#wingstem

[chick-it-out]

Today is the first day that was cold enough to make frost flowers! ❄️

Paraphrasing info from weather dot gov:

Frost flowers are thin, extruded layers of ice that form around the stems of wingstem plants (and some other kinds). Their formation requires freezing air temperature, soil that is moist but not frozen, and a plant with a stem intact enough to still move water. The water in the stem is drawn upward by capillary action from the ground. It expands as it freezes and splits the stem vertically, then freezes on contact with the air. As more water is drawn from ground through the split, it produces a paper-thin ice layer that spreads from the base. The length of the split determines if the frost flower is a narrow or wide ribbon of ice. It curls unpredictably as it is extruded, perhaps from unequal friction along the sides of the split, to form the "petals." These flowers, no two of which are alike, are fragile and last only until they sublimate or melt.

[indigrassy]

Fuzzy and buzzy

[uxbridge]

Early fall flowers 1

[stopandlook]

Scientific Name: Verbesina alternifolia Common Name(s): Wingstem, yellow ironweed Family: Asteraceae (aster) Life Cycle: Perennial Leaf Retention: Deciduous Habit: Forb USDA L48 Native Status: Native Location: Plano, Texas Season(s): Fall

The arrangement of the ray florets is variously described as ragged, disheveled, and haphazard, so you’re unlikely to ever see a neat, symmetrical flower head on this species as you would expect with other plants.

Visually, this plant can be confused with a number of other Verbesina species. However, V. helianthoides blooms earlier in the summer than this species, and the range of V. occidentalis does not extend into Texas.

[druidinvirginia]

wingstem

[bethanythebogwitch]

Native wildflower collection 3

Continued from part 2

Columbine, which the rabbits won't let me grow

Mayapple. Every part of this plant is extremely toxic to humans, but some people still eat the fruit

Golden Alexander

Prairie rose. Looks nicer than cultivated roses tbh

Spiderwort, spiderwort, does whatever a spider... worts

Arrowwood. These grow long, straight branches, which made them very useful for making arrows.

Woodland pinkroot

Lizard tail

Michigan lily. Looks way cooler than the lilies you buy in plant stores

False sunflower

St. John's wort. Don't ask me what kind, there are so many

Germander

Thimbleweed

Prairie cinquefoil

Poppy mallow

Button bush. These develop seed balls that will fall apart in your hand

This one's called blue vervain even though it's clearly purple

Pickerel weed. People will call the coolest plants weeds

Wingstem. This stuff is taking over places where we removed invasive honeysuckle and I love it

Gaura

Yellow flowering hyssop (even though it's definitely white)

That's a wrap. I have a few more pictures, but they were all really badly focused, so I skipped them

[vandaliatraveler]

A few photos above from an early morning hike at the Friendship Hill National Historic Site near Pt. Marion, Pennsylvania. If you want to learn more about the history of this sprawling estate, you can go to this link or search for prior posts from the main search page of my Tumblr blog. In addition to the historic homestead of Albert Gallatin, the park features ten miles of hiking trails through verdant oak-hickory and riparian forests. This time of year, the Central Appalachian forest is rich with fungi, legumes, berries, and the loveliest orb-weavers imaginable.

From top: wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia), also known as yellow ironweed, a late summer aster so named because the petioles of its leaves run down the plant's stem; northern spicebush (Lindera benzoin), a gorgeous native shrub whose bright red berries in late summer are followed by the most extraordinary gold foliage in the fall; orange mycena (Mycena leaiana), a lovely, gregarious fungi of deciduous logs whose pigment has shown antibacterial and anti-cancer properties; the ripened but dangerously toxic berries of pokeweed (Phytolacca americana), whose young leaves are used by mountain folk to make poke sallet (but only after repeated cleansings to remove the toxins); American hog-peanut (Amphicarpaea bracteata), a lovely twining vine whose roots and ground nut are edible; cutleaf coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata), also known as green-headed coneflower and wild goldenglow, a close relative of black-eyed Susan with gorgeous, pinnately-dissected leaves (the leaf photo also shows the characteristic tri-foliate leaf pattern of hog-peanut); zig-zag goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis), one of two adorable woodland goldenrods that grow in this area (the other being blue-stemmed goldenrod), both of which produce clusters of brilliant yellow flowers in both their leaf axils and at the ends of their stems; steeplebush (Spiraea tomentosa), also known as hardhack, which produces delicate plumes of pink flowers in late summer; a spined micrathena (Micrathena gracilis), which has ensnared a fly in her web; and an arrowhead orb weaver (Verrucosa arenata), also known as a triangle orb-weaver, a sparkling gem of an arachnid that reels in its prey like a fisherman dragging in a net.

[continent-of-wild-endeavor]

Wingstem, both kinds, growing right near each other as they not-infrequently do around here.

Verbesina occidentalis is the one in bloom, and the last pic shows just the leaves of V. alternifolia. The main difference between them is the leaf arrangement (opposite vs alternate), but alternifolia also blooms later & less showily.