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Family Liliaceae
Canada Onion (Allium canadense) - perennial bulbous plant with onion odor. Clusters of small white flowers in spring. The bulbs and young leaves can be boiled and eaten, with the liquid used to make soup. The top bulbs can be pickled, but large amounts of this plant can be harmful, particularly for livestock. These onions are very common, especially along roadsides, in open fields, and along edges.
Spider Lily (Hymenocallis liriosome (previously named H. occidentalis in Family Amaryllidaceae)) - This distinctive spring-blooming large white flower has thin, spidery, petals surrounding the stamens, which are joined by a membrane, forming a cup, all on a long floral tube. Grows in damp, shady areas, like in the flood plain.
Crow Poison or False Garlic (Nothoscordum bivalve) - common in fields, open pastures, and roadsides. This plant has no onion or garlic odor - an important distinction, since the flowers look very similar to the edible Canada Onion. Blooms from late February until April, sometimes in the fall as well.
Family Orchidaceae
Upland Ladies' Tresses (Spiranthes vernalis) - The tiny, white, downward-arching flowers of this orchid will bloom in a spiral formation, with the lower blooms most mature. It prefers moist places, coastal salt marshes, floodplains, and occurs occasionally in the coastal prairie. Used by American Indians as a diuretic and aphrodisiac.
Family Acanthaceae
Lance-leaved Water Willow (Justicia ovata) - Summer-blooming emergent water plant with purple-spotted white flowers. The shape of the leaves give this perennial flower its name. Found in the wettest spots on the floodplain.
| Water-willow (Justicia americana)Named for its opposite willow-shaped leaves and because it can grow in standing water. White flowers spotted with purple bloom from June through October. |
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Wild Petunia (Ruellia caroliniensis) - very pretty, rather dainty and given to fainting spells: a favorite among the nature station staff. With opposite leaves, this light purple trumpet-shaped flower will show its face in our gravel driveway and under the boardwalk in mid-spring. In general, this species prefers to grow in open forests and dry upland soils.
Family Apocynaceae
Blue Star (Amsonia tabernaemontana) - Perennial clumping flowers that look like their name, grows up to three feet tall with lance-shaped leaves and is found commonly in rich deciduous woods or wet sites in alluvial soils such as ours here at the Nature Station.
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Trees & Shrubs