Skunk Cabbage - Arales Araceae Lysichitum americanum Identification & Description: Skunk Cabbage is a large-leafed plant that grows in wet areas, especially near streams, ponds, marshes, and wet woods. It is easy to recognize, with its huge leaves rising directly from the ground. Skunk Cabbage is one of the first plants to bloom in [...]
Slough Rush - Juncales Juncaceae Juncus effusus Identification & Description: Slough Rush is a name for tall, grasslike plants of various families, many of which have hollow stems. The true rushes belong to the family Juncaceae, one of the oldest families of plants, closely related to the family Liliaceae (lily family). Most rushes grow [...]
Water Plantain - Alismatales Alismataceae Alisma triviale Identification & Description: The water-plantains have small flowers with three petals on greatly branched stems. The two species that grow in Connecticut look very much alike, other than the size of the flowers. Large water-plantain flowers are 1/4 inch wide; those of small water-plantain are less than [...]
Bleeding Heart - Papaverales Fumariaceae Dicentra eximia Identification & Description Native to Japan, Bleeding Hearts are excellent perennial for the shade garden and they are very attractive with their light transparent green colour, deeply divided and fern like foliage and blooms are borne on arching flower stems above the foliage. Their 1 inch, heart-shaped [...]
Bunchberry - Cornales Cornaceae Cornus canadensis Identification & Description: Bunchberry is an attractive evergreen groundcover, spreading via rhizomatous growth. Bunchberry grows just 3 inches tall and slowly spreads. Found in nature in damp areas at the edges of woods in far northern areas such as Maine and the great north woods. [...]
Common Mullein - Scrophulariales Scropulariaceae Verbascum thapsus Identification & Description: Common mullein, also known as wooly mullein, velvet dock, flannel leaf, Aaron's rod, torch plant, and miner's candle is a member of the figwort family. Originally, Common mullein was brought over from Europe by early settlers. It was used as a medicinal herb in [...]
Coral-root Orchid - Orchidales Orchidaceae Corallorhiza maculata Identification & Description: Coral-root orchid (Corallorhiza maculata), an interesting mycotrophic wildflower that grows in the shady conifer forests of San Diego County. The stem develops from a fleshy mass of fungal hyphae and tree roots deep in the ground, and resembles a clump of soft corals. As [...]
Fireweed - Myrtales Onagraceae Epilobium angustifolium Identification & Description: Fireweed pinky purple flowers grows from 0.5 to 3 metres in height. Fireweed is usually found in woodland areas that have been cleared or burned off. Very striking plant especially in mass. Long seed pods make collecting easy Fireweed is a beautiful "pioneer [...]
Foamflower - Rosales Saxifragaceae Tiarella cordifolia Identification & Description: An evergreen perennial growing to 0.2m by 0.5m . It is hardy to zone 3. It is in leaf all year, in flower from April to June. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it [...]
Foxglove - Scrophulariales Scropulariaceae Digitalis purpurea Identification & Description: Biennial growing to 1.2m by 0.6m . It is not frost tender. It is in flower from June to September, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees. It [...]
Identification & Description: Indian pipe, has no chlorophyll, so it cannot obtain energy from sunlight. Instead, it gets nutrients from organic matter in the soil. Indian Pipe, also known as “Corpse Plant,” is one of the easiest plants to recognize. Unlike most plants, Indian Pipe doesn’t have chlorophyll, the stuff that makes plants [...]
Rattlesnake Plantain - Orchidales Orchidaceae Goodyera pubescens Identification & Description: Rattlesnake-plantains get their name from their broad, rounded leaves, which are similar in shape to those of plantain, a common lawn weed. They are not actually plantains; they are orchids. Checkered rattlesnake-plantain has leaves with soft green markings. It can be distinguished from Connecticut's [...]
Twistedstick - Liliales Liliaceae Streptopus amplexifolius Identification & Description: This is a herbaceous plant which can reach 60cm in height (24inches). There are usually two or three branches. The name Twistedstalk refers to the peculiar twist to the flower stalk that is more pronounced in Claspleaf Twistedstalk (S. Amplexifolius). The flower stem in that [...]
Vanilla Leaf - Ranunculales Berberidaceae Achlys triphylla Identification & Description: Vanilla is an attractive perennial with single, long-petiolate, ternate (3 leaflets) leaves which are fan-shaped with coarsely-toothed leaf edges. The leaf blade is roughly 5-20 cm wide, with the whole leaf ranging from 10-30 cm long. Dry leaves smell of vanilla. The flower stem [...]
Wild Lily-of-the-Valley - Liliales Liliaceae Maianthemum dilatatum Identification & Description: Wild Lily-of-the-Valley - "Canada Mayflower" Lily of the Valley is a small plant that gives off a very nice smell. The tradition is: you go out and gather the Lilies of the Valley, enjoy the spring weather and get a little exercise. Then, when [...]
