Impatiens capensis (jewelweed or touch-me-not). A single flower is shown; it is cornucopia-shaped and vibrant orange, with a red "throat." Beside it is a green seed pod. When these ripen, they will pop open at a touch, distributing their annual seeds far and wide. Photograph by Lise Fracalossi, Lane Conservation Area, Lunenburg, MA, August 2024.

Impatiens capensis (jewelweed or touch-me-not). A single flower is shown; it is cornucopia-shaped and vibrant orange, with a red "throat." The leaves below and above it are oval in shape, green, with a fleshy red-tinged petiole and central vein. The stem of the plant is also fleshy and reddish-brown at the leaf nodes. Photograph by Lise Fracalossi, Mt. Holyoke Range State Park, Amherst, MA, August 2020.

Impatiens capensis (jewelweed or touch-me-not). A single plant bears several cornucopia-shaped, orange flowers. The leaves are ovate, green, toothed, with long petioles. The petioles and stalk are fleshy and tinged reddish-brown. Photograph by Lise Fracalossi, Plattsburgh, NY, August 2020.

Day 20 of #nativeplants #20DayPlantChallenge: Impatiens capensis (jewelweed, touch-me-not)

These orange/red, horn-shaped 🌸 are indeed a gem in wetlands in August 💎

They're pollinated by hummingbirds - hence the color.

Seed capsules explosively pop open when touched when ripe - hence the name!

The red berry of Gaultheria procumbens (Eastern teaberry). Leaves are green and leathery, growing low to the ground. Photo by Lise Fracalossi, May 2017, Lunenburg, MA.

The white, almost translucent flower of Gaultheria procumbens (Eastern teaberry). Photo by Lise Fracalossi, July 2020, Lunenburg, MA.

A cluster of low-growing Gaultheria procumbens (Eastern teaberry). The leaves are green and leathery, and each plant has 3-5 per stem. Photo by Lise Fracalossi, May 2020, Lunenburg, MA.

Day 19 of #nativeplants #20DayPlantChallenge: Gaultheria procumbens, one of the many plants called "wintergreen." (I prefer "teaberry").

Unlike other "wintergreens," this one has the flavoring you're thinking of. It forms a carpet in my woods, as it did in the woods where I grew up. 🧵

Ghost pipes (Monotropa uniflora). Multiple scaly, waxy stalks emerge from the forest floor, bend like a shepherd's crook, and display a single bell-shaped white flower. The plant does not photosynthesize -- it receives all its nutrients from trees, by parasitizing their mycorrhizae -- so all parts of it are white. Photo taken July 2024 by Lise Fracalossi in Lunenburg, MA.

Ghost pipes (Monotropa uniflora). Multiple scaly, waxy stalks emerge from the forest floor, bend like a shepherd's crook, and display a single bell-shaped white flower. The plant does not photosynthesize -- it receives all its nutrients from trees, by parasitizing their mycorrhizae -- so all parts of it are white or whitish pink. Photo taken July 2020 by Lise Fracalossi in Lunenburg, MA.

Closeup on a single stalk of ghost pipes (Monotropa uniflora). The flower is almost tulip-shaped and white with pink-edged petals; the stalk looks waxy, and features scale-like white leaves. As this plant does not photosynthesize, all parts of it are white. Photographed by Lise Fracalossi, July 2020, Lunenburg, MA.

Day 7 of #nativeplantsofthenortheast #20DayPlantChallenge: Monotropa uniflora (ghost pipes)

"I thought this was a mushroom," I hear you say! But no, it's a non-photosynthesizing plant that parasitizes the mycorrhizae of trees. By a degree of separation, it steals its food from trees!

Lindera benzoin (Northern Spicebush). Clusters of yellow flowers and rounded flower buds arranged alternately along a dark brown twig. Photo taken by Lise Fracalossi, May 2021, Lane Conservation Area.

Branches of Lindera benzoin (Northern spicebush) in bloom. Numerous blooms are arranged alternately along dark brown twigs. The leaves have not yet appeared. Photo taken by Lise Fracalossi, April 2020, Lane Conservation Area.

Day 16 of #nativeplantsofthenortheast #20DayPlantChallenge: spicebush (Lindera benzoin)

This shrub with sunny yellow flowers is one of the earliest to bloom in spring, with the flowers appearing before the leaves. This makes it a great native forsythia replacement!

Closeup on Chamaecrista fasciculata (partridge pea), showing a flower with five bright yellow petals with reddish-brown reproductive structures in the center. The leaves are compound with many small leaflets.

Chamaecrista fasciculata (partridge pea. A flower with five bright yellow petals with reddish-brown reproductive structures in the center. The leaves are compound with many small leaflets.

Chamaecrista fasciculata (partridge pea), showing a flower with five bright yellow petals with reddish-brown reproductive structures in the center. The leaves are compound with many small leaflets, born on a 1-3' stalk. A few seed pods are shown, still green, looking very much like garden peas.

Day 15 of #nativeplants #20DayPlantChallenge: Partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata). This member of the pea family produces showy yellow blossoms with reddish brown repro structures. It's native to much of the northeast and midwest US.

Despite being an annual, this plant self-sows prolifically!

water color painted hand written illustrated journal page detailing facts about mitchella repens - too much to fit in alt, but all of the information written here is available online, save for how the seeds look (tiny flat white seeds) and how to harvest (if you cut betwen the eyes you separate the two sections similar to tomatoes, you can peel the pith to get to the seeds in each half.

Mitchella repens is abundant near Ringing Rocks in Bucks Count, PA, just off the path

Massive patch of Mitchella repens on the Glen Falls trail at Ricketts Glen State Park in PA

More Mitchella repens with red berries visible on the Glen Falls trail in Ricketts Glen State Park, PA, next to a sizeable pincushion moss

20/20 #NativePlants #20DayPlantChallenge there are so many more plants I'd wish to cover, so I may just keep posting plants that I love. I'm ending the challenge with Mitchella repens, which grows wild here where the land isn't infested with invasive plants. Evergreen creeper, tiny leaves are TINY

Claytonia virginica displaying white petals with pink stripes and yellow splotches at the base, and five pink anthers. The pollen is pink and the bees will wear pink pantaloons when they collect it.

spring beauty miner bee collecting pollen

full form of spring beauty showing long, lanceolate leaves

I often find spring beauty miners nesting very close to the flowers themselves. Here is a female peeking out of her nest at the base of the one she's been collecting.

19/20 #20DayPlantChallenge #NativePlants Claytonia virginica is one that carpets my entire property. This is one of the few species that tolerates growing full sun to deep shade and dry to wet conditions. Not a keystone species, but host to a specialist known as the miner bee, which is adorable.

Chamaelirium luteum in bloom, photo by Forest Farming from Flickr CC BY-ND 2.0, https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/chamaelirium-luteum/

18/20 #NativePlants #20DayPlantChallenge why is it so hard to choose when I'm down to only three? None of these are my top fav, I love all native plants. Anyway, Chamaelirium luteum, aka fairy wand, is a spring blooming woodland beauty, another one that has been harmed by poaching/habitat loss.

Prunus maritima blooming in spring (April) 2024

17/20 #NativePlants #20DayPlantChallenge I noticed that whenever the topic of native fruiting (edible) species comes up, people forget, or maybe they don't know, we have edible native plums. The photo here is a beach plum I added to my food forest, but I also have American and Chickasaw plums.

Viola walterii 'Silver Gem' blooming with very tiny flowers growing in some wood chips

Viola sororia (common blue violet) as a ground cover near blue flag iris and redosier dogwood

Le Conte's violet with its exaggerated angular petals and leaves

Common blue violet (Viola sororia) displaying an awesome purple/blue color morph growing in a crack in the driveway

#16/20 #NativePlants #20DayPlantChallenge I'm picking violets, because my mom hates them, says they're weedy and suggests getting rid of them. That makes them underrated in my book. Ground cover, lawn replacement, edible, host plant to several native species, resilient. What more could you want?

Rubus odoratus (purple-flowered raspberry). A pink five-petaled flower, wet with dew, with 2 petals folded over. The reproductive structures are a yellow color. Beneath the flower, and shaded by it, are many three-lobed leaves that resemble maple leaves. Photographed by Lise Fracalossi at Ausable Chasm, Keeseville, NY, August 2019.

A leaf of Rubus odoratus (purple-flowered raspberry). This leaf is greern and five lobed and looks rough and almost corrugated. Photographed by Lise Fracalossi, August 2020, in Mount Holyoke Range State Park, Amherst, MA.

The ripe fruit of Rubus odoratus (purple-flowered raspberry). It is bigger and rounder than a typical raspberry, but the same pink/red color. The stems surrounded it and the remaining flower bracts/sepals are finely bristled. Photographed August 2020 by Lise Fracalossi in Plattsburgh, NY.

Day 14 of #nativeplants #20DayPlantChallenge: Purple-flowered raspberry (Rubus odoratus).

This raspberry produces beautiful, sweet-smelling flowers and big juicy fruits -- and is native to the Northeast U.S. Why aren't we growing this instead of commercial raspberries?

Aconitum uncinatum in bloom growing in dappled shade in full bloom - dissected leaves resembling Anemone spp with large purple flowers shaped like monks hoods. Photo credit https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/aconitum-uncinatum/

My 15/20 of unknown/underrated #NativePlants for #20DayPlantChallenge is Aconitum uncinatum, a highly toxic plant for your native FAFO garden. I can't be the only one who feels a bit dangerous growing something beautiful and toxic. The shape of the flowers is what gives this one the name monkshood

A cluster of cardinal-red tube-like flowers with yellow highlights. The foliage is bright green and creates a nice contrast to the deep red.

A close-up of Spigelia 'Little Redhead' cardinal-red tubular blooms with yellow peaks.

Spigelia marilandica 'Little Redhead' is a North American native wildflower, more compact than the native Indian pink. Blooms mid-May and stays in bloom for a couple of weeks. Cut them back for a re-bloom in July. It's a wonderful hummingbird plant. Day 14 #20DayPlantChallenge #NativePlants 🌱🌿

A hand holding a cluster of poke milkweed (Asclepias exaltata) flowers on thin, pale green stems. The sepals and petals are pale green or yellow, reflexed (turned back) towards the stems. In the center of the flower are white horn-like structures formed of the fused filaments of the stamens, known (logically enough) as "horns." Photo taken by Lise Fracalossi, July 2021, in Lane Conservation Area, Lunenburg, MA.

A whole plant of poke milkweed (Asclepias exaltata). The flowers are a cluster of pale green or yellow petaled flowers, with each having petals/sepals reflexed, and a corona of white horns. But most interesting here are the wide and long leaves, appearing opposite or whorled on the stem. These leaves are said to resemble pokeweed (Phytolacca americana), hence the common name. Photo taken July 2021 by Lise Fracalossi, in the Lane Conservation Area, Lunenburg, MA.

Day 13 of #nativeplants #20DayPlantChallenge: Asclepias exaltata, or poke milkweed.

There are at least 5 different milkweeds native to MA, but this one is my favorite. Those green reflexed petals really stand out! And like all milkweeds, they support Monarch caterpillars.

A low-growing mound of green foliage with butter-yellow, lily-like flowers suspended above a rosette of leaves. It is a native to western North America but grows well in other regions of the U.S.

Erythronium 'Pagoda' is a cultivar of the genus Erythronium in the family of Liliaceae. Its origin may be as a hybrid between Erythronium tuolumnense and E. californicum 'White Beauty' (thought to be a cultivar of E. californicum). #NativePlants to Tuolumne County, CA. Day 14 #20DayPlantChallenge 🌱🌿

Day 14 #20DayPlantChallenge: American Wildflowers of Spring. #NativePlants #wildflowers 🌱

Lush, Hydrangea barbara shown in full bloom - photo credit and additional photos & info in link: https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu/main.php?pg=show-taxon-detail.php&taxonid=4471

Quick break from scarifying 100s of Ceanothus americanus seeds 😵 my 14/20 #20DayPlantChallenge for underrated/unkown #NativePlants is Hydrangea barbara, native climbing hydrangea, a flowering semi-evergreen woody vine endemic SE hardy up north. Yes, you can design an ornamental native garden.

Castanea dentata (American chestnut). This photo shows a branch holding several green leaves, oppositely arranged on the stem of a sapling. The leaves are deeply serrated, like a sawblade. The leaves appear healthy, but this won't last! Taken July 2020 in Lunenburg, MA by Lise Fracalossi.

Castanea dentata (American chestnut). In the left of the photo, you can see a cluster of small trees arising from the same spot. They are in various states of blight and decay; the worst appears to be dead, with most of its bark missing. Chestnut blight is a fungus that infects the bark, causing it to split, eventually destroying the vascular cambium and killing the tree. Photo taken July 2020 in Lunenburg MA by Lise Fracalossi.

Castanea dentata (American chestnut) in fall. An older sapling, around 10' tall, has not fully succumbed to blight, though some branches are dead. This shows the brilliant golden color of its fall foliage. Taken October 2023 in Lunenburg, MA by Lise Fracalossi.

Castanea dentata (American chestnut) in fall. This is one of the tallest living chestnut I have seen, at 20-30' tall. This shows the brilliant golden color of its fall foliage. Taken October 2023 in Lunenburg, MA by Lise Fracalossi.

Day 12 of #nativeplants #20DayPlantChallenge: Castanea dentata (American chestnut).

This plant is functionally extinct across most of its range thanks to chestnut blight. The rootstock is immune to blight, though, so living roots will send up doomed saplings every year.

"Pooh Tree" American sycamore in Peace Valley Park - there are several children inside of the tree and one approaching it on the frozen creek in front of it.

Standing inside of the "Pooh Tree" American sycamore in Peace Valley Park

Looking up inside the "Pooh Tree" American sycamore in Peace Valley Park

Exploring a massive American Sycamore in Valley Forge National Park

#20DayPlantChallenge (13/20) #NativePlants Platanus occidentalis is my favorite native tree. They grow to epic proportions, and once they reach 100 years old, many of them become hollow. People used to live in these. Video: living in sycamores history in America youtu.be/SrW1RIZATMs?...

Agalinis tenuifolia (slender false-foxglove). Three winged, pink flowers with white throats spotted pink. The stem is slender; the leaves are also slender and lance-shaped. Obviously it is called "false-foxglove" due to its resemblance to true foxglove (genus Digitalis). Photo taken by Lise Fracalossi (me), Ausable Point Campground, August 2021.

Agalinis tenuifolia (slender false-foxglove). A single winged, pale pink flower shaped like a foxglove flower (hence the name). The stem is slender; the leaves are also slender and lance-shaped. Photo taken by Lise Fracalossi (me), Aug 2019, in Lane Conservation Area/Hickory Woods/Large Town Forest conglomeration, Lunenburg, MA.

Day 11 of #nativeplants #20DayPlantChallenge: Agalinis tenuifolia (slender false-foxglove).

This one's sentimental. I associate it with camping with my parents every summer on Lake Champlain. It likes those beachy habitats, but I've also seen it in powerline cuts here in MA.

Mature (several years old at least) Dicentra exima with deep pink blooms growing among rocks. By Richtid - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13823287

Mint tin from Trader Joe's filled with fresh Dicentra exima seeds which still have their elaiosomes.

#20DayPlantChallenge (12/20) Dicentra exima is our native bleeding heart. Personal opinion, I prefer this to the exotic one, though I have both. Many assume this to be ephemeral, but under ideal conditions it will continue to rebloom through the year. The tin of seeds show elaiosomes #NativePlants

Young Sida hermaphrodita plant (why it's short) with the white flower buds beginning to open up.

#20DayPlantChallenge (11/20) Sida Hermaphrodita is one of those plants that when you read about it, the description doesn't do it justice. They mention the height (15ft) or maple-like leaves, but not that they are a silvery green or feel like silk velvet. G3 vulnerable/S2 imperiled #NativePlants

A cluster of pale pink flowers of Epigaea repens (trailing arbutus). The flower is bell shaped with five petals, with a cluster of yellow reproductive structures in the center. Photo taken April 2024 in Squannacook Wildlife Management Area, Shirley/Townsend, MA.

Epigaea repens (trailing arbutus). A cluster of whitish-pink flowers growing low to the ground. Each flower is bell shaped with five petals. In the background are leathery, evergreen leaves with very prominent veining. Photo taken April 2022 in Hickory Woods, Lunenburg, MA.

A patch of Epigaea repens (trailing arbutus), showing several individual plants growing low to the ground. There are two clusters 6-7 flowers; each flower is bell shaped with five petals. In the background are leathery, evergreen leaves with very prominent veining. Photo taken April 2022 in Hickory Woods, Lunenburg, MA.

Day 10 of #nativeplants #20DayPlantChallenge: Epigaea repens (trailing arbutus or mayflower). This low-growing, evergreen spring ephemeral is the state flower of Massachusetts!

Its native range includes the northeast, south and a bit of the midwest U.S.

Zenobia pulverulenta with reddish stem and lime-to-bluish green foliage and white, fragrant lily-of-the-valley type bell shaped flowers, this is the "standard" (Zenobia pulverulenta, photo by Scott Zona, CC BY-NC 2.0)

Zenobia with more bluish leaves are a fairly common variation, but there are known cultivars for this specific color. Here is 'Woodlander's Blue' showing glaucous stems mixed with the red. Photo also shows the white, bell shaped flowers and early formation of seedheads. ('Woodlanders Blue' Flower, photo by Jim Robbins, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Own photo taken November 2024 at Jenkins Arboretum showing Zenobia 'Woodlander's Blue' transitioning rainbow of fall color as it shifts from blue-green to lavender to deeper pinks, reds, purples. Native anemone grows among this shrub as a groundcover.

#20DayPlantChallenge (10/20) Zenobia pulverulenta, aka honeycups or dusty zenobia, endemic to the Carolinas, hardy to Z5, is a gorgeous ericaceous shrub worth adding to gardens everywhere. Noninvasive (challenging to propagate), semi-evergreen, colorful foliage with white bell flowers #NativePlants

yellow pipe shaped flower with triangular lip around central maroon opening. Mai 2018 Canon EOS 6D EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Creative Commons Licence BY 2.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ Quellenangabe / Credit: Maja Dumat - Creative Commons Licence BY 2.0

pipevine swallowtail By Ryan Kaldari - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7342481

#20DayPlantChallenge (9/20), Aristolochia/Isotrema macrophylla, also known as the bigleaf dutchman's pipe, may be one of the more vigorous of our #NativePlants, but the giant heart-shaped leaves and highly unusual (albeit stinky) flowers make up for it. Host for the pipevine swallowtail.

Pink lady's slipper (Cypripedium acaule). A cluster of 6 pink and white slipper-like flowers growing in a small clearing in the forest. Above the flowers are a "hood" of yellow/green sepals/bracts(?) The leaves are only at the basement of the plant and are a wide, oval shape. A fleshy stem rises about 12-18" above the leaves to the flowers. Photographed May 31, 2024 in Lane Conservation Area, Lunenburg, MA

Closeup on the flower of pink lady's slipper (Cypripedium acaule). The flower is slipper shaped, but cloven through the center. A "hood" above the flower is formed by sepals or bracts. Brown/red sepals or bracts, finely haired, hang down from the hood. Photographed May 31, 2024 in Lane Conservation Area, Lunenburg, MA

Day 9 of #nativeplants #20DayPlantChallenge: Cypripedium acaule (pink lady's slipper). These 💯 require mycorrhizal relationships, as the seeds germinate without roots to feed themselves. This means they're ~impossible to propagate from seed. They thrive in recently cleared gaps in the forest canopy.

Large wild patch of Anemonoides quinquefolia, the wood anemone, not to be confused with A. nemorosa (exotic species), in full bloom mid-April 2024

#20DayPlantChallenge of underrated #NativePlants you may not know (8/20), Anemone quinquefolia, the wood anemone. Found this one after removing tons of invasives, later carefully C&P any remaining because these have very brittle, shallow roots. These should hopefully be much happier this year.

Polygaloides paucifolia (gaywings or fringed polygala). Two flowers are shown, on a low-growing plants. Each flower has bright pink wing-like petals on either side of a central column, also pink.The central column is topped by a pom-pom-shaped cluster of stamens(?), pink and white. The leaves are ovate and whorled around the stem. Photographed May 2020 in Lunenburg, MA.

Polygaloides paucifolia (gaywings or fringed polygala). Two flowers are shown on a low-growing plants. Each flower has bright pink wing-like petals on either side of a central column, also pink.The central column is topped by a pom-pom-shaped cluster of stamens(?), pink and white. The leaves are ovate and whorled around the stem. Photographed May 2020 in Lunenburg, MA.

Polygaloides paucifolia (gaywings or fringed polygala). Two flowers are shown, on a low-growing plants. Each flower has bright pink wing-like petals on either side of a central column, also pink.The central column is topped by a pom-pom-shaped cluster of stamens(?), pink and white. The leaves are ovate and whorled around the stem. Photographed May 2013 in Lunenburg, MA.

Day 8 of #nativeplants #20DayPlantChallenge: Polygaloides paucifolia (fringed polygala or gaywings).

With its bright pink color and pom-pom shaped reproductive structures, this looks more like it belongs in a tropical rainforest! But it blooms in spring in heath/evergreen forests of the NE US.

Clematis viorna trails over the railing on a split rail fence in peak bloom, photo taken end of June

#20DayPlantChallenge Day 7: Leatherflower clematises. This one is Clematis viorna, one of the ones I potted up yesterday (seed from this plant), but there are many species in what is known as the Viorna group. Some are vines, others subshrubs, all have flowers this shape 🌱 #NativePlants

A blue/purple bell-shaped flower on a slim stalk with narrow leaves, growing in a crack in the rock. Photographed in Peru, NY, August 2020.

A blue/purple bell-shaped flower on a slim stalk with narrow leaves, growing in a crack in the rock. Photographed in Peru, NY, August 2020.

Day 7 of #nativeplants #20DayPlantChallenge: Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia or intercedens).

This beautiful Northeast U.S.-native bluebell thrives in dry rocky soil. It's one of the first species I learned to identify, way back when I was a kid!