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Kentucky Wildflower Watch


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Celandine Poppy

Celandine Poppy: Stylophorum diphyllum

This flower has four bright yellow petals and densely hairy, oval buds. The flowering stems usually have a pair of deeply lobed leaves below the flower stalk.

This plant, native to Kentucky, makes a great wildflower garden plant with lush foliage and a long flowering period.

Fire Pink

Fire Pink: Silene virginica

This native plant has five petals that are fire-engine red. The common name Catchfly refers to the sticky hairs that prevent insects from obtaining nectar without pollinating the flowers.

Jacobs Ladder

Jacobs’s Ladder: Polemonium reptans

This native plant has loose clusters of blue, bell-shaped flowers with five petals on the stems. The plant was used by herbalist, Native Americans and in folk medicine.

Larkspur

Larkspur: Delphinium tricorne

The deep blue flowers are bilaterally symmetrical on an upward-pointed spur. This plant is toxic and is a real danger to cattle.

May Apple

May Apple: Podophyllum peltatum

This native plant carpets open woods with umbrella-like leaves. It produces a single white flower approximately 1 inch wide. The plant, especially the root, is poisonous.

Purple Phacelia

Purple Phacelia: Phacelia bipinnatifida

This plant with five petals has a white center. Soft hair covers the stems of this 12 to 24-inch plant. There are more than 20 species of this genus in the western United States.

Sessil Trillium

Sessil Trillium: Trillium sessile

This plant has three leaves, three sepals and three petals with heavily mottled leaves in shades of green. The plant was used as a red dye and as a love potion.

Squirrel Corn

Squirrel Corn: Dicentra canadensis

The flowers of the native plant grow on an arching stem and are heart shaped. This plant is poisonous, especially to cattle.

Star Chickweed

Star Chickweed: Stellaria pubera

Another Kentucky native, the flowers are white with five very deeply notched petals and five shorter green sepals. It’s common name was derived from the fact that birds are attracted to the seeds for nourishment.

Stonecrop

Stonecrop: Sedum ternatum

This native plant lies horizontally on the ground and makes an excellent ground cover for damp rock gardens. Another common name is “pepper and salt” which refers to the small black anthers against the white background of the petals.

Virginia Bluebells

Virginia Bluebells: Mertensia virginica

This native plant has blue flowers which resemble small bells. The unopened flowers are a distinct pink. Common names are Virginia Cowslip and Roanoke-Bells.


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