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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]

Weeping willow is an exotic, probably originally bred in Asia or Europe. It is not very cold tolerant, so most "weeping willows" growing north of Kentucky or Virginia are actually hybrids. The aesthetically delightful "weeping" forms with yellow branches (the "golden" variety) are most likely a hybrid of Salix babylonica and Salix alba. There are separate male and female inflorescences in the form of catkins; each tree only produces one sex of catkins. The male catkins are 1-2" long and have no petals — only a series of stamens with white filaments and large (usually yellow) anthers. The female catkins are smaller (1" or less) and less showy with a series of green floral bracts that look like a series of awnings over 2-4 styles with flat stigmas; after fertilization they produce a green to brown capsule that releases cottony seeds.

Salix

Salix babylonica

weeping willow [Blooms: Apr]

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]

Crown vetch's flower stalks are about 6" long with a 1" wide cluster (an umbel) of 10-25 pea-like flowers on short (1/4") pedicels, all attached to the tip of the flower stalk. Each flower is 1/2" long and 1/4" wide, with a short green calyx bearing five pointed lobes and a typical pea-like corolla, bicolored in pink and white. The five petals are modified as a vertical standard (often pinker than the other petals, which are white), two lateral wings, and a pair of abutting petals forming a medial keel perpendicular to the standard. Within the keel are 10 stamens (one free and nine fused to each other, all with small yellow anthers) and a slender style, curved upwards, with a tiny terminal stigma. The fruit is a 1/2-2" long, narrow seedpod (loment) with 1-7 slightly constricted segments and a long terminal "beak" (the remains of the pistil); the pods remain attached to the flower stalk, forming a cluster often likened to "fingers". The tight flower clusters with showy, bicolored flowers are characteristic.

Securigera

Securigera varia

crown vetch [Blooms: Jun-Sep]

The tips of the upper stems of common groundsel produce dense clusters of flowerheads on short peduncles; inflorescences can also arise from leaf axils. Common groundsel flowerheads are cylindrical, 8 mm long and 4 mm across, with black-tipped, green bracts around the outside at both the base and the apex and 13-80 yellow disc florets peeking out the end; mature flowerheads are easily mistaken for flower buds. The disc florets have tubular yellow corollas, five stamens fused to the upper part of the corolla with yellow-brown anthers, and a bifurcated style with purplish stigmas. There are no ray florets. This is an easy plant to overlook. The flowerheads are twice as long as wide. The seedhead looks like a compact dandelion tuft with seeds on parachutes of light brown hairs.

Senecio

Senecio vulgaris

common groundsel [Blooms: May-Jul]

The five petals and five sepals of Maryland senna's 3/4" flowers are both yellow. The single pistil has many spreading white hairs and arches upward. The anthers of the 10 stamens are a striking dark brown (like partridge pea). The upper three stamens have short filaments and short anthers that produce only sterile pollen (as a pollinator reward). The middle four stamens have short filaments and long anthers while the lower three stamens have long filaments and long anthers; all seven of these stamens produce fertile pollen that is released by "buzz pollination." The flowers do not produce nectar. The fruit is a flattened seedpod 1/2" across and 3-4" long with 10-18 segments, each containing a single 1/4" flattened seed.

Senna

Senna marilandica

Maryland senna [Blooms: Jul]

Flower buds arise singly or in small groups on 1/2" long peduncles from the leaf axils. Because the flower peduncles are shorter (1/2") than the leaf petioles (1"), the flowers are often partly hidden among the leaves. Individual flowers are about 8 mm across. A flower contains five green, triangular sepals; five light yellow or light orange, rounded, floppy petals with pale lines that function as nectar guides and asymmetrical tips; and a central reproductive column (like mallows, to which prickly sida is related). That column consists of five styles fused along most of their lengths, each with a globose terminal stigma, and numerous stamens with yellow anthers. After fertilization, a circular seedpod forms from the five carpels; when mature, the seedpod turns brown and breaks into five segments, each containing a single reddish-brown, three-angled seed.

Sida

Sida spinosa

prickly sida [Blooms: Aug-Sep]

Compass plant flower stalks are very hairy, have scattered sessile, triangular bracts, extend vertically multiple feet, and bear 3-4" yellow, sunflower-like composite flowers. There are 20-35 yellow ray florets (e.g., petals) and 100-200+ yellow, tubular disk florets. Behind the flowerheads are two or three layers of very hairy, green, lance-like bracts with sharply pointed, recurved tips. For unknown reason (it just IS), only the ray florets are fertile; the disc florets bear only functional stamens (with a non-functional style protruding through the middle of the stamen). (True throughout the genus Silphium. The opposite is true in the sunflowers, genus Helianthus, where the ray florets are functionally male and the disk florets are fertile, functional females.)

Silphium

Silphium laciniatum

compass plant [Blooms: Jun-Sep]

Prairie dock's hairless flower stalks produce a panicle of buds and flowerheads. The flowerheads are 2-3" across, with 15-30 bright yellow ray florets with pointed tips and two grooves running the length of the petals; a yellow central disc about 1/4-1/3 the width of the flower contains 120-140 disk florets, green when still buds but bright yellow when open. Behind the flowerhead are two or three layers of green, egg or teardrop shaped, hairless bracts. The ray florets have a bifurcated but functional style protruding from a short yellow tube at the base of the petal; the disc florets have tubular corollas with a non-functional style protruding through the stamen. (True throughout the genus Silphium. The opposite is true in the sunflowers, genus Helianthus, where the ray florets are functionally male, and the disk florets are fertile, functional females.)

Silphium

Silphium terebinthinaceum

prairie dock [Blooms: Jun-Sep]