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Iris virginica is the typical "blue flag" iris; it is an impressive plant 2-3' tall that prefers wetlands and shallow water. Each flower is 3-4" across consisting of: (1) three sepals (the "falls") that whose ends droop, each with a conspicuous bright-yellow spot (the "signal") and blue lines lead from the edges of the sepal into the signal; (2) directly above the sepals are three blue-violet petal-like style branches (the "style arms") with upturned tips (the "style crests") (the stigma, where pollen is captured, is located at the fold between the style arms and crests); and, (3) between the sepals are three petals with dark purple veins (the "standards") that rise up above the plane of the sepals and style branches. A green, ovoid ovary occurs at the base of the sepals and petals. The stamens are located under the style arms. The seed capsules are three-lobed, elongate ovals 2-3" long that contain seeds that float on the water when released. Blue flag iris (Iris virginica) is native to Illinois and Missouri, but it is sometimes confused with the very similar Iris versicolor; however, the Illinois Department of Natural History does not recognize Iris versicolor as occurring in Illinois. (It is present in Wisconsin and Minnesota.)

Iris

Iris virginica

blue flag iris [Blooms: May-Jun]

Dudley's rush culms (stems) vary from 8-30" tall, unbranched except for the inflorescence, light green, hairless, and round in section. At the base of the culm are one or two 12" long, 1 mm wide, flat basal leaves. The sheath of the leaves clasps the bottom inch or two of the culm; they may be light green, light brown, or tan; at the top of the sheaths are tiny, thick, cartilaginous ear-like lobes less than 0.5 mm wide. At the culm's apex is a branched inflorescence with 6-80 flowers. At the base of the inflorescence are 1-3 narrow bracts; at least one of the bracts extends beyond the inflorescence. Individual flowers are about 1/4" across, solitary at the end of short branches, each with six 4-5 mm long tepals in two layers, six stamens, and a pistil with a singe style; they are wind pollinated. The tepals spread somewhat as the fruit is developing.

Juncus

Juncus dudleyi

Dudley's rush [Blooms: May-Jun]

Soft rush can be 2-4' tall, often growing in clumps of culms. Culms terminate in an inflorescence 3/4-4" across and an underlying bract 4-12" long that looks more like an extension of the culm than a leaf so the inflorescence looks like it is growing out of the side of the culm. Individual flowers are 2-3.5 mm long with three lance-shaped sepals, three lance-shaped petals, three stamens, and single style emerging from a central ovary; the flowers are wind pollinated. Color of these elements varies from green to brown depending on stage in the life cycle; sepals, petals, and the ovary/capsule are all about the same length at maturity.

Juncus

Juncus effusus

soft rush [Blooms: May-Jun]

Path rush (aka, slender path rush, poverty rush) is a native perennial 4-12" tall. It occurs singly or in dense tufts; the culms are light to medium green, slender, and unbranched. The leaves are considered basal by some sources, alternate by others, slender (about 1 mm across and up to 10" long), medium green, hairless, and flat with margins that tend to roll upwards. Fertile stems bear a branched inflorescence at their tips that is 1/2-3" across, bearing an umbel-like cluster of up to ten solitary flowers (never larger groups); at the base of the inflorescence is three slender, leafy bracts up to 4" long (the larger are longer than the inflorescence) that form a "V". Individual flowers have six lance-shaped, light green tepals, 3-5 mm long; six stamens; and an ovary (later a seed capsule) with a three-part, feathery style. Fertilized flowers produce an ovoid seed capsule nestled in the crown-like tepals, often with a tiny point at its tip; it is never longer than the tepals. The seed capsule later splits in three segments, releasing the tiny (0.5 mm) seeds.

Juncus

Juncus tenuis

path rush [Blooms: ?-Jun]

Torrey's rush is 2-3' tall, with robust stems that are deep green, hairless, and circular in cross section; each stem bears 2-5 alternate leaves and 1-3 basal leaves. The central stem branches rapidly at its tip; each branch ends in a spherical flowerhead about 1/2-3/4" across. The lowest flowerhead in the array sits above a very long, thin bract (main image). There may be up to 23 flowerheads in the array. Individual flowerheads are composed of 25-100 florets that each have six stamens, a narrow ellipsoid ovary with a 3-part stigma (center of insert), and six tepals (sepals and petals) in two layers; all tepals are green, bract-like, lance-shaped, and 3-6 mm long. The flowerheads are more bristly than flower-like in appearance. The flowers are wind-pollinated. After fertilization, flowerheads turn brown and look very spikey.

Juncus

Juncus torreyi

Torrey's rush [Blooms: Jul-Aug]

Prickly lettuce flowerheads dandelion-like, a distinctive pale lemon-yellow color, and 1/4-1/2" across; there are about 20 ray florets with squared, serrated ends (with five teeth), five stamens with yellow anthers, and a bifurcated style whose base is surrounded by the anthers. The seeds are attached to the tuft of hairs by a beak up to twice as long as the seed. Prickly lettuce is superficially similar to Canada lettuce (Latuca canadensis), but the latter has no spines on the leaves and seeds that are attached to a tuft of hairs by a beak no longer than the seed. Prickly lettuce is the closest wild relative to domestic lettuce (L. sativa).

Lactuca

Lactuca serriola

prickly lettuce [Blooms: Jul-Sep]

Despite its common name, summer snowflake starts blooming in the spring (late April), not the summer. It is an introduced species, native to Europe and west Asia, similar in appearance to snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) but larger. The leaves are exclusively basal, up to 12" long and an inch wide, flattened, arching, dark green, sheathing the base of the stems which may be the same length but are usually shorter than the leaves. The flowers dangle from the tips of hollow flower scapes in groups of 2-5, subtended by a single green, sword-shaped, spathe-like bract. Each flower has three sepals and three petals (white, pointed, with a yellowish-green spot near their tips), six stamens with orange anthers, and a single style with a green tip and a tiny stigma. Summer snowflake is toxic if ingested (like many lilies).

Leucojum

Leucojum aestivum

summer snowflake [Blooms: Apr-May]

Michigan lily is a moderately tall (up to 4.5'), slender, graceful plant. The flowers are 2-3" wide, dangling from 4-8" long stalks shaped like a shepherd's crook. The six tepals are yellow-orange to orange-red with purplish-brown spots scattered across their surface; the tips of the tepals are strongly recurved so the tips almost touch the base of the flower. There are six stamens with greenish-white filaments and large (1/2" long), reddish-brown anthers; a robust, yellowish-white style with a large 3-lobed, orange-red stigma. The 1.5" long seedpods are six-lobed, egg-shaped, and internally divided into three compartments. The Illinois Wildflowers website (www.illinoiswildflowers.info/) says that Michigan lily is "uncommon" but it is widespread on Wooded island and the west shore of West Lagoon in Jackson Park. Michigan lilies are easily distinguished from day lilies (Hemerocallis fulva) by the abundant spots on the tepals of the former, the tepals recurved so that they nearly touch the flower base, and the presence of stem leaves deployed in whorls along the stem.

Lilium

Lilium michiganense

Michigan lily [Blooms: Jun-Jul]

Spicebush is a highly branched, woody shrub that reaches heights of 5-15'. It blooms very early in the spring — March and April in Jackson Park, before most plants have leafed out — so it is one of the few spots of color in a grey landscape. When spicebush blooms, leaves are not yet present; the small clusters of yellow flowers have the stage all to themselves. Some specimens have only a single sex of flower (pistillate or staminate); less commonly, spicebush plants may bear "perfect" flowers with both functional male (stamens) and female (pistils) organs. Individual flowers are about 1/4" across, pastel-yellow, with six yellow, petal-like tepals. Male flowers have nine stamens in three groups of three, each group associated with a two-lipped, yellow nectary; The anthers are bright yellow. Female flowers have an ovary with a single pistil and 6-18 non-functional pseudo-stamens; the stigma is large, bright white, and rough-surfaced. The flowers are said to have "an unusually sweet fragrance." The fruit is a fleshy drupe with a single stone; it turns bright red in the late summer/early fall.

Lindera

Lindera benzoin

spicebush [Blooms: Mar-Apr]

Tulip trees are the tallest native hardwood — one living specimen is 190' tall, the tallest tree east of the Mississippi. (Most tulip trees are in the 80-100' range). Illinois is on the western edge of tulip trees' range, but it is the state tree of Indiana (and Tennessee). Tulip trees have a single trunk and (usually) a pyramidal crown; the bark is gray with whitish furrows. Flowers arise on short stalks in leaf axils. Each flower is bell-shaped, erect, 2-3" across, and ~2.5" tall; there are 9 tepals — 3 pale green sepal-like tepals reflected downward and 6 fleshy petal-like tepals, yellowish-green to green in their upper half with an broad orange stripe below; the very base of the petal is pale yellow-green. In the middle of the flower is a tall (2.5") conical cluster of 60-100 pistils (the receptacle); surrounding the receptacle are 20-50 white stamens with yellow anthers. The fruit is a 1.5" long winged seed (samara) reminiscent of an ash seed; the ovate seed lies at one end of a long, thin wing with a central ridge. The leaves alone are sufficient for a confident identification; in flower or in the fall when the receptacle has produced a crown-like circlet of woody, persistant basal samaras, tulip trees are unmistakable.

Liriodendron

Liriodendron tulipifera

tulip tree [Blooms: June]

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]

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]

False Solomon's seal's stem terminates in a flattened panicle of hairy, whitish-green stalks about 3-5" long and 2" across bearing 20-80 white flowers. The individual flowers are bright white, about 3/16" across with six narrow, spreading, strap-like tepals that are shorter than the stamens, six stamens with triangular white filaments and pale yellow or cream-colored anthers, and a single central style on top of a globose ovary. The fruit is a spherical berry, initially whitish in color, turning mottled red and later bright, translucent-red (like a currant) when ripe. It can be a bit tricky to distinguish false Solomon's seal from starry false Solomon's seal, especially early in the spring when the plants are small. Two features help: the inflorescence of false Solomon's seal is two to three the size (in linear dimensions and number of flowers) as that of starry false Solomon's seal, and the stigma of false Solomon's seal is two- or three-lobed and sessile (rests directly on the ovary), while the stigma of starry false Solomon's seal is elevated on a long style (as long as the stamens). In Jackson Park, false Solomon's seal is very tolerant of woodland habitats.

Maianthemum

Maianthemum racemosum

false Solomon's seal [Blooms: Apr-Jun]

Starry false Solomon's seal stems terminate in a 1-4" long cluster (a raceme) of up to 20 white flowers, each ~3/8" across. Individual flowers have six narrow, spoon-shaped tepals longer than the stamens, six stamens with creamy-yellow anthers, and a vase-shaped pistil with a stout style. The fruit is a 1/4" diameter berry, initially green with dark stripes, becoming bright red with maturity. The leaves of Maianthemum stellatum are much narrower than those of Maianthemum racemosum (false Solomon's seal) or Polygonatum biflorum (Solomon's seal) and has an overall appearance more like a lily than a Solomon's seal (false or smooth). It can be a bit tricky to distinguish false Solomon's seal from starry false Solomon's seal, especially early in the spring when the plants are small. Two features help: the inflorescence of false Solomon's seal is two to three the size (in both linear dimensions and number of flowers) as that of starry false Solomon's seal, and the stigma of false Solomon's seal is two- or three-lobed and sessile (rests directly on the ovary), while the stigma of starry false Solomon's seal is elevated on a long style (as long as the stamens). In Jackson Park, false Solomon's seal is very tolerant of woodland habitats; starry false Solomon's seal prefers sunnier habitats like open grasslands.

Maianthemum

Maianthemum stellatum

starry false Solomon's seal [Blooms: Apr-May]

Grape hyacinth was introduced from Europe as a garden plant. The unbranched flowering scapes are green towards the base, purplish near the flowers, reaching maximum heights of 12". The leaves are all basal, 4-10" long, 3-8 mm wide, flat, hairless, and erect. The inflorescence is a terminal raceme on the scape. Individual flowers are drooping, urn-shaped with three blue sepals and three blue petals fused along their edges nearly to their tips where there are six small, rounded lobes. There are six stamens with purple anthers and a green ovary with a single style terminating in a three-lobed stigma; all are hidden well within the mouth of the urn. The fruits are three-lobed capsules, about 5 mm long and wide.

Muscari

Muscari botryoides

grape hyacinth [Blooms: Apr]

Poet's daffodil is an escapee from domestic gardens. The species is native to Central and Southern Europe; it is said to have been cultivated by the Greeks in the 3rd century BCE. The leaves are basal, blue-green, awl-shaped, up to 20" long and 1/2" wide, parallel-veined with smooth margins. The unbranched stems can get up to 1.5' tall, each with a solitary flower at their apex. The 2-3" diameter flowers have six white tepals with a yellow, crinkled central corona (often red-rimmed) in the form of a cup surrounding the reproductive organs (six stamens, only three of which are easily visible externally, and a single style with a three-lobed stigma). Fruits are rarely produced. The corona is relatively longer and bigger in diameter in wild daffodil than it is in poet's daffodil. Keep pets (and small children) away from poet's daffodil — if ingested, it induces severe vomiting.

Narcissus

Narcissus poeticus

poet's daffodil [Blooms: Apr-May]

Wild daffodil is just a daffodil that has escaped cultivation — the species is native to western Europe. Wild daffodil stems get up to 20" tall; they are unbranched with a single flower at their apex. The leaves are basal, 8-20" long, about 1/2" wide, flat, and blue-green in color. The stem and flower bud are initially aligned, but the upper part of the stem becomes plastic for a short period, deforming to reorient the upper part of the stem (and the bud) to a position perpendicular to most of the stem. Each flower consists of a conical basal section (think "calyx") with six spreading, yellow lobes (equivalent to tepals). Where the lobes/tepals bend backwards, a tubular, yellow, crinkled corona perpendicular to the tepals surrounds the reproductive structures (six stamens and a single style with a three-lobed stigma). Fruits are rarely produced. The corona is relatively longer and bigger in diameter in wild daffodil than it is in poet's daffodil. Keep pets (and small children) away from wild daffodil — if ingested, it induces severe vomiting.

Narcissus

Narcissus pseudonarcissus

wild daffodil [Blooms: Mar-May]

Spatterdock is an archaic-looking water lily, and for good reason — the genus is at least 50 million years old. Single flowers are borne on the tips of stout pedicels. The buds are enclosed in three green outer sepals which reveal three underlying yellow sepals when the flower opens. An open flower is 1-3" in diameter with the opening 40-50% of that total. The yellow petals have been reduced to oblong scale-like structures inside the flower below the stamens. The large, mushroom-shaped pistil takes up most of the center of the flower the stigmatic disc visually dominating. The very numerous, oblong, truncate, ribbon-like stamens lie immediately below the large, flattened disc-like stigma; they look nothing like the delicate stamens common in most flowers. The fruit is flask-shaped, constricted below the pistil, boldly ribbed and green on the globular body; the remnant of the stigmatic disc is red-rimmed.

Nuphar

Nuphar advena

spatterdock [Blooms: Jun-Sep]