Can anyone help ID this? I live in eastern WA state, south of Spokane, very open dry, arid ground. This plant seems to be almost a vine, and grows to perhaps a couple of feet tall with these little purplish hanging flowers, almost a bell or trumpet shape. Thanks for any help! http://mparkes.com/wildflower/
Thanks Dixie and Michael F... Coiuld I bother you for a few more ID's? I have a book on sagebrush wildflowers but still having trouble identifying some of these... Plains Daisy?... http://mparkes.com/wildflower/daisy.htm Unknown number 1: Small clusters of flowers (to the right of the daisy which is abt 1.5" wide) - Common Yarrow?http://mparkes.com/wildflower/unknown1.htm Unknown number 2: http://mparkes.com/wildflower/unknown2.htm Unkown number 3: Small white flowers perhaps 1-1.5" wide, seems to grow as a vine http://mparkes.com/wildflower/unknown3.htm Thanks for the help, I just got back from vacation in Wyoming and came back with a desire to identify wildflowers! :)
I think that the vetch in the original posting is rather Vicia villosa because Vicia cracca is supposed to be glabrous or appressed hairy and the plants that are shown on the photographs are spreading hairy (even though not much for Vicia villosa). The color of the flowers is also rather typical for Vicia villosa in my place (partially white!) even though this is not considered important in the books I know. The daisy looks rather like a kind of chamomile but I am not sure which one it is. Anthemis arvensis looks quite similar. The yarrow (unknown 1) is probably Achillea millefolium agg., but I do not think the image is sufficient for closer determination and the leave looks rather odd. Is there a better image of a leave? The second unknown flower is Linaria genistifolia, possibly ssp. dalmatica (dalmatian toadflax). Unknown plant number 3 is a bindweed, probably field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis).
Robert: Thanks for your help - here is another photo of the leaves on the Yarrow (if that's what it is) http://mparkes.com/wildflower/IMG_3147_conv.JPG
First is Vicia villosa. It's very similar to V. cracca but R. F. Faust cleary states the differences above and being local and a wildflower (weed in this case:)) enthusiast I have never seen V. cracca and have seen a lot of V. villosa (Intoduced from Eurasia). Daisy is Tripleurospermum maritima ssp. maritima or false mayweed (introduced from Southern Europe). Second daisy appears similar but would need to see leaves, the flower to the right is a Yarrow, Achillia millefolium, lots of varieties so need to see the leaves to try and narrow it down. The link above is search of Achillea varieties, use picture and range maps to narrow down the search. Possibly Achillea millefolium var occidentalis? And also agree with Linaria, dalmation toadflax definitely around, but If leaves much longer than wide, (long and thin near the inflorescence or flowers) then possibly Linaria vulgaris or butter and eggs, which isn't quite as invasive as Dalmation Toadflax. Dalmation toadflax has more heartshape leaves where the length equals the width and tending to clasp the stem at the base. Both are introduced and I have found both in your area. The last is definitely bindweed. A very invasive weed in Spokane, and south into the Palouse. Your problems locating the above flowers in your guide is most likely due to the fact that they are all introduced and some are listed on the WA noxious weed list. Probably not the type of flowers you would find in a wildflower book. Harry
I would also like to add, that just because they are introduced does not make them a bad thing. There is even beauty in such plants. I have gotten some great shots of Bindweed or Convolvulus arvensis, an extremely troublesome weed as well as some of the others you have posted here. The bad name usually comes from their extreme invasive properties, crowding out native plants. Harry
[...] This is also possible and even likely even though I am still not completely sure. [...] Linaria vulgaris looks quite different and can therefore be excluded in this case. It is very common in my place. So I really believe that I know it. Its bracts are not as wide as on the picture and certainly not clasping at the base in the manner as most of those on the picture are. Please compare the descriptions and images from B.C. E-Flora: http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Linaria vulgaris http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Linaria+genistifolia+ssp.+dalmatica I have got images of Linaria genistifolia ssp. dalmatica from Osooyos, B.C., and also images of Linaria vulgaris from Germany and Linaria genistifolia from eastern Austria. If it is really necessary I could enlarge some of the bracts and post them here.
R.F.-Faust At best my above statements were my best guesses commensurate with my experience. As far as the white daisy goes, I haven't found any other than the false mayweed in the surrounding area with the similar dissected leaves (divided into many narrow segments). That is not to say there might not be, but not in my experience. Didn't mean to steer mparkes away from Dalmation toadflax, but only to give him/her some easy means of distinguishing the plants as they both appear regularly at that locale. At least that's my excuse. That and starting a night job with a good salting of firworks at times I was trying to sleep. :) Upon close examination you are most probably correct with Dalmation toadflax. The things that I saw that led me to consider otherwise were the light orange tint, that although found in Dalmation Toadflax are not very common, at least here in Spokane, and that the bracts although clasping tend to be longer than that of the Dalmation Toadflax I have seen locally. I note in the BC Flora pictures that on the drawing they show such longer bracts on the Dalmation Toadflax, so will take your word for it and there is not a need to post the closeups. The leaves make the plants readily identifiable even to the novice like me, and so mparkes should now be able to tell the difference between the two plants. In any case I will accept your verdict of Dalmation Toadflax or Linaria genistifolia ssp. dalmatica. Have a great 4th. Harry
Dear Harry: The same is true for my statements, of course. :-) And I am certainly not an expert of the flora in the Pacific Northwest. Nevertheless I suppose that you are perfectly right. Matricaria perforata (the usual name in current German literature is Tripleurospermum perforatum) is also in bloom in Germany and the image of Anthemis arvensis in the "Illustrated Flora of British Columbia" is either very bad or the plants called "Anthemis arvensis" in your area are very different from the respective plants in Europe. That's my excuse for making a wrong suggestion here. The leaves of Anthemis arvensis obviously look very different from those of false mayweed, see e. g.: http://www.illustratedgarden.org/mo...?relation=QK99A1K6318831914B3&identifier=0394 http://www.landw.uni-halle.de/lfak/inst/iap/merkel/unkrautp.html http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthémis_des_champs [...] I wish you the same and I hope that you and the others can help me with identifying the flowers on some of my photographs from B.C. which I cannot assign to a species. I am going to post some of them in this forum very soon. Thanks for your help Robert.
Hi Robert Flogaus-Faust, After reading what my literature had to say about May Weed, it appears the easiest way to tell the difference from most look alikes is the scent. Another common name hereabouts for Mayweed is Scentless MayWeed. A crushed leaf has little or no odor. Anthemis arvensis has a hairy stem below the flower which I didn't really see here. But my eyesight isn't what it used to be. :) The similarities are enough that I certainly can see why you suggested it. And since they both are introduced here I suppose that you could find them both anywhere. I saw today where Mayweed was considered a noxious weed and British Columbia, and given the numbers I see around here I think that Tripleurospermum maritima ssp. maritima or T. perforatum is still probably the best bet. Harry
Anthemis and Matricaria (s. l.) Hi Harry, the major difference between Anthemis and Matricaria (including Tripleurospermum) is the presence of papery scales on the receptacle in Anthemis. These scales could be a kind of bracts of the tubular florets on the receptacle. In some species these are very inconspicuous, however, and in Anthemis cotula (which I also cannot exclude completely) these scales are supposed to be present only in the centre of the receptacle. You must tear apart a receptacle and use a strong magnifying glass to find these scales. Their shape and where on the receptacle they are found may be important even though there are not as many chamomile species in your area as in my place. The odour differs from species to species but Anthemis cotula is supposed to be ill-scented. And of course Scentless mayweed is not completely scentless, at least not the flower heads. The leaves may be better indeed because they usually contain even less volatile oil than the flower heads do.
