Tag: plants

While preparing for another season of removing invasive Amur honeysuckle, I have seen some pretty interesting things throughout our Great Parks. Recently, while scouting at Woodland Mound, I couldn’t help but notice the color red. As I approached the wetland area north of Chipmunk Shelter, a bright red cardinal flower (Lobelia Cardinalis) caught my eye. […]

Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. By definition, a weed is a plant that is not valued where it is growing. Chicory is commonly called a weed by many people, while others regard it as beautiful and useful. It has a rich history and is widely used today for many things. This […]

You have probably seen this native flower in bloom recently throughout our Great Parks, and may know it by many names. Commonly called spotted jewelweed, orange jewelweed, orange balsam or spotted touch-me-not (Impatiens capensis), there is also a yellow variety (Impatiens pallida) that is referred to as pale jewelweed, yellow jewelweed or pale touch-me-not. The […]

There is more than meets the eye to the adder’s tongue fern (Ophioglossum vulgatum). At first glance you might not guess that it’s even a fern. Lacking the typical delicate-looking leaves of other ferns we’re used to seeing, it has an odd spore-bearing stalk that is unique to its family (the Ophioglossaceae). It is from […]

We’ve written briefly about butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) before, but this is a plant that really gets a second look. As an ornamental, it’s exceptionally gorgeous with brilliant orange blooms that last for much of June and July. It’s also far from fussy and will thrive in hot, dry, nutrient-poor sandy soils. As its Latin […]