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Rough blazing star's floral spike grows directly from the stem 6-18" long, with composite flowerheads along its length. Very early buds may appear as white, miniature cabbage-like structures, with purple highlights. Flowerheads open from the apex and proceed in a wave towards the base of the inflorescence. Flowerheads are about 1" across and usually stalkless. They are composed entirely of 25-40 disc florets (no ray florets), each with a tubular pinkish-purple corolla with five sharply-pointed apical lobes; a very long divided style emerges from the center of the corolla and the five brown anthers are inserted side by side around the base of the style. The exterior of the flowerhead is covered with 4-5 overlapping series of green or purple-tinged broadly rounded bracts whose edges are rolled in and rough with series of distinct, tiny teeth. Rocky Mountain blazing star's bracts look very similar to rough blazing star's, but the flowerheads of rough blazing star are essentially sessile (flower stalk no more than 1/4" long) while the flowerheads of Rocky Mountain blazing star have significant stalks, most commonly 1/2-1" long (as long as the flowerhead). The Jackson Park blazing stars bloom in the order cylindrical, prairie, rough, marsh, and Rocky Mountain; in relative abundance, rough is the most common, followed by cylindrical, prairie, marsh, and Rocky Mountain. Quick key to the Jackson Park blazing stars: bracts covering base of the flowerhead are (1) sharply pointed (-> cylindrical), (2) recurved away from flower, flaring (-> prairie), (3) tip round, closely appressed (-> marsh), (4) margins with tiny teeth, rolled under (-> rough if flower stalk is very short, Rocky Mountain if flower stalk about same length as flowerhead).

Liatris

Liatris aspera

rough blazing-star [Blooms: Aug-Sept]

Cylindrical blazing star is a more open plant than the other Jackson Park blazing stars, with the flowerheads relatively widely spaced along the 2-4" long racemes that are perched atop a 1-1.5' tall, unbranched stem. The showy flowerheads are pink or purplish-pink, about 1/2-3/4" in diameter, sessile or held on up to 3/4" stalks, with 15-25 disk flowers and no ray flowers; the base of the flowerheads is covered with 5-7 layers of scale-like, overlapping bracts with a sharp tip that together form a slim cylinder ~3/4" long and 1/3" diameter. The disk florets are tubular with five recurved triangular flaps at their apex; a pinkish white style, surrounded at its base by the five closely-packed yellowish-brown anthers and divided distally into two long filaments. Cylindrical blazing star appears to prefer dryer, well drained soils. The Jackson Park blazing stars bloom in the order cylindrical, prairie, rough, marsh, and Rocky Mountain; in relative abundance, rough is the most common, followed by cylindrical, prairie, marsh, and Rocky Mountain blazing stars. Quick key to the Jackson Park blazing stars: bracts covering base of the flowerhead are (1) sharply pointed (-> cylindrical), (2) recurved away from flower, flaring (-> prairie), (3) tip round, closely appressed (-> marsh), (4) margins with tiny teeth, rolled under (-> rough if flower stalk is very short, Rocky Mountain if flower stalk about same length as flowerhead).

Liatris

Liatris cylindracea

cylindrical blazing-star [Blooms: Jul-Aug]

Rocky Mountain blazing star (aka, northern plains blazing star) is the least common of the blazing stars in Jackson Park. Flowerheads lack ray florets but have 30-100 disc florets. Rocky Mountain blazing star flowerheads most closely resemble those of rough blazing star in that the bracts covering the base of the flowers in both have their edges rolled under with toothed edges, but the bracts in Rocky Mountain blazing star tend to flatten with age. The best way to distinguish the two species is by the length of the flowerhead's stalk —  the flowerheads of rough blazing star are essentially stalkless (stalks 1/4" long max) while those of Rocky Mountain blazing star are typically 1/2-1" long or longer, often the same size or longer than the flowerhead itself. Illinois is on the eastern edge of Rocky Mountain blazing star's range, so it's a fairly rare sight here. Quick key to the Jackson Park blazing stars: bracts covering base of the flowerhead are (1) sharply pointed (-> cylindrical), (2) recurved away from flower, flaring (-> prairie), (3) tip round, closely appressed (-> marsh), (4) margins with tiny teeth, rolled under (-> rough if flower stalk is very short, Rocky Mountain if flower stalk about same length as flowerhead).

Liatris

Liatris ligulistylis

Rocky Mountain blazing-star [Blooms: Aug-Sep]

Savanna blazing-star's inflorescence is a long (up to 24"), narrow raceme of 10-40 flowerheads blooming in order from the tip of the inflorescence downwards. Each flowerhead has a 1/2-3.5" long, ascending stalk (peduncle); flowerheads are usually solitary on the peduncle. A sessile, leafy bract resembling the leaves occurs at the base of each peduncle. The central stalk of the inflorescences and the peduncle are fuzzy with short, white hairs. Each flowerhead is 1-2" across; they have 20-80 disk florets and no ray florets. The disk florets are tubular with five narrow, spreading lobes. The styles are bifurcated and extend well beyond the corolla of the disk florets, giving the flowerheads a shaggy aspect. There are five stamens hidden within the throat of the disk floret; the black anthers are visible, appressed to the body of the style. Surrounding the base of the flowerhead are scale-like bracts (phyllaries) in 4-6 overlapping series; they are slightly spreading and angled upwards but are neither appressed nor recurved. Individual phyllaries are oval or egg-shaped with short hairs protruding from their margins; they are often dark purple when the flowerhead is blooming. The fruit is a cylindrical, black seed with a tuft of white hairs about twice as long as the seed on one end. Preferred habitats are sandy savannas. Skippers and monarch butterflies seem particularly fond of savanna blazing-star. Savanna blazing-star might be confused with the much more common rough blazing star (Liatris aspera), but the latter always has appressed phyllaries with toothed, incurved edges, in contrast to savanna blazing-star's spreading, flat phyllaries and a much shorter stalk beneath the flowerhead than is present in savanna blazing-star. NatureServe Explorer (https://explorer.natureserve.org) rejects the name "Liatris scariosa" in favor of "Liatris novae-angliae" but ITIS (www.itis.gov)rejects the latter, as does the USDA Plants website(https://plants.usda.gov/). Here we will follow the latter two sources.

Liatris

Liatris scariosa

savanna blazing-star [Blooms: Aug]

Liriope spicata is native to east and south-east Asia but was introduced to North America (specifically Illinois and Alabama) as a ground cover — it is perennial and evergreen. A single plant grows 6-18" tall and 12-24" across; it does not tolerate foot traffic. The arching leaves are dark green, grass-like, 18" long and 1/4" across, with minutely-serrated edges and parallel venation. The inflorescence is a spike-like, brownish-white rachis covered with off white or pale lavender flowers. The flowers have six elongate oval tepals, six stamens with yellow anthers, and a stubby white style about the same length as the stamens. The fruit is a berry that is initially green, turning blackish as it matures.

Liriope

Liriope spicata

creeping lilyturf [Blooms: Aug-Sep]

Wild lupine is Illinois' only native lupine. The plant is small (1-2.5' tall) with light- to reddish-green stems with a grey cast from profuse short hairs (as are the leaves and leaf petioles). The flowers are blue-violet, typical pea-like flowers ~3/4" long, similar in structure to wild indigo flowers (five petals — a banner, two wings, and two keels). The fruits are 1-2" long, hairy pea-like seed pods, black when mature. The palmately-compound leaves with such a profusion of leaflets are distinctive. Wild lupine is the only known host plant for the caterpillars of the Karner Blue Butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis), a federally listed endangered species.

Lupinus

Lupinus perennis

wild lupine [Blooms: May-Jun]

Winged loosestrife is a native species that has a central stem up to 3' tall, much more modest that its notorious cousin, purple loosestrife. The stem is four-sided, narrowly winged, and largely hairless; wings run along the stem but are interrupted at the leaf nodes. The inflorescence is a spike up to 1.5' long; the flowers develop singly or in pairs from the axils of bracts on the inflorescence. Each flower is pale lavender or purple and smaller than the flowers of purple loosestrife (1/4-1/2") but otherwise superficially similar — pale purple or lavender, six wrinkled petals with a medial purple stripe, six stamens. The light green, narrow calyx is about as long as the petals, has six (not five) lance-shaped teeth, and bold longitudinal stripes. The style may or may not protrude from the corolla — the flowers are distylous so the styles may either lie just inside the flower throat or protrude well outside; the style has a fuzzy, green, globular stigma. The fruit is a capsule that develops in the remnants of the calyx. Winged loosestrife prefers wet soils and is a less showy plant than purple loosestrife, but it is a native plant that plays nicely with its neighbors.

Lythrum

Lythrum alatum

winged loosestrife [Blooms: Jun-Aug]

Purple loosestrife plants are 2-5' tall. The stems branch frequently, are square in section or ridged, and are very hairy except where the stem is woody. The very showy flower spikes can be up to 20" long. Individual flowers are 1/2-1" wide that are sessile or on very short stalks; there are 5-7 (usually six) purple, wrinkled petals with a dark purple line near their base. (Imagine purple crepe paper.) The long tubular calyx is yellow-green, ridged, and hairy, with five long, narrow teeth at the distal end. Purple loosestrife is "tristylous" — it exhibits three discrete flower morphs that differ in the relative lengths of the stamens and style. Each plant bears flowers of only a single morph. Each morph has two different lengths of stamens — pistil short, stamens long AND stamens intermediate in length; pistil intermediate in length, stamens short AND long; and pistil long, stamens short AND intermediate in length. Tristyly presumably minimizes self-fertilization. Purple loosestrife is a very aggressive, invasive species which crowds out other species. Another invasive which is also called purple loosestrife, Lythrum virgatum, has similar flowers but the leaves narrow towards their base. (L. virgatum is not known to occur — yet — in Illinois.) Do not confuse purple loosestrife with the native winged loosestrife (Lythrum alatum) which has winged stems, smaller flowers (1/2"), hairless foliage, and solitary flowers in leaf axils. It's not as striking a plant as purple loosestrife, but it plays better with its neighbors.

Lythrum

Lythrum salicaria

purple loosestrife [Blooms: Jun-Sep]

Common mallow flower stalks arise from the leaf axils. They are 1/2-1" long, attached to one to three, 1/4-1/2" wide flowers. Individual flowers have a green calyx with five pointed, triangular lobes half the length of the petals; white or pale violet squared-off petals with a shallow notch and pale violet lines; the 12-15 stamens make a bumpy, white globe around the 12-15 fused pink styles in the middle of the flower, with the inner surface of the style tips as the stigmas. The fruit is a round, flattened ovoid with radiating lines (the edges of the carpels) around a dimpled center, nestled in the remains of the calyx. Some people claim that the fruit resembles a wheel of cheese (thus one of the common names); it reminds me more of a miniature gourd. All parts of this plant are edible.

Malva

Malva neglecta

common mallow [Blooms: May-Oct]

Field mint flowers occur in whorls of about 20 above the axils of the upper leaves. Individual flowers are 1/8" long with a green calyx with small triangular lobes; a tubular, lavender, pink, or white corolla with a two-lobed upper lip and a lower lip with 0-3 lobes; four stamens protruding well beyond the tips of the flower; and a style longer than the stamens. The fruit consists of four small nutlets nestled in the flower calyx, each with a single seed. Field mint is a very widely-distributed (circumboreal) plant. Field mint is similar to Virginia bugleweed (Lycopus virginicus) in that both have flowers in whorls in the axils of paired, opposite leaves, but the latter has only white flowers in much sparser whirls with two stamens no longer than the tips of the flower. Field mint could possibly be confused with motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) but the latter has distinctive three or five lobed angular-cleft leaves and lacks the boldly-protruding stamens of field mint. Finally, some sources (and plant ID apps) identify "Mentha canadensis" as occurring in Illinois and neighboring states. However, both ITIS (https://www.itis.gov/) and the USDA plants database (https://plants.usda.gov/) agree that the name "Mentha canadensis," often applied to this species, is invalid and a junior synonym of Mentha arvensis (field mint).

Mentha

Mentha arvensis

field mint [Blooms: Jun-Sep]

Square-stemmed monkeyflower flowers arise singly from the upper leaf axils; they are tubular and ~1" long. The calyx is light green, elongate (about 2/3" — quite large relative to the corolla), and tubular, with five sharp longitudinal ridges/wings that project into lance-like teeth; the flower pedicels are hairless and at least as long as the calyx. The corolla is usually pale blue-violet (rarely pink or white) with a two-lobed, erect upper lip (folded so the upper sides of the lobes are back to back) and a three-lobed lower lip with a patch of yellow on either side of the midline. The throat is lined with hairs and obscured by ridges in the lower lip. The seed capsules develop within the persistant calyx. The flower is quite prolific, producing 500-1000 seeds per flower. Four stamens and a single pistil are present but not visible externally. Square-stemmed monkeyflower strongly prefers moist or wet areas. The only other Illinois monkeyflower (winged monkeyflower, Mimulus alatus) apparently does not occur this far north.

Mimulus

Mimulus ringens

square-stemmed monkeyflower [Blooms: Jul-Sep]

Wild four o'clock flowers occur in clusters of 3-5, nestled in a five-lobed, saucer-shaped green bract (often with purplish tints) folded into a boxy shape; a typical calyx is absent. Instead, the flowers "petals" are a trumpet-shaped modified calyx with five notched lobes, 1/2" across and magenta in color; the 3-5 stamens protrude from the flower and have yellow anthers while the single slender pink style is even longer than the stamens, terminating in a stigma shaped like a pin head. After fertilization, the bract opens out into a whitish, pentagonal saucer (often with purplish highlights on the margins) with five radiating ridges; the rough, black, hairy seeds are suspended from the center. It is easy to mistake the mature bract for an odd flower, but a "flower" that attaches directly to the flower pedicel and lacks any trace of other flower parts (including the stamens and pistil). It's often claimed that the flowers tend to open in the late afternoon, but the wild four o'clock in Jackson Park happily open any time of day, including the morning.

Mirabilis

Mirabilis nyctaginea

wild four-o'clock [Blooms: Jun-Sep]

Wild bergamot is a showy plant in the mint family that often occurs in dense stands in Jackson Park. Flowerheads/clusters 1-3" in diameter arise at the apex of flower stems that arise from leaf axils. Blooming begins in the center of the cluster and moves progressively toward the periphery, with the arching flowers pointing in all directions. Flowers are tubular (they remind me of baroque trumpets with embellished bells), about 1" long. They have a short green tubular calyx; a lavender or pink corolla (other mints are white, red, or purple); an awning-like upper lip beneath which protrude two stamens with brownish-purple anthers and the single style (with an unevenly bifurcated tip) significantly longer than the stamens. The 1/2" wide lower lip offers a surface where the pollinators land. The lower lip has three small lobes at its tip. Seeds develop within the persistant calyx. The very similar bee balm (Monarda didyma) has scarlet flowers. Wild bergamot is widely used as a component of herbal teas.

Monarda

Monarda fistulosa

wild bergamot [Blooms: Jul-Aug]

French grass flowers are 1/4" long, pea-like, with a short, green, tubular calyx with five teeth, and five blue, purple, or white petals — a single upright banner, two forward-projecting wings, and two closely-appressed petals that make up the keel (largely hidden by the wings). Ten stamens and the style are nestled inside the keel. Seedpods are about 1/2" long with a stout, pointed "beak."

Orbexilum

Orbexilum onobrychis

French-grass [Blooms: Jun-Jul]

Calico penstemon (aka, long-sepaled penstemon) is a typical penstemon/beardtongue — 1-3' tall with an unbranched stem and a panicle of flowers at the apex of the stem. Flowers are about 1" long, with a calyx with five long (5-12 mm), narrow (1-2 mm) lobes, a tubular corolla with two upper lobes and three lower lobes on the aperture, and four stamens and a single style, all enclosed by the corolla. The corolla's exterior is light purple or light violet and covered in fine hairs; the interior of the corolla is white and smooth, without ridges. The lobes on the lower lip of the corolla do not protrude beyond the lobes of the upper lip. Calico penstemon is fairly rare in Jackson Park.

Penstemon

Penstemon calycosus

calico penstemon [Blooms: Jun-Jul]

Slender beardtongue (aka, lilac penstemon) is another beardtongue/penstemon that is uncommon in Jackson Park. The stems are unbranched, green or purple, and may or may not bear hairs. There are both basal and stem leaves. The basal and lower stem leaves are 1-3" long and 1/2" wide, variable in shape and leaf margins; the stem leaves are smaller and minutely toothed. Individual flowers are pinkish, purple, or pale violet, about 3/4" long; they are comprised of a green calyx with five triangular lobes and a tubular corolla that is abruptly inflated in the more distal two thirds of the flower. The lower lip of the corolla has three lobes that extend down and out from the aperture the upper lip has two smaller, erect lobes. The interior of the corolla is white with several dark purple lines that act as nectar guides. The filament of a sterile stamen (a "staminode") bearing sparse yellow hairs runs along the midline of the lower half of the corolla, while the filaments of the other four stamens wrap around the inside of the corolla like ribs in a ribcage, with the black anthers positioned on either side of the midline of the upper corolla. A single style runs along the upper midline between the black anthers. The fruit is a more or less bullet-shaped capsule nestled in the persistant calyx. The calyx, flowers, and flower stalks are all covered with glandular hairs; the stems and leaves are not.

Penstemon

Penstemon gracilis

slender beardtongue [Blooms: Jun-Jul]

Large-flowered penstemon flowers develop in the axils of the stem leaves in pairs. (Occasionally a triplet will arise.) Individual flowers are up to 2" long, pale lavender or pink, tubular, sightly flattened vertically but flaring at the aperture, with a two-lobed upper lip and 3-lobed lower lip with purple lines on the interior. The bluish-green calyx has five teeth. A distinct longitudinal ridge runs along the upper surface of the corolla, intersecting the aperture between the two upper lobes. A white style with a tiny stigma runs along the inside of the corolla under the longitudinal ridge and protrudes from the throat. The four fertile stamens are recessed, with their filaments wrapped around the inside of the corolla like a ribcage and the anthers on either side of the dorsal midline; the fifth (sterile) stamen runs along the lower midline and ends in a recurved or coiled tip with a prominent pad bearing short, brilliant-yellow hairs. The fruit is a teardrop-shaped seed pod nestled in the remains of the calyx. Large-flowered penstemon prefers poorer but well-drained soils with significant rocky material or sand. This species is officially listed as "endangered" in Illinois.

Penstemon

Penstemon grandiflorus

large-flowered penstemon [Blooms: May-Jul]

Hairy beardtongue is 1-2.5' tall and blatantly hairy — backlit plants seen from a distance show a white nimbus around the stems. The flowers are slender, lavender colored, with white lips; the aperture of the flower is nearly occluded by the arched lower lip. Like the other beardtongues/penstemons the tubular flowers have an upper and lower lip have a total of five lobes (two above, three below). The calyx, flower stems, and the flowers themselves are densely covered by glandular hairs; the stems are densely covered with fine white hairs. The stem leaves are pointed, triangular with toothed margins, and occur in opposite pairs; the leaf pairs are oriented at 90° to the pairs above and below them on the stem.

Penstemon

Penstemon hirsutus

hairy beardtongue [Blooms: May-Jul]