Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea stoebe)
Many plants, particularly herbaceous ones, are most easily identifiable when in flower. As we move further into the cold season, and flowers (and many leaves) are essentially absent, it seems like herbaceous plant identification should be impossible. While it can be tricky, many plants have such distinctive seed heads or stalks, that they are identifiable well into the winter. While it’s possible to identify many herbaceous species through their winter characteristics alone, I find that now is one of the…