Daisy Fleabane

 Erigeron annuus 

Siting Information

• Date: June 10, 2021
• Time: 1:30 p.m.
• Location: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (100 Museum Road, Stevens, PA 17578)
• Habitat: meadow restoration area
• Weather: approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit, some clouds, humid

 

When we realized that the baby was getting too tired to manage, I spotted this flower.  Tons of thin white rays and a big yellow center... not quite an inch in diameter.  Full circle!  I found Fleabane again--the plant that had started my wildflower identification adventure!  I decided to take a quick picture to wrap things up nicely (isn't it fun when life 'works out' in this way?).  This is when I saw the leave pattern and thought I should do an actual identification.

 

 

Once again, an alternative leaf pattern.  The leaves were toothed in a very specific way.  They had a small but pronounced tooth just above the widest part of the leaf.  The stems were hairy, just like my Philadelphia Fleabane identification.  These leaves, though, were not clasping.  This allowed me to identify my first flower's close relative--Daisy Fleabane.

(Newcomb, 2011, p. 382)

Oxeye Daisy

 Chrysanthemum leucanthemum 

Siting Information

• Date: June 10, 2021
• Time: 1:00 p.m.
• Location: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (100 Museum Road, Stevens, PA 17578)
• Habitat: meadow restoration area
• Weather: approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit, some clouds, humid

 

When I spotted this single flower amidst the green herbaceous layer of the meadow, I assumed it was chamomile again.  But there was only one.  The flower had about 15 petals and a large rounded yellow center.  The flower was over one food tall.  I couldn't see any leaves at all because the foliage was so dense in this area.

Upon digging a bit, I saw a very clear alternate leaf arrangement.  The leaves had a deep toothed pattern and an interesting few tiny leaflets where the larger ones touch the stem.   

 (Newcomb, 2011, p. 380)

Crown Vetch

 Coronilla varia 

Siting Information

• Date: June 10, 2021
• Time: 12:50 p.m.
• Location: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (100 Museum Road, Stevens, PA 17578)
• Habitat: meadow restoration area
• Weather: approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit, some clouds, humid

 

The flower of the Crown Vetch is irregular, reminiscent of a common clover flower.  In fact, I always thought it was just big clover.  The flowers are pink and white, growing in an umbel cluster.

The leaves grow in an alternate arrangement along the main stem.  Upon branching out, they are divided into many opposite leaflets.  Tons of this plant were mixed into the restoration meadow we were walking through at this point of our trip.  This area was in full sun and would be all day long.

(Newcomb, 2011, p. 66)

Shining Bedstraw

 Galium concinnum 

Siting Information

• Date: June 10, 2021
• Time: 12:30 p.m.
• Location: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (100 Museum Road, Stevens, PA 17578)
• Habitat: meadow restoration area
• Weather: approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit, some clouds, humid

 

The flowers of the Shining Bedstraw have four tiny petals.  They grow in clusters that branch out from the main stem.  This image also shows the whorled arrangement of the entire-patterned leaves.  The leaves are tiny--half an inch at most.

 I am not sure how tall the plant was, as I can only describe it as sprawling amongst other herbaceous plants on the side of a grassy trail.  A difficulty in identifying this plant lay in the fact that Shining Bedstraw and Marsh Bedstraw are very similar to each other.  Marsh Bedstraw grows in the area, but the habitat was not wet enough to give this classification.  Shining bedstraw is not found in this area as often, but the average moisture levels of the soil led me to this species identification.

(Newcomb, 2011, p. 152)

Yarrow

 Achillea millefolium 

Siting Information

• Date: June 10, 2021
• Time: 12:15 p.m.
• Location: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (100 Museum Road, Stevens, PA 17578)
• Habitat: field restoration area north of the visitor center
• Weather: approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit, some clouds, humid

 Each individual flower of Yarrow has about five petals with a yellow center.  Those tiny petals are 3-toothed at the edge.  The flowers grow in fairly flat cluster on long stems.  The Yarrow plant I identified here was about three feet tall.

The leaves of Yarrow grow in an alternative pattern and are finely divided.  Each leaf is lance-shaped then divided into tiny lance-shaped leaflets which are deeply lobed. 

 (Newcomb, 2011, p. 220)

True Forget-me-not

 Myosotis scorpioides 

Siting Information

• Date: June 10, 2021
• Time: 12:00 p.m.
• Location: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (100 Museum Road, Stevens, PA 17578)
• Habitat: hummingbird garden area in front of visitor's center
• Weather: approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit, some clouds, humid

 

This specimen was just over one foot tall.  The very slightly hairy stems of flowers were interesting to me because they sprawled all over the plant.  The leaves of forget-me-nots are arranged alternately.  Each leaf is entire.    

The five-petaled flowers are a tell-tale blue with a yellow center.  The size of the flowers help to determine whether the plant is a true forget-me-not or a smaller forget-me-not.  The size of these flowers seemed to indicate True Forget-me-nots, but there is a bit of a crossover in the range of flower widths (at about 1/4").

Final determination of the species lies in the ratio between the length of calyx and the length of the calyx lobes.  True Forget-me-nots have shorter lobes (only a quarter the length of the full calyx). 

 (Newcomb, 2011, p. 194)

Wild Columbine

 Aquilegia canadensis 

Siting Information

• Date: June 10, 2021
• Time: 11:50 a.m.
• Location: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (100 Museum Road, Stevens, PA 17578)
• Habitat: hummingbird garden area in front of visitor's center
• Weather: approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit, some clouds, humid

 

The leaves of Wild Columbine are alternately arranged and divided into three leaflets, and each one is lobed.  This area of Middle Creek was exposed to the sun for about half of the day.

What a unique flower to be a Pennsylvania native!  The flowers of wild columbine are a deep red with a long spur on the back of each petal.  These are nodding flowers--which, to my unexposed sensibilities, seems so exotic. 

 (Newcomb, 2011, p. 228)