Wildflowers of 2014 - The Complete List (As of 01 SEP 2014)

Earlier this Spring, I started making a list of (and photographing)  all the wildflowers I could find in one growing season.  Here are the rules that I gave myself for this self-imposed challenge.

•  Any native or non-native plant (including trees) can be photographed if it meets two conditions
• It must be growing in a wild population - it cannot be in a location where it was planted.
• It must be growing in one of the parks or other city properties within the city of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.

• I have to photograph the plant on the day I first find the flower - but I can photograph any flower of the species that I find on that day.

• I have to be able to identify the species for it to count - unknown specimens do not count.

Here is my complete list as of 01 SEP 2014.  As of that date I had found 224 total species, of which 156 (69.6%) have been native and 68 species (30.4%) have been introduced to Michigan. 

Thursday 10 April 2014
     #1  Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus)

 Monday 14 April 2014
     #2  Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis)
     #3  Pussy Willow (Salix discolor)

Wednesday 16 April 2014
     #4  Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides)

Monday 21 April 2014
     #5  Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)
     #6  Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria)
     #7  Common Blue Violet (Viola sororia)

Tuesday 22 April 2014
     #8  Red Maple (Acer rubrum)
     #9  Speckled Alder (Alnus rugosa)

Thursday 24 April 2014
     #10  Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica)

Tuesday 29 April 2014
     #11  Boxelder (Acer negundo)
     #12  Cut-leaved Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata)
     #13  Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris)
     #14  Yellow Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum)

Thursday 01 May 2014
     #15  Field Penny-cress (Thlaspi arvense)     NON-NATIVE
     #16  Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum)
     #17  Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense)
     #18  Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officianale)     NON-NATIVE

Monday 05 May 2014
     #19  Large-flowered Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)
     #20  Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides)
     #21  Squirrel Corn (Dicentra canadensis)

Tuesday 06 May 2014
     #22  False Rue Anemone (Enemion biternatum)
     #23  White Trout Lily (Erythronium albidinum)

 Sunday 11 May 2014
     #24  Wood Anemone (Anemone quinquefolia)
     #25  Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)
     #26  Spring Cress (Cardamine bulbosa)
     #27  American Dog Violet (Viola labradorica)
     #28  Swamp Buttercup (Ranunculus hispidus)
     #29  Downy Yellow Violet (Viola pubescens)
     #30  Two-leaf Mitrewort (Mitella diphylla)
     #31  Mouse-ear Chickweed (Cerastium fontanum)     NON-NATIVE
     #32  Woodland Strawberry (Fragaria vesca)
     #33  Garlic Mustard (Alliara petiolata)     NON-NATIVE (INVASIVE)

Tuesday 13 May 2014
     #34 Broad-leaved Toothwort (Cardamine diphylla)
     #35 Downy Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea)
     #36 American Black Currant (Ribes americanum)
     #37 Shepherd's Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris)     NON-NATIVE
     #38 Mouse-ear Cress (Arabidopsis thaliana)     NON-NATIVE
     #39 Common Winter-cress (Barbarea vulgaris)     NON-NATIVE
     #40 Hoary Alyssum (Berteroa incana)     NON-NATIVE
     #41 Field Peppergrass (Lepidium campestre)     NON-NATIVE
     #42 Creamy Violet (Viola striata)


 Sunday 18 May 2014
     #43 Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)
     #44 Star-flowered False Solomon's Seal (Maianthenum stellatum)
     #45 Common Periwinkle (Vinca minor)      NON-NATIVE (INVASIVE)

Tuesday 20 May 2014
     #46 Common Yellow Wood-sorrel (Oxalis stricta)
     #47 Wild Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)
     #48 Nodding Trillium (Trillium cernuum)
     #49 Early Meadow-rue (Thalictrum dioicum)
     #50 Wild Blue Phlox (Phlox divaricata)
     #51 Small-flowered Buttercup (Ranunculus arbortivus)
     #52 Downy Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum pubescens)
     #53 Small Pussytoes (Antennaria howellii)
     #54 American Mountain Ash (Sorbus americana)
     #55 Purple Dead-nettle (Lamium purpureum)     NON-NATIVE     

Wednesday 21 May 2014
     #56 Horse-gentian (Triosteum aurantiacum)
     #57 Lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria majalis)     NON-NATIVE (INVASIVE)
     #58 Choke Cherry (Prunus virginiana)
     #59 Redbud (Cercis canadensis)
     #60 Morrow's Honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii)     NON-NATIVE (INVASIVE)
     #61 White Oak (Quercus alba)
     #62 Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa)    

Friday 23 May 2014
     #63 Thyme-leaved Speedwell (Veronica serpyllifolia)     NON-NATIVE
     #64 American Bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia)

Monday 26 May 2014

     #65 Tartarian Honeysuckle (Lonicera tatarica)     NON-NATIVE (INVASIVE)
     #66 Common Apple (Malus pumila)    NON-NATIVE
     #67 Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)
     #68 Red Baneberry (Actaea rubra)
     #69 Cleavers (Galium aparine)
     #70 Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum)
     #71 Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia)
     #72 Pennsylvania Bitter Cress (Cardamine pensylvanica)
     #73 White Baneberry (Actaea pachypoda)
     #74 Canada Mayflower (Maianthemum canadense)
     #75 Red Oak (Quercus rubra)

Monday 26 May 2014 (Part 2)
     #76 Wayfaring Tree (Viburnum lantana)     NON-NATIVE
     #77 Dame's Rocket (Hesperis matronalis)     NON-NATIVE (INVASIVE)
     #78 Upright Carrion-flower (Smilax ecirrata)
     #79 Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)
     #80 Red-osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea)
     #81 White Campion (Silene latifolia)     NON-NATIVE
     #82 Canada Anemone (Anemone canadensis)
          
Thursday 29 May 2014
     #83 Feathery False Solomon's Seal (Mainthemum racemosum)
     #84 Indian Strawberry (Potentilla indica)     NON-NATIVE
     #85 Common Fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus)
     #86 Wild Black Cherry (Prunus serotina)
     #87 Black Medick (Medicago lupulina)     NON-NATIVE

Sunday 01 June 2014
     #88 Fistulous Goat's Beard (Tragopogon dubius)     NON-NATIVE
     #89 Garden Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis)     NON-NATIVE
     #90 Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata)     NON-NATIVE (INVASIVE)
     #91 Golden Ragwort (Packera aurea)
     #92 Nannyberry (Viburnum lentago)
     #93 Forget-me-not (Myosotis scorpioides)    NON-NATIVE (INVASIVE)
     #94 Southern Blue Flag Iris (Iris virginica)
     #95 White Clover (Trifolium repens)     NON-NATIVE
     #96 Black Raspberry (Rubus occidentalis)
     #97 Green Dragon (Arisaema dracontium)
     #98 Yellow Pond-lily (Nuphar variegata)

 Tuesday 03 June 2014
     #99 American Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum trilobum)
     #100 Common Buttercup (Ranunculus acris)     NON-NATIVE  

Tuesday 03 June 2014 (Part 2)

     #101 Winged Euonymus (Euonymus alatus)     NON-NATIVE

     #102 Amur maple (Acer ginnala)     NON-NATIVE

     #103 Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)    NON-NATIVE (INVASIVE)

     #104 Oriental Poppy (Papaver orientale)     NON-NATIVE

     #105 Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)     NON-NATIVE

   

Thursday 05 June 2014

     #106 Bittersweet Nightshade  (Solanum dulcamara)     NON-NATIVE

    

Friday 06 June 2014

     #107 Riverbank Grape (Vitis riparia)

     #108 Silky Dogwood (Cornus amonum)

     #109 Carpet Bugle (Ajuga reptans)     NON-NATIVE

Sunday 08 June 2014

     #110 Common Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) 

     #111 Honewort (Cryptotaenia canadensis)

     #112 Northern Blue Flag Iris (Iris versicolor)

     #113 Running Strawberry Bush (Euonymus obovatus)

     #114 Common Black Snakeroot (Sanicula odorata)

     #115 Virginia Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum)

     #116 Hairy Vetch (Vicia cracca)     NON-NATIVE

     #117 Ox-eye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare)     NON-NATIVE

     #118 English Plantain (Plantago lanceolata)     NON-NATIVE

     #119 Mossy Stonecrop (Sedum acre)     NON-NATIVE

Sunday 08 June 2014 (Part 2)    

     #120 Birdfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)     NON-NATIVE

     #121 Yellow Sweet Clover (Melilotus officinalis)     NON-NATIVE

     #122 King Devil (Hieracium piloselloides)     NON-NATIVE

     #123 Clammy Ground-cherry (Physalis heterophylla)

     #124 Giant Bur-reed (Sparganium eurycarpum)

Monday 09 June 2014

     #125 White Water Lily (Nymphaea odorata)

     #126 Purple Meadow Rue (Thalictrum dasycarpum)

Thursday 12 June 2014

     #127 Alfalfa (Medicago sativa)     NON-NATIVE

     #128 Silvery Cinquefoil (Potentilla argentea)     NON-NATIVE

     #129 Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora)     NON-NATIVE (INVASIVE)

    #130 Bitter Dock (Rumex obstusifolius)     NON-NATIVE

    #131 Common Goat's Beard (Tragopogon pratensis)     NON-NATIVE

Monday 16 June 2014

     #132 Wild Garlic (Allium canadense)

     #133 Moonseed (Menispermum canadense)

     #134 Narrow-leafed Cattail (Typha angustifolia)      NON-NATIVE in Michigan

     #135 Cow Parsnip (Heracleum maximum)    

     #136 Everlasting Pea (Lathyrus latifolius)     NON-NATIVE

     #137 Cursed Crowfoot (Ranunculus scleratus

     #138 Rough-fruited Cinquefoil (Potentilla recta)     NON-NATIVE

     #139 Crown-vetch (Securigera varia)     NON-NATIVE

   

Sunday 22 June 2014

     #140 White Avens (Geum canadense)

     #141 Wild Rose (Rosa blanda)

     #142 Northern Bush-honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera)

     #143 Gray Dogwood (Cornus foemina)

     #144 Eastern Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans)

     #145 Common Cattail (Typha latifolia)

     #146 Hedge Bindweed (Calystegia sepium)

     #147 Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca)

     #148 Common Enchanter's-nightshade (Circaea canadensis)

     #149 Field Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis)

     #150 Canada Thistle (Cirsium arvense)     NON-NATIVE

Wednesday 25 June 2014

     #151 Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina)

     #152 Border Privet (Ligustrum obtusifolium)     NON-NATIVE

   

Thursday 26June 2014

     #153 Large-leaved Shinleaf (Pyrola elliptica)

     #154 Common St. John's-wort (Hypericum perfoliatum)

     #155 White Sweet Clover (Melilotus albus)     NON-NATIVE

     #156 Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

     #157 Pasture Rose (Rosa carolina)

Friday 27 June 2014

     #158 Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens)

     #159 Common Elder (Sambucus canadensis)

     #160 Moth Mullein (Verbascum blattaria)     NON-NATIVE

     #161 Chicory (Cichorium intybus)     NON-NATIVE

Sunday 29June 2014

     #162 Water Hemlock (Cicuta maculata)

     #163 Michigan Lily (Lilium michiganense)

Wednesday 02 July 2014

     #164 Wood Nettle (Laportea canadensis)

     #165 Fringed Loosestrife (Lysimachia ciliata)

     #166 Tall Agrimony (Agrimonia gryposepala)

     #167 American Lopseed (Phryma leptostachya)

Thursday 03 July 2014

     #168 Deptford Pink (Dianthus armeria)     NON-NATIVE

     #169 Common Mullein (Verbascum thaspus)     NON-NATIVE

     #170 Spreading Dogbane (Apocynum androsaemifolium)

     #171 Wild Carrot (Daucus carota)     NON-NATIVE

Tuesday 08 July2014

     #172 Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata)

     #173 Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)     NON-NATIVE

     #174 Wild Mint (Mentha canadensis)

Wednesday 09 July 2014

     #175 White Vervain (Verbena urticifolia)

     #176 Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica)

     #177 Bouncing Bet (Saponaria officinalis)     NON-NATIVE

     #178 Bull Thistle (Cirsium vulgare)     NON-NATIVE

     #179 Catnip (Nepeta cataria)     NON-NATIVE

     #180 Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

     #181 Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata)

 Thursday 17 July 2014
     #182 Common Evening-primrose (Oenothera biennis)
     #183 Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea stoebe)     NON-NATIVE (INVASIVE)
     #184 Common Water Horehound (Lycopus americanus)
     #185 Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris)
     #186 Northern Water Plantain (Alisma triviale)
     #187 Willow-herb (Epilobium ciliatum)
     #188 Ditch Stonecrop (Penthorum sedoides)
     #189 Common Burdock (Arctium minus)     NON-NATIVE
 
Sunday 27 July 2014
     #190 Spotted Joe-pye Weed (Eutrochium maculatum)
     #191 Spotted Touch-me-not (Impatiens capensis)

Monday 28 July 2014
     #192 Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora)
     #193 Common Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum)
     #194 Hairy Wood Mint (Blephilia hirsuta)
     #195 Panicled Tick-trefoil (Desmodium paniculatum)
     #196 Cut-leaved Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata)
     #197 Creeping Bellflower (Campanula rapunculoides)     NON-NATIVE
     #198 Helleborine (Epipactis helleborine)     NON-NATIVE
     #199 Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)

Friday 15 August 2014
     #200 Wild Cucumber (Echinocystis lobata)
     #201 Narrow-leafed Goldenrod (Euthamia graminifolia)
     #202 Canada Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis)
     #203 Field Sow-thistle (Sonchus arvensis)
     #204 Virgin's Bower (Clematis virginiana)
     #205 Jumpseed (Persicaria virginiana)  

Monday 18 August 2014
     #206 Swamp Thistle (Cirsium muticum)
     #207 Flat-topped White Aster (Doellingeria umbellata)
     #208 Swamp Lousewort (Pedicularis lanceolata)
     #209 Hog-peanut (Amphicarpaea bracteata)
     #210 Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)
     #211 Rough-leaved Goldenrod (Solidago patula)
     #212 White Snakeroot (Ageratina altissima)
     #213 Thin-leafed Sunflower (Helianthus decapetalus)
     #214 Mad-dog Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora)
     #215 Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)     NON-NATIVE in Michigan
     #216 Horseweed (Conyza canadensis)
     #217 Common Ragweed (Ambrosia artemisifolia)

 Tuesday 26 August 2014
     #218 Nodding Smartweed (Persicaria lapathifolia)
     #219 Common Cocklebur (Xanthium strumarium)     NON-NATIVE
     #220 Tall Blue Lettuce (Lactuca biennis)
     #221 Turtlehead (Chelone glabra)
     #222 Panicled Aster (Symphyotrichum lanceolatum)
     #223 Big-leaved Aster (Eurybia macrophylla)
     #224 Zigzag Goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis) 
  
    

Downy Woodpecker on Staghorn Sumac

Yesterday ( Monday 08 SEP) I went to Mission Creek Woodland Park to photograph some of the fall wildflowers.  I am still working on identifying some of the wildflower species but I wanted to share this photo of a Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) foraging on a Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina). 

Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)

A Dragon in the Garden

My wife noticed this female Twelve-spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) in the Native Pollinator  Garden at the Saginaw Chippewa Academy this morning.  After helping her carry some things in to her 2nd grade classroom, I spent a few minutes photographing it before I headed to work.  This was my favorite photo of the bunch.

It looks like she has had a hard life, but even missing a portion of a forewing, she should still be able to fly and capture prey.

Twelve-spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) on Rough Blazing Star (Liatris aspera)

Rainbows

Over the past two weeks, during the drive to or from work, I have seen three rainbows.  Yesterday I was able to get photographs of one when I arrived at work.

A double rainbow over the campus of Mid-Michigan Community College

Rainbows are caused by the refraction (bending) of light as it passes through water droplets in the air (rain, fog, etc.).  When the light hits the back of the droplets it is reflected back out of the droplet.  Because the light has been refracted or bent it separates into the different colors that make up the visible spectrum of light.  These colors can be remembered by thinking the following funny-sounding name - Roy G. Biv  (R=Red,O=Orange, Y=Yellow, G=Green, B=Blue, I=Indigo, V=Violet).  Sometimes, not all of the light comes back out of the lower half of the water droplet, but is instead reflected upward our the top of the droplets.  This causes a second rainbow to appear above the first one.  This second rainbow will be lighter than the one below it.

Rainbows are the caused the reflection and refraction of light

Because rainbows are the reflections of reflacted light, they appear opposite the source of the light.  If you see a rainbow in the morning it will be to the west, opposite the rising sun.  An evening rainbow will be to the east, opposite the setting sun.  Because we normally observe rainbows while standing on the ground, they appear to us an arc (a portion of a circle).  When people flying in airplanes see a rainbow, because it is not cut off by the ground, it often appears as a complete circle.

For more information on the science of rainbows check out this page from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The opposite of the rainbow.

My camera does not have a wide enough field of view to take a photo of the complete rainbow, but I was able to piece together two photos to create a panorama showing the complete rainbow.

Wildflowers of 2014 - #218 through #224

The wildflower season just keep rolling on.  The following seven species were photographed at Mill Pond Park on Tuesday 26 August 2014.  I have been unable to finish writing about them until now.

Wildflowers of 2014 - #218 Nodding Smartweed (Persicaria lapathifolia)

The first species of the day is a common weed in both North America and Europe - Nodding Smartweed (Persicaria lapathifolia).  This plant is considered native to North America, but some populations are probably introduced from Europe.  It is found across the continental United States (no Alaska or Hawaii) and the lower tier of Canadian provinces/territories.  It is not common in the Southeast and most populations there are probably introduced.  The plant is typically found in wet soils.

Nodding Smartweed on a sandbar along the Chippewa River

There are fourteen Persicaria species that have been found in Michigan.  Nodding Smartweed is easy to identify by its flower head.  It is the only species that has a densely packed raceme (spike) of flowers that nod or droop downward.  The majority of other Smartweed species have erect flower racemes.  The flowerhead can be 2 to 8 inches long, but the individual flower are only about 1/8 inchlong.  The flowers have 5 tepals (petals) that rarely open completely and are white, green, or pink.

Nodding Smartweed - note the drooping or nodding raceme of small flowers

Nodding Smartweed plants can be up to 4 feet tall.  The leaves of the plant are large (2 inches wide and up to 8 inches long), lance-shaped, and are arranged alternately on the plant's stems.  The petiole (stalk) of the leaf has a sheathe that wraps around the plant's stem.

Nodding Smartweed - note alternate leaves with sheathed petiole (stalk) that wraps around the main stem

Nodding Smartweed is known by a variety of names including Willow-weed, Pale Smartweed, and Curly-top Knotweed.  Smartweeds used to be lumped with Knotweeds (Polygonum), and this plant used to have the scientific name of Polygonum lapathifolium.

Of Monarchs and Mantids

I was searching the field behind the office looking for more of these...

One of three Monarch caterpillars I found in the field yesterday

But my favorite find of the day was one of these...

A preying mantis found in the field behind the office

Back to School

Busy as a bee...

Today is the first day of the 2014 - 2015 School Year for most Michigan schools.  Welcome back students and teachers! 

I look forward to spending a lot of time in schools again this year.  During the past 12 months I did three hundred nineteen (319) classroom/outdoor programs for seven thousand eighteen (7,018) students in schools around Isabella County.  Another five hundred seventy-five students attended our Environmental Education Day in held in may.  I also presented programs at community events that were attended by nine hundred fifty-five (955) members of the public.  Five years ago when I accepted this newly created position, I never imagined this program would turn into the success it has become.  I can hardly wait to see what will happen this year!