Yearly Archives:
Know Your Natives – Blanketflower
Gaillardia aestivalis is a lovely Arkansas native. It shares the common name of blanketflower with several different Gaillardia species. There are at least two forms of Gaillardia aestivalis in Arkansas. One has red ray flowers (“petals”) and one has yellow … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – Missouri Gooseberry
Missouri Gooseberry Missouri Gooseberry (Ribes missouriense) is one of four species of gooseberries in Arkansas. Sometimes called currants, the genus is found across most of the northern hemisphere, extending down into South America via the Andes. It is the only … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – Camphorweed “Blooms” Frost Flowers
Camphorweed (Pluchea camphorata) of the Asteraceae (Aster) Family occurs in the Southeast and lower Midwest from Texas and Kansas to Illinois, Ohio, New Jersey and southward. In Arkansas, the species occurs statewide, though is somewhat less frequent in the central Ozarks. Camphorweed, an … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – Great Plains and Fragrant ladies’-tresses orchids
Arkansas has 9 species of ladies’-tresses orchid in the genus Spiranthes. They are found across the state in a wide variety of habitats, from disturbed areas, lawns and roadside ditches to high quality meadows, marshes, prairies and woodlands. Two of … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – Carolina Moonseed
Carolina Moonseed (Cocculus carolinus) of the Menispermaceae (Moonseed Family) occurs in the U.S. in the mid-western and southern states. This semi-woody, scrambling or climbing vine occurs throughout Arkansas in shady to partly sunny woods and thickets and along streams and … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – Asters
Featuring Manyray, Late Purple and Fragrant Asters Twenty-two species of asters (in the New World genus Symphyotrichum) occur in Arkansas (four other species also formerly treated in the genus Aster are now in the genera Doellingeria, Eurybia and Ionactis). Asters, in … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – Overcup Oak
Overcup Oak Overcup Oak (Quercus lyrata) is a species of oak in the White Oak Group. It favors bottomland forests and is tolerant of wet, clay soils. This oak is identified by the cup, which often completely encloses the acorn. … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – Baldwin’s Climbing Milkweed and Anglepod Milkvine
Baldwin’s climbing milkweed (Matelea baldwyniana) and Anglepod milkvine (Matelea gonocarpos or Gonolobus suberosus depending on which authorities are followed) of the Apocynaceae (Dogbane) Family, formerly of the Asclepiadaceae (Milkweed) Family, are herbaceous, perennial, trailing to climbing vines. These vines grow in various rocky, well-drained … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – American Hazelnut
American Hazelnut American Hazelnut (Corylus americana) is a medium to large spreading shrub that produces edible nuts in the fall. The nuts ripen in September and October and are a favorite of small game and birds. As fall progresses male … Continue reading
Ash Tree Threat Invades Arkansas
Arkansas joins the growing list of states affected by the Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis), or EAB for short, an invasive Asian beetle devastating North American ash trees. The beetle was first discovered on the continent in Michigan in 2002, … Continue reading
