Book Review: A Journalist’s Book of Wildflowers
Karen Meyers Laura C. Martins’s book, A Naturalists Book of Wildlflowers, provides a fresh, new look at wildflowers. Written to resemble the author’s field journals, the book includes notes, sketches, ideas and…
Plant Profile: Hybrid Japanese Anemone (Anemone x hybrida)
Karen Hybrid Japanese anemone is a herbaceous perennial often sold as A, japonica. It is a member of the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae, that also includes delphinium, clamatis, and hellebore. Plants form…
Plant Profile: Lebanon Stonecress (Aethionema coridifolium aka A. jacunda aka Iberis jacunda)
Native to the mountains of southern Turkey and Lebanon this evergreen compact subshrub is a member of the mustard family, Brassicacea, that also includes broccoli, cabbage, and asylum. It grows…
Plant Profile: Fern Bush (Chamaebatiavia millefolium)
Also known as desert sweet, this sweetly-aromatic semi-deciduous shrub is native to western US from Oregon to California, east to Idaho, Utah, and Arizona where it grows in scrub, woodland,…
Plant Profile: Oleander (Nerium oleander)
Oleander is an evergreen shrub or small tree and a member of the dogbane family, Apocynaceae, that also includes blue star (Amsonia), periwinkle (Vinca), and milkweed (Ascelpius). Its native range…
Plant Profile: Feathery Cassia (Senna artemisioides aka Cassia artemisiodes)
Endemic to Australia, this compact evergreen shrub is also known as silver senna, wormwood senna and silver cassia. It is in the pea family, Fabaceae that also includes beans, lupine…
Plant Profile: Perennial Flax (Linum perenne)
Native to Europe, this semi-evergreen short-lived perennial is a member of the flax family, Linaceae, that includes 250 species. It grows 1-2′ tall from a deep taproot and has thin…
Plant Profile: Chinese Anemone (Anemone hupehensis)
Also called Japanses anemone, this herbaceous perennial is a native of central China where it grows in scrub, grassy slopes, and streamsides. It is a member of the buttercup family,…
Plant Profile: Bathhurst Burr (Xanthium spinosum)
Also known as prickly burweed and spiny cocklebur, bathhurst burr is an annual that is possibly native to South America but found in disturbed habitats such as pastures, crops, grasslands,…
Plant Profile: Woodland Sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus)
This clump-forming herbaceous perennial is a native of central and eastern North America from Ontario and Quebec south to Florida and Louisiana, and west to Oklahoma and Iowa where it…