Plant Story--Meadowsweet, Queen-of-the-Meadow, Filipendula ulmaria

Meadowsweet, Filipendula ulmaria, in the rose family, Rosaceae, is a lovely and conspicuous European wildflower, now naturalized in the eastern United States (known there as "queen-of-the-meadow"). 

meadowsweet, Filipendula ulmaria

Western Nebraskan Plants Easily Seen At Cedar Point Biological Station

Recently at the University of Nebraska's Biological Station, Cedar Point, at the Station's 50th anniversary, I failed to take very many photos of buildings and people. Here are a few of the photos of plants I took, instead.

buffalo burr, Solanum rostratum

For example, buffalo burr (Solanum rostratum, tomato family Solanaceae). Native to North America, it gets its name from its presence in areas denuded of other plants by bison, and since then, by cattle.This big-flowered plant has impressive spines (look next to uppermost flower in the photo above). The burs will stick to animal hair, dispersing it.  It is also rich in alkaloids that deter insects. It is one of the American plants that has gone around the world as a weed. Okay, it is hated around the world, but it is nevertheless a plant success story. Look and don't touch. 

Cedar Point Biological Station's 50th Anniversary (Ogallala, Nebraska)

The University of Nebraska's Cedar Point Biological Station in Ogallala, Nebraska, is celebrating its 50th year. Opened in 1975, using the facilities of a former Girl Scout camp, Cedar Point has each year since then hosted summer biology courses, geology courses, art courses, and experiential learning by children of many ages. Researchers staying there have studied everything from soil mycorrhizae and beetle intestinal parasites to prairie grass genetics and barn swallow social behavior.

 

 

Goodall Lodge, Cedar Point Biological Station 1976

Gardens in Coastal British Columbia

In early August I took a garden tour with the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum to the cities of Vancouver and Victoria in southwestern British Columbia. Garden tours focus on plants; here are miscellaneous highlights.

a bed of coleus and marigolds

Roadside Wildflowers of Southern Ireland

I took a tour of southern Ireland in July (photo tour link). For me, though, every tour is a plant tour. Here are some of the plants I saw along paths and roads:

blue tufted vetches (Vicia cracca, called bird vetch in the U.S.)
and unknown white flower (fools parsley, Aethusa cynapium?)

Plant Story: Zinnias, American Wildflowers

Zinnias are common and familiar garden flowers, in the genus Zinnia, sunflower family, Asteraceae. They come at the end of the alphabet in lists of garden flowers and indexes. Neither edible nor much of a medicinal, zinnias get little comment beyond "easy to grow."

The more I read about zinnias, the clearer it was they are under-valued.

zinnias, genus Zinnia

A Glimpse of Ireland

  A tour took me across southern Ireland, west to east, in mid July. 

Coast of the Dingle Penninsula, Ireland

Here is a bit of how it looked.