Category: Flowers

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/23/18 Observation Time: 8:40 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Farm (TTOR) Common Name: Ground Ivy (a.k.a. “Gill-over-the-ground”) Scientific Name: Glechoma hederacea Comments: Commonly known as ground-ivy, gill-over-the-ground, creeping charlie, alehoof, tunhoof, catsfoot, field balm, and run-away-robin, it has numerous medicinal uses, and is used as a salad green in many countries. European settlers carried it around the world, and it has become a well-established […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/23/18 Observation Time: 8:10 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Rattlesnake Root Scientific Name: Prenanthes sp. Comments: Roots look like the rattle of a rattlesnake. More Information: Youtube

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/22/18 Observation Time: 9:35 a.m. Observation Location: Town conservation land near Beaver Brook Common Name: Starflower Scientific Name: Trientalis borealis Comments: This member of the primrose family likes moist woods. It blooms in May. Please do not dig up native wildflowers. They typically do not survive transplantation. More Information: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/22/18 Observation Time: 9:30 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Pink Lady’s Slipper orchid Scientific Name: Cypripedium acaule Comments: Pink lady’s slippers probably won’t survive if you try to transplant them, so please don’t dig them up. More Information: Wikipedia

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/1/18 Observation Time: 10:30 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Siberian Squill Scientific Name: Scilla Siberica Comments: Siberian Squill was brought to this country as an ornamental and is still sold for that purpose, but it has also escaped into the wild and become invasive. It readily spreads itself and is difficult to get rid of, as broken […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/1/18 Observation Time: 10:30 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Bloodroot Scientific Name: Sanguinaria canadensis Comments: Blood-root is an attractive spring ephemeral, traditionally used in cough remedies. However, it has been characterized as unsafe by the United States Food and Drug Administration because of the presence of the toxic alkaloid sanguinarine. This flower drops its petals within […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/5/18 Observation Time: 8:00 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Common Blue Violet Scientific Name: Viola sororia Comments: For information, see: http://thebotanicalhiker.blogspot.com/2015/04/eating-wild-identifying-wild-edible.html

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/21/16 Observation Time: 3:20 p.m. Observation Location: Kendall Estate, Moose Hill Street Common Name: Wild geranium Scientific Name: Geranium maculatum Comments: Geranium maculatum, the wild geranium, spotted geranium, or wood geranium, is a perennial plant native to woodlands of eastern North America, from southern Manitoba and southwestern Quebec south to Alabama and Georgia and west to Oklahoma and South Dakota. More […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 8/23/15 Observation Time: 5:45 p.m. Observation Location: bank of Hammershop Pond at Ames and Cottage Streets. Common Name: Virginia Marsh-St. John’s wort Scientific Name: Triadenum virginicum Comments: Occurs only in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: OBL). Please do not dig up wildflowers! More Information: Go Botany

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 7/22/15 Observation Time: 5:20 p.m. Observation Location: Gavins Pond area Common Name: Milkweed Scientific Name: Asclepias syriaca Comments: Monarch butterflies depend on milkweed as a food source for their caterpillars. The advent of genetically modified “Roundup-ready” corn and soybeans has facilitated large-scale application of herbicides, reducing the availability of milkweed to migrating monarchs. Hence, the monarch population is in steep decline. […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 7/22/15 Observation Time: 5:20 p.m. Observation Location: Gavins Pond area Common Name: Queen Anne’s Lace Scientific Name: Daucus carota Comments: Daucus carota, whose common names include wild carrot, bird’s nest, bishop’s lace, and Queen Anne’s lace (North America), is a white, flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate regions of Europe and southwest Asia, and naturalized to North America and […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 7/22/15 Observation Time: 5:00 p.m. Observation Location: field near Gavins Pond Dam Common Name: Wild Indigo Scientific Name: Baptisia australis Comments: It is a perennial  upright bushy plant with attractive foliage and yellow blossoms. Seed heads turn a deep indigo color providing winter interest. More Information: Wikipedia

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 7/22/15 Observation Time: 4:40 p.m. Observation Location: Gavins Pond area Common Name: Spotted Knapweed Scientific Name: Centaurea maculosa Comments: Spotted knapweed is poisonous to other plants, creating barren areas where only knapweed grows. It is a threat to pastures and dry ecosystems including prairies and dunes.  Can be a skin irritant. More Information: Michigan Invasive Species

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 7/13/15 Observation Time: 4:10 p.m. Observation Location: Gavins Pond Common Name: Rough-fruited cinquefoil Scientific Name: Potentilla recta Comments: Also known as sulphur cinquefoil, this wildflower is native to Europe and Asia. Introduced and naturalized in North America. Found along roads and in disturbed sites. Thrives in full sun and tolerates dry conditions. Flowers from June to August. Blossoms have five […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 7/11/15 Observation Time: 3:15 p.m. Observation Location: near Gavins Pond Common Name: Spreading Dogbane Scientific Name: Apocynum androsaemifolium Comments: Spreading dogbane is common in North America, and is widespread across most of the United States and Canada, and in Alaska, California, and northeast Mexico. The plant is poisonous, due to the cardiac glycosides it contains. Note the ants feeding on the nectar in […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 7/11/15 Observation Time: 3:15 p.m. Observation Location: Gavins Pond area Common Name: Blue Toadflax Scientific Name: Nuttallanthus canadensis Comments: Flowers from April to September. More Information: Conn. Botanical Society

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 6/27/15 Observation Time: 3:30 p.m. Observation Location: my back yard (Gavins Pond Road) Common Name: Deptford Pink Scientific Name: Dianthus armeria Comments: Deptford Pink is an introduced species from Europe. More Information: Maryland Biodiversity Project

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 6/27/15 Observation Time: 2:45 p.m. Observation Location: Gavins Pond Road near soccer fields Common Name: Chicory Scientific Name: Cichorium intybus Comments: A perennial herb with blue, lavender, or occasionally white flowers, chicory grows as a wild plant on roadsides in its native Europe, and in North America and Australia, where it has become naturalized. Common chicory is also known as […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 6/27/15 Observation Time: 2:45 p.m. Observation Location: Gavins Pond area Common Name: Milkweed flower Scientific Name: Asclepias syriaca Comments: Many species of butterflies including monarchs depend on milkweed as a food source for their caterpillars. The advent of genetically modified “Roundup-ready” corn and soybeans has facilitated large-scale application of herbicides, reducing the availability of milkweed to migrating monarchs. Hence, the monarch […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 6/26/15 Observation Time: 1:40 p.m. Observation Location: meadow near Morse and Lakeview Streets Common Name: Yellow Hawkweed Scientific Name: Hieracium caespitosum Comments: Yellow hawkweed is native to Europe and was introduced as an ornamental into New York in 1879. It is now a destructive weed of pastureland. It can colonize a wide range of habitats with sandy or gravelly soils. More Information: Go Botany

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 6/25/15 Observation Time: 2:25 p.m. Observation Location: Town-owned conservation land at Morse and Lakeview Streets Common Name: Palmate Hop Clover Scientific Name: Trifolium aureum Comments: Palmate hop clover is an exotic species that is widespread in New England. The common name derives from the fact that as the flower heads age, the florets fold down and become brown, resembling dried […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 6/25/15 Observation Time: 2:25 p.m. Observation Location: Town-owned conservation land at Morse and Lakeview Streets Common Name: Spotted St. John’s Wort Scientific Name: Hypericum punctatum Comments: Spotted St. John’s-wort can be most easily distinguished from the other St. John’s-worts by the dark dots and streaks on the upper surface of the yellow petals. In the other species these markings are absent or […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 6/12/15 Observation Time: 4:30 p.m. Observation Location: conservation land at Lakeview & Morse Streets Common Name: Cypress Spurge Scientific Name: Euphorbia cyparissias Comments: Cypress spurge is an invasive perennial plant from Eurasia. Its extensive underground root system spreads by means of lateral root buds.  It proliferates into large clonal colonies. Baltimore checkerspot butterflies feed on cypress spurge flowers. More Information: Vermont Invasives […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/27/14 Observation Time: 6:50 p.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Wisteria Scientific Name: Wisteria spp. Comments: Wisteria is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae (Leguminosae), that includes ten species of woody climbing vines that are native to China, Korea, and Japan and as an introduced species to the Eastern United States. More […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 6/14/09 Observation Time: 11:30 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Farm, Trustees of Reservations land Common Name: Whorled Loosestrife Scientific Name: Lysimachia quadrifolia More Information: Wild Flowers of Sleepy Hollow Lake 3 Whorls: 4 Whorls: 5 Whorls: