Winnipesaukee Forum - Need Help Identifying Wildflowers & Plants

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Need Help Identifying Wildflowers & Plants

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...um/Orchid_.jpg
Orchid?
Jonas Pilot was looking to identify this wildflower. Can you help?

I can name that flower in two notes!

The first photo is a plant called Campanula. It's common name is BellFlower, and there are a number of varieties - most are blue or white.

The white-blossomed plant with the interesting leaves is a wild Aster. They are very hearty and will survive even the most punishing winters. They make a great addition to a cut-flower bouquet.

The very last one - shown in the separate post - is indeed a wild orchid. I used to have them at my old house - they're another amazingly hearty variety.

The one under the Aster could possibly be a wild Columbine, based upon the leaves, but I can't be sure without a closer view of the blossom. Any chance you got a close-up?

:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rattlesnake Gal (Post 167283)

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...um/Orchid_.jpg
Orchid?
Jonas Pilot was looking to identify this wildflower. Can you help?

This one grows all over my backyard. It's jewelweed aka spotted touch-me-not. Hummingbirds love it. It also has rather "juicy" stems which make weed whacking a rather sloppy job.

http://www.kswildflower.org/flower_d...p?flowerID=516

My kids love jewelweed - we have a bunch of it by the brook that runs by our house. The seedpods are sorta spring-loaded - you touch them and they POP! (The boys squeal and giggle and look for more...)

I agree with Scott that the last photo is Jewel Weed (commonly known as Touch-Me-Nots or Snapweed). When ripe you can barely touch them as they will explode scattering their seeds in all directions. It was a fun thing to do as kids to watch them explode. They grew in abundance on our property. There were no video games in those days and we made our own simple fun, learning about nature in the process.

I thought the white one with the "interesting leaves" was Tall Meadow Rue, but I am no expert and Pepper may be correct in identifying it as wild Aster. The wild asters that grow on my property are lilac in color with yellow centers, but I believe some varieties are white. Meadow Rue grows up to six feet tall.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chickie (Post 167302)

...
I thought the white one with the "interesting leaves" was Tall Meadow Rue, but I am no expert and Pepper may be correct in identifying it as wild Aster. The wild asters that grow on my property are lilac in color with yellow centers, but I believe some varieties are white. Meadow Rue grows up to six feet tall.

Chickie, you are absolutely correct! I just did some googling on Meadow Rue and came up with some images that exactly match RG's. Thanks!!! I like to learn something new every day, and if I learn something new about plants, it makes it even better! :D

Bush With Berries

I think the bush with the berries is a black elderberry bush. I have a couple similar looking bushes on my property and my Mom always said they were elderberry bushes. Not absolutely sure of the one in your photo, but that would be my uneducated guess.

The photo of the yellow flowers looks familiar and I know I've seen that "stuff" somewhere before but can't put a name to it.

RG, you should consider putting together a pictorial book on "Wildflowers of the Lakes Region". Those photos are absolutely spectacular - so sharp and clear. Good job. Wildflowers are really beautiful when you stop and look at them. Unfortunately, we usually think of them as weeds and pass them by.

The yellow flower looks like potentilla.

Thanks Everyone!

Unfortunately I don't think that I have a closer shot of the possible wild columbine. I will keep looking, through my files, you never know. I take so many pictures. :laugh:

Here are some other shots of the yellow flower that may be of help:

http://i965.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1314808781

http://i965.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1314808781

Thanks for the photo compliment Chickie! :D My camera was having trouble focusing on the flower portion of the plant, which made it difficult. Thank goodness for digital pictures!

I too thought that JP's wildflower was a Spotted Touch-me-not. What a fun flower! Thanks for relating your experiences.

Do any other Forum members have wildflower pictures to share?

Identification of Yellow Flower

I set out on a field trip to my back yard this morning in hopes of finding the elusive yellow flower. I knew I had seen it somewhere in my travels. I found it growing near my rhubarb patch, beckoning me over to take a closer look. Then armed with my mother's "Flower Guide to Flowers East of the Rockies" (copyright 1916), I began my search for identification. I believe it is one of two options (both members of the same family of plants). It is either the Evening Primrose or the Sundrop. I tend to lean on the side of the Primrose but it could be either. Of the Primrose it says, "It is an exceedingly common biennial plant of nocturnal habits, the flowers spreading wide at dusk and partly or wholly closing the next morning." I Googled the names and found numerous photos, so you can draw your own conclusions.

1 – hosta
2 – evening primrose
3 – bush honeysuckle
4 – tall meadow rue
5 – (same)
6 – pale corydalis
7 – ?
Separate frame / orange flower – jewelweed

Evening Primrose vs Sundrop

I agree with Pepper that the first photo is Campanula (commonly known as the bell flower).

I have reversed my opinion on the yellow flowers I have growing in my backyard. What I first thought to be Evening Primrose, I now believe to be Sundrop. Venturing out at dusk last night, I found the flowers had closed, whereas the Primrose purportedly opens at that time of day and closes in the morning. I also learned that the Primrose has a larger blossom and grows much taller than the Sundrop. Very similar in appearance but the Sundrop is a smaller plant. The photo posted above may well be that of an Evening Primrose, but what I have growing here is Sundrop. The test would be whether it opens or closes at dusk and how large the blossoms are.

This Has Been Fun! Thanks for Helping!!!

I e-mailed NH Wildflowers and UNH Cooperative Extension and asked them what their thoughts were regarding my plants.

To me, the first plant looked very similar to a hosta, not exact, but similar.

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...0-10_030-b.jpg
Rattlesnake Island Wildflower - They bloom late June into July

Both NH Wildflowers and UNH Cooperative Extension agree.
NH Wildflowers thought was that it is a traditionally cultivated plant that perhaps wandered away from captivity.
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http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...5--08_116b.jpg
Wildflower from Rattlesnake Island - Blooms mid September

After spending a few hours searching the internet, I thought the second flower looked like a fern-leaf false foxglove. NH Wildflowers thought so too.
UNH Cooperative Extension thought, like Chickie, that it might be an evening primrose. I am pretty sure it blooms during the day.
I will definitely have to take more and better shots next year!!!
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http://i965.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1314808781
Rattlesnake Wildflower - Blooms June into July

With my research, I thought perhaps this was some kind of honeysuckle. NH Wildflowers & UNH confirmed this as a Northern Bush Honey Suckle.
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http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...DSCN1407-b.jpg
Closer shot of White Wildflower on Rattlesnake - Blooms in July

They both confirmed that Chickie was correct that this is Tall Meadow Rue. :D
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http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...File0186-b.jpg
Wildflower on Rattlesnake Island- Blooms in July

NH Wildflowers said that this plant appears to be a Pale Corydalis, also known as Tall Corydalis (Corydalis sempervirens). The blossoms are quite attractive with their combination of pink and yellow. The lower leaves have 3-5 lobes and leaf stalks, and as you go up the plant stem the leaves become smaller and stalk-less. The flowers are 1/2 to 5/8” (1.2-1.5 cm) in length, with about 1/3 of that length being the blossom’s “spur” which hangs out the back. We do not yet have this plant on the website either, although we have its cousin, the Golden Corydalis.

UNH Cooperative Extension says this is Pale Corydalis too.
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http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...DSCN1394-b.jpg
Wild Berry Bush - Berries turn dark, almost black in August-September

Both were unable to identify this plant. When the berries change, I will be sure to get pictures. That might help a lot.
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http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...um/Orchid_.jpg
Jewelweed/Spotted Touch-me-not
From the Gallery of Jonas Pilot

Both NH Wildflowers and UNH Cooperative Extension agree that everyone was spot on with the Jewelweed/Spotted Touch-me-not,

Thank you very much to all of you, NH Wildflowers and UNH Cooperative Extension for helping identify my wildflowers. I think I have a new hobby and I bet that I'll be needing more help. :laugh:

Does any know what this is?

There is a very helpful web site that has eguides (field guides) for:

birds
butterflies
fish
insects & spiders
mammals
reptiles & amphibians
seashells
sea shore creatures
trees
wildflowers

It has a fairly intuitive search function that can help you narrow down your search.

I am looking for a good mushroom guide for the area as I seem to be noticing them a lot more on my walks and am wondering what I am seeing.

Jonas Pilot,

It could be Rattlesnake Weed or Canada Hawkweed, but don't take it to the bank. I would need a photo of the leaves. Are they sharply toothed? Do they have purple veins? How tall does it grow?

Leaves from yellow flower.

Here's a hint for Chickie. To my knowledge it's not a wild flower.

Definitely not Rattlesnake Weed or Canada Hawkweed. If it is a cultivated plant, my 1916 "Guide to Wildflowers" won't be of much use, I'm afraid.

It's the flower and "late" leaves of a romaine lettuce plant. After the leaves got too bitter to harvest I just let it go. I was surprised by the beautiful flower. It is very sensitive to light and only opens up on direct sun light, I think.

This morning I ventured out on another field trip - this time in search of the elderberry bush I remembered growing on my property. After hacking through the thorny rosebushes and damnable bittersweet, I found it nestled along the banks of the brook, sharing the spot with Jewelweed.

The bush is about five feet tall and is loaded with bunches of black (or very deep purple) berries. The leaves are elongated, growing five to seven in clusters on the stem and are rather sharply toothed. From what I observed, I determined that the photo you posted, RG, is not elderberry. Sorry to say, but that one must continue to be known as the mysterious wild berry bush.