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White blue-eyed grass is a native perennial, 6-12" tall with a tuft of basal leaves and flowering stalks that are grass-like (if you squint). The basal leaves are green, 1/8" across, and strap-like; they are shorter than the flowering stalks. The flowering stalks are weakly winged and have a pair of sessile spathes (bracts sheltering the inflorescence) at their tips. The spathes consist of a pair of 1" long reddish or light brownish green bracts backed by a 3" long leafy bract; an umbel of up to six flowers arises between the bracts but only one or two flowers are in bloom at any given time. Each flower is only about 1/2" across and is supported by a 1/2" long pedicel. The flower consists of six white or pale blue tepals with a yellow patch at their bases and narrow, dagger-like tips; a column of yellow or orange-yellow stamens fused along their length almost to the anthers; and a globoid, green ovary covered with fine hairs and sporting a style with three slender lobes. Fertilized flowers produce a ridged, globoid seed capsule, initially green but turning tan to brown as it matures.

Sisyrinchium

Sisyrinchium albidum

white blue-eyed grass [Blooms: May-?]

Water parsnip's upper stems end in 2-5" wide, flat-topped umbels of flowers with numerous (10-20) umbellets, each with 20-35 tiny (1/8" wide) flowers. At the base of the umbel are 6-10 narrow bracts that are curved down towards the stem. Each flower has a 3-5 mm long stalk; a short, light green calyx; five white, heart-shaped petals with incurved tips; five stamens that extend well outside the flower; and an ovary with two diverging styles. The fruits are 3 mm long, slightly laterally compressed, oblong, with strong ribbing; each fruit contains exactly two seeds.

Sium

Sium suave

water parsnip [Blooms: Jul-Aug]

Early goldenrod's inflorescence is apical, a panicle of flowering stems that "often arch upward and outward like a fireworks display" (John Hilty, www.illinoiswildflowers.info). Individual flowerheads are about 1/4" across; they have 4-12 yellow ray florets, not all open at one time, and 8-15 yellow disk florets. The base of the flowerhead is surrounded by 3-4 series of overlapping, narrow, hairless, yellowish-green bracts (phyllaries) that together are 3-4 mm (1/16") long. The pedicels (flower stalks) are usually hairless, all attached on one side of the panicle's flowering branches and curving upward. The fruit is a cone-shaped dry seed 1-1.5 mm long with an attached tuft of light brown hairs 2.5-3.5 mm long. The combination of wing-like leaflets in the leaf axils, hairless stems and leaves, and an inflorescence whose flowering stems flare up and out is diagnostic for early goldenrod. Field goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis) is much the same size and general appearance, but has hairy stems and leaves, unlike early goldenrod.

Solidago

Solidago juncea

early goldenrod [Blooms: Jul/Aug-?]

The wand-shaped, nodding inflorescence of field goldenrod arises from the tip of the stem; it is 3-7" long and widest in the middle, tapering towards either end; the flowerheads are all on one side of the flower branches. Flowerheads are each 1/4" across consisting of 4-10 yellow ray florets and 3-10 yellow disk florets. The bracts (phyllaries) surrounding the base of the flowerhead are in three overlapping series; they are pale greenish yellow, covered in short, white hairs. The fruit is a dry seed 0.5-2 mm long with an attached tuft of light brown hairs. Field goldenrod can be distinguished from other goldenrods by (1) its diminutive size, (2) the inflorescence that nods to one size, (3) leaflets present in leaf axils (4) short, fine hairs on both leaves and stems, and (5) the grayish cast of the leaves.

Solidago

Solidago nemoralis

field goldenrod [Blooms: Aug-Oct]

Stiff goldenrod's inflorescence (a corymb) arises from the tip of the main stem and from the upper side stems. It is a compact, flat-topped or rounded mass of flowers 2-5" wide. Each flower is 3/8" across (big for a goldenrod) with 6-13 yellow, pistillate ray florets (with purple styles and no stamens) and up to 35 (usually fewer) yellow, perfect disc florets with five yellow stamens and a purplish, split style. The back of the flowerhead is covered with 3-5 series of overlapping bracts (phyllaries) with the midvein and other veins visible. The fruit is a dry seed that is angular in outline, about 2 mm long with a tuft of white or light brown hairs. The distinctive stiff, rounded upper leaves that clasp the stem are all you need to unequivocally identify stiff goldenrod.

Solidago

Solidago rigida

stiff goldenrod [Blooms: Aug-Oct]

Showy goldenrod's inflorescence is a showy, cylindrical panicle up to 12" long arising from the tip of the stem; the flowering stems are erect or curve upwards and the flowerheads occur on all sides of the flowering stems. (Unlike most goldenrods, where the flowering stems curve outward and downward and the flowerheads are on one side of the flowering stems.) Each flowerhead is about 1/4" across consisting of 4-10 large (for a goldenrod) pistillate ray florets (no stamens) and 6-16 perfect disk florets (both stamens and style). Behind the flowerhead are 3-4 series of overlapping bracts (phyllaries), each with a prominent midvein. The fruit is a 2 mm long seed with dark brown longitudinal grooves and a tuft of light brown hairs. Showy goldenrod is distinguished from other goldenrods by the character combination of: (1) stem leaf margins smooth (not toothed), (2) wing-like leaflets in axils of upper leaves, (3) the stems of the inflorescence erect or curve upward (not out and down), and (4) stems and leaves largely or completely hairless except in the inflorescence.

Solidago

Solidago speciosa

showy goldenrod [Blooms: Jul-Oct]

Great Plains ladies'-tresses flowers are arranged in three rows spiraling up around the stem. The petals and sepals are both white with a tinge of yellow on the lower lip (lower petal). The two petals are top and bottom of the bloom, with the lower, ruffled petal extending out and down; the two sepals are narrower than the petals and flank the side of the bloom, sometimes arching higher than the petals. Typically, there is a single stamen; the style is fused to the surface of the lower petal deep in the flower. The base of the flower is nestled between oval green bracts which cup the ovary and taper to a sharp point above the flower. Great Plains ladies'-tresses are probably pollinated by bumblebees, but information is sparse. If you get down on your hands and knees (or, better, lie down beside the plant) and put your nose up against the blooms, it is really true that they smell like vanilla(!). A closely related species, nodding ladies'-tresses (Spiranthes cernua) was once considered to be the same species as Great Plains ladies tresses, but the former still has its basal leaves on blooming and no scent while the latter never has the basal leaves when blooming and the flowers smell like vanilla.

Spiranthes

Spiranthes magnicamporum

Great Plains ladies'-tresses [Blooms: Sep]

The upper stems and branches (some arising from upper leaf axils) of white arrowleaf aster terminate in 6-18" long panicles of flowerheads; the panicles are 2-3 times longer than wide. Each flowerhead is 1/2-3/4" across with 8-15 pistillate, white (rarely pale lavender) ray florets and 10-15 perfect (both stamens and styles present) disk florets. The disc florets are initially yellow but turn pink or light purple with age such that the flowerheads with yellow disk florets are often in the minority on the plant. The individual disk florets strike me as being larger than on many asters. The phyllaries (bracts) covering the base of the flowerhead are narrowly lance-shaped, usually hairless, dark green in the middle tapering to narrow, stiff, green to purplish tips. The fruits are 2 mm long, purplish-brown dry seeds with longitudinal ribs and a tuft of hairs at one end. White arrowleaf aster is similar to Drummond's aster (Symphyotrichum drummondii) but is less hairy and has distinctly different phyllaries. Among asters with white flowerheads, only white arrowleaf aster has heart-shaped leaves. (Other asters with heart-shaped leaves typically have blue to violet flowers.)

Symphyotrichum

Symphyotrichum urophyllum

white arrowleaf aster [Blooms: Aug/Sep – ?]

The stalk of narrow-leaved cattails terminates in two spikes of unisexual flowers separated by a distinct gap (at least 1/2", usually several inches). The upper (staminate) spike is narrowly cylindrical, up to 8" long and 1/2" across, light yellow or light brown, and densely covered with staminate flowers (each bearing a single quartet of pollen grains) and numerous hairs. The lower (pistillate) spike is also cylindrical, up to 12" long and 3/4" across, brown or reddish brown in color, and densely covered with pistillate flowers and numerous hairs. The fertile pistillate flowers consist of a 1 mm long bractlet and a 1 mm long stipe that includes the ovary and a single, slender style; both are surrounded by several hairs. (Flora of North America (http://dev.floranorthamerica.org/Typha_angustifolia) and the Jepson Herbarium (https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=47466) have nice illustrations.) The flowers are wind pollinated. Some pistillate flowers are infertile and lack ovaries. Fertilized flowers produce a naked seed attached by a stalk to a tuft of white fibers; the seeds are dispersed by the wind. Narrow-leaved cattail can grow on wet soil or in water up to a foot deep.

Typha

Typha angustifolia

narrow-leaved cattail [Blooms: Jun-Jul]

In common cattail, staminate (male) flowers are located in a spike on the top of the cattail less than a half inch above the spike of female flowers (typically the spikes abut). The upper (staminate) spike is narrowly cylindrical, up to 12" long and 3/4" across, yellow or light brown, and densely covered with staminate flowers (each bearing a single quartet of pollen grains) and numerous hairs. The lower (pistillate) spike is also cylindrical, up to 18" long and 1.5" across, greenish or blackish brown in color, and densely covered with pistillate flowers and numerous hairs. The staminate spike withers soon after the pollen is released; the pistillate spike persists through the autumn. The fertile pistillate flowers consist of a 4 mm long stipe that includes the ovary and a single, slender 2.5 mm long style with a flattened stigma; both are surrounded by several hairs. (The Jepson Herbarium (https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=47466) has a nice illustration.) The flowers are wind pollinated. Some pistillate flowers are infertile and lack ovaries. Fertilized flowers produce a naked seed attached by a stalk to a tuft of white fibers; the seeds are dispersed by the wind. Common cattail can grow on wet soil or in water up to 1.5 feet deep. It often reproduces vegetatively from horizontal rhizomes buried in the soil/mud. The narrow-leaved cattail (Typha angustifolia) has narrower leaves (1/2"), smaller flower spikes (both in length and diameter) and the male flower spike is located a few inches above the female flower spike.

Typha

Typha latifolia

common cattail [Blooms: Jun-Aug]

The apex of the common mullein plant is a club-shaped flower spike 6-24" long, covered with scattered light-yellow flowers each 3/4" across. Individual flowers have five hairy, green sepals; five pale yellow petals (the lower two slightly larger than the upper three); five stamens with reddish-orange anthers; and a single green style with a heart- or disc-shaped stigma. The upper three stamens are shorter than the other two stamens and covered with white or yellow hairs; the lower two stamens are longer and largely hairless. The fruit is an oval, two-celled seed capsule, brown when mature, each cell filled with numerous (25-150) tiny orange to brown seeds. Common mullein is immediately recognizable and impossible to confuse with any other local plant.

Verbascum

Verbascum thapsus

common mullein [Blooms: Jun-Aug]

Wild pansy's flower stalks are long, hairless, and bend like a shepherd's crook just below the base of the flower so the flower axis is approximately horizontal. Individual flowers have five 7-15 mm long, lance-shaped sepals that are longer than the petals and are sharply pointed at their tips; a 4-12 mm long corolla with five white or pale cream-colored petals, a yellow throat with a few dark purple lines, the lateral petals bearded on their upper surface, and a 1-1.5 mm long spur; two stamens not visible externally; and a single style enlarged into a hollow, globose stigma. The fruit is a spherical or ellipsoidal three-valved capsule, 5-10 mm long containing 6-75, 1.5 mm long, brown seeds.

Viola

Viola arvensis

wild pansy [Blooms: Jun-?]

Common blue violet flowers are 3/4-1" across with the calyx formed from five elongate oval, dark green sepals with a pointed tip, five petals (two upper, two lateral petals with white hairs ("beards") that occlude the throat of the flower, and one lower petal with a white patch and superimposed dark blue lines near the throat). The lower petal has a pouch (the "spur") that extends backwards past the base of the sepals; the spur houses the ovary, single style, and stigma (positioned just behind the petal beards) and, more posteriorly, the nectary. The two stamens surround the ovary and can't be seen without dissecting the flower. Flower color may range from deep violet to white with a purple center, all fading to pale yellow in the center. The fruit is a bullet-shaped capsule 1/4-1/2" long that is nestled in the calyx with the remnant of the style at its tip, initially green but turning brown as it matures; it ultimately splits along three suture lines to fling the approximately 75 seeds, beige or bronze in color, 1.5-2.5 mm long, away from the plant. Much of the reproduction occurs from vegetative clones produced from the rhizomes. Common blue violet prefers light sun or partial shade and a rich soil.

Viola

Viola sororia

common blue violet [Blooms: Apr-May]