Arkansas Native Plant Society

Know Your Natives – Yellow wingstem

Posted on November 13, 2015 by

Yellow wingstem or yellow ironweed (Verbesina alternifolia) of the aster (Asteraceae ) family is found in the U.S. from Texas to Nebraska to Wisconsin and thence east and south. In Arkansas, the species is found throughout much of the state, though is less frequent in the Mississippi Alluvial and West Gulf Coastal Plains. The genus name perhaps alludes to a Verbena-like appearance, although the exact etymology is unknown, while the specific epithet refers to the plant’s mostly alternate leaves (note, though, that some plants may have a few or primarily opposite leaves). The common name “yellow wingstem” may be confused with other species in the genus (see end of article for a short discussion on the other species).

Yellow wingstem is an herbaceous, erect, clump-forming but sometimes rhizhomatous perennial that reaches heights of 4 to 8 feet. It occurs in fertile, sandy to rocky mesic soils of floodplains, woodlands, thickets, ditches and prairies. Its scabrous (rough-hairy) stems may be winged, partially winged or without wings. Stems are light to medium green with purplish coloration at leaf nodes or along entire stems. Stems are branched in the inflorescence only. Upon flowering, stems can become less erect.

Lanceolate to narrowly ovate leaves, about 10 inches long and 2½ inches across, taper from mid-leaf to both an acute to acuminate point and a narrowly winged petiole. Lower leaves may be opposite while upper leaves and those in flowering branches are usually alternate. Leaf margins are smooth below mid-leaf and slightly serrated above mid-leaf. The upper surface is dull medium-green and scabrous while the lower surface is light green and less rough with white hairs along major veins. When stems are winged, narrow bands of leaf blade tissue extend down the stem (decurrent) to the leaf directly below. If stems are not winged, leaf blade tissue stops at the stem (sessile leaf) or a petiole may be present.

Photo 1: This yellow wingstem plant, which does not have wings, has a scabrous stem with purple nodes and upper stem. Also on this plant, lower leaves are opposite.

Photo 2: This winged plant is nearly hairless. Purple coloration between green wings extends along leaf rib.

In late summer to early fall, stems have a loose panicle of composite flowers on branches near the top of the plant. A few to a half-dozen or so flower heads on scabrous peduncles occur on each branch. Flower heads are 1 to 2 inches across, each with up to 10 reflexed, yellow ray florets (ligules) and several to 30 fertile disk florets. Rays, rather haphazardly arranged, have a notch at the end. Disk florets consist of five-lobed, tubular extended yellow corollas that have sharply reduced green bases. Disk florets, with five stamens with white filaments and purple anthers, are tightly compressed so that they appear to be one. Stamens initially totally enclose the pistil so that, when stamens emerge from the corolla, the pistil is not evident. As a flower further matures, stamens wilt back into the corolla tube, the pistil emerges from the corolla, and the stigma becomes bifurcated (divided). Corolla tubes of matured flowers, with enclosed wilted stamens, quickly drop off the inferior ovary to expose developing green fruits. Each flower head is surrounded by a calyx-like involucre composed of several rows of loosely arranged, elongated, acuminate phyllaries (bracts). Flower heads, excluding the rays, have a spherical shape.

Photo 3: Long, widely spreading branches of the inflorescence and extended disk florets on spherical flower heads are characteristic of the plant.

Photo 4: Flower head on left displays haphazard ray floret arrangement, tubular disk florets, compressed stamens and forked stigmas. Flower head on right (upside down) shows phyllaries of involucre and developing one-seeded fruit (red arrow) just after corolla tubes dropped off.

A single indehiscent (not splitting), one-seeded fruit (achene) is produced by each disk floret. Achenes have a flattened ovate shape with tapered ends, side wings and two short awns (bristles) at the tip. Mature achenes can be easily removed by brushing against the awns. Loosened achenes may be dispersed by strong wind or carried by birds and other animals.

Photo 5: Spherical nature of flower head remains as achenes mature. Drying achenes easily brushed off head are at upper center of photo.

For a garden, this plant can be easily grown from seed. Considering the plant’s height and its tendency to sway over with flowering, yellow wingstem is probably best suited as a background planting in a larger natural garden. It does best in moist soils, but can survive some dry periods. It is a good food source for insects and birds. It is not favored by deer.

Five species in the genus Verbesina are found in Arkansas, several having common names that may cause confusion. The three common species are:

Yellow Wingstem or Yellow Ironweed (Verbesina alternifolia) which may or may not have wings and blooms in late summer.
Yellow Crownbeard or Yellow Wingstem (Verbesina helianthoides) which is always winged and blooms in early summer.
Frostweed or White Crownbeard (Verbesina virginica) which is always winged and has white flowers.

Two other species are rarely encountered:

Rayless Crownbeard or Walter’s Crownbeard (Verbesina walteri) is a rare native found on Rich and Black Fork Mountains in Polk County; it resembles Verbesina alternifolia but has white flower heads and lacks ray petals.
Cowpen Daisy or Golden Crownbeard (Verbesina encelioides) is a western species believed to be introduced to Arkansas at a few widely scattered locations; it is a yellow-flowered, short-stature annual with auricles on the leaf bases and lacking stem wings.

Leaves of Verbesina alternifolia and Verbesina helianthoides have a similar appearance.

Photo 6: Upper and lower leaf surfaces: #1 – Verbesina alternifolia, #2 – Verbesina helianthoides and #3 – Verbesina virginica.

Article and photographs by ANPS member Sid Vogelpohl

Posted in Know Your Natives, Native Plants, Wildflowers, Yellow | Tagged Asteraceae, Know Your Natives, Verbesina, Verbesina alternifolia, Yellow Wingstem | 3 Comments

Know Your Natives – Forked Blue-curls

Posted on October 23, 2015 by

Forked blue-curls (Trichostema dichotomum) of the Mint (Lamiaceae) Family is an herbaceous annual. It occurs throughout much of the eastern U.S. from Texas to Iowa and Michigan, to Maine and thence eastward and southward. In Arkansas, it is found throughout much of the state except for the bulk of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. The genus name refers to the “hairlike stamens,” and the specific epithet refers to the forked stigma. The common name also alludes to the forked stigma as well as the blue flowers and bent (curled) stamens.

This plant, germinating in early summer, resembles a garden petunia before axillary branching occurs. Forked blue-curls, reaching a height of 2 feet or more, have slightly square stems and branches. Opposite branches and leaves are densely covered with short downy hairs (pubescent) and are slightly sticky. Plants, other than flowers, are an overall light green color. Their preferred habitat is well-drained soils of open woods, glades, prairies, and disturbed sites, often on sandy substrates.

Photo 1: Forked blue-curls plants have uniform color and overall pubescence during the growing season. Photo taken mid-July.

Leaves are oblong to elliptic, thin and entire (no teeth) with largest leaves being up to 2½ inches long and half as wide. Blades of leaves are somewhat undulated. Leaves are widest at lower mid-leaf with a gentle taper to both the tip and petiole. Pinnate veins of upper (adaxial) side of leaf blades are deeply depressed along mid-rib, creating a slight crease, and slightly depressed elsewhere, while veins on lower (abaxial) side are raised. Crushed leaves have a lemony odor.

Photo 2: Leaf blade is entire and slightly creased along mid-rib.

Blooming in mid to late summer, the inflorescence consists of a panicle of cymes, with several flowers at the tips of the branches. Each cyme, as well as individual flowers, is subtended by a pair of opposite leaves. A cyme has a single flower growing from between a pair of leaves, then two additional branches grow from that same axil to produce flowers in the same plane. The size of flowers decreases up the length of the cyme with those at the end not fully formed. With three to seven flowers in a cyme and hundreds of cymes on a healthy plant, many seeds may be produced.

Photo 3: Flowering occurs at ends of opposite branches. Cymes and individual flowers are each subtended by a pair of leaves.

Flowers, opening in early morning, drop petals and stamens by mid-day. Flowers, on short pedicels, are ½ to ¾ inch long and half as wide, with five petals. The lower petal is tongue-like and cupped while four upper petals are shorter, broadly rounded, and slightly pointed. Upper petals are a uniform blue while the lower petal often has white shading with prominent dark spots, or occasionally the lower petal may be the same color as the other petals. Four stamens, similarly colored as the petals, exsert (extend) dramatically from the corolla in a long curling group. The pistil, with forked stigma and the same color as the stamens, is hidden within the stamen group.

Photo 4: Plant with spotted lower petals. Some plants may not have spots. Note developing nutlets inside calyx at arrow.

The calyx is composed of five unequally sized lobes, each with a prominent central vein and acuminate (gradually tapering) tip. When in bud, three larger lobes are positioned over the bud as if to protect it. As the flower reaches anthesis (fully open), the pedicel has bent noticeably upward so that the flower is positioned skyward for easier access by insects. The repositioned calyx remains fixed while seeds mature.

Photo 5: Petals and stamens of flower on right have been removed to expose forked stigma. Note that calyx is positioned over buds, but is rotated upward by the pedicel when flower is open (see Photo 4 also).

The lobed ovary produces four oblong to rounded nutlets (mericarps). As soon as floral parts fall off, four green nutlets are clearly exposed. Mature nutlets, 1/16 to 1/8 inch long and dark brown, have a pocked exterior surface and smooth interior surface. After flowering is complete, all calyxes are uniformly up-turned and cuplike, having rotated 180 degrees from flower-bud stage.

Photo 6: Top of a forked blue-curls plant (central stem at red X). A flower is typically located at the first divide of a branch (red arrow) from which point two sub-branches (yellow arrows) continue with additional flowers along those straight sub-branches.

In a garden setting, forked blue curls would be an interesting plant that is worth considering for an informal setting. However, plants are late to appear in the growing season and flowers only bloom for a half-day. Additionally, being an annual, plants can come up in various places in the garden from year to year. Seedlings may also be prolific in a garden setting and may need thinning each year.

Another species of the genus is found in Arkansas, namely, false pennyroyal or fluxweed (Trichostema brachiatum), but it is restricted primarily to the Interior Highlands. Overall plant structure of this annual is similar to forked blue-curls, but false pennyroyal has five blue petals of the same shape and size, calyx lobes of the same size, and shorter stamens that are not exserted.

Article and photographs by ANPS member Sid Vogelpohl

Posted in Blue, Know Your Natives, Native Plants, Purple, Wildflowers | Tagged Forked Blue Curls, Know Your Natives, Lamiaceae, Trichostema, Trichostema dichotomum | Leave a comment

Neat Plant Alert – Downy Gentian

Posted on October 18, 2015 by Eric Hunt

Most people think of brilliantly colored foliage and perhaps fresh shelled local pecans when they think of fall in Arkansas. There’s more going on! Our native wildflowers are also putting on a final show. One of the showiest in the fall is Downy Gentian – Gentiana puberulenta.

Downy Gentian prefers high quality prairies and glades and is found in scattered counties in the northern third of the state and a few counties in the central part of the state. It has a tolerance for dry soils that is uncommon for most gentians. Downy Gentian is considered rare in Arkansas and is tracked by the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission.

The flowers are an intense sky blue with some variation in a local population. Some are deeper blue than others.

These photos were taken October 11, 2015 at Baker Prairie Natural Area in Boone County

Article and photographs by ANPS member Eric Hunt

Posted in Native Plants, Plant Alert, Wildflowers | Tagged Downy Gentian, Gentian, Gentiana, Gentiana puberulenta, Gentianaceae, Neat Plant Alert | Leave a comment

Know Your Natives – Cardinal Flower

Posted on October 5, 2015 by

Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) of the Bellflower (Campanulaceae) family is a showy herbaceous perennial. In the U.S., it occurs from California, Nebraska and Minnesota, southward and eastward. In Arkansas, it occurs statewide. Cardinal flower is found in year-round moist to wet soils along streams and lakes, prairie swales, springs, swamps, ditches and in low lying wooded areas. It typically occurs in partially shaded areas, but is also found in sunnier areas near or in shallow water. The genus name recognizes Matthaeus Lobelius, a Flemish 16th-century physician and botanist who is credited with being the first to attempt to classify plants by attributes other than their medicinal uses. The specific epithet and common name likely associate the bright red color of the flower to red vestments of Roman Catholic Cardinals.

Cardinal flower, which forms clumps, has mounds of basal leaves in spring from which multiple, erect stems typically up to 5 feet tall grow. Stems are not normally branched, but when a stem is broken off or eaten, several smaller axillary stems may develop. Stems, terminating with racemes of flowers, are light green, round (terete) in cross-section and glabrous (no hairs). Growing stems and leaves have white sap. New basal leaves, appearing while the plant is in bloom, persist over winter and may be reddish in color in spring.

Photo 1: In February, basal leaves grow on this cardinal flower plant in a wetland. Old stems can be seen at center of clump.

Lanceolate alternate leaves, up to about 7 inches long and 1½ inches wide, are dark green above and light green below and mostly glabrous. Leaf blades gradually taper toward their bases with very narrow blade tissue continuing to the stem. Leaf blades also gradually taper toward the tip (acuminate). Margins are somewhat sinuous and have short, irregularly coarse teeth (serrulate) that are angled toward the leaf tip. Leaf veins are slightly suppressed above and strongly raised below. The smooth upper leaf blade surface has a textured appearance due to upward flexing of the surface between veins. Leaves are positioned somewhat horizontally, but can droop toward the tips.

Photo 2: Upper and lower sides of mid-stem leaves and smaller upper stem leaves are shown. Note leaf margins, venation and single bracts subtending flowers.

Inflorescences of cardinal flower occur in late summer as erect, terminal racemes, from one-fourth to one-third the height of the plant. Racemes have showy brilliant red flowers (rarely white or pink) that may be sparsely spaced or densely packed. Flowers, on short pedicels, are each subtended by a small linear bract. Flowers mature successively from the base of the raceme to the top, with flowering extending over a month or two, depending on site moisture.

Photo 3: Cardinal flower plants in this wooded wetland are from 1½ to 6+ feet tall. Ditch stonecrop (Penthorum sedoides), at lower right, has an appearance much like cardinal flower in early spring.

Flowers, positioned at about 45 degrees off the stem, are about 1½ inches long, with the front of the flower being about ¾ inch wide. Flower corolla consists of two slender upper lobes (flared and not connected to each other beyond the tube) and three lower broader lobes (connected at the bases beyond the tube and projecting out and slightly downward) together forming a fluted tube in the lower portion. The front surfaces of the corolla are a vibrant red (rarely white or pink) while the back surfaces, the tube and the filaments are often a lighter red. Two hazy dark lines can be seen at the juncture of the three lower corolla lobes. Five stamens have fused filaments that form a tube topped with greyish, down-turned and united anthers. This stamen tube tightly surrounds the pistil, which has a two-lobed stigma extending slightly from the stamen tube as the flower matures. A green, bell-like (campanulate) ribbed calyx has a raised rim and five projecting linear lobes. The corolla attaches immediately inside the calyx rim.

Photo 4: Two upper corolla lobes are not joined above tube (see arrow). Flower on right separated to show pistil, stamen tube with united anthers, and corolla.

As a flower fades, the calyx enlarges. The calyx then serves as lower portion of the seed capsule (fruit) while the upper portion is a smooth, rounded and slightly pointed cap. The fruiting capsule is divided into two sections (locales), within which a dense seed layer develops, such that each capsule contains hundreds of tiny, dust-like seeds. When seed capsules dry, only the top opens to release seeds. Capsules also deteriorate over time and seeds are released for transport by wind and water.

Photo 5: 1: Capsule with dry flower and calyx lobes attached. 2: Calyx lobes removed with pistil remaining. 3: Capsule viewed from top, without style and stigma. 4: Capsule split to expose immature seeds attached to central placenta. 5: Central placenta with immature seeds removed to show its two sections.

Photo 6: In October, stems and capsules become dry. An open capsule can be seen at arrow.

As a garden plant, cardinal flower is an upright perennial of modest size that bears very showy red flowers and lush foliage. It is excellent for water gardens, moist garden beds and slow-flowing streams, but must have near-constant moisture. Cardinal flower is a favorite of ruby-throated hummingbirds, which serve as pollinators, as well as butterflies. Deer may browse plants, but plants may recover by producing axillary flowering stems. Plants can be propagated from seed, stem cuttings in mid-summer or by separating new basal growth in fall.

Five other species of Lobelia grow in Arkansas, a few of which can be found in similar habitats and can have foliage resembling that of cardinal flower, especially early in the season–but none have red flowers. Their flowers can range in color from white or lavender to blue or purple.

Article and photographs by ANPS member Sid Vogelpohl

Posted in Know Your Natives, Native Plants, Red, Wildflowers | Tagged Campanulaceae, Cardinal Flower, Know Your Natives, Lobelia, Lobelia cardinalis | 2 Comments

Field Trip Report – Poison Springs State Forest & Preserve

Posted on September 23, 2015 by

Meredith York, field trip leader, and Mike Weatherford, ANPS member, showed up at the E-Z Mart in Chidester, Arkansas, on September 19, 2015, for what some might call a lightly-attended event.

We know that on this warm, sunny Saturday morning there were many ANPS members forced to attend football games or sit in boring boats on picturesque lakes. We just know they were wanting to be with us to visit one of the tracts included in the Poison Springs State Forest Sand Barren & Oak-Pine Forest Preserve.

Photo 1: The barrens were white with jointweed (Polygonella americana) in full bloom.

This natural area, managed by the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, includes more than 400 acres of sandhill barrens and adjacent woodlands. Knowing that botanical riches were abundant in this preserve, Meredith and I pressed ahead and observed many interesting plants. We found the barrens white with jointweed (Polygonella americana) and cottonweed (Froelichia floridana) in full bloom. Other plants were also blooming, including scratch daisy (Croptilon divaricatum), elegant gayfeather (Liatris elegans), Louisiana goldenrod (Solidago ludoviciana), purple false foxglove (Agalinis tenuifolia), smooth yellow false foxglove (Aureolaria flava), forked blue curls (Trichostema dichotomum), and many-flowered buckwheat (Eriogonum multiflorum) to name a few. See a more complete plant list below.

Photo 2: Bees and other pollinators were busy on the tiny white or pale-pink flowers of the jointweed.

After the hike we were thirsty and drank deeply from the poison spring. There were no after-effects from drinking the spring water. However, I have noticed that a third eye has appeared in the center of my forehead. It sees infrared and operates independently of my other eyes, constantly scanning my surroundings. Very cool. I am sure its appearance is just a coincidence.

Photo 3: Each cottonweed (Froelichia floridana) flower spike is densely packed with white woolly flowers that are arranged in 5 spirals. When mature, the flower heads take on a cottony appearance.

Meredith, a long-time ANPS member, deserves much credit for faithfully monitoring and photographing native plants in the Poison Spring area for many years. Speaking on behalf of the field trip attendees, I thank him for leading this interesting field trip.

Photo 4: Purple false foxglove (Agalinis tenuifolia) plants, with their small but eye-catching rose-purple blooms, were scattered throughout the area.

Here is a partial list of the plants we found:

Smooth Yellow False Foxglove – Aureolaria flava
Louisiana Goldenrod – Solidago ludoviciana
Golden Aster – Bradburia pilosa
Elegant Gayfeather – Liatris elegans
Southern Blazing Star – Liatris squarrulosa
Rabbit Tobacco – Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium
Cottonweed – Froelichia floridana
Jointweed – Polygonella americana
Forked Blue Curls – Trichostema dichotomum
Scratch-Daisy – Croptilon divaricatum
Partridge Berry – Mitchella repens
Carolina Elephant’s Foot – Elephantopus carolinianus
Hairy Elephant’s Foot – Elephantopus tomentosus
Pale-Spike Lobelia – Lobelia spicata
Pink Wild Bean – Strophostyles umbellata
White Four O’clock – Mirabilis albida
Heartleaf Spurge – Euphorbia cordifolia
Purple False foxglove – Agalinis tenuifolia

Photo 5: A single bloom of the pink wild bean (Strophostyles umbellata) stood out against the parched sandy soil of the barrens.

Photo 6: Easy to overlook, we found ground-hugging heartleaf spurge (Euphorbia cordifolia), with its tiny flowers and red stems, growing beside the trail.

Article and photographs by ANPS member Michael Weatherford

Posted in Field Trips, Native Plants, Wildflowers | Tagged Agalinis, Amaranthaceae, Cottonweed, Euphorbia, Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Field Trip Report, Froelichia, Froelichia floridana, Jointweed, Orobanchaceae, Pink Wild Bean, Poison Springs, Polygonaceae, Polygonella, Polygonella americana, Purple False Foxglove, Strophostyles, Strophostyles umbellata | Leave a comment

Know Your Natives – Virginia Dayflower

Posted on September 18, 2015 by

Virginia dayflower (Commelina virginica) of the Dayflower (Commelinaceae) Family is a perennial herbaceous monocot (one seed-leaf) that favors shaded areas with wet soils. It occurs in the U.S. from Texas to Nebraska to New York and south to the borders. In Arkansas, this plant is found statewide except for some highland areas in the north-central portion of the Ozark Plateau. Virginia dayflower grows in shallow standing water or where frequent inundation occurs such as along swamps, rivers, streams and ditches. It is also called woods dayflower. The genus name honors two Dutch botanists surnamed “Commelin”.

Virginia dayflower has white rhizomes with a cross-section size similar to that of the stems. New growth of rhizomes is node-to-node from a sheath. Fibrous roots grow from nodes of the rhizomes. Stems, remaining mostly erect, may reach 3 feet. They can be glabrous (no hairs), pubescent (short soft hairs), to hispid (short bristly hairs), and show various shades of green to reddish with minute striping.

Photo 1: Erect plants of Virginia dayflower grow from rhizomes in wet areas. Stems are reddish in this mid-July photo.

Leaves, up to 5 inches long and 1½ inches wide, are elliptic-lanceolate with sheaths up to an inch long. Stems at base of leaf sheaths are slightly enlarged. Leaf sheaths wrap tightly all around the stem, but are pushed away by secondary, lateral stems. Sheaths are noticeably striped due to various combinations of green, white and red. Leaves, with a tapering long tip (acuminate), have parallel venation. Leaves feel slightly rough above and smooth below. Undersides of leaves have light colored short hairs, especially on main veins. Sheaths have short to long prominent reddish hairs with longest hairs occurring at upper end of sheaths, especially along edges. Leaves continue up-stem into the inflorescence, becoming much shorter.

Photo 2: Hispid nature of plant shown is evident. Leaf sheaths (arrows) have stripes and long hairs at junction with leaf blade. Short white hairs can be seen on underside of leaves.

Inflorescences in mid to late summer, at the tips of main and secondary stems, consist of tight clusters of two to ten flattened spathes on short stalks. In larger clusters, a large spathe may enclose several smaller spathes with flowers. Spathes are boat-like with a pointed bow, rounded stern, and pronounced keel. The keel is sealed and rounded below, while the topside is open. A spathe envelops a single peduncle with up to five lateral alternate flower buds in a cyme (in scorpiod fashion). Spathes are glabrous and filled with clear slime similar to egg whites.

Photo 3: Three peduncles shown with spathes removed. White arrows indicate bud clusters and red arrow indicates a developing ovary. Pink arrows indicate sepals. Yellow arrow indicates a faded flower. Blue arrow indicates peduncle of a hidden, less developed spathe.

Flowers, about 1 inch wide, open at day break and wilt about mid-day. Typically, one flower of a spathe blooms per day. A flower has two upper petals and a slightly smaller lower petal. Light blue petals are orbicular and slightly ruffled with a narrow stalk-like base (claw). Flowers have three fertile stamens (two with greyish anthers and one with a yellow anther), three infertile stamens (staminodes) with showy yellow lobed anthers, and a pistil. Filaments and style are white to translucent. Two membranous sepals occur behind the lower petal.

Photo 4: Stamens, staminodes and pistil (of left flower) can be seen. Sepals below the lower (smaller) petal of upper flower can be seen.

Photo 5: A bee-fly feeding on pollen of a fertile anther (blocked by fly). Note lobes of staminodes.

Photo 6: Leaf beetles poised for flight. Note venation of spathes.

Fertilized flowers form three-celled capsules within the spathes with one seed per cell. Spathes become brown and persist on a green stalk into the fall.

Four other species in the Commelina genus occur in Arkansas: Erect dayflower (Commelina erecta) is a native perennial with two blue and one white petal, and has curled fertile stamens and pistil. Spreading or climbing dayflower (Commelina diffusa) is a non-native perennial with three blue petals, blue anthers and white hairs. Carolina dayflower (Commelina caroliniana) is a non-native annual with three blue petals with yellow stamens and staminodes. Asiatic dayflower (Commelina communis), the type species*, is a decumbent (reclined) non-native annual with two showy blue petals and a much smaller, obscure white petal.** All species occur mostly statewide except Carolina dayflower which is found in the southeastern portion.

* The species to which a certain genus name is formally attached, thus presenting the defining features of the genus.

** As mentioned above, the commemorative genus name Commelina honors two Dutch brothers who made significant contributions to botany. They are represented by the two large, blue petals in each flower. However, there was a third Commelin brother, also a botanist, whose contributions were far less notable. Linnaeus recognized the third brother by reference to the small and obscure white petal in each flower of the type species, C. communis.

Article and photographs by ANPS member Sid Vogelpohl

Posted in Blue, Know Your Natives, Native Plants, Wildflowers | Tagged Commelina, Commelina virginica, Commelinaceae, Know Your Natives, Virginia Dayflower | 1 Comment

Neat Plant Alert – Yellow Nailwort

Posted on September 10, 2015 by

The subject of this Neat Plant Alert was discovered growing on the property of ANPS member Sid Vogelpohl, who is well known for his many Know Your Natives articles.

He found the plant on a rocky bluff below his house near Paris, Arkansas and couldn’t quite come up with an ID that satisfied him. The photos were submitted to Theo Witsell, botanist at the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission (ANHC), who confirmed its identity as Yellow Nailwort (Paronychia virginica). It is a rare plant in Arkansas, found only in 6 counties, and is tracked by the ANHC.

Article and photographs by ANPS member Michael Weatherford

Posted in Native Plants, Plant Alert, Wildflowers, Yellow | Tagged Caryophyllaceae, Neat Plant Alert, Paronychia, Paronychia virginica, Yellow Nailwort | Leave a comment

Know Your Natives – Wild Senna

Posted on September 2, 2015 by

Wild senna (Senna marilandica) of the Pea/Bean (Fabaceae) Family is an erect, herbaceous (though rather shrub-like) perennial. This plant occurs in the US from Texas to Nebraska and east and south to the borders, but is absent from far northern and northeastern states. Wild senna is found throughout Arkansas but is less frequent outside of the highlands. Formerly known botanically as Cassia marilandica, the species is also called Maryland senna based on the specific epithet “marilandica,” indicating from where the species was originally described. It grows in a variety of well-drained soils in open to partially sunny areas of woodlands and sheltered areas of prairies. Established plants are drought tolerant.

Wild senna, growing up to about six feet tall, has one or more unbranched stems from a shallow, fibrous root system. The entire plant is typically hairless (glabrous). The stout green stem is smooth and shiny. A pair of small linear to lanceolate stipules at the base of each leaf stalk falls off as leaves mature. Lower leaves may drop in dry weather conditions. Crushed foliage has a strong scent.

Wild senna has alternate, even-pinnately compound leaves with four to eight pairs of opposite leaflets, including a terminal pair. Occasionally, the lowest “pair” consists of only a single leaflet. The rachis, up to about 9 inches long, is grooved on its upper surface. Leaflets, on short petiolules, are oblong to elliptic and up to 2½ inches long and ¾ inch wide with a fine soft tip. Bases of leaflets are generally rounded, but somewhat oblique, with the edges facing away from the stem narrowing more abruptly to the petiolules. The upper leaf surface is medium to dark dull green with a hair-line of lighter color along the margins of the leaflets; the lower surface is light green. The leaflet venation is pinnate and raised on the underside. The upper sides of leaves feels smooth, almost waxy. The lower leaf surface is also smooth except textured by the raised veins. The base of each leaf petiole is enlarged and stub-like with a black, domed gland on the stub’s upper side. Leaves higher on the stem, in the inflorescence, tend to have a second gland at the lowest pair of leaflets. Ants and small to tiny bees collect nectar from these glands.

Photo 1: A young wild senna plant with stipules showing down the stem. A hair-line of lighter color shows at margins of leaflets.

Photo 2: Upper and lower surface of pinnately compound leaves. Note oblique leaflet bases and enlarged petiole at junction with stem. Red arrow indicates an aborted flower raceme.

Inflorescences (racemes) develop in mid-summer from leaf axils on the upper one-fourth of the stem. As earlier, lower racemes are in bloom, additional leaves and flower clusters grow at the tip of the stem, forming a panicle (a raceme of racemes), crowded with peduncles (the stalks of the racemes), pedicels (stalks of the flowers), stipules, leaves, and domed glands. Leaves subtending each raceme become increasingly smaller and eventually underdeveloped toward the top, but nectar glands persist. Each raceme has several to 12 round buds.

Photo 3: Inflorescences mature from axils of upper leaves initially and from bottom to top. Lower racemes may develop later under favorable conditions. Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) can be seen in background.

Flower buds open into ½ inch bright yellow flowers. Flowers have five ovate, yellow-green reflexed sepals, five yellow spreading petals, and ten greenish filaments with dark red anthers. The five petals are in a flared group of three above and two below. The ten stamens are in three groups with distinct shapes; namely, group of three at bottom (by the pistil) has the longest filaments and large curved anthers, a group of four at center has shorter filaments and straight anthers, while a group of three stamens at top are short and almost petal-like. The central stamen of the bottom group is the smallest in the group so that the pistil is well exposed. The pistil’s superior ovary is slender and curved. Flowers do not produce nectar, but some tiny bees laboriously collect pollen, primarily from the lowest group of stamens.

Photo 4: Leaves subtending upper racemes are greatly reduced. Two nectar glands can be seen on reduced leaves along stem (red arrows). A bee collects nectar from a gland at top (blue arrow). Developing seed pods are already present in the lower racemes.

Fertilized flowers produce dangling, flat, pea-like pods that are 2½ to 3 inches long and ½ inch wide. Pods, partitioned into 15 to 20 rectangles with one seed per partition, are bright green initially. At the end of the growing season, the entire plant becomes a dark gray to black and persists for months. Rather than splitting to disperse seed, it seems that the pods just disintegrate (are eaten?) on the stalk. Seeds, less than ¼ inch long, are smooth, dark-colored and ovate with a pointed end.

Photo 5: Partitioned seed pods eventually become black and remain on erect stems for months. Caterpillars of Cloudless Sulphur shown (Phoebis sennae).

For a garden or natural area, wild senna is a distinctive low maintenance plant that is not favored by deer. It prefers protection from full-day hot sun. Along with its large compound leaves and clusters of bright yellow flowers, its stems and seed pods add noticeable structure and texture. Wild senna is not noted to be weedy, but if more plants are not wanted, seeds pods can be easily removed at the end of the growing season. It is a larval food plant for several sulphur butterflies and silver-spotted skipper.

Photo 6: Wild senna is a host plant of Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) and several Sulphurs, including Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe), which is shown. Second nectar glands can be seen on two leaves (red arrows).

Article and photographs by ANPS member Sid Vogelpohl

Posted in Know Your Natives, Native Plants, Wildflowers, Yellow | Tagged Fabaceae, Know Your Natives, Senna, Senna marilandica, Wild Senna | Leave a comment

Fall Claytonia is now available. Plus – upcoming field trips & meetings

Posted on August 22, 2015 by

The Fall 2015 edition of Claytonia, the official newsletter of the Arkansas Native Plant Society, is now available for reading online. Visit our newsletters page and start reading!

Paper copies should be mailed to the membership in the next week or two.

There are two upcoming field trips:

The first is September 5 to Pedestal Rocks Scenic Area in the Ozark National Forest. More details here.
The second is September 25 and 26 at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in northeastern Oklahoma – Bison, Birds, Botany & Butterflies. More details here.

The Fall 2015 meeting is fast approaching. October 9-11, 2015 in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. More details here.

The annual OCANPS Fall Meeting is November 6-8, 2015 at Harmony Mountain. Contact Burnetta Hinterthuer, wbhint@gmail.com, for more details.

Posted in Community Event, Field Trips | Leave a comment

Neat Plant Alert – Crane-fly orchid

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Eric Hunt

It’s the height of summer in Arkansas. That means it’s time to brave the heat and go into the woods looking for Crane-fly orchid (Tipularia discolor)!

Found in deciduous woods in a majority of Arkansas counties scattered evenly across the state, most people know this orchid from encountering its leaves during their fall and winter hikes.