Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)

Photographic Location: Sycamore Ridge Ranch in Middle Tennessee

This wildflower is a member or the Aster Family (Asteraceae).

You can always tell its summer when this wildflower blooms. This cheerful, widespread wildflower is considered an annual to a short-lived perennial across its range. Bright-yellow, 2-3 in. wide, daisy-like flowers with dark centers are its claim-to-fame. They occur singly atop 1-2 ft. stems. The stems and scattered, oval leaves are covered with bristly hairs. Coarse, rough-stemmed plant with daisy-like flower heads made up of showy golden-yellow ray flowers, with disk flowers forming a brown central cone.

This native prairie biennial forms a rosette of leaves the first year, followed by flowers the second year. Black-Eyed Susan can be distinguished from other Rudbeckia spp. by its lanceolate hairy leaves and the long hairs on the stems; most of the leaves occur toward the base of each stem, and never have lobes.

Photographic Location: Old Stone Fort State Park in Middle Tennessee

For more information about this wildflower, Click Here.

Lizard's Tail (Saururus cernuus)

Photographic Location: Old Stone Fort State Park in Tennessee

This wildflower is a member of the Acanthus Family (Acanthaceae).

An upright, hairy perennial, growing to 4 ft. in height. Slender, nodding, solitary spikes of tiny, white flowers occur opposite a leaf. Leaves are lance-shaped to nearly triangular with a cordate base. Many tiny, fragrant, white flowers are on a slender, tapering, stalked spike with a drooping tip.

This is a mostly southern species of shaded marshes and stream margins. The common name and the genus name, from the Greek sauros (lizard) and oura (tail), depict the shape of the drooping flower cluster.

For more information about this wildflower, Click Here.

Hairy Angelica (Angelica venenosa)

Photographic Location: AEDC in Manchester, TN

This wildflower belongs in the Carrot or Parsley Family (Apiaceae).

This plant grows in open oak woods and borders, but especially on dry slopes.  The upper part of the stem and the umbels are densely covered with short, whitish, and velvety hairs.  The lower leaves can be twice or thrice pinnate, and the leaflets are elliptic and thick.  The petioles are sheathing, which is one its major characteristics.  The flowers are snow-white and in umbels without bracts.  Although many years ago Angelica venenosa had been reported to be poisonous, it was probably confused with Cicuta maculata (Water Hemlock).

Photographic Location: AEDC in Manchester, TN

 For more information about this wildflower, Click Here.

Maryland Meadow Beauty (Rhexia mariana)

Photographic Location: AEDC in Manchester TN.

Maryland Meadow Beauty is a member of the Meadow Beauty family (Melastomaceae), which includes herbs, trees and shrubs, with flowers generally in clusters.

There are about 175 genera and 3,000 species, mostly in tropical regions, particularly South America, but Rhexia is native to the United States and Cuba. 

For more information about this wildflower, Click Here.

Pencil Flower (Stylosanthes biflora)

Photographic Location: AEDC in Manchester TN.

This flower is in the Bean or Pea family (Fabaceae).

Because it produces relatively few flowers at the same time and it is relatively small in size, Pencil Flower is fairly easy to overlook. It can be distinguished from similar species in the Bean family by the shiny veins on its leaves, stipules with beak-like ciliate tips, and asymmetrical seedpods (a narrow infertile segment followed by a broader fertile segment). There is some variability of this species across its range in regards to the hairiness of its stems, the erectness of its stems, whether flowers are produced individually or in small groups, etc. At the present time, these are regarded as variations of a single polymorphic species.

For more information about this wildflower, Click Here.

Butterfly Pea (Clitoria mariana)

Photographic Location: AEDC in Manchester, TN.

This is a member of the Bean or Pea family (Fabaceae). It is also known as Atlantic Pigeonwings. 

Twining vine, occasionally erect, with large, showy, lavender-pink, pea-like flowers, usually solitary but occasionally up to 3, in the axils of compound leaves.

This plant is often confused with Spurred Butterfly Pea (Centrosema virginianum), which has upside-down flowers, the banner pointing downward, while that of Clitoria stands erect. 

For more information about this wildflower, Click Here. 

As a footnote, this genus was named after the human female genitals in 1678 by Rumpf, a German-born botanist employed by the Dutch East India Company. There were controversies in the past among botanists regarding the good taste of the naming of the genus, but they didn't prosper and the name Clitoria has survived to this day. You have to watch those frisky botanists!

Pale Purple Coneflower (Echinacea pallida)

Photographic Location: AEDC in Manchester Tennessee

This wildflower is a member of the Aster Family (Asteraceae).

Stout stems, 2-4 ft. tall, bear flowerheads having lavender, or rarely white, rays drooping from a large, spiny, cone-shaped center. The ray flowers vary in length and width. Coarse-haired, narrowly lance-shaped leaves are attached to the plant near its base.

I can be hard to distinguish this flower from Prairie Purple Coneflower (E. simulata). One way to tell is the pollen from E. simulata is yellow and the pollen from E. pallida is white.

Photographic Location: AEDC in Manchester, TN

This flower is rare in Tennessee and is endangered in TN.

For more information about this wildflower, Click Here.

Broadleaf Barbara's Buttons (Marshallia trinervia)

Photographic Location: AEDC in Manchester Tennessee

This plant is a member of the Asteraceae (Aster Family). It is yet another flower from my recent trip to AEDC in Manchester, Tennessee.

The origin of the common name "Barbara's Buttons" is unknown. The flower heads do resemble buttons, but botanical references giving this name do not quote the Barbara which the name honors. The reference is possibly to Saint Barbara, though the association is obscure.

This plant is on the threatened species list in Tennessee.

For more information about this wildflower, Click Here.

Ragged Fringed Orchid (Platanthera lacera)

Photographic Location: AEDC in Manchester Tennessee

Here is yet another beautiful orchid from my trip to AEDC.

Whitish-green or creamy-yellow flowers with highly-lacerated, 3-parted lip petals are in spike-like clusters.

This orchid is one of the more common and widespread members of the genus. In the Nova Scotia area this species crosses freely with the Greater Purple Fringed Orchid (Platanthera grandiflora). At least 10 other greenish-flowered species occur in the East, but none with the lip so fringed. Lacera means torn referring to the fringed lip.
 
For more information about this wildflower, Click Here.

Grass Pink Orchid (Calopogon tuberosus)

Photographic Location: AEDC in Manchester Tennessee

I normally don't post more than once a day. But, since I found so many wildflowers at AEDC that are new to me, I thought a second posting was called for.

Grass Pink is a member of the Orchid Family (Orchidaceae). Calopogon comes from the Greek words meaning beautiful beard. The prominent hairs, the beard, on the lip identify it. This species is a plant of moist areas and is most abundant in pineland bogs. It is known as grass pink because of the long, narrow, grass-like leaves. It grows 2 1/2–4 feet tall, with 2 or more flowers arranged along the stem. The blossoms are rose-pink to pale orchid and are about 2 inches across.

For more information about this wildflower, Click Here.

Rose Pogonia Orchid (Pogonia ophioglossoides)

Photographic Location: AEDC in Manchester Tennessee

On the advice of my friend, Dennis Horn, I took a trip to Arnold Engineering and Development Center (AEDC). Dennis is one of the authors and photographers for the publication Wildflowers of Tennessee the Ohio Valley and the Southern Appalachians. I have a very tattered copy that I use almost every day and is on my suggested publications list.

I was indeed lucky to meet Dennis and Max Medley (Co-author of The Atlas of Vascular Plants in Kentucky) for a full day of wildflower hunting. Two really great guys with more knowledge about wildflowers than I will ever know. Thanks guys for letting me tag along. I really learned a lot.

This is but one of the many flowers we saw. I especially like orchids and we saw and photographed several.

The Rose Pogonia Orchid is a member of the Orchid Family (Orchidaceae). It usually has only 1 flower on an erect, slender stem. It is rose or pink-colored and, unlike most orchids, has a nice fragrance. The lower lip is densely bearded near the throat with white to yellow bristles. There is 1 leaf near the middle of the stem, 4 inches long or less and 1 1/4 inches wide.

For more information about this wildflower, Click Here.

American Water Willow (Justicia americana)

Photographic Location: Longhunter State Park Volunteer Trail

American water willow is in the Acanthaceae (Acanthus) family. This family contains about 2,500 species worldwide that range from herbs to shrubs and small trees.

American water-willow blooms throughout the summer and colonizes by underground stems. It will grow in moist soil or submerged in a few feet of water. Larval food plant for the Texan Crescentspot butterfly. Good for wetland gardens and habitat. 

For more information about this wildflower, Click Here.

Northern Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa)

Photographic Location: Wilson County in Middle Tennessee

Here in Tennessee the wildflowers don't just grow on the ground. We have lots of trees that also provide us with beautiful wildflowers. 

The Catalpa tree is also known as the Catawba tree. Northern Catalpa is the northernmost New World example of its tropical family and is hardier than Southern Catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides), which blooms later and has slightly smaller flowers and narrower, thinner-walled capsules. Both are called Cigartree and Indian-bean because of the distinctive fruit.

The Catalpa Sphinx is a common hawk or sphinx moth, but it is the caterpillar stage, that is most often encountered and best known.   The caterpillars, commonly called catalpa worms or "catawba" worms, feed on leaves of catalpa and often completely strip trees of foliage.  While the catalpa worm is well known as a tree pest, it may be as well or better known to some for its attractiveness to fish.   The caterpillars have long been valued for fish bait, and references to their collection by fishermen date back at least to the 1870's when the species was first described.  I had a Catalpa tree in my yard at my first house. I can attest to the effectiveness of the catalpa worm on catching fish!

For more information about this wildflower, Click Here.

Tennessee Coneflower (Echinacea tennesseensis)

Photographic Location: Couchville Cedar Glade State Natural Area

 Now is a great time of the year in the Cedar Glades. A lot of wildflowers that are endemic to this area are blooming now. One of them is the Tennessee Coneflower. Coming back from the brink of extinction, this very rare flower is now in full bloom in the cedar glades.

A member of the sunflower family (Asteraceae), Echinacea tennesseensis is a perennial herb with a long, fusiform (i.e., thickened toward the middle and tapered towards either end), blackened root. In late summer, the species bears showy purple flower heads on one to many hairy branches. Linear to lance shaped leaves up to 8 inches long and 0.6 inches wide arise from the base of E. tennesseensis and are beset with coarse hairs, especially along the margins. The ray flowers (i.e., petals surrounding the darker purple flowers of the central disc) are pink to purple and spread horizontally or arch slightly forward from the disc to a length of  0.8–1.8 in.

Photographic Location: Couchville Cedar Glade State Natural Area

 For more information about this wildflower and its return from almost extinction, Click Here.

Largeleaf Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum macrophyllum)

Photographic Location: Short Springs State Natural Area

Here is another wildflower from Short Springs State Natural Area. This area is known for its spring wildflowers but it also has many more varieties that bloom through out the summer and fall months.

For more information about this wildflower, Click Here.

As an added bonus, Short Springs has a couple of beautiful waterfalls for you enjoyment.

Machine Falls at Short Springs State Natural Area