Several kinds of adaptable flowering plants abundant along country roads in the Middle Atlantic States, including chicory, Queen-Anne's-lace, teasel, common mullein and bouncing bet, have much in common. They all have attractive blossoms, are originally from Europe, but naturalized in much of North America, and have a history of usefulness to humans, particularly in medieval Europe.
The perennial chicory is a four-foot tall, spindly plant with few leaves and a few lovely, sky-blue flowers every summer morning from late June through August. But those blooms close by early afternoon each day. Chicory dominates many roadsides and some meadows, making those human-made habitats look like they are reflecting the blue sky on sunny mornings. Insects come to their flowers to sip nectar and goldfinches and other seed-eating birds consume some of their seeds.
The roots of chicory can be roasted and ground to bits. Those grinds are used by some people even today to make chicory coffee.
The perennial Queen-Anne's-lace have flat clusters of many tiny, white flowers from early July through August. The flowers of this species dry in fall and curl up, resembling small birds' nests through winter, or ice cream cones when snow piles on those attractive, dried flowers. Some people use dried blooms of this species as part of indoor decorations.
Queen-Anne's-lace is the ancestor of domestic carrots. This plant and carrots smell alike and each species has flowers like the other one. But this plant s not edible to people.
Teasel has a two year cycle of life. During its first summer, it is a plant of leaves close to the ground. But the next summer it grows tall to get its tiny, lavender flowers into the wind and visible to insects that visit those blooms to get nectar, fertilizing the blossoms in the process. I accidentally spilled teasel seeds on our lawn and the next summer we had teasel plants among the short grass. But that summer and the next, I kept mowing those plants off until they died at the end of their life cycle.
In natural circumstances,when teasel seeds are developed, the whole plant dies, except its seeds that disperse in the wind. Many of those seeds are eaten by mice and seed-eating birds.
Teasel plants form flower heads with several small blooms on each head. The blossoms in the middle of each head bloom first and all other flowers bloom in their turn out to the ends of each head. Teasel heads and stems are prickly to protect the flowers. The dead heads and stems of this plant were used in medieval Europe to tease out wool.
Common mullein is another biannual plant. During its first year of life it is only a rosette of leaves hugging the soil. But the next year each plant grows a flower spike up to six feet tall. And each stem has several yellow flowers on it, which are pollinated by insects. Seeds develop where the blooms were, and when those seeds are mature, the whole plant dies, except the seeds that are scattered in the wind.
Eventually that flower stem is dry with many empty pockets in it where the blooms were. In medieval Europe people soaked those mullein flower spikes, with their many hollows, into animal fat and lit them as torches at night.
Bouncing bet has pink blossoms during July and into autumn. This plant is also called soapwort because its crushed leaves can be whipped into a soapy lather, which has been used as a soap. The name bouncing bet comes from the name of a physically well-endowed washer woman scrubbing clothes by hand over an old-fashioned washboard.
All these common, roadside flowering plants have lovely blossoms that we can enjoy seeing free of charge, and have a history of being useful in some practical way. When a passenger along country roads in this area in summer, watch for these beautiful plants that also have interesting natural histories.
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