Friday, May 29, 2015

Mis-identification?

I just discovered via my handy Peterson Field Guide, that though I have been thinking I have lots and lots of purple phlox in bloom, the flowers in bloom now are actually a part of the mustard family and are called Dames Rocket! What a fun name.  They closely resemble phlox but bloom earlier in the year, have 4 petals instead of 5 and the leaves are alternating where phlox leaves are in pairs right across the stalk from each other.  

I think I have phlox too, but those bloom in later summer and/or early fall! Will have to check those out later.

Dames Rocket
Here's another group I've been working on identifying. The yellow ones are creeping buttercups I think and the purple ones are either larkspur (violet family) or birdfoot violet (buttercup family); I am having trouble differentiating these.
.

Then over in the rock garden on Black Lick Rd there are numerous of these spiky plants which I think may be Viper's Bygloss (from the Forget Me Not family)

Wild flowers aren't so easy to identify!

No comments:

Post a Comment