Liatris is unusual in that it sets all of its flower buds and then blooms backwards down the stem. Most species are some shade of pinkish-purple....
....But some are whitish. Liatris elegans bears pale flower
stalks up to 3 feet
tall.
This Button Snakeroot (Eryngium hookeri) is superficially similar,
but is actually
a member of the Carrot Family. All of its leaves and bracts are
spiny.
One lucky find was this Butterfly Pea (Clitoria mariana). It
twines on sturdier
plants in shady spots. The corolla can be up to 3 cm long.
Blue Sage, Salvia azurea, is a fall-flowering mint. The corollas
and calyxes are
both bilabiate.
At one point, the trail joins an old road, all damp and overgrown and
shady. Enormous
Brown-eyed Susans line the path.
This species, Rudbeckia grandiflora, is up to about 4 feet
tall--much taller than
the more common Rudbeckia hirta.
This is Rudbeckia hirta. Note the maroon coloring at the base of
the ray flowers.
This species is rarely much more than 18" tall and flowers spring to
fall.
One plant that really likes the damp environment is St. Andrew's Cross,
Hypericum
hypericoides.
Members of the genus have four golden yellow petals and four sepals--two
large outer
ones and two very small inner ones.
Mistflower or Blue Boneset (Eupatorium coelestinum) likes it damp
also. Where
the path crossed a small drainage, there were so many blue flowers that
the area looked
like a pool of water.
The showy part of Eupatorium flowers is the long style branches.
This particular
Eupatorium looks very much like the cultivated Ageratum.
None of the local species of Lobelia is very common, but we did
find quite a bit
along the old road.
Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis) signals the end of summer and the
beginning of
fall. Wherever there is an opening in the canopy, Goldenrod
flourishes.
Ironweed, Vernonia texana, is another sign of impending autumn.
The flowers look like pinkish-purple tassels.
All that's left of this Bidens is a cluster of achenes. Each has
a pappus of barbed
awns. These will cling to just about anything, hence the common names
Beggar-ticks
and Bur-marigold.
Peppervine, Ampelopsis arborea, is a member of the Grape family.
It will have
small, grape-like berries, which unfortunately are not edible. It has a
very superficial
resemblance to Poison Ivy but has many leaflets per leaf instead of
three.
This path eventually leads to the right of way. What was always thought
a dry, barren
stretch proves to have at least one damp spot. A huge patch of Meadow
Beauty,
Rhexia mariana, bloomed in July. This member of the
Melastomataceae is only
found in damp areas and is usually associated with bogs.
Several specimens of Indian Plantain (Cacalia) bloomed at the
boundary between
the Desolation and the woods.
The flowers of Cacalia are not very showy individually, being sort
of a dirty
white and lacking
ray florets.
Paspalum urvillei grows to about five feet on either side of the
right of way.
Although the common name is Vasey Grass, it was promptly dubbed "Moses
Grass"
because it had to be parted like a wall of water to the right and to the
left to allow
passage.
Only impending darkness could drive us from the park.
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