Hi, everyone! Some of you may know me as the moderator of the awesome Butterflies, Birds, and Bees (BBB) forum here at NGA. And I recently went to visit my grandma up in Lincoln County, West Virginia to celebrate her 87th birthday!
I took lots of pictures of all the BBB things I could, but I also wanted to show you guys the beautiful wildflowers I see when I visit. I don't know what most of them are, so feel free to help me out! And if you're super sure, go ahead and associate my pictures with the plant in the database.
Okay, these are my favorite flowers when I visit. Probably because they're blue. I've been calling them cornflowers, but I don't know if that's what they really are. You see them along the side of the roads all through the Carolinas and into Virginia and West Virginia. But I took pictures of this one at the Milton Flea Market. Much safer than the side of the road!
ID as Chicory (Cichorium intybus)
We did find a safe place to stop on the side of the road so I could pick some Queen Anne's Lace for my Black ST caterpillars. Yes, I brought them on vacation with me. They're my pets! While we were stopped, I saw three Silver Spotted Skippers on Thistle. I know Thistle isn't a popular garden plant, but the butterflies are addicted to it!
Corrected to Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum)
This is actually more of a butterfly picture, but I thought I should say that I call this clover. Don't know what kind. One year, Grandma had her guy stop mowing for a few weeks before I came up. This stuff was all over what used to be Grandpa's vegetable garden. And there were so many butterflies. Also, Clover is a host plant for the Clouded Sulphur and they were everywhere. This little guy is an Eastern-Tailed Blue. Very common up there, but I don't get them in Florida!
Here you can see a little more of it with a Gray Hairstreak on it.
I crossed the street (okay, it's Route 10 and you have to be super careful) and went over to pick more Queen Anne's Lace for the cats. There's usually a good selection of flowers over there, but it looks like they cleared the Tulip Poplars which bummed me out because they're a host for the Tiger Swallowtail. I was really surprised to see this thing, though! I just know it has to be something related to Cassia or Senna based on the flowers. I checked it for caterpillars (it's a compulsion), but didn't find any. FYI, I grow the native Senna ligustrina at my house and while these leaves are wider and longer, I just know it's related.
ID as Wild Senna (Senna marylandica). Also listed in my book.
There was also this purple flower growing nearby. I took pictures of the leaves, too.
This yellow flower was growing right by the road. I'm sure you can see the car in my picture.
Looks like something has been eating the leaves.
ID as Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis)
I actually felt really proud of myself for knowing this one. I mean, I'd feel ashamed if I didn't! My aunt asked me what the shrub was with the green berries on it growing on the bank. I went to check it out, took one look, broke off a leaf and sniffed it to be sure, and reported back. It's Spicebush! Yup, another host plant for a butterfly - the aptly named Spicebush Swallowtail. I grow this one myself, but I only had two and they must have been the same gender. I added two more this year so I hope to get flowers and fruit next year. It was nice to see an example of one that was fruiting. FYI, Grandma lives right along the Guyandotte River and there's a lot of Spicebush that grows along the banks. Oh, and I already added these photos to the database.
Whenever I visit, I work on my genealogy which usually means I wander around a bunch of cemeteries. They're actually really good places for flowers and butterflies, though. Not right in the cemetery, if they keep it mowed, but along the edges of the woods and on the paths up to them. That's where I saw this little yellow flower.
ID as Birdsfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus). (In my other book.)
Lots of these flowers. Some kind of Black-Eyed Susan? I just remembered I have another folder with pictures in it, so we might see these again.
I know this is milkweed. That's why I took the picture! I'm guessing this is Common Milkweed? We have weird kinds in Florida. Florida is a weird place; you guys watch the news.
If the seedpod with what appears to be a Milkweed bug didn't give it away, then the Monarch did! It looked like a female, but I only saw her nectaring. No laying eggs, and didn't see any caterpillars.
Here's some closeups of the bud clusters.
This plant was growing near the milkweed, but I don't know what it is. Looks like it had already bloomed.
ID as Yarrow (Achillia millefolium). I think I put this in the right place!
Another one growing by the cemetery fence.
ID as Pycnanthemum spp?
Happy daisy flowers! That blue thing in the background is the dumpster.
ID as Purple-Headed Sneezeweed (Helenium flexuosum). Also in my book.
Another one of those Black-Eyed Susan looking things, but the flower is definitely different.
ID as Brown-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba)
Oh hey, I found another patch of the happy daisies. (Sneezeweed)
This caught my eye as being vaguely familiar.
ID as Horse Nettle
The sky got dark, thunder was rumbling, and Dad started yelling at me to hurry so I apologize for the quality of the photos. I actually went to take a photo of this flower before I realized there was a butterfly on it!
Also, Prunella vulgaris.
This looks like what we call Fleabane down here.
White Daisy Flowers this time!
ID as Ox-Eye Daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum). In other book.
Yellow flowers?
ID as St. John's Wort. Maybe Hypericum denticulatum from looking in my book?
This is red clover, right? Butterflies love this stuff. And doesn't clover work well as a cover crop to improve your soil?
Confirmed as Red Clover
So I saw these little pink flowers and had to investigate. I saw more later; even Mom noticed them as we were driving around. They look very similar to some of the Sabatia species I see here in Florida.
ID as Meadow Pink (Sabatia angularis). It's in my book, too.
Found this little thing, too.
ID as Heal All (Prunella vulgaris)
I think this is the same plant I posted earlier that I said looked familiar. But since it was the middle of the day, the flower is open.
ID as Horse Nettle. My books gives Latin name Solanum carolinense.
FYI, I'm standing in the cemetery where my great-grandfather is buried. I saw this one plant with yellow daisy-like flowers, only it was taller than me. Like 6-7 feet tall. It's hard to tell in WV, everything grows on slopes.
So I think this is the same stuff that grows in Grandma's yard. I call it clover, but it's not the same as the red clover, right? Because it looks white to me. The butterflies were all about it, though.
ID as White Clover (Trifolium repens)
I don't remember seeing this in real life, but does anyone recognize the pinkish-purple stalk bloom on the right?
ID as Knotweed. Would this be the native Polygonum pennsylvanicum, then?
That's it, folks! How about we end with some scenic views of where my Mountaineer ancestors lived.
Edit to say, yup, that's Queen Anne's Lace popping up in there.
