Joe-Pye Weed, Eutrochium

Joe-Pye Weed

Eutrochium

 

During the summer wetlands are a great place to find colorful flowers, which is where I found this whimsical Joe-Pye weed. (Mother Nature must have been inspired by Dr. Suess.) This collection of bursting purple flowers was accompanying jewelweeds and cardinal flowers near a roadside culvert. Unfortunately when I photographed this flower I did not take note of the plant's details (stem color, leaf pattern, etc.) to determine its species.

 

Joe-Pye weeds are native to many states in North America and have undergone recent reclassification. Other names for the plant are trumpet weed and sometimes thoroughwort. The legend is that Joe-Pye was a Mohegan Indian healer from western Massachusetts who used this plant (E. purpureum) to treat typhoid fever. However, this folk medicine has not been verified by modern science.

 

Purple floweres of Joe-Pye weed

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_pye_weed

http://www.prairieworksinc.com/2010/11/15/joe-pye-the-name-behind-the-legend/



Spotted Jewelweed, Impatiens capensis

Spotted Jewelweed

Impatiens capensis

 

The same day I discovered the lovely cardinal flower I discovered the spotted jewelweed, also known as touch-me-not. This little orange flower is a native species to much of the eastern United States. Like the cardinal flower, it prefers wet soil and can found, like the ones I discovered, in culverts and wetlands.

 

The touch-me-not name comes from the flowers seed capsules which will burst open if touched. It is also known as jewelweed because of how water beads up on the plant's leaves. It is fun and beautiful to take a leaf and swirl it around a bowl of water!

 

Jewelweed, has also been reported as a cure for poison ivy. Just mash up the stems and leaves and then apply to the irritated skin. I have not tried this natural cure myself. According to discussions on the web, the jewelweed cure has mixed results everything from alleviation to doing nothing at all.

 

Orange spotted jewelweed flowers

 

 It looks like it might eat you

 

 

Water "jewels" on a leaf

 

http://uswildflowers.com/detail.php?SName=Impatiens%20capensis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_jewelweed

http://williamrwilson.hubpages.com/hub/How-Do-You-Treat-Poison-Ivy-Using-Jewel-Weed-To-Treat-Poison-Ivy



Cardinal Flower, Lobelia cardinalis

Cardinal Flower

Lobelia cardinalis

 

 

As I was walking alongside a country road, this cardinal flower's vibrant color caught my attention. It was growing in a slow flowing culvert. When I got down in the culvert I was greeted by a slew of pleasant cardinal flowers off in the creek-bed.