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Friday, June 12, 2015

Flowers Large and Small

 
You should have known you can't escape the botany if you're hiking with me.

Largest herbaceous flowering plant we saw... cow parsnip, Heracleum maximum. This one looks a lot like the giant hogweed that is becoming such a problem.

cow parsnip

I've seen both, and think I can tell the difference. Both have huge leaves and very large umbels of white flowers. But cow parsnip has stems that aren't spotted. They are less hairy, and the umbels are tighter. The hogweed flowers are more starburst like if that makes sense.

cow parsnip

The smallest flower I pictured is one that always makes me smile. It's the tiny scarlet pimpernel, Anagallis arvensis. The flowers are barely a quarter inch across, and the color is stunning.

scarlet pimpernel

It usually grows in sparse groups, but here it was all clustered up and looking grand. Sadly, it's alien, so it shouldn't be on my "like" list. What can I say... it's pretty anyway. It grows in sandy soil, so I've seen it here at home before.

scarlet pimpernel

Both of these finds were growing along roads.

See Western Reserve
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3 comments:

The Furry Gnome said...

I didn't realize Cow Parsnip was so big. It really is a lot like Giant Hogweed.

Ann Thompson said...

I don't recall ever seeing cows parsnip before or ever hearing the name and this is the second time this week that someone has shown it on their blog

Secondary Roads said...

I'd never heard of cow parsnip before.