Meadow

1. Cockspur thorn /C. crus-galli
Order: Rosales Family: Rosaceae Genus: Crataegus

-small tree growing up to about 10 meters tall and 8 meters wide, rounded in form when young and spreading and flattening as it matures.

-Leaves are 5 to 6 centimeters long, glossy dark green in color and turning gold to red in the fall.
-Flowers are white and have a scent generally considered unpleasant.
-Fruits are bright red pomes each about a centimeter wide.
-It is native to eastern North America from Ontario to Texas to Florida, and it is widely used in horticulture.

2.New England aster / Symphyotrichum novae-angliae (L.) Nesom
Order: Asterales
Asteraceae (Aster Family)

- leaves: hairy, clasping,are arranged densely on its stout stems.
- Flower size: flowerheads around 1-1/2 inches across
Flower color: purple rays around a yellow disk
Flowering time: August to October
Compared to other native asters, New England aster flowers have more rays (around 40) and, usually, more intense purple color.

-Habitat: damp thickets and meadows
-Height: 3-7 feet

3.Closed Gentian /Gentiana clausa...also known as Bottle Gentian


Leaves: The leaf arrangement is opposite. Leaves can reach 10cm in length (4inches). Each leaf is lanceolate entire and stemless.

Flowers: The flowers have 5 Regular Parts and are up to 3.5cm long (1.5 inches). They are blue sometimes violet. Blooms first appear in mid summer and continue into mid fall. The corolla appears completely closed but can be opened at the top.

Habitat: Moist fields or open woods.

4.Tall Sunflower /Helianthus giganteus
Order: Asterales Family:Asteraceae Genus: Helianthus

Stem: 3 to 12 ft. tall, bristly-hairy, usually branching above, often reddish
Stems tall and rather stiff, hairy and rough to the touch,often purplish.
Ray flowers: ten to twenty in number, surrounding the yellow or yellowish brown disk. Bracts of the involucres lanceolate, ciliate, with slender, spreading tips. Receptacle chaffy, the chaff oblong-linear and pointed.
Leaves : Rough, firm, lance-shaped, saw-toothed, sessile, very rough above, margins serrate, long pointed at the apex, narrowed at the base, opposite or alternate, 2 to 6 inches long, one-half to 1 inch wide.

5.Daisy Fleabane /Erigeron strigosus
Order: Asterales Aster family: (Asteraceae)

-The upper stems terminate in small clusters of daisy-like compound flowers and their buds. The compound flowers are about ½" across, consisting of about 40-100 ray florets that surround numerous disk florets. The tiny disk florets are yellow, while the ray florets are usually white (sometimes light violet or pink).

- The root system consists of a taproot. This plant spreads by re-seeding itself, and often forms loose colonies.
-The alternate leaves are up to 4" long and 2/3" across, becoming smaller and more sparsely distributed as they ascend the stems. They are usually oblanceolate (shaped like a narrow spoon), narrowly ovate, or linear. Some of the larger leaves may have a few coarse teeth toward their outer tips. The base of each leaf narrows gradually to a slender petiole-like base.

Special Adaptations:
-The blooming period occurs primarily from late spring to mid-summer, and lasts about 1-2 months. Both the ray and disk florets can set fertile seed without cross-pollination. The small achenes enclosing the seeds have small bristles or white hairs that promote distribution of the seeds by wind.

-Primarily small bees and flies visit the flowers for nectar or pollen. Among the bees, are such visitors as Little Carpenter bees, Nomadine bees, Carder bees, Green Metallic bees, and Plasterer bees. An exceptional variety of flies also visit the flowers, while less common visitors include small butterflies, wasps, and beetles. The caterpillars of Schinia lynx (Lynx Flower Moth) eat the buds and flowerheads. Mammalian herbivores occasionally feed on the foliage and flowers, including livestock, deer, rabbits, and groundhogs

6.Autumn Olive /E. umbellata
Order: Rosales Family: Elaeagnaceae Genus:Elaeagnus



-native to eastern Asia from the Himalayas east to Japan. Because airborne nitrogen can be fixed in its roots, it has the capability to grow in infertile habitats.
-deciduous shrub growing to 4-10 m tall, with a dense, thorny crown
-leaves are alternate, 4-10 cm long and 2-4 cm wide, entire but with a waved margin they are silvery when they leaf out early in spring due to numerous tiny, scales, but turning greener above as the silvery scales wear off through the summer (unlike the related E. angustifolia, which remains silvery to leaf fall).
-flowers are clustered 1-7 together in the leaf axils, fragrant.
-fruit is round to oval drupe 1 cm long, silvery-scaled orange ripening red dotted with silver or brown. When ripe, the fruit is juicy and edible, and works well as a dried fruit. It is small, extremely numerous, tart-tasting, and it has a chewable seed. It has been shown to have from 7 to 17 times the amount of the antioxidant lycopene that tomatoes have.


7.Slender Fragrant Goldenrod /Euthamia tenuifolia (Solidago tenuifolia)


-Slender fragrant goldenrod looks quite similar to lance-leaved goldenrod. Slender fragrant goldenrod has narrower leaves -- around 1/8 inch wide, generally with only a single vein running down the leaf.

-Habitat: dry, sandy soil
-Height: 1-2 feet
-Flower size: 1/4 inch long
-Flower color: yellow


8.
Sweet /Anisescented Goldenrod /Solidago odora

Leaves: The leaves are alternate, toothless & when held up to light, there are tiny transparent dots. The leaves are entire, narrow, have only one main vein and have no petiole but instead merge smoothly with the stem. The leaves become small near the top. They have small glands appearing as dots.

Flowers: The flowers have numerous parts. They are yellow. The flowers are on the upper side of arching branches. The flowers are unusual because they grow only on the top side of the stems. When the Goldenrod gets taller, it typically droops over or lays on the ground due to the weight of its flowers and leaves.

Use: Fresh and dried leaves and flowers are highly recommended for a brewed tea. Leave in hot water for 10 minutes, and you'll get an "anise-flavored" tea.