Plant Stories

Where’s the flowers?! One of the few herbs in our Sierra Nevada woodlands that, despite their beautiful and lovely-scented floral parts, are often first recognized by their foliage. A perennial herb native to the Western United States, this plant has the unique characteristic of stationing it’s flowers amidst the soil beneath it’s leaves. So, beginning there, on H. alpestre we find a densely hairy globose cyme. It’s flowers are bell-shaped, often occurring in shades of purple

A while ago, while tending a commercial greenhouse that provides food for humans at the local farmer's market as well as livestock at the end of seasons, I came across these lovely Apiaceae family plants. As this is the season where these two are starting to pop up, I felt it was a good opportunity to go over some of the key differences between these two notorious flora! Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota) and Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum) are both common throughout the Uni

Also called False-Solomon's Seal (but you know how I feel about -false monikers), Maianthemum stellatum, along with their big brother (Mainthemum racemosum), are a common sight in our woodland and riparian ecosystems.  Colony-forming perennials, they emerge in the spring with large reddish sheaths; leaves pressed into a pointed tip. As they grow, we notice alternate leaves with the veins running parallel. If you feel these, you will notice that both the main and minor veins p

Time for a fan-favorite! Our school custodian was recently complaining about the bounty of weeds on our playground (which, sad to say, is completely dirt + gravel). Thinking them to be  Goatheads/Tribulus terrestrus, he mentioned that they were going to put in a work order to spray, so I figured we would check out what was popping up out there!  The name Matricaria discoidea comes from the Latin matrix (meaning of the womb) and discoidea, which describes this plant's lack of

Adoxaceae or Viburnaceae?! Sambucus cerulea or S. nigra subsp. cerulea?! Tree or shrub?! AHH!! Our Native Blue Elderberry (at least we can agree on a common name!) is a plant which contains many, sometimes opposing, multitudes. While the former plague only the taxonomically inclined, the increasing presence of mature green-berried forms have caused quite a commotion among most everyone with a stake in this magnificent plant. We’ve been called out by botanists and herbalists a

Tiger Lily, Corn Lily, Lily of the Valley, Waterlily, Calla Lily….AHHHHHH! Not sure there is a more common, common name than that of the...

Anytime one happens to stumble upon these delicacies, it is a cause for celebration. Arguably the rarest fruit of the forest, from a plant which, by many accounts, is one of the most common. While I’ve always chalked this up to their heavenly taste…a bear’s gotta eat too…I recently found out that they also have one of the shortest persisting fruits at an average of 1.2 days for F. vesca (Ehrlen 1991). Interestingly enough, they also bear one of the highest amount of seeds per

On that obscenely warm day in early September, our official focus was Elderberry. When we finally came upon a large population roughly 3 miles in; we noticed that curiously, every plant seemed to be bowing even more than their fruit load would indicate. It was only a few more steps before we stepped in the largest scat pile we had ever seen. We glanced around, finding a few more piles and accompanying tracks before continuing on; texting a friend my findings. We weren't more