This week's bloomlist for Wildflower Island is at the end of the post, and Bonnie's pictures
can be found HERE. Peterson names are used for consistency wherever possible, and comments
and clarifications are welcome in the comments section.
[Updates in red] I think that it's an Southern Arrowwood peeking out from the side of the gatehouse, but couldn't get close enough... [It was confirmed on Sat. that it is an Arrowwood, and PS: I'm going to use the Peterson name for this viburnum species from now on.]
Because of traveling and the weather, the bloomlist and pictures were done on two different days. The four of us who did the bloomlist on the 6th did not see nos. 34, 39 and 40 (maybe they were hidden, or the blooms fell off in the rain), and the emerging Galax (no. 10) was perhaps not open at all on Wednesday. One of the interns who were with us today for the list spotted a very hidden Spiderwort at no. 26, which we would have missed altogether. Most of them are further along the path.
I can't tell which panorama is the most spectacular, the Stonecrop (Sedum sarmentosum):
the Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora), which stretches for forever in The Woods and smells achingly, especially on Waterfall Bridge:
or the fantastic spread of Bowman's-root (Porteranthus trifoliata) between nos. 36 and 37 on the Island.
There's a lot of confusion with the naming of our supposedly "Great" Solomon's-seal (no. 36), which we've seen many times with multiple florets rather than just pairs. The internet sources are so contradictory with themselves and with Peterson, which calls the Great one Polygonatum canaliculatum and the normal one P. biflorum. What he describes as "Great" is "taller and coarser [with] flowers usually in larger clusters (2-10) and leaves with 3 or more strong veins each side of the midrib. Usually over 4 feet."
What the USDA calls "Smooth Solomon's-seal" (P. biflorum) has the same kind of strong veins each side of the midrib (left).Complicating the issue, Wiki says that the P. biflorum "is now regarded as including a number of other species and varieties, e.g. P. biflorum var. commutatum or P. commutatum." It also says that P. canaliculatum is just a synonym for the same P. biflorum plant.
Here's another description of the confusion, from the Missouri Botanical site:
Both a smooth small Solomon's seal (to 3' tall) and a great Solomon's seal (to 7' tall) are native to eastern North America. There is unanimous agreement that the smooth small Solomon's seal is P. biflorum. There is considerable controversy, however, as to what to call great Solomon's seal. Current trends seem to be to include great Solomon's seal as a variety of P. biflorum, namely, as P. biflorum var. commutatum. However, the small and great Solomon's seals do differ considerably (e.g., plant size, flower/fruit size, leaf vein arrangement and number of flowers per axillary cluster) so that a number of authorities have assigned great Solomon's seal separate species status, to wit, as P. commutatum, P. canaliculatum or P. giganteum, all of which are varyingly considered to be synonymous with P. biflorum var. commutatum.By now everyone should see the problem naming this plant with certainty ...
The Illinois Wildflowers article on "Solomon's-seal" (P. commutatum) says the "Great" version of the plant has clasping leaves. It also mentions a "Small" one (P. biflorum) with sessile, but not clasping leaves. The picture below (from the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden) shows clasping leaves.
I don't think we have the Great one, though the leaves do have 3 or more strong veins each side of the midrib. I also don't see "clasping" leaves, or the greater height.
I am comfortable with regular Solomon's-seal (P. biflorum) for no. 36.
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Here on the left is Bonnie's excellent picture of the Common Cinquefoil (Potentilla simplex).Look at the difference between the pointed tips and leaf edges fully toothed of this species, with the leaves of the Dwarf Cinquefoil (Potentilla canadensis) below, which has more wedge-shaped leaves lacking teeth in the bottom half (picture from GoBotany):
Peterson says the Foxtail Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis) is the most widespread of the Beardtongues in this area.
Fun fact from NY Botanical regarding the name "beard-tongue": it refers to tufts of hair that emerge from the sterile fifth stamen of certain species. You can see some hairiness in Bonnie's great close-up, but you'd have to get down on your hands and knees to look inside the corolla to see the hairs on the stamen:
Introducing two interns doing a project on our WFI species: Sylvan and Will. When they walked with us this week, Sylvan was drawing these lovely pics — what a nice surprise:
Artist: Sylvan Cummings
A lot of Dragonflies on the bridge to the island, so a few words about them from an Audubon article:
Dating back more than 250 million years ... were around long before the dinosaurs appeared ...And a nice post about how they differ from the Damselfly at this entomologist's site.
You can tell a dragon from a damsel by its wing position when perched: Dragonflies hold their wings straight out to the side, while damselflies partly spread their wings or fold them together behind them ...
federal and state agencies use the presence of certain species as indicators of clean, highly oxygenated waters ...
They need pristine, fast-flowing water ...
They fly at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour, zip forward and backward, pivot in a flash, and hover with ease. They prey on live insects in midair, snapping up small bugs with their mouths or grabbing larger ones with their legs, then perching to devour them ...
They don’t sting or bite—they’re flying around trying to eat the bugs that will bite you ...
And while the variety is great, the number of species isn’t overwhelming. There are more than 450 bird species in New York, versus 50 to 60 species of dragonflies in any one area ...
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