Category Archives: Wildflowers – Fall

Bitter Sneezeweed

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While hiking in Mingo National Wildlife Refuge in Missouri, I noticed this familiar-looking flower. Though rather than being tall, like the six foot plus Autumn Sneezeweed in my backyard, it was growing low to the ground.

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This upper-branching native annual reaches 10 to 20 inches tall. The entire plant has a strong odor and is bitter to the taste. The leaves are narrow and located alternately on the stem.

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A member of the Sunflower Family, Bitter Sneezeweed has showy flowers that are noticeable in the late Spring or Summer and are located at the end of each branch. Each bloom has about eight petals that often bend downward at maturity.

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This genus is primarily found growing in sandy soils in the southeastern to southcentral United States, from Virginia to Florida west to Missouri, Kansas and Texas.

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With a Latin Name of Helenium amarum, the genus name comes from the Greek name helenion, which honors Helen of Troy. It is unclear as to the relevance of Helen of Troy to the within genus of plants which are exclusively native to North and South America.

Bitter Sneezeweed’s species name, amarum means “bitter” in Latin. Also known as “Bitterweed,” this plant is named in reference to it containing a toxic substance which causes milk to taste bitter when cows graze on its foliage.

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The common name of “sneezeweed” is reportedly in reference to the former snuff-like use of the dried and powdered flowers of this plant by members of some Native American tribes for treatment of blocked sinuses.

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Prairie Dock

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While visiting a glade habitat in Missouri in search of reptiles and amphibians, it was hard not to notice this very distinctive plant. This member of the Aster Family has enormous leaves, as rough as sandpaper, with beautifully scalloped edges featuring coarse teeth.

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The leaves of Prairie Dock tend to orient in a north-south direction. That is, the broad part of the blade faces east and west, to maximize sunlight for photosynthesis. This adaptation also minimizes water loss due to transpiration.

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Even when it’s very hot out, its leaves feel cool to the touch.

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Its flowers attract long-tongued bees, including Honeybees, Bumblebees, and Miner Bees. Other flower visitors include Halictine Bees, Bee Flies, and the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird. It typically blooms from July through October.

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Prairie Dock is a very tall (sometimes over eight feet) perennial plant, with a nearly leafless flower stalk. Not only does the plant extend high into the air, it also has a long taproot that grows deep into the soil.

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This adaptation is beneficial, because this plant’s environment is often hot and dry, and the deep taproot allows the plant to reach water. This feature also helps the plant persist despite grazing and mowing. With so much energy reserves stored underground, sending up new shoots is not that costly for the plant.

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With the Latin Name of Silphium terebinthinaceum, the species name means “with turpentine” and refers to the resin, which gives this plant a pleasant, spicy scent.

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Rose Gentian

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While walking on the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath, I noticed pink splotches of color in an otherwise mostly green field. It was a new wildflower to me that I don’t recall ever coming across before.

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Its eye-catching display of pink, gold and magenta attracts the human eye as effectively as it attracts bees for pollination. What makes this flower unique is its central lime-green star, outlined in magenta.

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This plant can grow up to three feet tall and has stout, square, smooth stems. Each Rose Gentian has many branches that can bear a multitude of flowers. It occurs naturally throughout much of the eastern United States.

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It prefers low, moist areas at the edges of rocky, open woods and fields where it has exposure to the sun. It tends to grow in loose groups rather than tight clusters. Rose Gentian’s leaves are stalkless, opposite, and broad-oval to heart-shaped; they are about an inch and a half long.

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After flowering, its flower stalks may become brown while its seed capsules remain green. The seed capsules, are about 1/3 inch long, lack internal partitions and contain many tiny seeds that can be wind dispersed or carried by moving water.

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Rose Gentian’s scientific name is Sabatia angularis – it is named in honor of Liberatus Sabbati, an Italian botanist and gardener in the 1700s. Its flowers are sweet-scented and long-lasting.

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Blanketflower

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While on a hike in Missouri, I noticed this eye-catching plant growing in a dry field. It has a flower that resembles the brightly patterned blankets of Native Americans.

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Another possibility for its common name is that it refers to the plant’s habit of “blanketing” the ground in areas where it thrives. Either way, this colorful wildflower is much loved by bees, which are drawn to its bright petals.

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The plant also happens to be a food source for caterpillars of the brilliantly colored Gaillardia Flower Moth and Painted Schinia – these insects have wing patterns and colors that mimic blanketflower’s petals.

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Blanketflower is often found on the dry slopes and meadows of uplands and mountains. It is drought tolerant and capable of growing under very harsh conditions. It prefers full sun.

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Its flowers are typically bicolored with an inner red band surrounded by an outer yellow band. However, they can also be entirely red or yellow, have an inner band surrounded by a white band, or, on rare occasion, be entirely white or yellow.

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With the Scientific Name of Gaillardia aristata, the genus Gaillardia was dedicated in 1788 in honor of the early French botanist Gaillard de Charentonneau. Aristata means “bearing bristles” in botanical Latin, in reference to the rough hairy leaves and stems.

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Blanketflower has flowers to three inches in diameter, and very hairy, light green, elongated leaves. It typically grows to about a foot tall. This was a neat find on my trip.

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Mist Flower

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This is a cool member of the Aster Family that I saw on my visit to southern Illinois last month. It is a late Summer-to-Fall blooming herbaceous perennial that is native to the Eastern United States.

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Also known as Wild Ageratum, it bears fluffy-looking, delicate flowers that are colored in pastel shades of pink, lavender or blue; it often occurs in large stands.

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Mist Flower occurs in bottomland forests, swamps, the banks of streams and rivers, the edges of ponds and lakes, marshes, ditches, gardens, railroads, roadsides and shaded-to-open disturbed areas.

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Butterflies, Skippers and Long-tongued Bees are strongly attracted to the flowers. Other insects eat the foliage. Not many mammals eat this plant, because of its bitter taste.

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Other occasional visitors include Short-tongued bees, various flies, moths and beetles. These insects primarily seek nectar, although the bees often collect pollen as well.

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Mistflower is often grown as a garden plant, although it does have a tendency to spread and take over a garden. It is recommended for habitat restoration within its native range, especially in wet soils.

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This plant is closely related to the white-flowered Bonesets.

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Small White Morning Glory

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On my travels to southern Illinois this past Autumn, I came across this neat native wildflower growing along some railroad tracks.

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Small White Morning Glory favors disturbed habitats like prairies, thickets, the gravelly bars of streams and banks of lakes, moist meadows near rivers or woodlands, abandoned fields, areas along roadsides and railroads and miscellaneous waste areas.

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The “Morning Glory” name is applied because these flowers, which can be especially glorious when large numbers are blooming, will close up later in the day as the bright sun shines on them. Each flower is about one inch wide.

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Small White Morning Glory’s heart-shaped leaves are often crimson-edged and it relies primarily on its vining habit to disperse into new areas. Its vines range from 3 to 10 feet in length.

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The flowers of the Small White Morning Glory attract primarily bumblebees and other longer-tongued bees for its nectar.

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Camphorweed

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While visiting a sand prairie in Missouri this month, these yellow flowers were quite noticeable.

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Camphorweed is an annual, warm-season native that generally emerges from the ground as a single stem, then branches several inches above the ground.

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As the common name suggests, camphorweed has a medicinal camphor-like aroma (or odor, as some might suggest), particularly when the leaves are disturbed.

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Camphorweed is beneficial for use on sprains or bruises and can reduce pain, swelling, and inflammation. Camphorweed lessens the reactive inflammation process, making it best for acute and painful injuries.

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This plant typically blooms in Summer and Fall, although in certain conditions it may bloom year-round. Its copious blooms consist of bright yellow ray florets and vivid yellow to orange.

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Sometimes known as Golden Aster, it is commonly found across the southeastern United States. Its daisy-like yellow flowers with hairy stems and leaves are often overlooked in fields and yards.

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Ironweed

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I’ve been seeing a lot of this plant while out on my hikes in recent weeks; it’s kind of hard to miss.

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Named for its tough stem, this plant has excellent posture. Its flowers of are like purple torches in the late Summer landscape and when blooming next to Goldenrod, it creates a picturesque scene.

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This plant prefers to grow in areas such as meadows and pastures where the soil is fertile and conditions are moderately damp. I photographed these at Canalway Center and along the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath.

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Ironweed has a highly visible dark red stem and grows over seven feet tall. It is widely branched at the top. Loose clusters of quarter-inch flowers give it a burst of vibrant color.

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Attached to the stem are lance-shaped, pointed leaves that have short downy hairs on the lower surface.

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This species flowers in July to September. Not only is it nice to look at, it is also an excellent nectar plant and is visited by many species of butterflies and bees.

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Small Red Morning Glory

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While visiting southern Illinois in October, this brightly colored flower caught my eye as I was checking my minnow traps that I placed in a waterway near some railroad tracks.

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This plant is native to tropical America and has been introduced in much of the United States. It can be found in disturbed areas along roads, stream banks, fence rows, old fields and railroad tracks.

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Red Morning Glories are fast growing and have twisting, climbing flowering vines that attract butterflies. Their vines can reach 10 or more feet in length.

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As is name implies, its flowers are not as large as those of other morning glories, being about 2-4 inches long and about half as wide. The blooms are dull red with an orange throat.

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The leaves of this plant are heart-shaped at the base, and commonly are three-lobed. Their smooth margins sometimes develop low, pointy lobes, so that they almost look like ivy leaves.

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Though Small Red Morning Glory’s long, tubular flowers are clearly adapted for pollinators such as hummingbirds and hawk moths, they’re also capable of self-pollination.

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It was neat to encounter this plant, which is also known as Redstar, Scarlet Creeper, Starflower and Scarlet Morning Glory, for the first time.

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Eastern Prickly Pear

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While visiting a sandhill prairie in Missouri in October, I saw a fair number of these plants. Prickly Pears are considered an old group within the cactus family and contain around 150 species. Like other cacti, its fixed spines and small, hair-like prickles readily adhere to skin or hair, then detach from the plant.

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It has the largest range of any cactus in the United States and can be found from New Mexico and Montana east to Florida and Massachusetts. Because of special antifreeze chemicals in its cells, it can survive the freezing temperatures of the northern states where it resides.

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It some situations it can form large colonies, while in others it may occur as a few individuals in an area. Eastern Prickly Pear is a typical cactus in that its photosynthetic stem (also known as a pad) acts as a leaf. This stem also stores water.

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Generally the plants are no more than a foot and a half tall and tend to sprawl on the ground. Their flowers are produced at the ends of its pads in early Summer. The flowers are usually yellow, but east of the Appalachian Mountains and on dunes, the center is often red to orange.

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After flowering, a red, egg-shaped fruit begins to appear. The fruit is edible and can be eaten raw after removing the skin. Jellies, candies and other sweets are often made from the fruit, while some people also snack on the fleshy pads of the plant. Prickly Pear as been a Mexican and Central American dietary staple for thousands of years.

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This cactus grows in open, dry areas, often in rocky or thin soils. It can be found in or on fencerows, roadsides, rocky glades, rock outcrops, cliffs, old quarries, dunes and prairie. Its roots need to be dry during winter to prevent rot, so well drained sites are necessary.

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