Red Maple

Red Maple
Acer rubrum

Red Maple is naturally found in lowlands; wet spots.  However, given its beautiful fall color and tolerance for wet spots, it has been planted extensively in landscape situations.  In fact, there are over 20 varieties that have been created for landscaping.  You are probably more likely to come across one in someone's yard than in the wild, unless you spend time wandering around in swamps.

The leaves are a bit different than the leaves of other maple species.  Note the three lobed design where none of the sides are parallel and the edge of the leaf is serrated.  That's a lot to memorize, but if you look at enough of the leaves, you'll get the hang of it.

The female flowers are tiny and red.

In the spring, the red female flowers really brighten up the tree.

Golden Ragwort

Golden Ragwort
Packera aurea

The genus of Packera is named after John G. Packer, a botanist from the University of Alberta. The species name of aurea means "gold" in Latin.  This seems odd since all of the Packera species that I know of (the groundsels and ragworts), are yellow/gold in color, so I'm not sure why this one is called Golden.  A better name that is sometimes used is Heart-leaved Ragwort, which is helpful since its basal leaves are heart-shaped, unlike other members of this genus.

Speaking of which, why is a heart shape different than the actual shape of a heart?

Basal leaf - heart shaped

Cauline leaf

The flowers of all of the Packera species look the same to me.

Flowering Dogwood

 

Flowering Dogwood
Cornus florida

Springtime in Indiana is punctuated by flowering dogwoods and redbuds.  Not only is it spectacular, it has many medicinal uses.  According to the Native American Ethnobotany database, a bark infusion was used for many purposes, including headaches, fevers, worms, poison antidote, childhood diseases, diarrhea, and many others.

Flowering trees in the woods are a delightful spring sensation

The buds are quite distinctive

Fire Pink

Fire Pink
Silene virginica

These flowers are a delight to see because they are the reddest things in the woods!  You'll be walking along looking at shades of brown and dark green and then poof, there are a bunch of little fires along the forest floor.

They are rather uncommon plants found in open woodlands.  It is thought that fire suppression has been a factor in their rarity since woodlands overgrow quickly without some sort of disturbance to clear the forest canopy.

Field Sagewort

 

Field Sagewort
Artemisia campestris

The picture above is a young start of a plant.  It eventually gets tall with lots of unimpressive flowers.  This plant grows in dry, sandy areas, particularly around the dunes.

An interesting fact is that it is a host plant for another rare hemiparisitic plant; Orobanche fasciculata (Clustered Broomrape).  The only place to find these plants together in Indiana is at the Indiana Dunes.