The Joy of Finding a New Friend
Have you ever wandered through your back yard/woods/flower beds or just around your home and notice a plant that you hadn’t noticed before? Is it a weed? Will it bloom? Is it an invasive? How long has it been here? I’ve lived here 20 years and two years ago an elegant, dark glossy green spike appeared in the tine of arborvitaes on the south side of the house.
-image courtesy of inaturalist.org
I spent hours in my go-to wildflower (since I didn’t plant it I leaped to the wild side) websites such as
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin
US Wildflower's Database of Wildflowers for Indiana
http://www.realtimerendering.com/flowers/flowers.html
I scanned the native plants websites on the thought that if it ‘just’ grows here it must like this particular environment.
https://www.indianawildlife.org/wildlife/native-plants/
https://grownative.org/native-plant-database/
https://indiananativeplants.org/native-plants/help-with-plant-identification/
Each site had a plethora of additional resources to check and enjoy.
That was two years ago. In 2020, the plant reappeared as did another one around the corner. I tried a couple more sites including one the MCMGA educational program highlighted, the Indiana University Herbarium in Bloomington. Then I was introduced to an app for my iPad called iNaturalist. I uploaded the photo and received a few possibilities until it was identified as…
Lesser Ladies’ Tresses (Spiranthes ovalis erostellata). Note the tiny flowers spiral around the stem.
I look forward to see if my new friend visits again this year and brings more friends.
Have you discovered and identified a new plant, tree, or weed and delighted in the discovery? What is your favorite go-to resource for plant identification? Thanks for sharing.
submitted by
Georgia Vaught
