Many of western Kentucky's Loess-Hills wildflower species don't extend as far south as the Hills' southernmost point in Louisiana, and a few species common in Louisiana's Tunica Hills and southern Mississippi don't make it far north. For example, Recurved Trillium and Dutchman's-Breeches grace loess slopes in extreme western Kentucky, but these species would never be expected in similar habitats in southern Mississippi and Louisiana. On the other hand, the Southern Shield-Fern, the most common fern in many places on thick loess in southern Mississippi, and ranging as far south as Brazil and Venezuela, is simply absent in Kentucky.
In S. Lee Timme's Wildflowers of Mississippi the loess zone is naturally considered as having its own characteristic assemblage of wildflowers. Just to gain a feeling for what kinds of wildflowers are present there, here are profiles of some of the "characteristic herbs" mentioned by Timme for Mississippi's loess zone:
ASTERS
Asters are an incredibly diverse and fun-to-figure-out group of wildflowers to try to
identify and distinguish from one another. Arthur Cronquist's Vascular Flora of the
Northeastern United States lists sixty-six species just for that region! Asters are
members of the composite family, so they have blossoms quite different from regular
flowers such as those of, say, tulips and apple trees. The thing most people regard as the
aster flower is actually a structure composed of numerous flowers all packed together. One
of the most common asters, a weedy species characteristic of old fields, is the Frost-weed
Aster, often remaining flowering long after the first frost, even into the new year. The
"typical aster" is composed of white rays surrounding yellow center areas, but
several aster species are blue. The most common blue-flowered species in fall woods in our
zone is probably the Spreading Aster.
BEGGAR'S TICKS
Despite its attractive clusters of yellow composite flowers, this wildflower is considered
a diabolic weed by hunters and others who tramp through woods and fields. That's because
the seeds are ingeniously engineered by nature so that they can transport themselves into
potential new habitats by affixing themselves, like ticks, to an animal's fur -- or a
hiker's socks and trousers. The seeds bear two backward-barbed spines, or awns, that latch
onto almost any rough surface. Beggar's Ticks are not to be confused with the
Tick-trefoils, which produce flattish, flattish green-bean-like fruits covered with short,
velcro-like hairs.
BELLWORTS
In early spring these particularly graceful plants, members of the lily family, produce
yellowish flowers on a gracefully arching stem. The blossoms, often partially obscured by
soft, green leaves, suggest with their drooping petals a certain demureness. There are
several bellwort species, of which three may be sought in the loess zone. The Perfoliate
Bellwort, whose pale-yellow blossoms, up to 1-3/8 inches long, emit a delicate fragrance,
is found in well drained woods throughout the Loess Hills. The Large-flowered Bellwort is
a smaller plant with larger, lemon-yellow flowers -- to two inches long -- growing only in
the zone's northern half. A third species, inaptly called Wild Oats, is the smallest,
rises only a foot high and bears greenish-yellow flowers only an inch long; it's found in
all except possibly the most southern parts of the loess zone.
CARDINAL FLOWER
Cardinal Flowers, possibly our most brightly colored late-summer wildflower, grow best in
partial shade and moist soil. Members of the lobelia family, they are robust, knee-high
plants topped with brilliantly red clusters of flowers 1½ inches long in foot-long,
slender clusters. Cardinal Flowers are perfectly adapted for pollination by Ruby-throated
Hummingbirds. When the hummingbird inserts its beak, the blossom's extended stamens douse
the bird's head with pollen (carrying the male sex germs); subsequently the bird deposits
some of this pollen on the female parts of blossoms the bird visits later. Sadly, Cardinal
Flowers are not only favorites of hummingbirds, but also of people who want to beautify
their yards. Of course, the vast majority of Cardinal Flowers removed from their natural
environment die. Please don't dig up this spectacular plant!
GOLDENRODS
As with asters, there are many species of goldenrods, and they are nearly all late-summer
and fall bloomers. The flowers are... golden colored! Goldenrods, also like asters, are
members of the composite family, so the actual flowers are held in tiny flower-like
clusters. Hundreds or even thousands of these tiny flower-like clusters are borne atop the
knee- to waist-high plants. The best known goldenrod, a weedy species seen along roads and
in old fields, is known as the Field or Canada Goldenrod. Probably the most common species
on the Loess Hills' moist, rich, ravine slopes is the Wreath Goldenrod, which is much
smaller and more fragile looking. Cronquist's flora describes fifty-three species and many
varieties of goldenrods just in the North, and some are exceedingly rare and unique!
INDIAN PINK
This pretty, knee-high plant is easy to identify because its several 1.5-inch-long flowers
are blood red on the outside, but each flower's five petals flaring outward to reveal a
bright yellow blossom interior. The plant has also been called Pinkroot and Wormgrass, the
latter name relating to the fact that extracts from the root contain an alkaloid that has
been used in medicine to combat intestinal parasites. Don't try this home remedy, however,
for too much is poisonous.
JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT
Though common in rich spring-time woods, Jack-in-the-pulpit produces very strange flowers.
The actual flowers are tiny and arranged on a slender, finger-like spike poking straight
upward. Around the spike a green-striped tube is formed, and the tube extends over the
spike like a fancy awning. The spike is "Jack" and the tube with its awning is
the "pulpit." Above the pulpit, a three-pieced leaf looks a little like a broad,
green arrow. This plant's special flower structure makes beetles and other insect
pollinators feel dry and at home as they wander atop the hundreds of tiny clustering
around "Jack" as the look for pollen and nectar. In the fall Jack and his pulpit
wither away, leaving a splendid cluster of bright red, pea-size fruits. The plant's root
is thick and succulent, but filled with calcium oxalate crystals. This means that any
critter or human chomping into them will feel immediately incredible pain! Nonetheless,
the Indians are said to have dried slivers of the root and then cooked them, destroying
the calcium oxalate, thus acquiring a tasty, starchy food. In fact, sometimes the plant is
called Indian Turnip.
MAY-APPLE
This is one of the most common and easy-to-identify wildflowers. It consists of a Y-shaped
stem with an umbrella atop each of the Y's arms. In early spring a solitary white blossom
1-2 inches wide appears where the Y's arms unite, then a few weeks later the
"apple" forms where the flower was. The "apple," about the size of a
golf ball, is delicious when ripe, but raccoons and other animals eat them so readily that
usually it's hard for us humans to find a ripe one. The root is poisonous. Large colonies
of May-apples are sometimes seen. Often when a forest is converted to pasture, the
following spring, May-apples emerge where they always did, and persist there for many
years.
MILKWEEDS
Several summer-flowering milkweed species occur in the Loess Hills. All milkweeds have
blossoms with very complex anatomies, and most have waxy green leaves that issue an
alkaloid-rich "milk," or latex, when injured. Milkweeds are favored host plants
for Monarch butterfly caterpillars. When the caterpillars eat the bitter, alkaloid-filled
leaves, the caterpillars themselves become so bitter that birds avoid eating them. The
White Milkweed, with white blossoms held in roundish, snowball-like clusters, is found in
upland woods throughout the Loess Hills. In wet ground, the rose-purple-blossomed Swamp
Milkweed is always a pleasure to see. The most spectacular milkweed is the Butterfly-weed,
a robust, knee-high plant topped with dozens of orange-red flowers. It likes thin woods
and unlike most milkweeds has no milk. Unfortunately, this species is often dug for
transplanting in peoples' lawns, where it nearly always dies. Please don't dig up
wildflowers!
SEEDBOX
In wet ditch-bottoms and the margins of woodland pools, in summer and fall, any knee-high
plant with yellow blossoms ½ to 5/8-inch across composed of four broad petals is surely
the Seedbox. The plant's name derives from the squarish fruit-capsules, which are filled
with tiny seeds. This is a good example of a wildflower with a very definite ecological
preference: It likes mud. It's common over a large section of eastern North America, but
only in wet and moist places.
SUNFLOWERS
The huge-blossomed sunflower grown for its seeds is a horticultural variety of just one of
many native, summer-and-fall-blooming American sunflower species: Cronquist describes
thirty-two species for the U.S. Northeast. Sunflowers have composite flowers, anatomically
similar to the asters, but much larger. Typically a wild sunflower's composite blossoms
are one to two inches across, with yellow rays and somewhat darker "eyes." In
the Loess Hills, the Narrow-leafed Sunflower likes moist, shady places and open
depressions. The Rough-leafed Sunflower prefers dry, open woods, and has thick, firm, very
rough-feeling leaves. It's often hard to tell the various sunflowers apart, but it's
always fun to try.
FERNS
In woods throughout the Loess Hills two of the most common and easily recognized ferns are
the Christmas Fern and the Ebony Spleenwort. Both stay more or less evergreen. Christmas
Ferns are robust ferns taking their name from being used as greenery during winter
holidays. You know you have a Christmas Fern when you notice that its leaflets, or pinnae,
are shaped like stockings of the chimney-hanging kind. Ebony Spleenworts are much more
delicate, sending stiff little pagoda-like fronds straight up. The fronds possess stems
that are not ebony, but rather of a dark mahogany hue. Several interesting and rather rare
ferns can be looked for in the loess zone's deep, steep-walled ravines. It's always a good
idea to carry a field guide to the ferns when hiking there.
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