Lobelia and Other August Wildflowers

I went on a evening fishing trip to Glade Creek where it empties into the New River, and netted some really nice wildflowers.Others were found around my home or neighborhood; these should be it for August. 

I spotted a Ladies Tresses Orchid in the lawn of the school where I work, it is the only one around anywhere so it seems especially early. 

#253- Cardinal Lobelia

Both of these are favorites of mine and were found along the stream, this is probably why I don't catch a lot of fish. 

#254- Great Blue Lobelia

Indian Tobacco is another Lobelia, this one grows all around the farm here.

#255- Indian Tobacco

This is a brand new wildflower for me, Small Bonny Bellflower. I found it at the country graveyard where my grandparents are buried. 

#256- Small Bonny Bellflower

#257- Boneset

#258- Late Boneset

The next wildflower is often credited with killing Abraham Lincolns mother. Cows would eat the plant and a toxin would pass to humans through their milk. Half the deaths in a Indiana County at one time can be attributed to this plant. White Snakeroot is said to be less of a threat today due to the pooling of milk from many animals in the milk supply.

#259- White Snakeroot

Below is another new wild flower for me and was from Glade Creek. Hog Peanut is in the Pea family and along with Ground Nut, was a food source for Native Americans. 

#260- Hog Peanut

#261- Grass Leaved Goldenrod

#262- New England Aster

#263- Pokeweed

#264- Spearmint (non-native hybrid)

#265-  Lady Thumb (non-native)

Dolls Eyes, the Fruit of Baneberry

Cardinal Lobelia

Glade Creek Falls, notice the hand cut rock wall

#266- Dock (non-native)

#267- Japanese Knot Weed (non-native)

#268- Willowherb

Willowherb

So, Today is August 31 and I decided to take one more short trip to a nearby water reservoir and found several nice wildflowers.
        White Goldenrod is a first for me. 

#269- White Goldenrod

#270- Lyons Turtlehead

#271- Arrowhead

#272- American Water Horehound

#273- Blue Skullcap

While walking back the the truck, I spotted this lone cluster of blooms on a shrub. It was a native Spirea called White Meadowsweet.

#2274- White Meadowsweet 

Cool August Wildflowers

August is still unseasonably cool and lots of rain. One morning this week was down to 44 degrees Fahrenheit. It feels like fall already. I am noticing Sumac turning bright orange and yellow and all the trees have lost some of their luster. The wildflowers are plentiful and I have found some old friends but also some new ones. Most of the following were found in wet areas from my farm or the immediate neighborhood.
         This stand of  Joe-Pye weed, named for a Indian healer, is around eight feet tall and is behind my chicken house.

#239- Joe-Pye Weed 

 A common companion plant is Ironweed, another 6 foot + wildflower.

#240- Ironweed 

 What an interesting plant, the common Groundnut. This plant was a staple in the diet of most Native American Indians. Many believe that it was so vital to them that it was planted anywhere they may have lived for extended periods of time. On the farm that I live on, I have found several dozen complete arrowheads and hundreds of broken pieces and the related debitage.  These are mostly from the late Archaic period and I have also listed the site as a West Virginia Archaeological site. Finding the groundnut in the immediate area is interesting and likely related.

#241- Groundnut

#242- Field Milkwort

#243- Peppermint (non-native, hybrid plant)

#244- Arrow Tearthumb 

Arrow Tearthumb Stem

#245- Yellow Wood Sorrel

#246- Virgins Bower

#247- Stiff Cow Bane 

Stiff Cow Bane Leaves

#248- Sneezeweed

#249- Tall Goldenrod 

#250- Winged Sumac 

#251- Common Burdock (non-native)

#252- Black Medick (non-native)

Orchids in August

I've been trying to decide if the Spring, Summer or Fall Orchids are my favorite. My conclusion is that whatever is in bloom is my favorite. August seems to be the month that a sense of urgency begins to be felt by all life. Even though the first frost in late September is still about five or six weeks away, I already feel and see the signs of impending cold weather. Deer are increasingly active, hummingbirds are frantic, birds can be seen in loose flocks and wildflowers bloom and die back quickly.  

       Yellow Fringed Orchids are particularly showy. It seems that they know they are in competition for the affection of pollinators and don't have time to play around. They flaunt their availability as if they cannot wait until tomorrow. 

#235- Yellow Fringed Orchid

A neighbor pointed out the Purple Fringeless Orchid to me several years ago. I am able to photograph them each year if I can find them in time. This year we were hunting them by August 1 but had no luck. He has an acre or two of typical wet field full of Iron Weed, Steeplebush, St. Johns Wort and etc. and the Orchid is typically shorter than everything else there. Last year a beautiful, perfect one bloomed across the road in a cow field and was promptly eaten. So he had been making regular trips through the field looking for the orchids and having no luck and I had been once. Today, I wore long rubber boots and scoured the field with no luck and then tried a nearby field where Ladies Tresses had been seen but no Purple Fringeless. But I spotted two plants that were far past prime, but had a couple of nice blooms. This plant is not know in Raleigh County, West Virginia and his efforts to report it have not been successful. 

#236- Purple Fringeless Orchid 

Purple Fringeless Orchid 

Purple Fringeless Orchid  with lighter bloom

 I had spotted the winter leaves of Crane-fly Orchid early in the Spring at Grandview a part of the New River National River. I started making trips to look for the bloom on July 25th. There was nothing where the leaves were but I did spot four newly emerged flower spikes nearby and made three trips before finding one in bloom on August the 5th. This was a first time sighting for me.

#237- Crane-fly Orchid

Crane-fly Orchid

Crane-fly Orchid- Notice the sticky pollinaria that will attach to a moth to be transferred to another plant

The Crane-Fly Orchid two weeks before

 Downy Rattlesnake Orchid is one of five or so Orchids that grow on the farm where I live. The picture below is an amateurishly stitched together series of three pictures. It is a difficult plant to show in its entirety. You can see several seed pods from last year around the bottom. Every time I see these plants, I stop and look for its cousin the Lesser Rattlesnake Orchid.

#238- Downy Rattlesnake Orchid

Downy Rattlesnake Orchid