UGA Cooperative Extension

Union County Extension Office:
Agriculture & Natural Resources

Native Plants Bloooming

Week of June 4, 2010

1. Skunk Meadow Rue, Thalictrum revolutum, is a perennial growing up to 5 feet tall with a greenish or reddish purple and slightly hairy stem. The foliage of the plant has a pungent aroma when crushed. The leaves of the plant are alternate and compound. The upper leaves are sessile and the lower leaves have stems. The leaflets have margins that are rolled backwards and are ½ to 1 ½ inches wide. Each leaflet has 3 rounded teeth. The flowers of the plant are whitish and drooping. Native Americans placed the seeds of this plant in the food of quarreling couples to help end their disagreements. This photograph was taken at an elevation of 3300 feet.

2. Fire Pink, Silene virginica, is a perennial herb growing from 12-30 inches tall with downy and sticky stems. The plant has basal leaves form a rosette that are lance shaped and oblong growing up to 4 inches long. The stem leaves are opposite and narrow, 2-6 inches long. The flowers are scarlet red with 5 notched petals. The plants can be found from New Jersey to Georgia westward to Oklahoma and Minnesota. This photograph was taken at an elevation of 3400 feet.

3. Whorled Loosestrife, Lysimachia quadrifolia, is an erect perennial herb growing to 3 feet tall. The stem of this plant is usually unbranched and smooth to slightly hairy. The leaves of this plant are in whorls of 3-7 and lance shaped. Flowers are yellow and come from the leaf axils. The plant can be found in dry or moist open woods from Maine to Georgia. This photograph was taken at an elevation of 2000 feet.

4. Goatsbeard, Aruncus dioicus, is perennial with stems that are smooth and arching. The plant grows up to 5 feet tall. The male and female flowers of this plant are borne on separate plants. The leaves of the plant are alternate and compound. The leaflets are 2-5 inches long and have double toothed edges. The terminal leaflet is unlobed. Male plants have cream colored spikes of tiny 5 petaled flowers. This plant can be found on moist, rich slopes and woodland borders throughout the eastern United States. This photograph was taken at an elevation of 2700 feet.

5. Oakleaf Hydrangea, Hydrangea quercifolia, is a spreading shrub growing to 5 feet tall with mulitple stems and reddish, scaly bark. The leaves of the plant are opposite, 6-8 inches long and have 5-7 sharply divided lobes. The showy white flowers are borne in a pyramid shaped panicle that is about 6 inches long. The plants can be found on bluffs and riverbanks from Tennessee and North Carolina southward. This photograph was taken at an elevation of 2000 feet.

6. Galax, Galax urceolata, is a stemless, evergreen perennial with flowering stalks growing from 12-24 inches tall. The leaves of the plant are basal, somewhat circular to heart shaped. The leaves are 2-6 inches wide. The leaves turn maroon in cold weather.  The flowers of the plant are white and borne in a tall spike. The plant can be found in moist to dry and acidic soils of the south eastern mountain states. This photograph was taken at an elevation of 3400 feet.

7. Virginia Dayflower, Commelina virginica, is a perennial herb growing from 12-48 inches tall. The leaves of this plant are alternate, lance shaped, 4-8 inches long and 1-2 inches wide. The sheath margins of this plant have coarse reddish hairs. The flowers are pale blue with 3 petals about ½ inches long. The plant can be found in moist or wet woods and shaded ditches throughout the eastern United States. This photograph was taken at an elevation of 3200 feet.