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Fragrant sumac is a native shrub that grows 2-8' tall. One-inch-long spikes of closely-packed flowers arise from leaf axils. Individual flowers are 1/8" long, tubular but less than twice as long as wide, with five greenish-yellow petals and a calyx of five short sepals fused at their bases; flowers are either perfect (with both male and female organs) or unisexual (either stamens only or pistils only). (If unisexual, all flowers on one plant are the same sex.) Male flowers have five stamens with yellow-orange anthers but no pistil; female flowers have a pistil with a Y-shaped tip but no stamens. After fertilization, the flowers are replaced by fruits 1/4-3/8" in diameter, roughly spherical, deep red, and exuberantly hairy; it contains a single stone (a seed with a hard coat). Fragrant sumac blooms before either smooth sumac or staghorn sumac and its fruit matures earlier.

Rhus

Rhus aromatica

fragrant sumac [Blooms: Apr-May]

Smooth sumac is dioecious — each plant produces only either male (staminate) or female (pistillate) flowers. Individual flowers are about 1/4" across with a green calyx with five teeth and a whitish green or yellowish green corolla with five spreading petals. The lobes and teeth range from lance-shaped to oval. Male flowers also have five stamens with large yellow anthers and style rudiments; female flowers have an ovary with three closely-packed, stout styles in the center and sometimes with rudiments of stamens. On female plants, after fertilization, the flowers are replaced with about 5 mm wide drupes containing a single straw-yellow stony seed. The fruits are initially green and densely covered with short hairs, turning an intense, deep red when mature.

Rhus

Rhus glabra

smooth sumac [Blooms: May-Jul]

In staghorn sumac, some upper stems bear clusters (panicles) of flowers that are up to 12" long and 6" across; pistillate (female) inflorescences (see below) tend to be more densely packed with flowers and smaller than the staminate (male) inflorescences. Individual flowers are 1/8-1/4" across with a five-lobed calyx, each lobe about as long as (and alternating with) the petals, and five spreading, oblong petals; both calyx and petals are yellowish-green. Staghorn sumac has a complicated sex life. Some plants have both perfect flowers (with both male and female organs) and unisexual flowers (male or female but not both) on the same individual. Other plants have flowers of only one sex (either male or female but not both). Female flowers have a central pistil with an orange-yellow, three-part stigma; male flowers have five stamens with large, bright yellow anthers. The fruits are very fuzzy, berry-like drupes about 1/4" across, deep red when ripe, each with a single seed. The velvety branches and fuzzy fruit distinguish this plant from other sumacs. A citrus-y summer drink can be made from an infusion of the fruits soaked in hot water for a few hours; just be sure to filter the infusion through a fine filter (coffee filters are good) as the hairs covering the fruit can irritate the throat. Add some sugar or honey to taste. The binomial "Rhus hirta" is occasionally used for staghorn sumac, but ITIS is clear that the accepted name is Rhus typhina.

Rhus

Rhus typhina

staghorn sumac [Blooms: May-Jul]

The tips of some short, lateral shoots of wild black currant produce clusters (racemes) of 6-15 flowers that are suspended by short pedicels from a central, drooping stalk 1-3" long. At the base of each pedicel is a 3/8" long yellowish bract. Individual flowers are 1/2" long, bell-shaped with a short tubular calyx with (1) five spreading, oblong, greenish-white apical lobes (sepals), (2) five squared-off whitish petals emerging from the tubular calyx and forming a ring-shaped wall, (3) five stamens, shorter than the petals, with cream-colored anthers, and (4) a green ovary with two styles that are fused except at their tips. The fruit consists of 3/8" wide, shiny berries, initially green, black when fully ripe, containing lots of tiny seeds. The berries are edible when cooked and have been used to make pies, jelly, or wines (if you can get to them before the birds do). Note that commercial black currants are derived from the European version of this species (Ribes nigrum), not Ribes americanum.

Ribes

Ribes americanum

wild black currant [Blooms: Apr-May]

Pale dock produces an inflorescence 4-12" long at the tip of the stem; branches in the inflorescence are few but are densely covered with numerous whorls of 10-20 small (1/8-1/4" long), green or yellow-green flowers drooping on 1/8-1/4" long pedicels. Individual flowers have six green tepals (three sepals and three similar petals) that spread at flowering to expose either six stamens or three styles, but close again after pollination. (Flowers are either pistillate (female) or staminate (male) and are wind pollinated.) After fertilization of the pistillate flowers, the fruit — a single seed in the middle of three equally-spaced wings — replaces the flower. Pale dock's seeds can persist in the soil for at least ten years.

Rumex

Rumex altissimus

pale dock [Blooms: May-Jun]

The inflorescence at the tip pf the stem in curly dock produces branching clusters with numerous whorls of 10-25 flowers dangling from slender pedicels. Flowers are tiny (1/8-1/4"), red- or yellow-green, with six tepals (three sepals and three very similar petals), three styles, or six stamens, or both; the flowers droop from a 1/4" pedicel. (The flowers are either pistillate (female), staminate (male), or perfect (both male and female organs). The flowers are wind pollinated. The tepals spread out when the flowers are mature, exposing the stamens and/or styles, then close up after pollination. The fruit is a single seed sandwiched in the center of three heart-shaped, papery membranes (derived from the tepals) set at 120° from each other, dark brown when mature. Note that more mature curly dock fruit can take on a distinct reddish tint, superficially looking like bitter dock fruit, but curly dock fruits will never show the long tooth- or finger-like projections from the edges of the wings that bitter dock exhibits.

Rumex

Rumex crispus

curly dock [Blooms: May-Jun]

The inflorescence of bitter dock is a panicle of whorled racemes up to 1' long. The greenish-red flowers droop from 1/2" pedicels. Individual flowers are 1/4" long with six tepals (six sepals and six similar petals) with pistillate (female) and male (staminate) flowers mixed in each inflorescence. Pistillate flowers have a single pistil, three styles with fringe-like, divided stigmas, and inner tepals that are (often) red; staminate flowers have six stamens and dull yellow inner tepals. After fertilization, the inner tepals of the pistillate flowers enlarge and surround an expanding, hard-shelled, three-sided seed with three membranous wings, each wing with 2-4 spiny teeth along their free edges. The fruits turn bright red as they mature.

Rumex

Rumex obtusifolius

bitter dock [Blooms: May-Jul]

Missouri River willow is dioecious — male and female florets (in the form of spike-like catkins) occur on separate plants. Catkins arise on one-year-old branches at about the same time as the leaves begin to emerge. Male catkins may be 1/2-2" long; each floret has two stamens with yellow anthers on their tips. Female catkins range from 3/4-2.5" long; the florets are yellowish-green and vase- or flask-shaped with an inflated base and a long beak that has a single protruding style. Both male and female catkins have a very small brown or bicolored bract at their bases that is covered with long, white hairs. After fertilization, female florets elongate as the catkin also elongates; the fruit is a yellowish to reddish green, hairless capsule, generally pear-shaped with a long beak. On maturity, the capsule splits to release seeds with long, attached, cottony hairs.

Salix

Salix eriocephala

Missouri River willow [Blooms: Apr]

Prairie willow is dioecious — plants produce either all male or all female inflorescences in the form of short catkins produced from one-year-old branches before the leaves emerge; a tiny black or bicolored bract covered in long, dense white hairs is present at the base of both male and female catkins. The florets lack both sepals and petals but both have a basal, hairy bract (regardless of sex). Male catkins are 1/4-1.25" long, elongating as they mature. Initially the male catkins are silvery (from long hairs) but become yellow or reddish from the numerous anthers. Individual male florets consist of a hairy, basal bract and a pair of stamens with cylindrical anthers initially purple, turning yellow, red, or orange. Female catkins are 1/2-3" long, also elongating as they mature. Individual female florets consist of the hairy bract and a hairy green ovary 4-8 mm long with an elongate beak densely covered with wooly hairs; a pair of stigmas protrude from the tip. After fertilization, the female florets transform into 1/4-1/2" long capsules, light brown at maturity, that split in two to release seeds surrounded by long, cottony hairs.

Salix

Salix humilis

prairie willow [Blooms: Apr-May]

Narrowleaf willow is dioecious — plants produce either all male or all female inflorescences (catkins) with the florets (male or female) spiraling around the catkin axis in a pseudo-whorl. Catkins are produced on one-year-old branches at the same time the leaves emerge. Male catkins are cylindrical, 3/4-2" long; they may be either erect or lean to one side but generally are ascending. Female catkins are also cylindrical, 1.5-3" long, initially green but turning light brown on maturity; they are usually terminal spikes on the new season's growth. Individual male florets consist of a single yellow, silky-hairy, oblong bract (quickly shed) and a pair of stamens with bright yellow anthers; the lower parts of the filaments are also covered by silky hairs. Individual female florets also have an oblong, basal bract that is shed; above that is a 1 mm long slender stalk supporting a bottle-shaped ovary 5-9 mm long with a pair of flat stigmas at its apex that appear to be four. After fertilization, the catkin elongates, and the ovary develops into a capsule that splits longitudinally to release the seeds when they are mature.

Salix

Salix interior

narrowleaf willow [Blooms: Apr-Jul]

Black willow is dioecious — plants produce either all male or all female inflorescences (catkins) on one-year-old branches; the catkins emerge with the leaves. Male catkins are 1-3" long, cylindrical, yellow to greenish-white, and usually curved. Female catkins are greenish are 1-3" long, elongating as they mature. Both male and female florets are numerous and arranged in pseudo whorls around the axis of their respective catkins; neither has either sepals or petals. Individual male florets have 3-6 stamens with yellow, globose anthers and a pale yellow, oval basal bract shorter than the stamens. Individual female florets also have a pale yellow, oval basal bract; a hairless, flask-shaped pistil 3-5 mm long is elevated above the bract on a 0.5-1.5 mm long (short!) pedicel and has a single style and a pair of stigmas at its tip. After fertilization, a capsule enlarges, finally splitting longitudinally to release the seeds with their attached cottony hairs.

Salix

Salix nigra

black willow [Blooms: ??]

The tips of the upper stems of Canadian black snakeroot give rise to umbels 2.5" across of greenish white flowers; each umbel usually consists of 1-4 umbellets, each with 2-3 pistillate flowers or perfect flowers and 2-6 staminate flowers. In perfect flowers, the pistils develop (and are deployed) before the stamens develop; the pistillate stage persists for much longer. Each flower has a green calyx with five lance-like lobes slightly longer than the five greenish-white petals. Male and perfect flowers add five stamens with white anthers and lack the series of hooked spines of the pistillate flowers. Female and perfect flowers have ovaries densely covered with distinctive, neatly stacked series of long, hooked bristles arrayed perpendicular to the axis of the flower. The fruit is round, 3-5 mm long, covered in rows of those same hooked bristles; it splits on maturity to release the two seeds.

Sanicula

Sanicula canadensis

Canadian black snakeroot [Blooms: Jun-Jul]

On black snakeroot, one to five 1/2" wide globoid umbels (flower clusters) arise from the tips of the upper stems. Each umbel is packed with 20-60 tiny flowers and their flower stalks (pedicels). In each umbel, 1-3 flowers are "perfect" (with both male and female organs) and the rest are staminate (stamens only). In addition to the male stamens, the perfect flowers have two long, cylindrical styles (emerging from a hidden ovary) that arch and recurve from the middle of the flower; the styles are much longer than the hooked bristles on the ovary. Both staminate and perfect flowers have a minute (<1 mm) green calyx with five rounded teeth, five dull yellow to greenish-yellow, heart-shaped petals (tip of the heart towards the center of the flower), and five protruding stamens <3 mm long with obvious yellow (or brown) anthers. The fruit is a 1/4" long round to cylindrical bur covered with short, hooked bristles; the remains of the styles often persist. The bur splits to release the two seeds inside.

Sanicula

Sanicula odorata

black snakeroot [Blooms: May-Jun]

At the tip of the culm, dark green bulrush produces an inflorescence comprised of one to three (rarely four or five) compound umbels of spikelets; beneath the inflorescence are 3+ leafy bracts (similar to the leaves) that are up to 1' long and 1/2" wide. At least one of the bracts is always longer than the inflorescence. The umbels generate 1/4-4" long, straight branches in all directions that terminate in umbelletes of 5-20 spikelets that rest on slender, leafy bractlets; the spikelets may be sessile or may rest on 1/2" long branchlets. The branches and branchlets are green, straight, and stiff. Spikelets are less than 1/4" long (3-6 mm), ovoid or egg-shaped, yellowish green initially but darkening to brown or black later; the spikelets are an assemblage of numerous spirally arranged, overlapping scales and their florets. The florets each have a single subtending scale, three stamens, and an ovary with a tripartite style; they are wind pollinated. Bulblets may form on one or more branches and sprout late in the season. The umbels may be visually dense and complex and take some study to sort out.

Scirpus

Scirpus atrovirens

dark green bulrush [Blooms: May-Jul]

Early figwort (aka, lanceleaf figwort) is difficult to distinguish from late- (or Maryland-) figwort (S. marilandica) except by blooming date (before July = early, after July = late, July = could be either) and details of the flowers (especially the sterile stamen). The inflorescence (a panicle) is constructed from short, spreading, sparse branches covered in glandular hairs, bearing a 3/8" long, shiny tubular flower whose outside surfaces are reddish-purple to reddish-green and inner surfaces are reddish brown (upper and lateral lobes) or greenish yellow (lower lobe). Four yellow, fertile stamens and a single blunt, slender style hug the floor of the flower, the style protruding further than the fertile stamens. A single sterile stamen (a "staminode") is located along the upper interior of the flower. The sterile stamens are yellow or green with a broad tip in early figwort (S. lanceolata); they are reddish-brown to purple and narrow in late figwort (S. marilandica). The fruit is a teardrop-shaped capsule, dark brown when mature, that splits in two longitudinally to release the numerous tiny seeds.

Scrophularia

Scrophularia lanceolata

early figwort [Blooms: May-Jul]

Late figwort's inflorescence (a panicle) gives rise to short, spreading, sparse branches covered in glandular hairs, bearing a 3/8" long, shiny tubular flower whose outside surfaces are reddish-purple to reddish-green and inner surfaces are reddish brown (upper and lateral lobes) or greenish yellow (lower lobe). Four yellow, fertile stamens and a single blunt, slender style hug the floor of the flower, the style protruding further than the fertile stamens. A single sterile stamen (a "staminode") is located along the upper interior of the flower. The sterile stamens are yellow or green with a broad tip in early figwort (S. lanceolata); they are reddish-brown to purple and narrow in late figwort (S. marilandica). The fruit is a teardrop-shaped capsule, dark brown when mature, that splits in two longitudinally to release the numerous tiny seeds.

Scrophularia

Scrophularia marilandica

late figwort [Blooms: Jul-Aug]

Black nightshade produces solitary umbels 3/4" long usually, from the axils of middle and upper leaves; the flower pedicels are about 3/8" long. Flowers are 1/4-3/8" across consisting of five sepals partially fused at the base of the flower; five white petals, green at their base, sometimes with purple highlights on the outside of the petal, and usually curved backwards; five anthers and their thick filaments appressed to form a tight, bright yellow cylinder with a yellowish-green stem; and a slender style running up the center of the appressed anthers to just emerge from the tip as a green stigma. The fruit is a 1/4-3/8" tomato-like berry, initially green; mature berries are black. The foliage and unripe fruit contain the alkaloid solanum and are toxic.

Solanum

Solanum ptychanthum

black nightshade [Blooms: Jul-Sep]

Some of coralberry's leaf axils produce dense cluster of greenish, sessile flowers. Individual flowers are 1/4" long consisting of a short green calyx with five teeth and slightly swollen basally; a stubby, tubular corolla with five bluntly-rounded lobes; five stamens with white anthers; and a pale green ovary with a hairy style. The anthers barely extend to the edge of the corolla lobes; the stigma is inset slightly deeper. The fruit is a single globoid berry containing two seeds, 1/4" long and reddish-purple when mature.

Symphoricarpos

Symphoricarpos orbiculatus

coralberry [Blooms: Aug-?]