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The inflorescences of common comfrey are nodding cymes or racemes of flowers that arise from the tips of the stems and the lateral branches. The flowers are bell-shaped, about 1/4" across and 1/2-5/8" long. Each flower has a hairy, green calyx with five lance-like teeth that is half the length of the corolla; a purple, pink or white funnel- or bell-shaped corolla with five small, recurved lobes at its lip; five stamens that do not extend past the margin of the corolla; and a pistil with a single white style that barely protrudes past the corolla margin. The fruits are a cluster of four, 4-5 mm long, nutlets nestled in the remnants of the flower calyx; the nutlets are dark brown or black when mature, oval and slightly flattened at one end. The remnants of the style protrude from the center of the fruit. Extracts of common comfrey are sometimes sold as herbal remedies but be aware that the plant is mildly toxic; it contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids that can be absorbed through the skin or gastric system and may cause (potentially fatal) liver toxicity and may be carcinogenic. Comfrey products for internal use or for use on open wounds are banned in the U.S. by the F.D.A. Supplements containing common comfrey probably should be avoided.

Symphytum

Symphytum officinale

common comfrey [Blooms: Apr-Jul]

Erect hedge-parsley's main stem and side stems give rise to umbels 1.5-2" across of 10-20 umbellets of flowers. Each flower is about 1/8" across consisting of five white petals (often markedly unequal in size), and a creamy white center surrounded by five pink to white stamens. The fruit is an 1/8" long oval covered in hooked hairs to aid in bur-like dispersal; it contains two seeds. (The fruit of common hedge-parsley (Torilis arvensis) has straight or only slightly curved hairs, not hooked, but the hairs are barbed.)

Torilis

Torilis japonica

erect hedge-parsley [Blooms: Jun-Jul]

The tip of a smooth ironweed central stem bears a cluster (a corymb) up to 4" in diameter of magenta composite flowerheads that is quite densely packed in a flat or (sometimes) domed inflorescence. The branches of the inflorescence (but not the stem) may be lightly fuzzy with small hairs. Each flowerhead is 3/4" across and contains 10-30 magenta disk florets, each with five lobes and a very prominent, divided style with curled tips (the stigmas) and five stamens appressed to the base of the style; ray florets are completely absent. The bracts that cover the underside of the flowerheads are green or purplish brown, flattened, appressed, and rounded at their tips, imbricated like fish scales with white, cobwebby hairs around their edges. The fruit is a naked seed with an attached tuft of white hairs (actually, scales). To sort out the Jackson Park ironweeds: (1) if both leaves and stem are densely covered with fine white hairs, the leaves are about 3-4 times longer than wide, and each flowerhead has more than 30 disk florets, it's Missouri ironweed (V. missurica). (2) If both leaves and stems are hairless, there are less than 30 disk florets, and the leaves are narrow (typically a half inch or less; about 6-10+ times longer than wide), it's smooth ironweed (V. fasiculata). (3) If the stems and leaves have only short hairs, there are less than 30 disk florets, and the leaves are about 2" wide and 4-6 times longer than wide, it's tall ironweed (V. gigantea).

Vernonia

Vernonia fasciculata

smooth ironweed [Blooms: Jun-Sep]

Tall ironweed's inflorescence is a flat-topped panicle arising from the tip of the central stem; it is 6-16" across, open and spreading. There are 10-30 disk florets in a tall ironweed flowerhead. The base of the flowerhead is covered by several series of dark colored, broadly oval appressed bracts (phyllaries), often with fine hairs around their edges. The disk florets have tubular, trumpet-like corollas with five recurved lobes; ray florets are absent. Tall ironweed has a much more "open" composite flowerhead than the other ironweeds in Jackson Park, with the trumpet bases of the disk florets easily visible. The fruits are naked, gray or brown, bullet-shaped seeds with a tuft of both short and long tawny or pale purple hairs. To sort out the Jackson Park ironweeds: (1) if both leaves and stem are densely covered with fine white hairs, the leaves are about 3-4 times longer than wide, and each flowerhead has more than 30 disk florets, it's Missouri ironweed (V. missurica). (2) If both leaves and stems are hairless, there are less than 30 disk florets, and the leaves are narrow (typically a half inch or less; about 6-10+ times longer than wide), it's smooth ironweed (V. fasiculata). (3) If the stems and leaves have only short hairs, there are less than 30 disk florets, and the leaves are about 2" wide and 4-6 times longer than wide, it's tall ironweed (V. gigantea).

Vernonia

Vernonia gigantea

tall ironweed [Blooms: Jul-?]

At the tip of a Missouri ironweed stem, a corymb of composite flowerheads (the inflorescence) is produced. The stems of the inflorescence are also covered in fine white hairs and usually reddish brown in color. Individual flowerheads are magenta and rayless; ray florets are completely absent. Flowerheads contain 32-60 disk florets, each 1/2-3/4" across, which have rounded or broadly angled bracts (phyllaries) with sharp tips, dull green or reddish brown in color, that are layered like fish scales around the base. To sort out the Jackson Park ironweeds: (1) if both leaves and stem are densely covered with fine white hairs, the leaves are about 3-4 times longer than wide, and each flowerhead has more than 30 disk florets, it's Missouri ironweed (V. missurica). (2) If both leaves and stems are hairless, there are less than 30 disk florets, and the leaves are narrow (typically a half inch or less; about 6-10+ times longer than wide), it's smooth ironweed (V. fasiculata). (3) If the stems and leaves have only short hairs, there are less than 30 disk florets, and the leaves are about 2" wide and 4-6 times longer than wide, it's tall ironweed (V. gigantea).

Vernonia

Vernonia missurica

Missouri ironweed [Blooms: Jul-Oct]

American wisteria's flowers occur in showy terminal racemes. The flowers have 1/2" long pedicels that are densely covered with stiff hairs and some club-shaped, stalked glands. Individual flowers consist of a 1/4-3/8"white to pale green, hairy calyx and 15-20 mm long bluish-purple, pea-like, hairless flowers. The expanded portion of the banner (or standard) is bent backwards so it is perpendicular to the axis of the rest of the flower; the two lateral petals cover the keel like a hood. There are 10 stamens with tiny anthers, an ovary encircled by a nectar gland, and a single style hidden within the keel; nine of the 10 stamens are fused to each other, the tenth is free. The fruits are 2.75-4" long pea-like, hairless green pods containing 4-8 kidney-shaped or oval seeds, each about 8 mm wide; the pods are brown and the seeds are black when mature. The seeds contain an alpha-amino acid called canavanine which is structurally similar to L-arginine and the pods contain a saponin called wisterin; neither is a good thing to ingest. I've only seen American wisteria growing on the fence west of Japanese Garden. Periodically, the Park District cuts it down, I suspect because they fear for the fence's structural integrity (it's a heavy plant), but I wish a better solution could be found given American wisteria's rarity.

Wisteria

Wisteria frutescens

American wisteria [Blooms: May-Oct]