Downy Lobelia (Lobelia puberula) of the Bellflower (Campanulaceae) family is a pubescent, herbaceous perennial bearing showy racemes of blue to lavender flowers. The genus name recognizes Matthias de l’Obel, 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 is the diminutive of the Latin puber, downy. In the U.S., Downy Lobelia occurs in a northeast-trending swath from eastern Texas and Oklahoma to the Atlantic Coast. In Arkansas, the species occurs across most of the state except for the northernmost counties and eastern portion of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. Habitats vary from sunny to partially shaded bottomlands and mesic uplands: deciduous and pine woodlands, forest borders, meadows, ditches, and rights-of-way.
In early spring, an erect stem grows from the fibrous-rooted crown, the diameter of the root crown only slightly larger than that of the stem. Stems are slender, pale green to reddish, to ⅛ inch at base, growing to 3 feet tall. They are unbranched (unless their tips are damaged) and covered with dense, short, soft pubescence. Dry, naked stems may persist into the next growth-year.
Photo 1: A new stem grows from the crown of the stubby, erect, elongated main root. Photo – July 14Photo 2: When damaged, several axillary stems may develop below the damage. Stems are densely pubescent. Photo – September 19.
Alternate simple stem leaves decrease in size upwards into the racemose inflorescence where they become floral bracts. Leaf shape varies: from ovate to elliptic and oblanceolate below the raceme, triangular to short-lanceolate within the raceme. Leaves are narrowed to short-petiolate, sessile or even clasping bases. Leaf margins vary from entire to finely and even coarsely serrate with sharp (mucronate) tips. Tips of leaves and bracts may bear white calluses due to transpiration of the plant’s white sap. Dense pubescence of leaf surfaces is similar to that of stems. Pinnate venation is obscure on the upper surface, but well expressed on the lower surface. Midribs of both surfaces are raised. Largest leaves may be 4+ inches long and 1½+ inches wide.
Photo 3: Dense pubescence covers the stem and upper and lower leaf surfaces. The crinkled leaf margins are not ciliate, but become highlighted in red in more sunny settings. Leaf-size diminishes upwards.Photo 4: These sessile leaves, from a single stem, vary from ovate to broadly triangular to lanceolate and bear entire to slightly serrate margins. Upper surface displayed on left, lower surface right. Pinnate veins are obscure on upper surface. Photo – September 19.Photo 5: These sessile leaves, from a single stem, are oblanceolate to deltoid with margins that have fine to coarse serrations. Upper surface displayed on left, lower surface right. Lower-left leaf is 2 inches long. Photo – October 17.
Blooming from late August into October, the inflorescence, along the upper third to half of the stems, is a raceme. Flowers in bloom are congested near the tip of the raceme but become spread out in fruit as the rachis elongates. Flowers are secund––aligned on the sunny side of the stems––and disposed spreading to ascending from the rachis on short, ascending pedicels, ⅛-¼ inch long. They are subtended by single bracts that decrease in size distally.
Photo 6: Developing flowers are amply spaced; flowers in bloom are congested near the tip of the inflorescence. Appearing to be sessile, flowers have short pedicels that hug the rachis.
Corolla morphology is complex and best understood from pictures rather than description. Suffice it to say that the showy, blue to lavender, tubular corollas are bilabiate, or 2-lipped. The upper lip is narrowly and deeply split into 2 lobes, the lower lip prominently 3-lobed, forming a landing pad for pollinating insects. Exterior of the entire corolla is uniformly pubescent, the interior glabrous.
Photo 7: Flowers are secund along the rachis. Central lobe of lower lip may be variably white. Note change of leaf size and shape along stem (below) and rachis (above). Photo – September 25.Photo 8: The tubular flowers are 2-lipped. The upper lip is split, comprising 2 lanceolate lobes; the lower lip divides distally into 3 broad, spreading lobes.
Flowers, to about ¾ inch long, have 5 white to lavender stamens (filament + anther) that are disposed around the style and stigma––the ovary is inferior. The slightly pubescent filaments, standing free along most of their length, become fused near their tips where they bear elongate, pubescent, gray anthers that are also fused, into a ring. At early-anthesis, the style is surrounded by the filaments with the stigma enveloped by the anther ring. After pollen is shed, style growth protrudes the rounded stigmas beyond the ring, where the pollen is available to forgaging insects. The anther ring remains in the throat of the corolla.
Corollas are surrounded by a short calyx tube and 5 prominent, linear-lanceolate lobes. Calyx is medium green to reddish in sunny areas, with ciliate lobe margins. The inferior ovary is densely pubescent.
Photo 9: The knobby stigma becomes exserted while the anther ring remains within the throat (see flower at upper right-center). Note ciliate calyx lobes.Photo 10: Calyx lobes are linear-lanceolate from a broad base. Lobe margins, with ciliate pubescence, are typically entire but may be serrated. (Photo taken down-rachis.)Photo 11: Display shows 1) pale green receptacle with reddish calyx lobes, 2) pale green style with knobby stigma, 3) two lanceolate lobes of the upper lip, 4) lower lip with three broad lobes, and 5) filaments joined distally and topped with the anther ring.
After flowers fade, the shriveled brown corolla, stamens and style/stigmas remain attached at the summit of the ovary. The inferior ovary below the calyx enlarges into a conic capsule at maturity. Tightly packed ovules develop into minute, yellow-brown seeds. When the glabrous capsules dry, the tips of the 2 valves dehisce separately so that a pair of gaping pores appears, side-by-side. Dry capsules quickly disintegrate. Each capsule may produce hundreds of seeds. Surface of seeds is tuberculate. Seed dispersal is by wind and surface water.
Photo 12: Drying flower parts remain attached to developing capsules. The leathery calyx lobes hide and protect the capsule. These floral bracts have coarse serrations. Photo – October 17.Photo 13: With calyx lobes and dry flower parts removed, the exterior of the developing capsules can be seen. The short pedicels (¼ inch long), hugging the rachis, have several appressed, tiny, linear bracteoles.Photo 14: The conic capsules have axile placentas attached to a partition separating the 2 valves. This capsule is ¼ inch long and 3/16 inch wide. Ovoid seeds are tuberculate (see uppermost seed on left).Photo 15: The apex (as shown) of this dry capsule (3/16 inch wide), having dehisced, has 2 gaping pores separated by the partition (see arrows). Seeds shown in inset photo are about a third of the seeds in this particular capsule. Squares = ¼ inch. Main Photo – October 14. Inset Photo – October 30
An additional 5 species of Lobelia occur in Arkansas: Pale Lobelia (L. appendiculata), Cardinal Flower (L. cardinalis), Indian Tobacco (L. inflata), Great Blue Lobelia (L. siphilitica), and Pale Spike Lobelia (L. spicata). Downy Lobelia is distinguished by its dense pubescence on stems, leaves/bracts, rachis, and exterior of corollas. Unlike the somewhat similar Great Blue Lobelia, flowers of the smaller Downy Lobelia are more loosely spaced and oriented to the sunny side of the raceme.
Downy Lobelia, although not especially eye-catching, should be welcomed in a natural area or practically any garden with mesic to wet soil and partial to full sun. It is a small, erect, non-aggressive herbaceous plant which can be attractive throughout the growing season. Plants in wet, sunny habitats are stouter with more flowers and healthier fruits. Great nectar sources for swallowtails and hummingbirds. May be grazed by deer.
Article and photographs by ANPS member Sid Vogelpohl
Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) of the Dogbane (Apocynaceae) family has clear sap (not milky) and showy orange (reddish orange to uncommonly yellow) flowers. The genus name honors the Greek god of medicine, Asklepios. The specific epithet is Latin for “swollen,” a reference to the roots. The species is widespread and common from eastern Texas to Minnesota, east to the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. Disjunct populations occur in the Four-Corner States. In Arkansas, plants grow statewide. Other common names include Butterfly Milkweed, Orange Milkweed, and Pleurisy Root (historically used to treat pleurisy). Preferred habitats are open areas with dry to mesic, well-drained soils: rocky uplands and slopes, open woodlands, prairies, fields, and rights-of-way.
Photo 1: Butterfly Weed has clear sap and nectar that attracts swallowtails and other butterflies. This is the summer form of Zebra Swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus).
Butterfly Weed typically occurs as an erect, perennial herb, 1-2½ feet tall, from a large, tough, knobby crown. Descending taproots may be 1-1½ feet long. Around the first of April, one or more densely pubescent stems sprout directly from the rootstock. With sufficient, late-season soil moisture, spring-like shoots sprout from both the rootstock and mature stems. Plants survive droughts well, but as soils dry out, stems may straggle or die to the rootstock. At the end of the growth year, stems quickly disintegrate.
Photo 2: These mid-April stems, with prominent pubescence, are most likely from a single rootstock. Old stems, as seen, disintegrate over winter.Photo 3: The erect, pale green spring-time stems are not branched. In early May, most stems of this plant terminate with developing inflorescences.Photo 4: After a dry period, this plant (may be two plants) ceased growth; some stems died and surviving stems became scraggly (one bearing seed pods). With improved soil moisture, new stems sprouted from the rootstock, but died again with further drying of soil.
Leaves are alternate, oblong-lanceolate to lanceolate, sessile or short-petiolate, 3½ inches long and 1 inch wide. At first crowded together, leaves become well-spaced as stems elongate, gradually decreasing in size upwards. Leaf pubescence is dense on both surfaces, that of the lower surface longer, especially on the midvein––the lower surface feels fuzzy. Margins are narrowly revolute.
Photo 5: Alternate leaves are oblong-lanceolate to lanceolate with narrowly revolute margins. Caterpillar is Unexpected Tiger Moth (Cycnia inopinatus).Photo 6: Leaves have pubescent surfaces––the lower surface more so. The sessile to short-petiolate leaves have rounded, truncate, or cordate bases. Venation is weakly pinnate. Lower leaf of inset is 1⅞ inches long and ½ inch wide.
Plants produce terminal clusters of flowers in spring and, often, again in summer after rainfall. Clusters consist of multiple umbels that are from 1-2½ inches wide with 8-25 closely spaced flowers per umbel. A loose calyx with 5 light green lobes encloses the flower bud. As buds enlarge, the green color transitions to orange. Within a flower cluster (2-6 inches across), together with a central umbel, several diverging, spreading, floral branches bear a few to a half-dozen additional umbels, in straight-line sequence. Central umbels and innermost umbels on floral branches bloom first, with all flowers of an umbel blooming at the same time.
Photo 7: In uppermost flower cluster, flower bud development of the central umbel (topmost) is more advanced than that of the umbels immediately below––the emerging corollas have grown beyond the tips of the calyx lobes. Monarch caterpillars prefer to forage on the freshest growth.Photo 8: This terminal inflorescence has a central umbel and two floral branches with the umbels on the branches in a straight-line sequence. All flowers of an umbel bloom at the same time.
Umbels are rounded in outline (as seen from above) and nearly flat (as seen from the side). Peduncles (½–2½ inches long) grow directly from floral branches, often opposite a leaf. Pedicels are about 1 inch long. Peduncles, pedicels and calyx lobes are pubescent, with hairs of peduncles longer and those of the calyx lobes on the exterior only.
Photo 9: The sturdy, pubescent peduncles grow directly from the stem, often opposite a leaf. Straight, slender, less hairy pedicels, attach at the tip of the peduncle to form the umbels. Photo 10: This dense inflorescence combines that of several, closely spaced stems. Umbel at upper center has begun to fade. Leaves darken with age.
Flowers in bloom consist of a calyx with 5 strongly reflexed lobes hidden by a corolla with 5 strongly reflexed lobes––a perianth typical of many angiosperm flowers. The distinctive structure of the complex milkweed flower is the corona or crown, here comprising 5 erect hoods, each with an exserted, curved horn. An additional morphological anomaly of the milkweed flower is a central column or anther head formed by the fusion of the 5 anthers to the style tip. The petal-like hoods (to ¼ inch long) extend from the base of a tube formed by the fusion of the staminal filaments. The hoods hold the nectar attractive to pollinating insects, in this species, mostly butterflies and bumblebees. A longitudinal section of a flower reveals yet a third unusual structure: the pistil is compound, comprising two carpels, however, they are fused together only above the ovaries to form a single style. Each ovary is separate from its partner.
The adaptive significance of these floral novelties is fascinating. Pollen grains are not granular but cemented together into packets called pollinia––a departure from the norm found only in the milkweed subfamily of the dogbanes and in the unrelated orchid family. There are two pollinia in each anther. As the flower matures, pollinia of adjacent anther-halves become connected by threadlike translator arms to a small secretion of the anther head called a corpusculum or gland. A corpusculum is positioned directly above each of 5 slits––vertical openings that form between the 5 adjacent anthers. When a pollinating insect collects nectar, a leg may inadvertently enter a slit and become snagged by the notched base of the corpusculum. As the insect flies away with an attached corpusculum, the adjacent pair of translator arms with their pollinia is pulled out. The unique contraption––one corpusculum, 2 translator arms, and 2 pollinia––is called a translator. As the insect feeds on other flowers, the translator arms dry and rotate the pollinia, orienting them for a perfect fit into the stigmatic slit of another flower. If a pollinium is then accidentally inserted into a slit, the pollen grains within the pollinium germinate, produce pollen tubes that grow down the style into the ovary, and fertilization of more than 100 eggs is consummated. The stigmatic slits provide both a site where insects can most easily snag a corpusculum as well as an opening into the stigmatic surface of the style, where the pollinium can effect pollination.
Photo 11: Petal-like hoods, forming the corona, are appendages of the staminal filaments, and the exserted horns are appendages of the hoods. Tiny black spots (one at white arrow) between the hoods are the corpusculums that sit above the stigmatic slits. Photo 12: With corolla and crown hoods removed (#1 and #6, respectively), the following structures can be seen: the anthers (#3) and anther wings (#2) that form the stigmatic slits, stigma head (#4), and stigmatic slit with corpusculum (#5) directly above it.
Typically, only one flower of an umbel develops fruit and only one of the two ovaries of a fertilized flower matures. Fruits are spindle-shaped, single-suture pods (follicles) that stand erect on descending stalks (pedicels). They are smoothly short-pubescent, to 6 inches long and 3/4 inch wide, with seeds along a placenta attached at the suture. When mature and dry, the light tan, papery pods split along the suture from tip to base so that the placenta becomes free-standing. The ⅛-inch, flat, ovate, brown seeds are stacked in the lower part of the pod with long silky, white, apical hairs (1½ inches long) extending toward the narrowing pod tip. As pods gradually open wide on sunny days, breezes tug out the hairs with attached seeds for short- to long-distance dispersal. (Dispersed seeds may not be viable due to predation of ovules by milkweed bugs or dry soil conditions.)
Photo 13: Pods are double-walled when green and feel spongy. Stalks of the pubescent pods are twisted below the somewhat persistent calyx. This pod is 3¼ inches long.Photo 14: In early October, these Monarch caterpillars eat the freshest leaves. The erect pods are thickened along their lower portion where developing seeds are located.Photo 15: Large Milkweed Bugs (Oncopeltus fasciatus), both nymphs and adults, feed destructively on developing seeds by inserting their proboscis through the pod wall (see adult on right).Photo 16: Dry follicles split along their one suture so that the placenta becomes free-standing (see upper pod). Pod on left did not develop fully.
The showy Butterfly Milkweed is a “must have” for well-drained soils of natural areas and most gardens, especially if soil moisture is consistent. The hardy species has outstanding aesthetic appeal with its erect stems and prominent flowers and pods. A nectar source for hummingbirds, swallowtails, fritillaries and the Monarch. Although the sap is considered toxic, the plant hosts caterpillars of the Monarch (Danaus plexippus) and the Unexpected Tiger Moth (Cycnia inopinatus). Ovules within green pods are consumed, from the outside, by adults and nymphs of the Large Milkweed Bugs (Oncopeltus fasciatus) and Small Milkweed Bugs (Lygaeus kalmii). Aphid infestations can stop fresh growth. With drying soils and summer heat, stems become ragged or die back to the ground, but renewed fresh growth may occur with improved moisture. Dry, empty pods can last for years in dry arrangements.
Trumpet Vine or Trumpet Creeper (Campsis radicans) of the Trumpet Creeper (Bignoniaceae) family is a non-twining, tendril-free, woody vine with spectacular, large, orange to red, trumpet-shaped flowers. The genus name is Greek for “curved,” a reference to the curved stamens. The specific epithet is from Latin for “taking root” in reference to the aerial rootlets that bind the climbing plant to its host. In the U.S., Trumpet Vine is native from Oklahoma and eastern Kansas to the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts as well as in scattered areas in Texas. Naturalized occurrences extend west and east across the country to as far as Washington State and Vermont. In Arkansas, the species is recorded from every county. Habitats include a wide variety of soils in sun and shade: well-drained to moist woodlands, woodland edges, fields, rights-of-way, fences and fencerows. Vines not only climb, they trail along the ground, sprawling and clambering over themselves and other plants and structures.
Mature plants in sunny sites produce two growth forms: trailing, fast-growing, limber to woody, non-flowering vines to 25+ feet long that grow along the ground and over other plants and structures, often producing terrestrial and aerial (clinging) roots at the nodes. And rigid to woody, somewhat self-supporting, arching vines to 6+ feet long that extend outward from these vegetative stems. Depending on space, sunlight, and presence of supporting objects, a plant may develop into a wide-spreading, dense, elevated groundcover and/or an aggressive liana climbing trees, fences, and even buildings. Wide-spreading woody roots may produce ascending suckers well away from a plant’s point of origin.
Photo 1: This growth form is a sucker from an established plant that will not produce a terminal inflorescence in the current year.Photo 2: Vegetative stems, when in near-contact with soil or vertical objects, may develop aerial roots at nodes along their lower surface. (As shown, vine is inverted).Photo 3: In this sunny site, multiple stems did not attach to surrounding rocks during their first growth-year and have become woody in their sprawled positions.Photo 4: On this steep slope, intermixed stems form a dense ground-cover that is several feet thick.Photo 5: The main trunks of this vine are at the back wall of the building. Thick growth has extended around the corner and onto the roof.Photo 6: This vine has reached the top of this 70-foot Short Leaf Pine. On inset photo, asterisks indicate section of tree shown by main photo. At ground level, the single “trunk” has a diameter of 5 inches.
Old plants, established at the base of large trees, tend to have one to a few trunks which may grow to 3-5 inches in diameter. As vines age over multiple years, the bark exfoliates in narrow strips and becomes moderately fissured.
Photo 7: Aerial roots of this vine have deteriorated but the vine remains firmly fixed in a vertical position. Larger vine is 2½ inches in diameter. Leaves are those of Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), a common cohort of Trumpet Vine on the same host.Photo 8: The four upper stem-segments, of the current growth-year, are from a 6-foot-long vine, aging from right to left. Segment at lower right is from a 20-foot long vegetative vine which had the same appearance its entire hardened length. Segment at lower left shows an axillary pair of current-year branches. (Leaf blades removed.)
Current-year vines bear widely spaced, decussate, opposite, odd-pinnately (with a single terminal leaflet) compound leaves. Leaflets are ovate to broadly lanceolate with rounded to cuneate base and long-acuminate to acute apex. Leaves have 7-13 leaflets, shiny, dark green, and glabrous above and dull, yellowish green, and minutely pubescent beneath. A 7-leaflet leaf may be 7 inches long (including a 1½ inch petiole) and 4½ inches wide with leaflets that are to 3 inches long and 1½ inches wide. Petioles may have a half-dozen tiny nectary pits along their swollen bases. Leaflet margins are coarsely serrate. Terminal leaflet blade is symmetric while lateral leaflets tend to have oblique bases.
Photo 9: Display of leaves: Upper pair from mid-vine, middle pair from beneath the terminal inflorescence, and lower pair from a short axillary branch. Upper-left leaf is 7 inches long and 4¼ inches wide.Photo 10: Upper surface of leaves is shiny dark green, the lower surface pale green with white pubescence. Venation is pinnate. Tertiary veins form a reticulate pattern. Terminal leaflets shown.Photo 11: Bulging bases of petioles have pores that provide nectar to ants and other insects. Petioles are slightly grooved. Dormant axillary buds are covered with brown scales.
Flowers, from June into August, first appear as small ovoid buds. The terminal, cymose inflorescence bears opposite pairs of stubby peduncles that produce pairs of short, stubby branches. Each branch bears a simple cyme of three flowers, one terminal and a pair of laterals, with the terminal flower blooming first. Often, pedicels or flower buds abscise so that compound cymes become knobby. Plants in full sun flower more profusely.
Photo 12: Early green flower buds are tightly protected by their calyxes; these become orange with approaching anthesis. Calyxes have five triangular lobes which meet in bud to form a distinct point. Ants (shown) feed on nectar from pores on the calyx.Photo 13: Display of a single compound cyme while in bud, separated into simple cymes with 3 buds each. Buds often become dislodged or are eaten, as shown by two cymes at upper right with only 2 buds.Photo 14: Terminal inflorescences are subtended by a pair of small leaves. Within an inflorescence, indistinct nodes at the base of peduncles, branches, and pedicels are subtended by a pair of opposite, appressed bracts.Photo 15: A vine may have multiple compound cymes forming a single terminal cluster. Here, subtending leaf pairs have been partly removed at asterisks. Cymes become knobby as some buds and flowers drop off.
In bloom, the calyx of Trumpet Vine flowers is orange, the corolla outwardly orange to reddish. The flowers are spectacular and the vines cultivated worldwide for their decorative appeal. The corolla is slightly irregular, that is, bilaterally symmetrical. The tube measures about 3 inches long and tapers from about an inch at the tip to ¼ inch within calyx. Prominent red nectar guide-lines extend upward within the yellowish interior of the tube. Corollas remain open for a single day, after which, the entire corolla (and the stamens attached to the tube within) is shed, often littering the ground with color beneath high-climbing vines. Flowers are a favorite of bumblebees, sphinx moths, and hummingbirds.
Photo 16: Some vines have flowers that are more reddish. Flowers are oriented in various directions.
Flowers have 4 functional stamens (filament + anther) and 1 sterile, vestigial stamen or staminode, the filaments attached not to the receptacle but to the inner wall of the corolla tube. The curved, sturdy, pollen-producing stamens are in two pairs of two lengths. Just within the mouth of the corolla, anthers and stigma are pressed against the upper surface of the tube, perfectly positioned to deposit pollen on and to receive pollen from the heads and bodies of pollinators as they enter the tube for nectar.
The 2-chambered, superior ovary is borne on a prominent, nectar-secreting disc. The pale-green style terminates with a flat, folded stigma which, when receptive to pollen, spreads wide into 2 thin, flaplike lobes (⅛ x ⅛ inch) to expose stigmatic surfaces. In addition to outcrossing by cross-pollination, self-pollination commonly occurs. With sufficient pollen load, the active stigma flaps press together.*
Photo 17: Stamens and style/stigma are pressed against the roof of the tube. As shown, the two flaps of the active stigma (above the anthers) are closed. Anthers and stigma are not exserted beyond the corolla tube. Minute white pubescence can be seen around the orifice. Corollas are slightly irregular.Photo 18: Flowers have 2 pairs of functional stamens, a staminode, and a single pistil. Straight red nectar guides extend up along the yellow tube interior. As shown, style (pale green) and staminode are centered between the 2 stamen pairs.Photo 19: Within a single cyme, the terminal flower blooms first. Pistil (this one is 2¼ inches long) consists of a nectar-secreting, stump-like stalk below a superior ovary, a long style, and a bilobed, flap-like stigma. Photo 20: These anthers sacs have dehisced and pollen has been released. The closed flap-like stigma is positioned behind the distal anthers.
Fertilized flowers produce a large, bean-like capsule, green at first and eventually tan. Of the many flowers in a large inflorescence, few flowers produce capsules. Mature capsules, to 3-6 inches long and 1 inch wide, are straight to slightly curved, with an opposite pair of prominent, longitudinal ridges that mark the sutures. Capsules open at the sutures by two valves. A septum, perpendicular to the valves, supports a pair of placentas in each of the 2 chambers at the junction of the septum to the capsule walls. Being thick-walled and packed tightly with numerous seeds, the bulging capsules are heavy and pendulous on the vine. Exterior of capsules is smooth and glabrous with a few scattered pores that provide nectar to ants. Dry, woody capsules persist well into winter as the valves slowly dehisce to release layers of thin, flat seeds. The airborne seeds with translucent wings measure about ⅝ by ¼ inch. The gaping valves of empty capsules remain on vines into spring.
Photo 21: Curved, pendulous capsules and ascending flowers often occur on the same compound cyme. Unfertilized flowers quickly drop off at the pedicel so that stubs remain. Styles of fertilized flowers persist for a short time.Photo 22: Developing seeds are tightly packed. The septum (see arrows) is positioned perpendicular to the ridged sutures. Placentas (see asterisks) are at the junction of the septum to the capsule walls. Note pores on capsule.Photo 23: This dry, firm, thick-walled capsule is 4¾ inches long and ¾ inch wide. Numerous thin, winged seeds are stacked within the two chambers. The now-thin, flat septum extends the length of the capsule.
Although Trumpet Vine has attractive leaves and especially showy flowers, the plant is probably too large and aggressive to be added to most gardens. With continuous pruning and removal of rooted suckers, plants have the potential to be attractive on arbors and trellises. In sunny sites, the plant’s tangled and dense growth habit can provide erosion control and nesting sites for birds as well as protection for birds and small mammals. Plants are less vigorous in more shaded sites and produce fewer flowers. Trumpet Vine is a great plant for hummingbirds. Vines attaching to walls and roofs can cause damage. For some people, sap can cause skin irritation.
The only other species in the genus Campsis is Chinese Trumpet Vine (C. grandiflora), a native of Eastern Asia––and the two species are an example of what plant geographers call the Chinese-American disjunction. (The two species worldwide of Liriodendron are another example of this intriguing distribution pattern.) In the U.S., Trumpet Vine may be confused with another, closely related, high-climbing, woody vine, Cross Vine (Bignonia capreolata). However, Cross Vine has tendrils, 2-leaflet compound leaves and, typically, reddish tubular flowers with lobes that are yellow on the inside.
A block of 30 rooms, a mix of singles, doubles, and ADA- accessible rooms, has been reserved at the rate of $99.99 plus tax per night, guaranteed until September 30. Rates at this hotel vary based on the flexibility for cancellation. For this block, cancellations will be allowed until 48 hours before arrival. Provide the group code “ANP” if calling to make your reservation, or enter “ANP” in the group code field if booking online.
DINING OPTIONS
Potluck meal Friday and Saturday evenings at the Grand Prairie Center. Bring a dish or just come and eat! There are also several dining options near the hotel.
EVENING PROGRAMS – Grand Prairie Center, Salon B
Friday, October 7
7:00 p.m. – Annual NATIVE PLANT AUCTION! Bring your native plants, books, homemade jelly, jewelry, or plant art for the auction. Proceeds from the auction support ANPS scholarships, research grants, and small grants programs.
Saturday, October 8
6:00 p.m. – Membership Meeting
7:00-8:00 p.m. – Diana Soteropoulos, botanist at the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, PhD candidate at Arkansas State University, 2019 Delzie Demaree Research Grant recipient, and 2021 Aileen McWilliam Scholarship recipient will present “An exploration of the vascular flora of Pine City Natural Area, Monroe Co., Arkansas, U.S.A., in comparison to the Mississippi alluvial plain in eastern Arkansas”.
FIELD TRIPS
Several field trips are scheduled for Saturday 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Sunday 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday morning field trips will leave from the hotel at 8:30 a.m. Saturday afternoon field trips will meet at trip locations at 2:00 p.m. You must sign up for field trips on Friday evening to allow for adequate logistical planning. Bring sunscreen, water, and bug spray!
Check out anps.org for up-to-date field trip information and CDC guidelines related to COVID-19 precautions!
Stalked Wild Petunia (Ruellia pedunculata ssp. pedunculata*) of the Acanthus (Acanthaceae) family has flowers with large, showy, trumpet-shaped, purplish corollas, similar to those of the unrelated Garden Petunia**. The genus name honors Jean de la Ruelle (1474-1537), a French herbalist. The specific epithet, from the Latin, refers to the prominent peduncles or flower stalks. In the U.S., the species is widespread in eastern Texas and Oklahoma, southeast Missouri, far-south Illinois, Arkansas and Louisiana, with rare occurrences from Mississippi to Georgia. In Arkansas, plants occur statewide (except for lowlands along the Mississippi River), favoring open woodlands, wood borders, and glades, on dry to mesic soils.
Roots of a mature plant consist of a shallow, elongate rootstock with numerous, radiating, semi-succulent roots that may be a foot long. Rootstocks produce a single stem that includes below-surface nodes. At the end of the growing season, the entire stem dies back to the main rootstock, to be replaced by new stems the following year. Rootstock and roots are yellowish tan.
Photo 2: Remnants of previous years’ stems are indicated by arrows. A white bud on the main rootstock would have produced a stem in the new growth year. Entire plant is shown in Photo 4. Photo – July 16.
This herbaceous perennial, with opposite, decussate leaf pairs, grows to a height of about 1½ feet. Plants have a single main stem, with lateral, ascending, typically flowering stems growing from the leaf axils. Floral branches may be from < ¼ inch to 2 inches long, the length decreasing distally. Spacing of leaf pairs along stems may be to 2-3 inches, while spacing along branches is tighter. The pale green to reddish stems are covered evenly by short, soft to somewhat stiff hairs with the longest hairs below the swollen leaf nodes.
Leaves are dark green above and lighter below, with entire (uncut), slightly undulating margins. Small basal leaves may be ovate; larger leaves are ovate-elliptic to elliptic, to lanceolate on smaller plants. Largest stem leaves, 2¾+ inches long (including a ⅛-inch petiole) and 1⅛+ inches wide, occur at and just above mid-stem. The significantly smaller branch leaves are to 1⅛ inches long (including a ⅛-inch petiole) and ½ inch wide. Upper and lower leaf surfaces are evenly short pubescent, feeling downy to slightly rough. Venation is pinnate.
Photo 3: This 1⅛-inch first-year plant has pubescent, ovate leaves. Leaves occur in opposite, decussate pairs. This plant’s four roots were 2 inches long. Photo – July 12.Photo 4: This 20-inch tall plant exhibits characteristic short floral branches along several straight stems. Note immature seed capsules. Photo – July 16.Photo 5: Leaf shape varies from oval to ovate-elliptic to lanceolate. Upper leaf surfaces shown on left and lower leaf surfaces on right. Leaf margins are uncut to slightly undulating. Photo – June 19.Photo 6: Leaves of this opposite leaf pair each subtend floral branches (arrows). The swollen node has longer hairs extending from petioles. At the node, stem is ⅛ inch wide and branches are 1/32 inch wide. Photo – July 17.
A floral branch terminates with an apical bud set between a pair of opposite leaves, each leaf with an axillary bud. The apical bud may develop into a single flower subtended by a leaf pair or it may remain vegetative and extend the branch’s length. Lateral buds may develop into secondary floral branches with their own terminal flower and pair of bracteal leaves. Axillary buds of leaf pairs at the ends of branches may not develop fully or may remain dormant.
Photo 7: This floral branch (yellow arrow) has an unopened terminal flower (red arrow) which is subtended by a pair of bracteal leaves. Subtending leaves of this terminal flower also subtend two secondary axillary branches (white arrows), which, in turn, bear a pair of bracteal leaves and a flower bud. Photo – June 24.
Flowering is mostly from late May into June. The large, rather delicate, nearly actinomorphic flowers, to 2+ inches long and 1+ inches wide, have a tubular corolla with 5 widely spreading, broad, rounded lobes attached to a flaring throat. The corolla and throat are a uniform lavender color with main veins, especially of the lower lobe, often highlighted in dark lavender. The narrow, white tube is subtended by a stubby calyx (with five ½-inch-long linear, bristle-like lobes) atop an ⅛ inch pedicel. Pedicel and exterior of calyx are finely pubescent.
Flowers have 4 white stamens (filament + anther) and one pistil (green ovary + white style + white stigma). Stamens, adnate to the floral tube, are in two pairs, of which one is slightly shorter. Anthers are positioned at the rim of the throat. The flattened stigma, positioned above the throat, has a short one-sided “arm” that extends toward center of throat. The corollas last up to a day before dropping off (with stamens attached). The thread-like style persists for a short time.
Photo 8: These flowers, on secondary branches, have dark lavender veins on lower corolla lobe. The white, delicate, angled, single-arm stigmas are positioned above the throat. Photo – May 28.Photo 9: Five corolla lobes have about the same shape. Four white stamens are in two pairs, the filaments adnate below to the floral tube. This corolla lacks dark lavender veins on the lower lobe. Photo – June 24.Photo 10: Corollas have lavender throats and lobes and white tubes. Flowers are subtended by variously sized opposite leaf pairs, as can be seen below the fruit (on right, brown) and spent flower (lower right). Photo – June 24.Photo 11: The soft to hirsute pubescence of straight hairs can be seen on the branch, leaves, calyx lobes, and along the creases of the corolla. Photo – Jun 19.Photo 12: Flowers have four stamens (in two pairs, adnate to the corolla tube) and a style with an arm-like stigma (see Photo 8). Lowermost lobe is at upper right. Tube is 1 inch long. Lobes are ½ inch long. Photo – June 24.
With fertilization, pale green, elongate, hardened capsules form, extending well beyond the calyx lobes, to about ¾ inch long and ⅛ inch wide. Capsules ripen to a light brown; calyxes remain green. Capsules contain about 10 round seeds stacked in two rows, each held by a pair of claw-like umbilical structures that wrap along the seed’s lower edge. The mature thick-walled capsules, which may remain closed for a month or more, disperse seed by dehiscing kinetically along two sutures extending from apex to base. Seeds are covered with minute, twisty lines of papillae which extend away from the hilum.
Photo 13: Developing fruits, surrounded by 5 linear calyx lobes, are uniformly puberulent. Pedicels are short. Photo – July 13.Photo 14: Capsules contain flat, round seeds on a pair of placentas. Claw-like umbilical structures wrap along edge of seeds, near the hilum. Photo – July 19.Photo 15: The round flat seeds are covered with minute papillae. Upper seed retains its umbilical structure. Squares are ¼ inch. Photo – July 25.
With its large flowers and open growth habit, a robust specimen plant would be of interest in a sunny to partially shaded, well drained garden. However, often plants seem to stay small and spread aggressively by seed. With below surface stem-buds and dormant rootstock-buds, manual removal of plants would require removal of the entire main rootstock. With these considerations, this species is probably best suited for a wild garden or natural area. It survives droughts very well.
In addition to Stalked Wild Petunia, three other native species occur in Arkansas: Carolina Wild Petunia (Ruellia caroliniensis), Hairy Wild Petunia (Ruellia humilis), and Smooth Wild Petunia (Ruellia strepens), all with similar lavender flowers. Stalked Wild Petunia can be identified by its uniform short pubescence and presence of floral branches. The other three species have clusters of flowers growing directly from axils of stem leaves.
* Two subspecies have been identified (sometimes they are elevated to species): Ruellia pedunculata ssp. pedunculata and R. pedunculata ssp. pinetorum. Ruellia pedunculata ssp. pedunculata has puberulent ovaries. Ruellia pedunculata ssp. pinetorum, occurring in dry to wet pine woodlands of the Gulf Coastal states and South Carolina, has glabrous or glabrate ovaries. The former occurs on dry slopes and in dry glades and woodlands.
** Petunia x atkinsiana is the classification assigned to all hybrids within the Garden Petunia complex, such as, Petunia axillaris, Petunia integrifolia and Petunia inflata. All Garden Petunias are in the Nightshade (Solanaceae) family.
Article and photographs by ANPS member Sid Vogelpohl
Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) of the Sunflower or Composite (Asteraceae) family is an erect herbaceous perennial with large, showy, terminal flowerheads. The genus name is derived from a Greek word for “hedgehog” in reference to the spiny bracts that share the receptacle with the ray and disk florets. The specific epithet is Latin for “purple,” the color of the ray florets. In the US, the species is common in Arkansas, Missouri and Indiana with more limited occurrence in surrounding states and from Alabama into New England. In Arkansas, plants grow statewide except for the lowlands of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain and West Gulf Coastal Plain. Habitat preference is sunny to partially sunny sites on moist, well drained soils of prairies, open woodlands and borders, and rights-of-way. Other common names include Eastern Purple Coneflower and Broad-Leaved Purple Coneflower.
Photo 1: Showy terminal flowerheads occur singly on main stems and axillary branches. Photo – July 4.
Mature plants develop a central knobby rootstock comprising a clump of shallow “root stubs” supported by fleshy, whitish roots. The root stubs have actively growing crowns with new growth, as well as dormant stems from previous growing seasons. Growth that does not include a stem is flattened and fan-like and produces basal leaves; growth that includes a stem is terete and reproductive, ultimately bearing one or more terminal heads.
Photo 2: This 4-year-old (?) plant has 2 dormant “root stubs” (with dead stems still attached), a stub bearing leaves only (with fan-like base) and 3 stubs (with round bases) bearing leaves and a central stem. Photo – June 25.
The pale-green, stout, erect stems to 3+ feet tall are typically hirsute, uncommonly partially or totally glabrous. Stems taper from a ¼-inch-diameter base, before flaring to the receptacle in support of the flowerhead. Robust plants produce axillary branches at mid-stem that may be 1½ feet long and overtop the main stem. Stems bear single terminal flowerheads, with that of the main stem typically the largest. Stem leaves are generally alternate, but may be sub-opposite to opposite, especially on more robust plants. The upper one-third to one-fifth of stems and branches tends to be leafless. Dead stems, branches and heads persist into the new growth-year.
Leaves vary from small, early, heart-shaped basal leaves to larger basal and stem leaves that are broadly lanceolate below to narrower above. Petioles of basal and lower stem leaves are especially long and may exceed the length of the leaf blade. Leaf bases may be rounded or tapered with the blade extending as narrow wings along the petiole. Larger leaves grow to 14 inches long, including 8-inch petioles, and to 4+ inches wide, typically widest below the middle. Blade margins tend to be entire (smooth) on smaller leaves, but jagged and irregularly serrate on larger leaves. Both upper and lower leaf surfaces may be uniformly covered with dense minute hairs, feeling equally rough, or the upper surface may be markedly less pubescent. Primary veins consist of a straight midrib and a pair of secondary veins that arch from the leaf base to the tip. Veins, including prominent tertiary veins, are recessed above and expressed below.
Photo 3: This year-old plant has broad leaves with short, winged petioles. These leaves are glabrous on their upper surface and pubescent below. Characteristic venation is enhanced by spring-time colors. Photo – March 22.Photo 4: An older plant, later in the growing season, has ovate to lanceolate leaves with partially winged, longer petioles. Larger leaves have slight marginal serrations. Photo – April 28.Photo 5: Upper stem leaves become narrower than those below. At this partially shaded site, the plant may not develop branches. Other plants shown include Texas Dutchman’s Pipe, Green Dragon and Nuttall’s Wild Indigo (Baptisia nuttalliana). Photo – May 11.Photo 6: At a sunny site, mid-stem leaves have jagged, serrated margins. Primary venation consists of the midrib and a pair of arching secondary veins. Caterpillars are those of Pearl Crescents (Phyciodes tharos). Photo – May 23.
The blooming period may extend from late May through July. Early in the growth of flowerheads, buds are spherical with a full cover of hirsute, leafy, lanceolate to linear bracts (often termed phyllaries) imbricated in several series. By flowering time, the phyllaries have become spreading to recurved, resulting in a tight, leafy, saucer-shaped involucre. The longer outermost bracts expand to 1¼ inches long and ⅛ wide.
Flowerheads, 1½ to 4 inches across in bloom, have a central disk of numerous, closely packed disk florets surrounded by 10 to 20 large and prominant ray florets. As in all Composites, bloom sequence is centripetal––from the perimeter toward the center. Disks may be 1½+ inches wide and 1¼+ inches tall, having matured from a flat-topped head at bud-stage to a rounded cone as the final disk florets develop.
Photo 7: Flowerheads initially appear as spherical buds with a full cover of leafy phyllaries. As the central disk expands and becomes more conic, phyllaries are positioned below the flowerhead, forming a saucer-like involucre; this one is 1⅛ inches wide. Photo – June 18.Photo 8: Final height of branches may exceed the height of the main stem. Solitary flowerheads are terminal. Young flowerheads are rather flat but become conic with age. Photo – June 16.
Ray florets have pink to pale purple, oblong ligules––the showy portion of the ray floret–– that are spreading to recurved and even drooping. Ligules vary from 1¼-3¼ inches long and ¼-¾ inch wide, with a rounded, notched tip. Ray flowers are infertile.
Disk florets have tubular corollas with 5 triangular stubby lobes, 5 stamens (filaments + anthers), and a single pistil (inferior ovary + style + stigma). Corollas are to 3/16 inch long and 1/32 inch wide. The elongate, dark anthers are fused into a ring surrounding the style. With the anther ring exserted above the corolla, the style pushes through the ring moving pollen from inside the anthers to above the corolla. With pollen dispersed, anthers wither back into the corolla and the now-exserted style bifurcates and recurves to expose linear stigmatic surfaces. At anthesis, corolla lobes, anther ring and stigma are typically reddish purple, but may trend toward green. Pollen is yellow.
Each disk floret is subtended by a sharply pointed, spike-like receptacular bract, to ⅝ inch long and 1/32 wide. The green boat-shaped lower portion of the bract clasps the developing disk floret. The orange, spike-like upper portion gives the central disk a golden glow. Corollas, stamens and styles all remain below the tips of the bracts. The central disk is very prickly during anthesis and remains prickly as a dried head.
Photo 9: Ray florets surround a central disk composed of numerous disk florets. Pollen is extruded from anther rings as the style pushes through. Tips of ligules are notched or slit. Photo – July 4.Photo 10: Green unopened disk florets can be seen toward the center of the head. Florets in early bloom bear clumps of yellow pollen pushed upward by the styles. Bifurcated, recurved stigmas are reddish purple. Upper portion of receptacular bracts is sharply pointed. Photo – July 4.Photo 11: This involucre, 1 inch wide and ½ inch tall, is composed of various sizes of lanceolate phyllaries in several imbricated series. Phyllaries have minute, dense pubescence on their outer surface and margins. Photo – June 25.Photo 12: This head, with a conic receptacle, is 1½ inches tall by 1⅜ inches wide. Disk florets remain below tips of the bracts. Photo June – 27.Photo 13: Ray florets are infertile. The ligule of the lower ray floret is 2⅛ inches long and ⅜ inch wide. Single separated disk floret (lower right) is 9/16 inch long and its bract (farther right) is ⅜ inch long.
In late summer into fall, the prickly heads, stems and branches become brown to black and persist into the next growing season. The flattened, four-sided, one-seeded achenes are mostly glabrous with a concave crown tipped with several short teeth. Achenes are less than ¼ inch long. They are dispersed by birds, small mammals and surface water flow.
Photo 14: The prickly heads persist into the next growing season. Inset shows achenes. Squares = ¼ inch. Photos – August 19.
Purple Coneflower, with its large and colorful flowerheads, is an excellent perennial for a formal or informal garden. This long-blooming, mostly erect, sturdy plant prefers a sunny area with well-drained mesic soil, but will also bloom nicely in partial shade. It works well as a specimen plant, in mass plantings or as a companion plant with other summer-blooming perennials. It may self-seed too freely in some sites, but plants are easily removed (shallow rootstock). Vegetative growth, flowers and seeds provide food for many insects, birds and small mammals––plants are a favorite of Pearl Crescent butterflies and Goldfinches. Excellent for arrangements when in bloom or dried.
Photo 15: Purple Coneflower is an excellent choice for a mixed perennial bed. Photo – May 30.
Four other species of Echinacea occur in Arkansas: Pale Purple Coneflower (Echinacea pallida), Yellow Coneflower (Echinacea paradoxa var. paradoxa), Sanguine Purple Coneflower (Echinacea sanguinea), and Glade Coneflower (Echinacea simulata). Pale Purple Coneflower, Sanguine Purple Coneflower, and Glade Coneflower all have narrow leaves and strap-like pink to pale purple drooping ligules. Purple Coneflower is readily distinguished by its broad petiolate leaves and wider, more spreading ligules.
Article and photographs by ANPS member Sid Vogelpohl
Pale Purple Coneflower (Echinacea pallida) of the Aster or Composite (Asteraceae) family is a heavily pubescent herbaceous perennial with long lanceolate leaves and large, spectacular flowerheads. The genus name is derived from a Greek word for “hedgehog” in reference to the spiny bracts covering the head. The specific epithet is Latin for “pale” in reference to the color of the showy ray florets. In the U.S., the species occurs primarily from western Louisiana and eastern Oklahoma, east and north to Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois. Additionally, it is widely scattered in nearby states as well as farther to the east, possibly from introductions. In Arkansas, except for eastern portion of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, plants grow statewide. Habitat preference is sunny sites with well drained soil: prairies, open woodlands, and rights-of-way.
Photo 1: Long, pubescent, lanceolate leaves are characteristic of the species. Photo – April 28.Photo 2: These plants are on a well-drained, south-facing slope of a highway right-of-way. Blue flowers in background are Carolina Larkspur. Photo – May 14.
Plants have a stout vertical rootstock with one or more, near-surface, lateral to ascending “root stubs” that develop leafy crowns. Stubs are encircled by thin scars of dropped leaves. A rootstock may produce a half-dozen or more compact flowering stems. Mature plants, with rootstocks to 2+ feet long, are drought tolerant.
Photo 3: Vertical rootstocks develop near-surface “root stubs.” Crowns produce a rosette of leaves which may include a central flowering stem. Plant at right also shown in Photo 1 (after being replanted). The growing root stubs are encircled by leaf scars. Photo – June 30.Photo 4: This plant grew on an unstable shale slope (see Photo 7) so that this 9½-inch rootstock (asterisk to asterisk) became curved, and its single stub trended upslope. Photo – May 15.
Basal and cauline (stem) leaves are oblong-lanceolate, to 10+ inches long and to ⅜+ inch wide, the basal longer than the cauline, and the cauline gradually shortening distally. They are shiny above and dull below, folded along the midrib, their margins entire (without teeth). Venation is parallel, with a pair of distinct secondary veins on either side of the midvein. Tertiary veins are obscure. The stem leaves are alternate.
Plants have erect rigid flowering stems, 3-4 feet tall, that terminate in a flowerhead. They may bear lateral branches, the longer ones terminating in a flowerhead of reduced size. The upper one-third to one-half of the stems are leafless or bear only a leaf or two. Dead stems and heads persist into the new growth-year.
Photo 5: Each rosette of leaves, with or without a central stem, grows from a separate root crown. Flowerheads are terminal on main stems and axillary branches. Plant at upper right is American Ipecac. Photo – April 14.
Conspicuous bristly white pubescence occurs on all surfaces, sparse to moderate along the stems, somewhat denser on the leaves. Pustular based hairs, to 1/16 inch long, are stiff and spreading. Surfaces feel rough.
Photo 6: Stems and leaves have bristly hairs. Short axillary branch, at center of photo, has several leaves. Photo – May 14.
The inflorescence, in May into June, consists of single terminal flower heads that are to 6¾ inches across with a central dome, the disk, to 1¼ inches wide and ¾ inch tall. Heads comprise closely packed fertile disk florets surrounded by up to 20+ infertile ray florets. Heads are subtended by a saucer-shaped involucre of 3 series of lanceolate bracts with acute tips. Bracts, to ½ inch long and ⅛ wide, are bristly pubescent on their outer surface. Bloom sequence of the disk florets, as with all composites, is centripetal––from the flowerheads’ perimeter toward the center. Flowers have a faint, pleasant scent.
Photo 7: This plant shows the characteristic erect stems with single terminal flowerheads and the lack of leaves along its upper-stem. Tallest stem is 41 inches. Plant at left-center is Downy Ragged Goldenrod. Photo – May 6.
Ray florets have long, drooping, strap-like, spectacular ligules attached to infertile ovaries. Initially erect, they become descending to fully drooped at anthesis. They are pink to pale purple (occasionally white), to 3 inches long and ¼ inch wide, with parallel sides and fringed tips. The outer surface has long, scattered hairs.
Photo 8: Slightly ridged stems are noticeably fluted below the inflorescence. Ligules, to 3 inches long and ¼ inch wide, have fringed tips. Photo – May 22.
Disk florets have tubular corollas about 1/4 inch long, with 5 triangular lobes, 5 stamens (filaments + anthers), and a single pistil (an inferior ovary + style + stigma). Each disk floret is subtended by a stout, hardened, spiny bract longer than the floret, so that the dome of the disk is prickly. The elongate, dark anthers are fused into a ring surrounding the style. With the anther ring exserted above the corolla and bract, the style elongates through the ring moving the pollen from the anthers to above the corolla for ready access by pollinators. With pollen dispersed, anthers wither back into the corolla and the now-exserted style bifurcates and recurves to expose linear stigmatic surfaces. Pollen is white.
Photo 9: The white pollen of the outer disk florets has been moved out of the anther rings and above the spiny subtending bracts by the emerging styles. Lower surfaces of ligules have scattered hairs. Photo – May 17.Photo 10: The dark exserted anther rings wither back into the corollas as styles become exserted and then recurve to expose stigmatic surfaces. Closed buds of the disk florets can be seen on flowerhead on left and open flowers can be seen on head on right. Photo – June 2.Photo 11: Same flowerheads as in previous photo. Flowerhead on right shows its saucer-shaped, 3-series, pubescent involucre. Photo – June 2.Photo 12: Tubular disk florets with inferior ovaries and “chaffy” spine-tipped bracts are closely packed. Disk floret ovaries are fertile, those of ray florets sterile. Stems become hollow and fluted near the flowerheads. Photo – May 14.
In mid-summer, with florets dried, the spiny heads become brown to black and persist on erect hardened stems into the next growing season. Achenes, lacking hairs for wind dispersal, are dispersed by birds, small mammals, and surface water flow. The flattened, shield-shaped achenes are mostly glabrous. Once bracts and achenes have dropped, the conical shape of the receptacle becomes apparent.
Photo 13: The tan, four-sided, shield-shaped achenes are somewhat flattened. The receptacle has a conical shape: thus, “cone flower.” Photo – August 20.
In a garden, Pale Purple Coneflower can serve as a tall, airy, accent plant or be intermixed with other plants in a naturalistic setting. Plants are not aggressive self-seeders and remain compact over the years. Once established, plants do well in sunny, rocky areas in various well drained mesic to dry soils. Great for butterflies, bees, and birds. Long lasting as cut flowers; fall stems can last for years in dried arrangements.
Photo 14: American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) feeding on Pale Purple Coneflower. The final florets to reach anthesis are at center of flowerhead. Photo – May 26.
Four other species of the genus occur in Arkansas: Yellow Coneflower (Echinacea paradoxa var. paradoxa), Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), Sanguine Purple Coneflower (Echinacea sanguinea), and Glade Coneflower (Echinacea simulata). Of these, Sanguine Purple Coneflower and Glade Coneflower have flowerheads of similar shape and color as Pale Purple Coneflower. Sanguine Purple Coneflower, as compared to Pale Purple Coneflower, has shorter, wider leaves and stems and its involucral bracts tend to have purplish stalks and tips. Its pollen is yellow (instead of white). Sanguine Purple Coneflower is known in Arkansas only from sandhills in Miller County in the southwestern corner of the state. Visually, Glade Coneflower and Pale Purple Coneflower have the same appearance, except ligules of Glade Coneflower droop less and are usually deeper pink in color and its pollen is bright yellow (instead of white). Glade Coneflower occurs in Arkansas in dolomite glades of the Ozark Highlands.
Article and photographs by ANPS member Sid Vogelpohl
Ninestone is hosting an ANPS/OCANPS Hike on Sunday, June 5 at 11:00 am.
We will gather with members, friends, contributors to recent fund-raising for habitat restoration, and it is Ninestone’s policy to require that the participants in our field trips have been vaccinated and boosted against covid.
Judy Griffith will lead the hike to the Sandstone Bluff Glade to view Barbara’s Buttons, Tall Pink Glade Onions, and Fame Flowers that do not open until afternoon, along with Little Bluestem, native forbs, lichens and mosses.
We’ll return to the cabin, enjoy a sack lunch on the deck with a view of the waterfall, and if the water isn’t too high we can cross the creek to the falls that cascade through sandstone pools in the West Glade. There is a native plant demonstration garden originally created for ANPS, and a savanna with native grasses and locally sourced forbs.
Both sandstone glades and the savanna are being restored with removal of invasives and Rx burns by Ninestone with the help of Ozark Ecological Restoration, Inc.
Bring a sack lunch, whatever you use for ticks, for sun, and footwear appropriate for hiking and possibly crossing Piney Creek.
It is also possible that prior to the June 5th field trip we will have re-introduced Eastern Collared Lizards to the bluff glade with the assistance of Dr. Casey Brewster. https://www1.usgs.gov/…/project/192960845824/bdegregorio
Directions to Ninestone:
Coming from Fayetteville or south: Take hwy 412 east to hwy 21 north. Turn LEFT onto hwy 21 north and go a little over 7 miles. You will go past the Metalton sign and across the Piney Creek Bridge and the Cedar Creek bridge. IMMEDIATELY after crossing the Cedar Creek bridge turn LEFT onto CR 512. On CR 512 travel for almost one mile always staying to the LEFT at any forks or driveways. Near the end of the mile take the LEFT fork. Go past a big blue mailbox and a yellow “watch for dogs” sign. This is our driveway. Come on down the drive to our house, park on the right of the drive. See you there!
Coming from north: Take hwy 62 east of Berryville. Turn RIGHT/south onto hwy 21 south. Go about 10 miles south on hwy 21 and look for a CR 512 sign on right. Turn RIGHT onto CR 512, a gravel road, just past dog kennels, and just before Cedar Creek bridge. DO NOT CROSS the Cedar Creek bridge. On CR 512 travel for almost one mile always staying to the LEFT at any forks or driveways. Near the end of the mile take the LEFT fork. Go past a big blue mailbox and a yellow “watch for dogs” sign. This is our driveway. Come on down the drive to our house, park on the right of the drive. See you there! 870-545-3559
