Lab 4 Plants

Actaea racemosa

black cohosh

Ranunculaceae

• NATIVE!!!

• FLOWERS IN THE SUMMER (JUNE/JULY)

• Basal leaves, tripinnately compound, toothed, terminal leaflet typically 3 lobed

• White flowers clustered in terminal raceme. Fuzzy appearance due to many stamen

• 4-6 ft height, 2-4 ft spread

• Part to full shade, well drained soil, keep soil moist or else foliage browns

• Deer resistant

• NWPL: NL

Actaea simplex ‘Hillside Black Beauty’

bugbane ‘Hillside Black Beauty’

Ranunculaceae

• NON-NATIVE FROM ASIA

• BLOOMS IN THE FALL

• Tripinnate foliage, dark green, irregularly toothed

• Creamy white color flowers on wand-like raceme

• 4-6 ft height, with flower stalk 8 ft

• Part to full shade, well drained soil, keep soil moist or else foliage browns

• Bugbane refers to insect repellent

• Deer resistant

• NWPL: NL

Amsonia hubrichtii

Hubricht’s bluestar

Apocynaceae

• Alternate, thin, entire, oblong-elliptic to lance-shaped foliage.

• Medium to dark green — turns golden yellow in the fall (PRO, attractive foliage in every season!)

• Terminal panicles of steel-blue buds, 5-petaled star shaped flowers.

• Flowers in May and June

• Grows 2-3.5 ft clump, will arch over with age

• Deer resistant

• NWPL: NL

Asclepias tuberosa

butterfly weed

Apocynaceae

• foliage: alternate, spiral and crowded, narrowly lance-shaped, dark green

• flower: orange, red, or yellow, heavy bloom in June then sporadically throughout the summer

• seedpods are 6 inches long

• pests: golden aphids, monarch butterfly larvae feed on it 

• NOTES: seed pods are ornamental, attracts butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds. Deer resistant

• NWPL: NL BUT DRIER ENVIRONMENT THAN ASCLEPIAS INCARNATA

Baptisia australis

blue false indigo

Fabaceae

• foliage: alternate, gray-green, palmate (no rachis) trifoliate. Leaflets up to 2 inches long with entire margin. Turns black when drying

• flower: 10-12 inch racemes with indigo blue, pea-like flowers in spring

• Inflated seedpod with beans that come loose (rattle when shaken, used as a baby toy by indigenous people)

• 3-4 ft tall, 4 ft spread (shrublike)

• low maintenance perennial

• heat and drought-tolerant

• Deer resistant

• NWPL: FACU

Echinacea purpurea

purple coneflower

Asteraceae

• foliage: alternate, lower leaves are ovate to broadly lance-shaped, coarsely toothed, long petioles. Upper leaves are narrow and nearly entire and sessile. Rough texture

• flower: drooping ray flowers (rose to rose-purple), disc flowers (orange-brown), blooms late June into August

• 2-4 ft erect, stiff plant

• needs full sun, can tolerate light shade, drought resistant

• Attracts butterflies

• NWPL: NL

Heuchera villosa ‘Autumn Bride’

hairy alumroot ‘Autumn Bride’

Saxifragaceae

• heart shaped leaves, deeply triangular lobes, very hairy

• creamy white panicle flowers, August-Oct. Flower stems are hairy

• foliage mound is 12 inch with upright flowers 12in

• moist-well drained soil, part shade

• ‘Autumn Bride’ cultivar has larger inflorescence that can be too heavy and flop over

• NWPL: NL

Phlox paniculata

garden phlox

Polemoniaceae

• opposite, simple, sessile, ovate to oblong, dark green with obvious midvein

• flower: magenta/pink, in large, dense, pyramidal panicles. flowers in July-Sept.

• 3-4 ft height

• need full sun and good air circulation because it is vulnerable to spider mites, root rot, powdery mildew

• NWPL: FACU

Rudbeckia triloba

three-lobed coneflower

Asteraceae

• leaves are thin and rough textured on both sides, alternate

• lower leaves are tri-lobed with long petioles, upper leaves less rounded and sessile

• yellow ray flowers and brown disk flowers

• 3-5 ft height, 1-1.5 spread

• needs full sun and well-drain soil

• COMPARISON TO R. FULGIDA: more and smaller flowers with few ray flowers per head

• Deer resistant, slightly light and drought tolerant, reseeds prolifically

• NWPL: FACU

Solidago rugosa ‘Fireworks’

rough-stemmed goldenrod ‘Fireworks’

Asteraceae

• alternate, simple, ovate to lanceolate leaves, entire or toothed. rough, hairy texture. veins are sunken, giving a wrinkled appearance

• flower: yellow panicle inflorescence, tubular disk flowers in the center surround by strap-shaped ray flowers. bloom from sept. - oct

• broad clumps of erect stems, 1-3 ft tall

• full sun to light shade, well-drained, avg soil

• Powdery mildew in dry periods

• NWPL: FAC

Tradescantia virginiana

spiderwort

Commelinaceae

• foliage: 18” long by 1” width, linear leaves, wider at base (sessile) and narrowing to a pointed tip

• flower: terminal umbel, many flower buds. Purple, 3-petaled, 3 sepaled, 6 yellow stamens, flowers only last one day.

• blooms in spring and again in fall

• 18-36” in height, 18” in spread, clump forming

• NWPL: FACU

Veronicastrum virginicum

culver’s root

Plantaginaceae

• lanceolate leaves arranged in whorls, sharply toothed

• leaves are smooth on the top, slightly hairy on the bottom

• flowers: white to pale blue arranged in 6-9 in long terminal racemes, flowers in May-August

• Needs full sun, if grown in partial sun it will need support

• NWPL: FACU