One Man’s Weed

Lots of lovelies are peeking out some blossoms in the Back Woods. You may be familiar with some of these as common roadside weeds though they are shining here as welcome color in the woods. Here are just a few our spring early birds.

Shiny lyonia (Lyonia lucida) or one of the many plants called fetterbush. Shiny lyonia is the Ericaceae family commonly known as the heath family. You will find blueberries and and St John’s wort in this family as well. Notice how the flowers are similar to blueberries. In a previous post we pointed out the notable lateral vein on the outside edge of the leaf. This shot captures both the flowers and that distinguishable characteristic.

Florida greeneyes (Berlandiera subacaulis), a lovely little weed in the making it’s presence known in the sandhill.

Some dew laden toadflax (Linaria canadensis) flowers. The family is a real mouthful…Scophulariaceae…gotta love it! Couldn’t you guess that common snapdragons are also found in this family. This diminutive flower is found in disturbed sites everywhere.

One of Kristen’s favorites is about to explode across the Back Woods. Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis) really can’t be beat for putting on a spring show. The flower color is sometimes hard to capture (blues and purple often do not photograph true) but, I think we came pretty close here.