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Category: Wildflowers

Wild Indigo (Baptisia tinctoria)

Wild Indigo (Baptisia tinctoria)

Wild indigo (Baptisia tinctoria) is a low shrub-like herbaceous perennial, which grows 2 to 3 feet high and has small (approximately a half inch long) yellow pea-like flowers. The gray-green leaves are somewhat clover-like and trifoliate (divided into three leaflets). Perhaps the most widespread Baptisia species in the eastern United States, it occurs in sandy dry areas, open woods and fields from New England to Florida and west to Minnesota. The flowers bloom July through September and are just now…

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Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora)

Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora)

Indian pipe (Monotropa uniflora), also known as ghost plant or corpse plant due to its uniquely white color, is a herbaceous perennial plant native to temperate North America. These single-stalked plants often grow in clusters and can extend up to 12 inches high. Each waxy stem is covered in small scale-like leaves and has one white five-parted flower at the end. Flowering occurs between June and October, and indian pipes are a common sight throughout oak and pine forests on…

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Massachusetts Appalachian Trail Section Hike

Massachusetts Appalachian Trail Section Hike

I’ve always toyed with the idea of someday hiking the entire 2,185-mile Appalachian Trail (A.T.) as a thru-hike, but life, a job and various other responsibilities have accumulated such that taking off for the required ~6 months to complete the trek no longer seemed feasible. However, it occurred to me this year that I could still hike the A.T. – I just needed to do it in pieces, referred to as section-hiking. Given that I live on Cape Cod, the…

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Wildflower Wednesday: Pickerelweed

Wildflower Wednesday: Pickerelweed

While kayaking yesterday in Coonamessett Pond in Falmouth, I encountered a number of patches of flowering pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata).  Pickerelweed is a common emergent plant in freshwater marshes, and along the edges of ponds, lakes and streams.  It has 4-10 inch long heart-shaped basal leaves extending above the water’s surface on long stalks, and spikes of small purple flowers. Each individual flower, approximately a 1/2 inch wide when fully open, has a three-lobed upper petal with two yellow spots in…

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Wild edible: Common Milkweed

Wild edible: Common Milkweed

Despite the white, latex-like sap, from which their name derives, common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is a delicious wild edible. Found in fields, along roadsides and other open areas, common milkweed is native to almost all of New England.  It typically grows 3 to 4 feet tall, on stout straight stems, with thick, broad, opposite leaves and is topped with round, slightly drooping clusters of pinkish-purple flowers. Before the flower buds bloom, they somewhat resemble pinkish-green heads of broccoli. In bloom,…

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Wildflower Wednesday: Whorled loosestrife

Wildflower Wednesday: Whorled loosestrife

In honor of the summer solstice, I thought I’d highlight a sunny yellow flower:  the yellow whorled loosestrife (Lysimachia quadrifolia) are blooming seemingly everywhere right now. Whorled loosestrife is native to much of eastern North America, and can be found in a wide variety of habitats, from woodlands to dry fields to roadsides. In the last few days, I’ve seen them along forested trails in Bourne and Falmouth, as well as along the side of my driveway. Yellow whorled loosestrife….

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Wildflower Wednesday: Pink Lady Slipper

Wildflower Wednesday: Pink Lady Slipper

The Pink Lady Slipper (Cypripedium acaule), sometimes called the Moccasin Flower, is one of the largest native orchids in eastern North America, and is fairly common in the woodlands in Bourne. In fact, I have some growing at the wooded periphery of my yard. Each Pink Lady Slipper plant has two basal leaves with conspicuous parallel veins and a center stalk with a single hanging bulbous pink slipper-like flower. The pouch formed by the flower’s petals is actually an ingenious…

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Wildflowers: Canada Mayflower and Starflower

Wildflowers: Canada Mayflower and Starflower

There are two abundant but potentially easily overlooked wildflowers blooming in the forest right now. Both are relatively small plants with simple white flowers, but both can be found in relatively extensive patches on the forest floor if you look around. The first, and one of my personal favorite wildflowers, is the Canada Mayflower (Maianthemum canadense).  Canada Mayflower, also known as False Lily-of-the-Valley, is a small plant between 2 and 6 inches in height.  It begins with just a single…

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Dandelion Wine

Dandelion Wine

Dandelions are a common wildflower in New England.  Although native to Europe, they have spread nearly worldwide.  Common dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) have bright yellow flowers 1 to 2 inches wide on top of hollow stalks, which extrude a milky latex-like liquid when broken.  The stalk is surrounded by a ring of basal leaves that are variously cleft and lobed.  While many home owners consider them unwelcome in their lawns, other seek them out as an early season wild edible. Due…

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Wild Edible: Beach Pea

Wild Edible: Beach Pea

Every day there are new signs of spring. In addition to the three pairs of Piping Plovers and a Killdeer (both first of year for me this year), while walking on the beach on Friday, I also noticed a number of new plants, flowering and leafing out, as well as new growth emerging from herbaceous plants.  This new growth greatly expands the options for foraging.  One such edible plant is the beach pea, which was sprouting in numerous places at…

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