Next up on our list of planted species alphabetically is Ageratina altissima, or white snakeroot. … I feel a bit intimidated tackling this one, as it’s the first member of the Asteraceae family that I’ve written about. Asteraceae is an enormous and complex family – but we’ll get to that. By the Numbers Species: Ageratina altissima (formerly Eupatorium rugosum) Common name(s): white snakeroot, richweed, white sanicle Family: Asteraceae Seed source(s):

“Native” has become a buzzword in the world of botany and horticulture, and I guess I’m contributing to it! Suddenly a bunch of people who didn’t care where their plants came from are ready to lionize one group of plants and villainize another. But what does “native” actually mean? This is a question that Mark Richardson and Dan Jaffe attempt to answer at the beginning of Native Plants for New England Gardens:

One of the things we’re sowing right now is Agalinis tenuifolia, a tiny-but-mighty late summer flower. What makes this one unique is the fact that it’s hemiparasitic, meaning it’s (partially) a PLANT VAMPIRE. Like Bunnicula. But pinker. And only a part-timer. Agalinis tenuifolia, a small pink and red-spotted flower with petals fused into a tube and slender, spear-like leaves. I found this one on a path leading between a campsite and the beach.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year – when trilliums are in bloom! Since I can’t get out in the woods much right now, instead have some completely useless facts about red trilliums. Red trillium (Trillium erectum), like all trilliums, is a monocot, meaning it arises from a seed with a single cotyledon or seed leaf. Most plants are dicots, which have seeds with two cotyledons, so this makes trilliums a little bit special.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The snow has melted, spring ephemerals are… ephemering, and woodpeckers are gettin’ it on in the trees. In my continuing effort to bring you more dumb plant facts, I figured I’d share some of the pictures of what I’ve been seeing in the woods in the past ~week or so. Round-lobed hepatica, Hepatica americana. Close-up on the white/pinkish flowers Round-lobed hepatica (Hepatica americana), zoomed out a bit to see some of the leathery, tri-lobed leaf This is round-lobed hepatica, Hepatica americana.