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Prairie rose flowers arise from upper stems, either as single flowers or as groups (corymbs) of 2-4. Individual flowers are 1.5-2" across with five green, lance-shaped sepals half the length of the petals, five pink petals, a ring of numerous (~120) yellow stamens, and a button-like, flattened yellowish central cluster (the stylar disc) of short styles. The fruit is a round, 1/2" diameter rose hip, bright red when mature, with the withered remains of the five long sepals at its tip. Prairie rose prefers coarse, dry soils or sand. Prairie rose is most similar to pasture rose (Rosa carolina) but has hairless flower stalks rather than the glandular-hairy stalks of pasture rose, most flowers occur in groups of 2-4, and its leaves tend to have more leaflets (typically 9; pasture rose has 5-7).

Rosa

Rosa arkansana

prairie rose [Blooms: May-Jul]

Pasture rose flowers are usually solitary, ~2" across on pedicels covered with glandular hairs, with five bold pink (rarely white) petals, five green, pointed sepals covered with glandular hairs, ~100 bright yellow stamens, and a small yellow or yellow-orange stylar disk composed of ~40 pistils and their stigmas. The fruits are typical rose hips about 5/8" across, bright red when ripe; the glandular hairs on the pedicel and sepals persist but the sepals are deciduous and quickly fall off. The flowers are similar to purple-flowered raspberry (Rubus odoratus) but the leaves are completely different (odd-pinnate vs. palmate).

Rosa

Rosa carolina

pasture rose [Blooms: Jun-?]

Multiflora rose's flowering stalks produce abundant white flowers in panicles of up to 30 flowers — in full bloom, a multiflora rose shrub can be breathtaking. Individual flowers are about 1" across, each with five green sepals covered with glandular hairs, five oval white petals, a ring of 35-100+ stamens with bright yellow or orange anthers, and a greenish central column of styles with yellow stigmas. (The only other local species with a stylar column is climbing wild rose, Rosa setigera.) The fruit are 1/4" diameter typical rose hips, hairless, orange-red or red when mature; the sepal remnants are shed before maturity. There are at least two large multiflora rose shrubs on Wooded Island.

Rosa

Rosa multiflora

multiflora rose [Blooms: May-Jun]

Swamp rose flowers arise from the upper stems as single flowers or corymbs of 2-4 flowers. The flowers are 1.5-3" across, with five green, lance-shaped sepals, five pale- or rosy-pink, oval or heart-shaped petals, a ring of about two hundred yellow stamens, and a flat central disc of 24-50 styles that is pink or orange-red (much less often, yellow). The sepals and pedicels are covered with glandular hairs. The fruits are typical rose hips but are quite small (3/8" across, pea-sized), bright red when ripe.

Rosa

Rosa palustris

swamp rose [Blooms: May-Jun]

Rugosa rose flowers are 2-3" across; they have five sepals covered with glandular hairs, five magenta (more rarely pink or white), wrinkled petals, over 100 yellow stamens, and a yellow, flat stylar disc in the center of the flower. The fruits are typical rose hips about 1" across, bright red when ripe. Rugosa rose prefers sandy habitats and sites prone to water stress (e.g., roadsides where salt washes off the roads). The wrinkled leaves and magenta petals, profuse straight thorns/prickles, and large rose hips are distinguishing characters of rugosa rose.

Rosa

Rosa rugosa

rugosa rose [Blooms: May-Jul]

Climbing wild rose flowers are 2.5-3" across with five green sepals five times longer than wide (reflexed, then shed soon after the flowers open); five pale fuchsia to pink petals, usually with a shallow terminal notch; a ring of about 200 golden stamens; and a tall, yellow stylar column with a terminal knob in the center of the flower. (The only other local species with a stylar column is multiflora rose, Rosa multiflora.) The fruits are typical rose hips, bright red when mature, less than 1/2" wide, with no trace of the sepals.

Rosa

Rosa setigera

climbing wild rose [Blooms: Jun -Jul]

Common blackberry canes produce leaves and actively grow in their first year (primocanes); in their second year, they switch to producing flowers and fruit (floricanes). Second-year canes produce cylindrical racemes (up to 8.5' long) on the tips of short lateral shoots, longer than wide, with about a dozen flowers; the peduncles and pedicels of the raceme are covered with conspicuous glandular-tipped hairs. Each flower is 1-2" wide, has five green, pointed, triangular sepals with a tail-like extension, densely covered with glandular and non-glandular hairs; five white, rounded, wrinkled petals; 20-100 creamy stamens with white or yellow anthers; and a green cluster of numerous (100+) slender styles. After fertilization, the central cluster of styles enlarges to form a typical blackberry (drupe) 3/4" long and a bit less than half as wide, initially white or green but turning red-black when mature. The fruit is popular with most birds and mammals (including humans), who subsequently disperse the seeds.

Rubus

Rubus allegheniensis

common blackberry [Blooms: May-June]

Young, densely-hairy, stems of common dewberry terminate in single flowers or corymbs of 2-3 (rarely five) flowers. Individual flowers are 1-1.25" across consisting of five green, lance-shaped, hairy and glandular-hairy sepals with a thin, narrow "tail" at the tip; five white, wrinkled petals longer than the sepals; numerous (20-100) stamens; and a cluster of 5-150 green carpels with their club-shaped styles in the center of the flower. Floral stems may also arise from the axils of leaves. The fruits are pretty typical compound drupes (aggregate fruit like blackberries) 1/2-3/4" across, usually tightly attached to the receptacle with relatively few drupelets (10-40 of the smaller sections of the fruit); ripe fruit are dark red to black and shiny (not pruinose).

Rubus

Rubus flagellaris

common dewberry [Blooms: May-Jun]

Purple-flowered raspberry's flowers are large (up to 2-3") with five sepals densely covered with reddish glandular hairs, bluntly triangular, about half the length of the petals with long, thread-like tips; five magenta, rounded, laterally overlapping petals surrounding a compact ring of 20-100 thread-like stamens with yellow anthers; and a central mound of several hundred pale yellow, club-shaped styles. The fruit is a typical drupe, 3/4" in diameter, reddish-pink when mature, more flattened than a commercial raspberry. It can be hard to find on the plant — it is very popular with birds. Between the maple-like leaves and the showy, magenta flowers, purple-flowered raspberry is impossible to confuse with any other Rubus spp. in Illinois. Purple-flowered raspberry prefers partial shade (like woodland edges); it is critically endangered in Illinois.

Rubus

Rubus odoratus

purple-flowered raspberry [Blooms: Apr/May-Aug]

Second-year canes of Pennsylvania blackberry produce 2-4" (across) corymbs of flowers on the tips of short lateral shoots. Each flower is about one inch wide, has five green, largely hairless, lance-shaped sepals much shorter than the petals with a thin "tail" on their tips; five white, oblong, wrinkled petals, widest about a third of the way from the distal tip; 20-100 creamy stamens with white or yellow anthers; and a light green cluster of numerous (100+) styles. Lance-like stipules or large leafy bracts flank the base of the flower pedicel, the latter often partially hiding the flower. After fertilization, the central cluster of styles enlarges to form a typical blackberry (drupe) 3/4" long, initially white or green but turning black when mature. The fruit is popular with most birds and mammals (including humans), who subsequently disperse the seeds.

Rubus

Rubus pensilvanicus

Pennsylvania blackberry [Blooms: May-Jun]

Orange coneflower (aka, Sullivant's coneflower) is a short sunflower (1.5-2.5') similar to black-eyed susan but the stems are green (not red) and are sparsely (rather than very) hairy with pronounced grooves; overall orange sunflower is less hairy than black-eyed susan. The stem leaves are alternate, about twice as long as wide, up to 5" long but decreasing in size and becoming narrower up the stem; they have toothed margins, taper to a short, winged petiole (lacking in black-eyed susan), and have three main veins (one central and two submarginal). The petioles are either sessile or clasp the stem. The flowerheads are 2-3" across, produced on the apex of the stems; each flowerhead has 10-20 yellow or orange (sterile) ray florets with the petal tips notched; the numerous (50 to over 500) disk florets are tubular and dark brownish-purple with five small lobes around their upper rim and a divided style. Petals that are yellow-colored often have orange bases. This species can be highly variable.

Rudbeckia

Rudbeckia fulgida

orange coneflower [Blooms: Jul-Aug]

Black-eyed susan flowerheads are 2-3" across; they have two series (outer longer than inner) of numerous slender, sharply-pointed, green bracts beneath the flowerhead, each densely covered with long, stiff hairs; 8-20 (usually less than 12) yellow-orange, sterile ray florets (rarely with a maroon patch near the base of the petal); and 250 to over 500 dark purplish-brown disk florets, each with slender, sharply pointed styles. The fruit consists of numerous four-sided brown or black seeds that remain embedded in the remnants of the disc flowers (a gumdrop shaped, brown mass).

Rudbeckia

Rudbeckia hirta

black-eyed susan [Blooms: Jun-Oct]

Cutleaf coneflower (aka, green-headed coneflower) is an imposing tallgrass prairie plant, 3-8' tall, that can form dense stands. The composite flowerheads are 2-3" across. Eight to fifteen light green, oblong bracts lie beneath a central globe-like, light green to yellow cone surrounded by 6-12 yellow, drooping, sterile ray florets. The disk florets have yellow to yellowish green corollas and a protruding bifurcated stigma; the stamens are yellow, fused to the base of the corolla, with deep purple anthers attached around the styles side-by-side. Immature disk florets are green (thus the alternative common name); mature disk florets produce a spikey appearance. The disk florets mature from the bottom of the cone to the top, lending a pincushion-like appearance to the cone.

Rudbeckia

Rudbeckia laciniata

cutleaf coneflower [Blooms: Jul-Sep]

Sweet coneflower flowerheads are 2-3.5" across, occurring as single blooms on the tips of stems or branches. A flowerhead is comprised of numerous 1/2" long medium green, lance-shaped phyllaries, downy with short hairs; 10-20 bright yellow, oblong, sterile ray florets with a tiny notch at their tips; and a deep brown hemisphere of 200-400 disk florets (the central disc). The disk florets have a tubular, dark reddish-purple corolla; bifurcated stigmas that have sharp tips; with the purplish-brown anthers adhering side by side around the deep purple styles. Sweet coneflower is distinctive among the Jackson Park coneflowers with its chocolate brown disk and bright yellow, elongate-oval petals with a shallow notch at their tips.

Rudbeckia

Rudbeckia subtomentosa

sweet coneflower [Blooms: Jul-Aug]

Brown-eyed susan is a native bushy plant that branches at the leaf axils and produces prodigious numbers of small flowers, up to 5' tall. The stems are deep reddish brown and covered with long white hairs. The leaves are alternate, twice as long as wide, lance-shaped, up to 4" long and covered by short, stiff hairs that give it a rough texture. Some lower leaves are three-lobed, sometimes deeply, and halberd- or trident-shaped. Upper stems terminate in one or two flowerheads, 1-2" across. Each flowerhead has an underlying inner and outer series of eight (total) green bracts with hairs along the margins; 6-13 golden-yellow, sterile ray florets, often with a small notch in the tips of the oval petals; and a central cone of 150 to over 300 purplish-brown, cylindrical disc florets with five stamens and short, blunt, bifurcated stigma. If in doubt, brown-eyed susan tends to be taller than black-eyed susan, with fewer petals (6-13 vs. 8-20) and smaller flowers.

Rudbeckia

Rudbeckia triloba

brown-eyed susan [Blooms: Jun-Sep]

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]