K., on Flickr

and Fringed Polygala


Fringed Polygala (Polygala paucifolia) by Elizabeth W.K., on Flickr

Pink Lady's Slipper is also out on the Holt's Ledge Trail (but no photos yet). Unfortunately the black flies are also out in force.

 

[arghman]

Wild Indigo (Baptisia tinctoria)

It looks like similar Baptisia sp. but not Baptisia tinctoria, which has blooms midsummer, has small clover-like leaves with 3 leaflets, and is found in pitch-pine sandplains and dry oak-hickory forests, probably not found north of Manchester, NH.

(Here's a photo of Baptisia tinctoria from Cape Cod from a few years ago:

)

My guess for your picture is a garden escape, perhaps Thermopsis villosa (although the flower spikes look different).

 

[Elizabeth]

Thanks for the correction. Those yellow flowers, whatever they are, come up every year in my front yard. So probably someone did plant them many years ago.

More, these from Holt's Ledge Trail on May 28:


Canada Mayflower (Maianthemum canadense) on Holt's Ledge Trail by Elizabeth W.K., on Flickr


Pink Lady's Slippers (Cypripedium acaule) on Holt's Ledge Trail by Elizabeth W.K., on Flickr

Peak season for Pink Lady's Slippers, which are abundant on this north-facing slope at about 1,600 feet in elevation


Yellow Clintonia (Clintonia borealis) on Holt's Ledge Trail by Elizabeth W.K., on Flickr



Foamflowers (Tiarella cordifolia) on Holt's Ledge Trail by Elizabeth W.K., on Flickr


Wild Columbines (Aquilegia canadensis) on Holt's Ledge by Elizabeth W.K., on Flickr

Columbines seem to be gone by in some places down below. These were found at about 2,000 feet elevation. Pin cherry was also blooming at 2,000' elevation, and gone by at 1,000 feet.

Also blooming were: starflower, wild sarsaparilla, bunchberry, bluet, and wild strawberry.

Hobblebush, trout lily, and both painted and purple trilliums (trillia?) were all gone by.

 

[JohnL]

I got tired of work and tired of the rain so what better place to go than the middle of the desert. Here are some wildflowers from Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.

Dune Primrose Oenothera deltoides

Desert Marigold Baileya multiradiata

Indigobush Psorothamnus fremontii

Jimson Weed Datura wrightii

Purplemat Nama demissum
(Note the lizard tracks in the sand.)

I have some others but I have not yet identified them. I'll work on that.

JohnL