Get Your Botany On!

The end crowns the work - may the last be the best! The glorious time of Gentians is upon us - another growing season putting on its final s...

I recently posted this photo as a plant quiz... Keith wasn't fooled by my shenanigans. These are the bulblets of the roots of Dicentra ...

Late summer brings on the charismatic blues of fringed gentians in calcareous soils throughout the northeastern United States. I have recent...

Many people would look at the two photographs below and call both plants Virginia Creeper or Woodbine, Parthenocissus quinquefolia , without...

Good call Mary! Diarrhena americana it is - American Beak Grass, or Beak Grain. This uncommon, native grass is easiest to locate in late fal...

Habitat: old field, shady, lower on a slope, SE Indiana (Fayette County) Any help? Answer - Elephantopus carolinianus. Good job, Scott. I ...

With the sudden interest in gentians (what timing!); here is Gentiana linearis photographed in southern Vermont (8/18/09), where it is cons...

While working in Superior, Wisconsin a few weeks ago, we came across a gentian that I had never seen before, with dull grayish-blue closed f...

Starting about mid-May, every time I visit a prairie remnant I think, " This is the most beautiful time of the year on the prairie!...

I was walking our trails last evening when I saw a beautiful Cirsium discolor (Field Thistle) in flower with the moon in the background. I...

Just in case you need another five minute distraction, here is an interesting article on fall leaf color, sent to me by Marianne... http://n...

These beauties were blooming at McCormick's Creek State Park, near Spencer, Indiana. This was the first time I had seen these orchids. ...

This strange and interesting little saprophytic orchid is occasional on trail edges in the Indiana Dunes region. Especially at home in oak ...

These pretty flowers are not too far above the ground and they face down. I do not get to see them much, even though it is a common weed/fl...

Congratulations to Keith, who correctly named the quiz plant from a few days ago as Abutilon theophrasti , and to Justin, who hinted at one ...

Good call, Justin and Tom. It is Gymnocladus dioica, and almost certainly a cultivar (cultivated variety). The leaflets are smaller than the...

While driving in Chicago recently I was surprised to see this type of tree used in street planting. Can you identify it from the bark alone?