My rare find of the Lesser Purple Fringed Orchid while mowing the last week of July, is now fading away and only a few blossoms left but since I fenced it off, at least the deer didn’t eat it. And hopefully since the bee was working the blossoms, maybe there will be some seeds so next year there would be more than just one plant blooming.
The Orchid Before Fading
The fields and ditches are in pretty yellow color with the Black-eyed Susans blooming and even a lone flower is a lovely sight. Rudbeckia hirta, commonly called black-eyed-susan, is a native flower to the Eastern and Central North America and naturalized in the Western part of the continent. Members of the sunflower family, the “black eye” is named for the dark brown-purple centers of its daisy-like flower heads.
But who was Black-Eyed Susan for which the flower was named for? The legend says it all comes from an Old English poem of the post-Elizabethan era entitled simply, “Black-Eyed Susan,” written by a very famous poet of the day named John Gay, 1685-1732. The first part of the poem reads like this.
All in the downs, the fleet was moored,
Banners waving in the wind.
When Black-Eyed Susan came aboard,
and eyed the burly men.
“Tell me ye sailors, tell me true
Does my Sweet William sail with you?”
Lonely Black-Eyed Susan
On a warm sunny Sunday, heading to the lake (or a small pond in my case) might be a way to spend the afternoon for some swimming, boating, fishing or just relaxing watching the clouds go by. But since the fish in my small pond are only bait size, I guess I would have go to somewhere to fish or to kayak.
Sunday Afternoon by the Water
One small perk of mowing lawn, especially on my trails, is that you get to see what flowers are blooming and last evening as the sun was setting and while finishing the last sections, I spotted a rare find. It had been thirty plus years since I had spotted the Lesser Purple Fringed Orchid while walking through the cow pasture on the farm so I was thrill to spot one last night. It is found in the Eastern US, but in some of those states it is listed as endangered, rare, or threatened, although Wisconsin is not one of those state, it is not a flower that I see very often in this area. Probably since they prefer wet habitats but with the rain this summer, my lawn is a wet habitat!
So I will have to venture out today in the daylight to get more pictures of the showy inflorescence of pinkish-purple dancing flowers of the Platanthera psycodes, meaning ‘butterfly like’, referring the spreading fringed petals, before someone mows it off or a deer eats it!
Lesser Purple Fringed Orchid
The sun is starting to peek out after the rain, but it hasn’t cool off nor has the dewpoint dropped, so it is another hot summer day. The yellow blossom of the common St. Johnswort looks like the sun bursting out its rays. But like many other flowers, this native one from Eurasia and North Africa was introduced into this country in the 1700s as an ornamental and as a medicinal herb. Now it is considered an invasive and noxious weed especially since toxic to livestock as it crowds out native species and forage on pasture lands.
Common St. Johnswort
This odd looking wildflower called Indian Pipe, or Corpse Plant, contains no chlorophyll and therefore has to “borrow” or take nutrients from other sources. Its roots tap into the root-like threads of fungus, which the fungus tap into tree roots. The tree gives nutrients to the fungus and the fungus gives nutrients to the tree but Indian Pipes don’t give anything back and actually a parasite to both the tree and fungus.
I spotted a clump of them just peeking out of the ground with a couple that were further along. The flower head is bent down to prevent rain from getting in, but as the plant gets older, it raises the head to attract insects to pollinate. The blossom inside turns pink when fertilized and as the plant matures, the head is straight up. Eventually the plant turns black as it matures even more.
Odd Looking Wildflower
These wildflowers are usually provide the last color before winter sets in, so I hope that doesn’t mean winter is approaching fast with them blooming now. The Butter-and-eggs, or yellow toadflax, is another flower introduced from Europe which is now common in North America and considered a weed which has a lot of other names including bunny mouths, calf’s snout, dead men’s bone, wild snapdragon and about 30 other names.
Butter-and-Eggs by the Pond
The white blossoms of Common Yarrow looks pretty against the yellow backdrop of birdsfoot trefoil blossoms in the road ditch. Both are considered an aggressive weed. Common yarrow from Europe and Asia was originally introduced to America in colonial times, and has since naturalized throughout the U. S. primarily along roadsides, fields, waste areas and lawns.
Common Yarrow
With over seven inches of rain Sunday night in my county, I think all the wildflowers were thinking that they were in ponds instead of fields. Probably the only happy plants were the pond lilies, including the Yellow Pond-lily, which are used to being all wet but even those would have risen to a higher level as creeks and small ponds overflowed.
Yellow Pond-lily Blossom
There was only a few native wild rose blossoms left when I walked by the shrubs last evening so their pink colors have faded for the summer and won’t appear until early June next year.
Last of the Pink
