#mistflower

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[uxbridge]

Fall woodland wildflowers

[faguscarolinensis]

Conoclinium coelestinum / Blue Mistflower at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

[druidinvirginia]

blue mistflower

[indigrassy]

A Bugs Life

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[vandaliatraveler]

A selection of late summer wildflowers growing in the riparian zone along the Monongahela River at the Friendship Hill National Historic Site.

From top: Paleleaf woodland sunflower (Helianthus strumosus), also known as pale-leaved sunflower, distinguished by long leaf petioles and a pale leaf underside; common sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale), a water-loving aster whose dried leaves were once used to make snuff; cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), whose scarlet, five-lobed flowers draw hummingbirds as pollinators; the closely-related great blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica), which early settlers once used as a treatment for syphilis (wishful thinking); and blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum), or wild ageratum, a native aster that has become popular as a garden plant.

As a note, about a dozen sunflowers call NC-WV - SW PA home and they readily hybridize, often complicating identification. Pale-leaved sunflower has a tall, branching structure up to 7 feet in height and dense clusters of large flowers. In addition to long petioles and a pale leaf underside, this sunflower has a smooth stem with a whitish bloom to it. It's a very beautiful mid-to-late summer aster and one of my favorite wildflowers of Central Appalachia.

[pizzathumbs]

Late summer hike near a dry stream.

[vlkphoto]

Blue[ish] Mistflower .. [1 / 2]

A variant of Conoclinium coelestinum growing far from its ostensible home in North America, on St.Mary's Island near Malpe, KA.