Leaving July in the Prairie

I never paid so much attention to prairie flowers as I have this summer.  I guess that happens when you have a camera.

Chicory is my favorite flower in the whole wide world.  I wish they sold it at the garden center.

A young Queen Anne's Lace, often seen with Chicory.

A mature Queen Anne.

Purple Coneflower getting groomed.

Later in the year I won't feel so charmed by this Burdock, but right now it looks all soft and cuddly.  Now that I think about it, I didn't reach out and touch it, so maybe at this young age it's already prickly.

Deadly Nightshade.  You know what else is in the Nightshade family?  Potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, paprika, morning glory, tobacco, and 2800 other plant species.  They contain alkaloids which can have an adverse effect on joints as well as nerve/muscle and digestive functions.

The alkaloid levels in our edible vegetables is much lower than in the other plants, and cooking will lower it even more.  Still, be sure to get rid of the sprouts and green skins on your potatoes, since they are indicators of higher levels of alkaloids.

I clearly remember eating some of the red berries of Deadly Nightshade when I was young.  Nobody told me you shouldn't eat them, and our yard was filled with raspberries, so to a child, it was just another fruit.  They were really bitter, and I quickly ran to the house and grabbed a glass of milk that was sitting on the kitchen table.  That was completely warm and disgusting, so I spit that out, too.  Not my best day.

 

Cup Plant leaves, so named because of their cupping form which hold little pools of water for birds and insects.

Here it is blooming - see the "cuppiness" of the leaves?

No, it's not a repeat.  This is a Compass Plant, another really tall yellow prairie plant.  This one is named after its tendency to follow the sun as it moves across the sky.

It used to be so frustrating to not be able to tell them apart.  But it's really easy ....

The difference is in the leaves.  Remember how the Cup Plant had those cup-like leaves?  The Compass Plant has these really flat leaves, with lots of lobes.

Curly Dock, looking decent at this stage.  Later in the year the seed heads are one big mush of dark brown.

I don't know what this is.  I'm hoping my gardening friends will enlighten me.

Crown Vetch is on Indiana's list of "Most Unwanted Invasive Plants".  And it's toxic to horses.  Pretty nonetheless, and the leaves look like those of the Sensitive Plant, a houseplant we used to have.  I don't see those for sale any longer - that's too bad.

Lots more wonderful prairie flowers to look forward to next month and beyond.  Number one on my list to keep an eye out for is Hog Peanut.  I just like saying it.  Hog Peanut.