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Wintergreen – Heath family, waxy, white flowers with 5 rounded lobes, nodding beneath the evergreen leaves. Leaves thick, hard, shiny dark green, except when very young. Height 2-6 inches. Fruit a bright red berry. Found in woods, especially with evergreens and in clearings. Blooms July-August. Young leaves and berries eaten by children. Berries sometimes used in pies. Mature leaves used to make tea. Wintergreen oil is derived from the Black Birch tree, not from this plant. |
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Blue Vervain – Vervain family, small flowers in numerous, pencil-like spikes, blooming a few at a time from bottom of spike upward. Leaves opposite, coarsely toothed, rough-surfaced. Height 1-4 feet. Found in moist fields, meadows and along shores. Blooms July-September. Seeds have been roasted, ground and used for meal. |
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Queen Anne’s Lace – Parsley family, tiny white flowers in flat-topped clusters. Often a purple or blackish floret in the center of the cluster. Leaves compound, finely dissected, yellowish-green. Height 2-3 feet. Flower head curls up when aged. Found in fields and waste places. Blooms June – October. Cultivated carrot developed from this weed. Sometimes a serious problem as a weed. |
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Purple Loosestrife – Loosestrife family, flowers with long, purple petals, growing in circles on spikes terminating the stout stem. Leaves without petioles, opposite or in circles around the stem, heart-shaped at base. 8-12 stamens and styles in 3 different lengths. Height to 3 feet. Blooms July – September. Found in marshes, along shores, in swamps and wet meadows, often in great numbers. Note: This plant is considered an invasive species. |
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New England Aster – Composite family, many kinds of asters are found in New York State in autumn. This one has heads of flowers with numerous, narrow purple rays surrounding the yellow flowers in the center. Heads form large showy clusters at tips of branches. Leaves hairy, thin, toothless, of dryish texture, clasping the stout, rough stem. Height 2-8 feet. Found in moist or dry roadsides, fields, waste places, borders of woods and swamps. Blooms August – October. A cultivated garden flower in Europe. |
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Monroe County Soil & Water Conservation District - Home |
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Wildflowers of New York |
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Coltsfoot – Composite family, each flower on a single, hairy, leafless, scaly-bracted stalk. No leaves present at time of blooming. Flower about 1 ½ inches in diameter, resembling a dandelion. Leaves long-stalked, hairy on under surface, broad, with shallow lobes, appearing later in the season. Height of flower stem to 15 inches. Found on moist banks, railroads and roadsides. Blooms March – June. Makes delicious candy, “coltsfoot candy”, which is considered helpful to the respiratory system. Sometimes used in cough medicine. One of the first flowers found in spring. |
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Orange Hawkweed – Composite family, flower heads to an inch in diameter with bright orange-red rays slightly fringed at ends. Several heads terminate each hairy stem. Most of the blunt, veiny, hairy leaves grow in a basal rosette. Height to 1 ½ feet. Found in fields, clearings and on roadsides. Blooms June – September. Often considered a sign of poor soil.
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Joe-Pye Weed – Composite family, flowers small, purple, without rays; few to many on each head. Heads in terminal clusters. Leaves in whorls of 3-6 at intervals on the stout stem. Height 3-12 feet. Found in moist places, thickets and open woods. Blooms July – October. Roots formerly used in medicines. |
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Monroe County Soil & Water Conservation District 1200A Scottsville Road, Suite 160 Rochester, NY 14624
Phone: 585-473-2120 x3 Fax: 585-473-2124 |
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Page updated: July 2007 |
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Providing Today, Protecting Tomorrow |