Tag Archives: Saxifragaceae

More Flowers From Ferry Hill

Posted on by
4

Here are a few more photos of flowers seen in early April along the Potomac River near Sharpsburg, Maryland.

 

 

two-leaved miterwort, Mitella diphylla (Saxifragaceae) [right and below]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

downy yellow violet, Viola pubescens var. scabriuscula  (Violaceae)

 

 

 

blue cohosh, Caulophyllum thalictroides  (Berberidaceae)

 

 

 

 

rue anemone, Thalictrum thalictroides (Ranunculaceae) [with a side of early saxifrage, Micranthes virginiensis]

 

 

star chickweed, Stellaria pubera (Caryophyllaceae)

 

 

 

 

toadshade, Trillium sessile (Melanthiaceae)

 

 

 

 

squirrel corn, Dicentra canadensis (Papaveraceae)

 

 

 

wild blue phlox, Phlox divaricata (Polemoniaceae)

 

 

 

spreading rockcress, Arabis patens (Brassicaceae); G3 (globally rare/local), S3 in Maryland

 

 

 

 

spring beauty, Claytonia virginica (Montiaceae)

Two-Leaf Miterwort; Ethical Considerations

Posted on by
1

On April 11 I went hunting for two-leaf miterwort in the woods near my house. I found just a few plants, perfectly in bloom. But they were up a pretty steep slope. That steep slope used to have a lot more miterwort on it, just off the trail, but for some reason it doesn’t anymore.

A lot of families were out that day; social distancing was impossible without stepping off the trail. So, it seemed best to move up the slope and set up the equipment there. On the other hand, exactly that sort of disturbance is probably why there’s less miterwort this year.

I compromised by moving just off the trail, and using my longest lens (70-200mm) with a 1.7x teleconverter. I really wanted to get right up to the plants, and use the 105mm macro lens, but I just couldn’t let myself do it.

Mitella diphylla, also known as bishop’s cap, is in the saxifrage family. A forb of moist woodlands, it can found through much of New England west to Minnesota, and south to Tennessee and North Carolina. It’s rarely found in the northernmost portions of the deep South.

These are the best pictures I could get, given the circumstances. I really wanted clear pictures of the two stem leaves and the basal leaves. Maybe next year.

actually, not bad for 340mm!—>

Do you remember the so-called Poppy Apocalypse of 2019? That was the super bloom in southern California that attracted thousands and thousands of visitors. I was one of them. I was not one of the people leaving the trail to take a selfie. At the time I probably could have written many paragraphs about observed bad behavior, and the irony of trampling over something beautiful in order to get a closer look. It’s great that so many people wanted to experience this rare miracle of nature, but they ought to show some respect.

<—there are at least 16 people in this photo, most of them off-trail

Why is this hard? Respect other people and give them at least six feet of distance during this pandemic; respect nature, don’t destroy it.

The Spring Ephemerals, part 3

Posted on by
3

Well, I’ve made the decision: no wildflower hunting for the foreseeable future. You can imagine how sad this makes me. But people just aren’t being careful about social distancing, and there isn’t enough open space for everyone who insists on going out.

In the meantime, I’ll follow the season by posting old pictures.

If I were being strictly chronological, harbinger-of spring (Erigenia bulbosa; Apiaceae) would have been the first plant in this series of posts.  It’s almost certainly done blooming by now.

These little plants bedevil me: they grow only a few inches tall, the individual flowers are tiny (notice the oak leaf in the picture below), and they’re so dainty that they’re always in motion, so they’re tricky to photograph. I do love trying, though.

 

 

Another one that’s never still is lyre-leaved rockcress (Arabidopsis lyrata; Brassicaceae). Growing right out of small depressions in rocks, these plants stand just a few inches taller than harbinger of spring. Look how slender those stems are compared to the pine needles lying nearby. I’ve seen stands of these blooming as late in the season as early June.

Here’s another diminutive plant that grows in moist, rocky areas: early saxifrage (Micranthes virginiensis, formerly Saxifraga virginiensis; Saxifragaceae). Its blooming period can start as early as late March and last through early May.

More Faroese Wildflowers

Posted on by
Reply

Here are a few of the showier, prettier, and more interesting wildflowers I saw in the Faroe Islands. Many of these have a worldwide distribution pattern known as arctic-alpine, which means exactly what you would expect: they are found at high latitudes, and at high elevation at lower latitudes.

Armeria maritima (sea thrift, Plumbaginaceae)
a circumpolar species that likes poor, salty soils; thrives on rocky coasts

 

 

 

Dactylorhiza maculata (heath spotted orchid, Orchidaceae)
common in mountainous areas in Europe; can vary greatly in color from dark pink-purple to almost white

 

 

Dactylorhiza purpurella (northern marsh orchid; Orchidaceae)
these two Dactylorhiza species are difficult to distinguish and it’s quite possible that I’ve mis-identified them; also Dactylorhiza is one of those “problem” genera; found in the UK and Scandanavia

Geranium sylvaticum (wood cranesbill; Geraniaceae)
found in temperate regions throughout Europe; introduced in Quebec and Greenland

 

 

Pinguicula vulgaris (butterwort; Lentibulariaceae)
found in boggy areas in the upper Mid-West, New England, Canada, and northern Europe; the plant’s leaves produce both a sticky substance and enzymes which together trap and digest insects

 

Polygala serpyllifolia (heath milkwort; Polygalaceae)
I can’t find much on where this species is found, other than the British Isles (and of course the Faroes)

 

 

Polygala vulgaris (common milkwort; Polygalaceae) this species has a widespread distribution in Europe and Asia; it’s introduced in Michigan and Oregon

 

 

Salix herbacea (dwarf willow, snowbed willow; Salicaceae)
a subshrub growing to only 2 inches tall, with arctic-alpine distribution in North America and Europe

 

 

Micranthes stellaris (formerly Saxifraga stellaris; starry saxifrage; Saxifragaceae)
this little charmer is found in arctic-alpine areas of Europe, and in Quebec, Labrador and Greenland in North America

 

Silene acaulis (moss campion; Caryophyllaceae)
arctic-alpine distribution, including the Rocky Mountains in the United States

Miterwort and Dwarf Ginseng

Posted on by
2

The problem with writing blog posts at this time of year is that there’s so much to write about. By the time I photograph a flower and research it and publish the piece, it may very well be done for the year.

That’s probably the case with these two species, which I group together because they bloom at about the same time, and because the only place I know where to find them is about a five-minute walk from my house.

Two-leaf miterwort, also called bishop’s cap, (Mitella diphylla, Saxifragaceae) is a perennial clump-forming forb that stands about two feet tall. It’s a simple plant, with a basal rosette and one pair of leaves on the flowering stem (hence the specific epithet). The individual flowers on the raceme look like tiny snowflakes. The whole plant is so wispy that it’s easily passed by.

There are five species of Mitella native to North America, but this is the only one found in the mid-Atlantic. It’s also found in the Appalachian South, the Midwest, and New England. In Maryland it grows from the western coastal plain west to the Appalachian plateau.

A much shorter plant, also easily overlooked, Panax trifolius (Araliaceae) is somewhat misleadingly named: the leaves often have five leaflets, though two of them are quite small. Dwarf ginseng is not the ginseng of commerce: that’s Panax quinquefolius, which also has five leaflets, but the leaflets have short stalks (petiolules), which is one way to tell the plants apart.

Dwarf ginseng grows in similar habitats to miterwort, with a similar but more northern range in North America. Fun fact: according to the Illinois Wildflowers site, not only is dwarf ginseng polygamo-dioecious (with plants bearing either staminate or perfect flowers) but “individual plants are capable of changing their gender from year-to-year”.*

Plants are so cool.

*Illinois Wildflowers Panax trifolius page