Wildflower Wednesday: We celebrate a butterfly and its hostplant, Ptelea trifoliata

A dozen years ago I saw my first Giant Swallowtail butterfly when it stopped by to nectar on the wildflowers. It superficially resembled an Eastern Swallowtail while gliding about, but once it settled on the Asclepias tuberosa, it was clear that it was not one of my regular garden visitors. The coloring was wrong and it had an unusually large wing span. I was pretty sure it was a Giant Swallowtail and just as I've read, that first sighting was dazzling! 

What a beauty and the 6.3 inch (16cm) wing span makes it the largest North American butterfly.  

Forewing with diagonal band of yellow spots. Tails are edged with black and filled with yellow

The Giant Swallowtail Butterfly/Papilio cresphontes' flight is a graceful series of strong flaps and long glides. It spends its time on the wing, nectaring or patrolling for mates (if male). I waited patiently for it to stop flitting and pose prettily with wings fully spread, but, it was feasting madly. 

It's welcome in most gardens, but, is considered a pest in Florida's citrus growing regions where citrus trees are its chosen host plant. Fortunately there are plenty of parts of the US  and Canada where it is welcome, including here in my garden in middle Tennessee.

Back then I wasn't growing its host plant, but several years ago I bought two Hop Tree/Ptelea trifoliata hoping that the next Giant Swallowtail that visited would find a place to lay eggs.

That's exactly what happened the last two summers. This summer the two trees have hosted over two dozen caterpillars...and  both trees have been defoliated. But, I am okay with that and if they don't recover, I will order another tree because the caterpillars are fabulous to watch....And maybe next year I will get to see a Giant swallowtail lay eggs.

Once they mate the female lays one bright orange egg on a host plant leaf. I found the orange eggs on several leaves and continued to find eggs and new instars every few days. 

The eggs hatch anywhere from 4 to 10 days later.

 

 

There are five larval instars stages and the earlier instars are more realistic bird-dropping mimics than the later stages and are often found on the leaf surface just as you would find bird droppings. Mature larvae usually rest on stems or leaf petioles (Hagen 1999) when not eating and are more active at night for protection from predation.

 They eat and poop and eat and poop....a lot! 

They are very hungry caterpillars. Before it even emerges from its egg, the very first thing a caterpillar does is eat!  Caterpillars chew their way out of its egg, and then it eats the rest of the eggshell. After that, it starts eating and eating its host plant leaves until it's molted and ready to "unzip" it's skin to reveal the chrysalis.

 

Until they're ready to climb away to find a place to pupate into the chrysalis stage.

 Btw, I have searched everywhere within 30 feet of the trees and have been unable to locate a chrysalis.  It's late August and it's common for swallowtail caterpillars to overwinter in their chrysalis and wait until spring to emerge. Diapause, is a dormant state where the insect's development is halted to survive what ever weather is thrown at them. Where ever they are they are well hidden, so I've borrowed a photo (below).

source

Our Wildflower Wednesday hostplant star, Ptelea trifoliata, aka, wafer ash is a deciduous small tree or large shrub in the citrus family (Rutaceae). It is native to North America, where it is found in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. 

According to Illinois Wildflowers: Hoptree is not only a host plant for the Giant swallowtail butterfly but also "attracts small bees, wasps, flies and ants. These floral visitors feed on the nectar of the flowers primarily, although some small bees also collect pollen. Another specialist feeder is the thrips Neohydatothrips pulchellus, which sucks juices from the leaflet undersides. Other insects that feed on Wafer Ash include the caterpillars of the moth Yponomeuta atomocella (Brown-Bordered Ermine Moth) and the larvae of the Scolytid beetle Phloeotribus scabricollis, which bore into the bark and wood. 

 

It's a multi-stemmed  rounded, small understory tree or shrub that can be found growing in areas with calcareous soils including rocky bluffs, glades, ravines, thickets and prairies, open woodlands, and river bluffs which means it would be very happy in middle Tennessee gardens. The flowers are not particularly showy, but fruits are ornamental. Very adaptable and easy-to-grow tree which is good for both moist and dry conditions. I planted them in large containers in partial shade so that I could make sure they would get enough water to survive our extremely dry summers. Now that's adaptable. 

Hoptree flowers bloom in mid-spring and are fragrant. The flowers are visited by bees, butterflies, flies and wasps seeking nectar and helping pollination.  

The fruits are samaras, which is a type of dry fruit (not fleshy like a berry), each with a single seed encased in a papery covering with a winged edge surrounding the seed, designed to help the wind disperse it. 

(source: Photograph Gene Sturla)

 

 The Particulars

Botanical name: Ptelea trifoliata

Common Name: hop tree,  common hoptree, wafer ash, stinking ash, and skunk bush 

Type: Tree 

Family: Rutaceae (often called citrus family)

Native Range: Eastern and central United States 

Zone: 4 to 9 

Height: 15.00 to 20.00 feet 

Spread: 15.00 to 20.00 feet 

Bloom Time: May in Middle Tennessee

Flower: Fragrant, Panicle. Mostly a dioecious plant (source: Edward W. Chester, photograph) They need enough sun to flower. I might have to relocate my containers.

 

Fruit: Found in pendulous clusters that resemble hops.

Leaves:  Trifoliate, deciduous leaves with leaflets on a petiole up to 2 inches long that will turn yellow in the fall. I am hoping that i have leaves next spring after the caterpillars defoliated my trees!

Description: Greenish white 

Sun: Part shade to full shade or even full shade

Water: Dry to medium 

Maintenance: Low, Can handle some drought

Soil: Dry soil, Shallow-Rocky Soil 

Wildlife Value:  Birds and small mammals enjoy the fruits as a food source. Host plant to the larva of giant swallowtail butterfly (Papilio cresphontes). The caterpillars resemble bird droppings. Carrion flies pollinate the flowers. 

Suggested Use: Hedge, Flowering Tree, Butterfly Garden, Drought Tolerant Garden, Native Garden  and Winter Garden

Comments: The Giant Swallowtail is on the move. It's moving further north and further west! In the last few years it's been spotted in Los Angelos, CA and Ontario, Canada. You might want to check out this article about its migration to Canada.

Deer: White-Tailed Deer don't seem to be a problem. The leaves and twigs have an unpleasant scent and bitter taste. 

Links: For a really excellent look at the hoptree in winter and its chemical defense system go to Mary Ann Borge's article.

 

 

Welcome to Clay and Limestone and Wildflower Wednesday. This day is about sharing wildflowers and other native plants no matter where one gardens~the UK, tropical Florida, Europe, Australia, Africa, South America, India or the coldest reaches of Canada. It doesn't matter if we sometimes share the same plants, how they grow and thrive in your garden is what matters most. Sharing native wildflowers on social media is one of the best ways to educate others of their value to wildlife and the ecosystem. Please share your wildflowers with others through your writing or your photos.

 

xoxogail 

 

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

 

Wildflower Wednesday: Enemion biternatum

Welcome to  Clay and Limestone and the Wildflower Wednesday celebration of a sweet little spring ephemeral wildflower.

Enemion biternatum is lovely with delicate columbine like leaves and small white flowers. Small bees collect the pollen  and flies feed on it, but, they would search fruitlessly for nectar. It hasn't any nectaries.

It's been growing under an oak tree in my garden since before I moved here (that would be almost 40 years ago). The foliage appears in late winter, carpeting the ground, then the flowers open and the first of the  pollinators visit to  pollinate. It dies back in mid-summer making it a true spring ephemeral.

It's also growing in my little pocket wildflower garden under the Ostrya virginiana, which is a lovely understory and underappreciated native tree. Dutchman's Breeches was already growing there and I transplanted Trillium from the way back woodland. I also added toothwort and Spring Beauties that I transplanted from the now disappeared front lawn. Phacelia bipinnatifida, a delightful lilac flowering biennial was added after a friend gave me seedlings. Their dormant roots are sheltered by a large Carya ovata/shag bark hickory during the hot summer months, but, they magically reappear each spring.

Eastern False Rue-anemone, False Rue Anemone or Enemion biternatum is a sweet little Spring ephemeral in the Buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). It's native to shady rich or calcereous woods & thickets; floodplain woods and limestone ledges (slightly alkaline soil) and is native to Middle Tennessee. The delicate looking foliage of False Rue Anemone emerges in late winter and makes a beautiful leafy mat that grows about 6 inches high. The flowers, scattered here and there,  emerge as the days warm and the bloom period is at least a month long. It would make a lovely ground cover, but, like all Spring ephemerals, grows, blooms, gets pollinated, sets seed in a short period of time before it fades and retreats back underground.

The white flowers occur individually or in groups of 2-3. The flower is small only about ¾" across, and has 5 petal-like sepals that are white, no petals, several slender stamens with yellow anthers, and a few green pistils in the center. The blooming period occurs during mid-spring and lasts about 3 weeks and if weather isn't too warm there may be flowers for a month.

Source

The pistils are replaced by beaked follicles (seedpods that split open along one side) that individually contain several seeds. You'll have to get down on all fours to see them, but, that's often the best view in a wildflower garden.

The lovely five 'petaled' (sepals) flowers with the showy yellow center stamens would look wonderful planted with Mertensia virginica, Thalictrum thalictroides, Trillium grandiflorum, Trillium cuneatum, Polemonium reptans, Phloxes, Geranium maculatum,  Phacelia bipinnatifida, Euonymus americanus, Philadelphus inodorus and Aesculus pavia. Plant them in rich loamy soil with full to partial sun and before long you'll have a small colony.

xoxogail



The particulars 

Common Name: false rue anemone  

Family: Ranunculaceae

AKA: Isopyrum biternatum

Type: Herbaceous perennial, Ephemeral

Native Range:

 Zone: 3 to 8 

Height: 0.50 to 0.75 feet 

Spread: 0.25 to 0.50 feet 

Bloom Time: March to April 

Bloom: White 

Sun: Part shade 

Water: Medium, rich soil helps

Maintenance: Low 

 

Flower: Showy. Anemone-like flowers (to 1/2" diameter) with 5 petal-like sepals and showy yellow center stamens

Foliage: Columbine like leaves

Habitat: open wooded slopes, river flood plains, rich woods and thickets. Colonizes

Wildlife value: Bees collect pollen, while fly visitors feed on pollen. Various beetles also feed on the pollen. Some of these insects probably search in vain for nectar, as the flowers lack nectaries. 

Comments: My favorite is from Missouri Department of Conservation: "This flower is often confused with (true) rue anemone, Thalictrum thalictroides. That species, however, has only bracts on the flowering stems (not complete leaves); it often has more than 5 sepals, which are sometimes pinkish; it is usually only found singly; and it prefers wooded slopes to moist bottomlands. False rue anemone and "true" rue anemone present a bit of difficulty for the budding naturalist, but meeting the challenge of learning how to identify the two similar plants helps us understand botany, and our world, better. Most members of this family are toxic, so be careful and don't eat it.

 

Wildflower Wednesday is about sharing wildflowers from your part of the world. Don't worry if you have nothing in bloom, you can still showcase one of your favorites. It doesn't matter if we sometimes show the same plants; how they grow and thrive in your garden is what matters most. I hope you join the celebration...It's always the fourth Wednesd

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

Wildflower Wednesday: Harbinger-of-Spring

I'd like to think spring has arrived at Clay and Limestone.  When I open the door on the 50˚ mornings, it smells like spring.You've smelled it! It's the fresh dirt smell that wafts on the breeze on warm spring days. Scientist call the chemical that makes dirt smell fresh geosmin,  I call it delicious. We can thank the plant munching bacteria that live in our soil for making it.

It's not just the smells, although  late winter blooming Hamamelis vernalis' clovey scent is wafting about the garden on warm days. When it's a bit chilly I have to get up close and sniff the flowers, but, it makes me long and hope for more blooms and spring. And, have you heard the birds? They sing louder and more melodious in the spring. It's not my imagination, they're singing louder!

A few of the spring ephemerals have poked up from under the leaf liter demonstrating once again that leaves on the garden don't kill our native beauties and that spring is just about to bust open.

My garden is just beginning to undergo the marvelous transformation from brown to green. Over head the elms are budding, in near by yards the maples have begun to bloom and many shrubs are starting to push out leaves. Dirca palustris' fuzzy blooms will be open before we know it.

the diminutive woodland beautyand WW star, Erigenia bulbosa

Freezing nights and pounding rain can't dim my hopes for an early spring. But, let's not rush headlong into a big spring crescendo before it's time, after all we do need to admire our wildflower of the month,  Harbinger-of-Spring/Erigenia bulbosa.

 It's the earliest and smallest of the spring flowers. So small, no more than 4 inches tall, that it is easily over looked among the brown leaves on a woodland hillside. The pure white flowers and chocolate colored anthers contrast beautifully and, are clearly, the reason for one of the common names, Pepper and Salt. It blooms early in our woodlands and everywhere it blooms giving rise to its common name Harbinger of Spring. I've not seen pollinators on the sweet blooms, but, little Carpenter bees, Mason bees, and flower flies are said to visit for nectar. It grows in rich moist deciduous woodlands in dappled shade.

I love this little carrot family member (source*)

 Botanical name: Erigenia bulbosa

 Family:  Apiaceae  

Common name: Harbinger-of-Spring, Pepper and Salt

Native range: Eastern Canada, most of eastern US, including OK and AR Light: dappled shade 

 

source

Height: 2"-10" 

 

Photo by Chris Paccard

Flower type: Umbels, like little upside-down umbrellas

Leaf Color: green 

Bloom Color: white 

Bloom Time: Feb, Mar, Apr 

Water: moist 

Soil: acid, neutral, rich, average loam, think not picky!

Comments: The root is a small, rounded tuber

Conservation status: 

source

Wildlife value: Insect visitors primarily seek nectar from the flowers and include small to medium-size bees and miscellaneous flies.

 

source

 This plant is a member of a large and important Carrot (Apiaceae) family. Relatives include Queen Anne's lace, water hemlock, carrot, parsnip, parsley, celery, dill, fennel, cumin, anise, and many more. All have flowers arranged in umbels (like little upside-down umbrellas), and the seeds are structurally similar. I count myself fortunate when it showed up in my garden a few years back. I dearly wish it were commercially available~it's a lovely little flower and should be in more of our woodland gardens.

xoxogail

 

Don't forget our Wildflower Wednesday monthly challenge!  The first part of this challenge is to do something every month during 2022 that supports native wildflowers, pollinators, and the critters that visit and rely on our gardens. The second part of the challenge is to post about it somewhere: Your blog; Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or even your neighborhood listserve. 

Why post it?  Because positive publicity is needed to educate our friends, neighbors and communities about how important even the smallest changes we make as gardeners can be for pollinators, birds, insects and mammals that live all around us. 

For an incomplete list of things you might consider doing or changing in your garden follow this link!

 Welcome to Clay and Limestone's Wildflower Wednesday celebration. WW is about sharing and celebrating wildflowers from all over this great big, beautiful world. Join us on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Remember, it doesn't matter if they are in bloom or not, and, it doesn't matter if we all share the same plants. It's all about celebrating wildflowers. Please leave a comment and a link in the comment section. mr Linky is no longer working on my site.

 

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

Wildflower Wednesday: Panicum virgatum

My Panicum virgatum is still standing tall in the garden, I hope yours is, too.

It dances all winter in the wind...

Panicum virgatum or switchgrass as it's commonly known, has a long history on this continent. It's native to the tall grass prairies of the Great Plains from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean (including Tennessee and other southeastern states)* Grasses like switchgrass, big bluestem, little bluestem and Indian grass dominated the tall grass prairies and were grazed by bison, deer and elk. It’s an upright, warm season bunching grass that can still be found growing in ‘remnant prairies’ and along interstates. These grasses are sometimes called "The Four Horsemen of the Prairie". (source)   

Would you forgive me if I say that Panicum virgatum is a work horse in my garden? Keep reading to find out why I love this plant and value it as a hard worker.

Despite its long historical association with most of the United States, it's rather ironic that it took European plant breeders to open our eyes to the versatility and beauty of Panicum virgatum. They've brought us lovely cultivars and spurred American breeders to get on the native grass bandwagon. It seems that each year a new cultivar is introduced to gardeners. I look at them and hope that their best wild characteristics haven't been bred out of them. I love a good looking plant that also has great wildlife value. 

One of my favorite cultivars is 'Northwind'.  I am happy to report that it's as wildlife beneficial as the straight species.

'Northwind' planted in 2009

Panicum virgatum is climatically adapted throughout the most of the United States, except California, Oregon and Washington state and in all of Canada except, British Columbia and Alberta. Wow...that means almost any of us can successfully grow them.

 

Switchgrass is a perennial, warm season native grass. It is drought and salt tolerant, needs no fertilizer and does well in shallow, wet soils and even droughty soils in the eastern USA. Its long roots improve soil and water quality by absorbing nutrients and sequestering carbon dioxide. The tall bunch grass benefits wildlife, offering optimal nesting and cover.

I am thrilled that it's happy in my shallow soil that's dry in the summer and wet in the winters. That's one reason it's called a work horse in my garden.

Panicum virgatum has year round beauty. Summer color is an interesting olive green that works well with Phlox, Iteas, Penstemons and other native wildflowers.

It's a warm season grass and produces growth from April to September. Look for the airy, pink-tinged flower spike blooms that rise only about a foot or two above the foliage. The inconspicuous flowers with burgundy anthers and stigmas dangle from the well-branched panicles. Teardrop-shaped seeds about 1/8 inch long develop from single-flowered spikelets. (source) The seed plumes persist well into winter, with the seeds eaten by songbirds and upland game birds. Self-sowing is usually minimal but can be prolific under ideal conditions.

It's the perfect partner for most summer blooming wildflowers. My favorites are Phlox, Echinaceas, Rudbeckias and Hypericums. It really shines in the fall when Vernonias, Solidago, and the ex-asters bloom.

But, holy-moly, what really makes this grass attractive is the long season of golden color starting in September in my garden and continuing all winter.

 fall color is especially gorgeous in the late afternoon when it's backlit by the setting sun

It's a tawny gold for several months, but, by the end of the winter it's a striking pale blonde that looks incredible in my almost total brown landscape!

Late winter is the best time to cut it back! 

I promise, you won't be sorry to let it stand all winter.

                         Floppy grasses have softened the sharp corner of my house along the path to the porch

 I am on a mission to convince my neighbors and any readers who still have their mow and blow crews buzz cut their ornamental grasses back in October to adopt late winter cut back as their preferred practice. Btw, the only plants I cut back after the first frost are Phloxes, because their stems can harbor a rather destructive phlox bug. I leave everything else standing until late winter.  

Here's why I cut my grasses back in late winter or early spring before the new growth emerges for:

•  wildlife: they provide food and shelter. Ground-foraging birds (Sparrows, Juncos, Robins) eat the seeds that persist on the grass most of the winter and shelter in the foliage
• winter interest with warm colors and dancing in the wind
  
• ease of maintenance: it's easier to cut cut after a winter of being buffeted around
• the little grass skippers that lay eggs and overwinter on base of switchgrass stems

Just in case I haven't made my case to convince you to switch to cutting switchgrass down in late winter, consider this: They fill the garden with movement and beauty all year long.

Not bad for a plant, especially in winter.

 xoxogail
 

 The Particulars

 Common Name: switch grass

Type: Ornamental grass

Family: Poaceae 

Native Range: North America and most of Canada

Zone: 5 to 9 

Height: 3.00 to 6.00 feet 

Spread: 2.00 to 3.00 feet 

Bloom Time: July to February 

Bloom Description: Pink-tinged 

Sun: Full sun to part shade 

Water: Medium to wet 

Maintenance: Low 

Comments: Its long roots improve soil and water quality by absorbing nutrients and sequestering carbon dioxide. 

Tolerates: Drought, Erosion, Dry Soil, Wet Soil, Black Walnut, Air Pollution.

 

Uses: Naturalize, rain garden, butterfly garden

Flower: Showy

Good Fall color and winter interest/color

Wildlife value: In addition to the many birds and mammals that use Switch Grass, the Tawny-edge Skipper and the Delaware Skipper also use it as a host plant.  This bunch grass benefits wildlife, offering optimal nesting and cover. Switchgrass is a particularly beneficial warm season grass for use in riparian buffer zones

 * May Prairie in Middle Tennessee

 

 

 Welcome to Clay and Limestone's Wildflower Wednesday celebration. I am so glad you stopped by. WW is about sharing and celebrating wildflowers from all over this great big, beautiful world. Join us on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Remember, it doesn't matter if they are in bloom and, it doesn't matter if we all share the same plants; it's all about celebrating wildflowers. Please leave a comment when you add your url to Mr Linky.

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

Wildflower Wednesday: Bear's Foot and a walk on the wildside

We walked the Richland Creek Greenway with our toddler granddaughter this past weekend. It's a 4 mile loop around a local golf course and is frequented by runners, walkers and bikers. We love the greenway and often use it to access favorite coffee shops and restaurants, but it's also a fantastic way to connect with nature. It's exciting to see so many parents and children there each time we go.  I imagine that for a lot of urban children greenways are their first introduction to nature. It's a pretty cool resource and it's exciting to see that Nashville is continuing to expand its greenway system.

Bear's foot/Hairy leaf cup leaves are giant sized

The greenway has a wide asphalt path that crosses Richland Creek several times and since we've had a lot of rain this spring the creek was flowing. We were excited to show our granddaughter the turtles basking in the sun and minnows in the deeper water, but, the biggest excitement came when a black snake crossed the path in front of us on its way to the water's edge. There are several open fields where we saw bluebirds, cardinals and other familiar birds. There's plenty of wildflowers like our Wildflower Wednesday star, Smallanthus uvedalius, along the path to attract butterflies and other pollinators. It's a good place to connect with and watch nature.

Hairy Leafcup/Smallanthus uvedalius grows along the greenway path

Our cities need to make sure there are greenways, parks and woodlands. Wilderness is disappearing and human-dominated landscapes of houses, businesses, parking lots and roadways are expanding and displacing living/nesting spaces for butterflies, bees, songbirds and other creatures. This is not good for the critters or for us.

I want a world where my granddaughter and other children don't have limited opportunities to connect with nature. Too many children already are nature deprived. Children spend more time viewing television and playing video games on computers than they do being physically active outside. Richard Louv called this phenomena, ‘nature-deficit disorder’ in his book, The Last Child in the Woods. He wrote about how significant the developmental effects of nature are for children. Although, it's not a medical term, he said it's "a metaphor—to describe what many of us believe are the human costs of alienation from nature: diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses, a rising rate of myopia, child and adult obesity, Vitamin D deficiency, and other maladies." (source)

Researchers are discovering all the different ways that nature benefits our well-being, health, and relationships. Those benefits will be irrelevant if we cannot get people to reconnect and value nature. You don't have to take my word for it...Just do a little research and then get out there and push to make sure there are parks, greenways and school programs so that everyone can connect or reconnect to nature. The future is at stake.

The number one reason I garden for wildlife is to make a difference. The number one reason I continue to blog about my beloved wildflowers and critters is to demonstrate to others that we can make a difference. I believe that with all my heart...It's what keeps me going despite the assault on nature that is happening all around us.

Without further ado...Here's our Wildflower Wednesday May star, Smallanthus uvedalius, it was showing off all over the greenway this past weekend. You may know it by one of its common names: Bear's foot, Hairy leaf cup and Yellow flowered leaf cup.

it's hairy

The first time I saw Hairy leaf cup the giant leaves made me think of an Oakleaf Hydrangea.  Smallanthus uvedalius is a perennial, not a shrub, although, it can get almost as large as a small understory shrub. The plants along the greenway average about 4 to 6 feet tall, but it's not unusual for them to get even taller. It has stout stems with opposite leaves that form a small leafcup. The leaves are palmately lobed and green with fine hairs scattered across the veins and both leaf surfaces. Leaves are 4 to 12 in long and are the most striking thing about this yellow flowered aster! Each flower head has 7 to 13 yellow ray flowers to the outside and 40-80 yellow tube-like disc flowers to the inside. The ray flowers produce seeds and from my observations, this wildflower does a nice job of reproducing.

Steven J. Baskauf http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/

This large wildflower grows best in moist, part shade. It is found naturally occurring in moist to dry, lightly shaded, open woodlands, savannas, thickets, fields and bottomlands.  If it's happy it can become tall (up to 10 feet) so plant it in the back of a perennial border or woodland garden. This species is found from Michigan southwest to Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas, south to Oklahoma and Texas, east to New York and New Jersey, and, south to Florida. It is beginning to flower in middle Tennessee and will continue to bloom until late summer keeping bees and wasps very happy.

it can get tall~on average it's 4 to 5 feet but, I've seen it taller

The particulars
Smallanthus uvedalius/Polymnia uvedalia
Family: Asteraceae — Aster family
Common names: Yellow-flowered Leafcup, Bear's foot, Hairy leafcup

Range:  In the U.S., it is found from central Texas to southeastern Kansas to Michigan to New York, then southward to the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts
Habitat: Moist soils in partially sunny thickets, woodlands and fields.
Leaf: Green with very large opposite petiolate leaves that form a small cup around the stem and hence the name leafcup.

leaves decrease in size and become less complex up-stem

Flower: yellow rayed flower
Bloom: Anytime from now to early summer in our neck of the woods
Propagation:  Seeds should be sown in fall or spring.
Comments: This is a big guy and needs room to spread. Might be appropriate for a naturalistic and woodland garden.The leaves really bring another dimension to a woodland garden. The flowers are pollen and nectar rich.

Some folks might think this is a course looking flowering plant, and it may well be, but, I still like it! I think it's an honorary rough and tumble wildflower!
xoxogail

Mt Linky is not cooperating these days, not sure why, so put a link in your comment. Thanks.

Welcome to Clay and Limestone and Wildflower Wednesday. This day is about sharing wildflowers and other native plants no matter where one gardens~the UK, tropical Florida, Europe, Australia, Africa, South America, India or the coldest reaches of Canada. It doesn't matter if we sometimes share the same plants. How they grow and thrive in your garden is what matters most.



Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.