Last week we monitored Mountain Phlox (Phlox ovata). It is usually found in Appalachia and is an Ohio endangered species.
It looks similar to Dame's Rocket (Hesperis matronalis). Like other plants in the mustard family, Dame's Rocket has four petals, not five. It is also much larger and showier than Mountain Phlox.
Dame's Rocket is an invasive species, albeit a pretty one. It was brought over from Europe in the 1600's as a garden plant. It grows in great masses along roadsides in June. This patch is at Side Cut park (Look closely and you can see a deer peering out from under the arched trunk).
Yesterday we monitored Blunt-leaved milk weed (above) and Plains puccoon (below). Both grow only on sandy soil and are Oak Savannah indicator species.
Lovely. Even if invasive. Blunt-leaved milkweed! Never knew it existed.
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