Rosa Multiflora

To be honest, I am not sure this next bush and close-up are of a "Rosa Multiflora". The bloom clusters are not as tight. But if not a multiflora, it's pretty close.

(Recycle, as I am seeing all manner of wild rose -- and garden variety - pop out everywhere)

Wild Rose Bush (Rosa Multiflora)

First week of May, 2008

I've been taking pictures of blooming things for some time, but I have never seen as many wild “bush” roses that I have seen in this last week. I am not sure if that is because I never stopped to photograph them (they are a photographic challenge) or, if with recent rains there are just more of them.

Everywhere I look I am seeing bushes, hedges, and tendrils exploding with wild white roses.

As is, I am not sure if all of the rose covered bushes are of the same species, or simply family variations. The flowers at top appeared more clustered than those shown lower.

For more on wild rose groupings see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Rosa_species

Sanapshot, Week 16: 4/19 - 4/25 Warm Smells.(Recycle)

Thursday, April 23, Mammatus clouds ushered in our first 90 degree Spring day, the hottest on record for the date.




These daisy fleabain (?) are part of a patch, but you can often see the individual stems standing alone. From a distance, I thought these were kind of a white ragwort... they have a similar profile and belong to the same family. Of curiosity, in the late summer and fall, there are any number of plants that put out a similar flower but are much bussier in the stem. I will have to see if they are the same thing gone wild, or just cousins.

All our other maples (Silver tips, Mountain, Red etc) went to seed a good month or two ago, but Sugar Maples break the mold by going to see well after they have broken into leaf.

Crimson Clover at their apex, even as the White Oak behind is in full floral flourish (though perhaps not thought of in that way.) Some of the Crimmsons are beginning to shed the red and stretch into elongated brush heads.

I have yet to learn the name of these things, though I call them "Jetson grass" as they remind me of something one would see on the Jetson's cartoon. Their floral outcrop appears to climb upward from the base to tip even as the cone enlarges.

From a distance, the bloom of the black Locust looks like a wild cherry bloom on steroids. Up close they look rather like Wisteria -- and they must be the most fragrant flower in Arkansas, smellable from blocks away.

Purple Mailbox flowers. Something like Climaxia. They show up every year at this time, though some folks cheat and use plastic.

(2009 Recycle)

Not sure if they miniature wild roses are of the same species posted a couple or weeks back, but they are major part of our highway landscape, and will in time, give way to dense brier patch.

Other things observed:

1. lots of buttercups.
2. white clover
3. yellow clover
4. The final final trees (members of the Hemlock family) join the green revolution.
5. Skies move from chilly blue to hot blue.
6. The air is thick in pollen, dusting cars.
7. Lots of little roses, including some attached to bushes.
8. Irises in full force.
9. Movement toward the "Monogreen" but still with lots of gold green, limon, and kelly in the mix.
10. Lyre Leaf Sage, visible from road
11. Evening Primrose in fresh start flourish
12. First hint of Queen Anne's Lace
13. Spotting of a single Honey Suckle bloom
14. Crimson, red, yellow, and white clover all going strong. (I will have to take a picture of the red to distinguish it from the Crimson)

My Wild Arky Rose

Repost, from 2008.

As of 4/16/09, these blooms are out in force. In fact I think I could take an identical picture today, and have seen many such minature rose patches along the highways,

Wild "Arky" Rose.

All pics around April 24, 2008 -Conway AR (c) Kirk Jordan

I suspect there are a number of of rose sub-speciesthat are called wild rose... and this is one of them. The fully opened blooms are just a tad larger than a quarter -- and grow on thorny little brambles that arch, spray, and coil over the ground and small hedges.

Sulfur Cinquefoil

Sulfur Cinquefoil
Potentilla recta
Rosaceae family

(Recycle 08 - Funny, I don't see these on my commute from Conway to Little Rock, but I do see them when I drive to Pinebluff.)

This plant started out as "A certain unknown something." and has since moved from that to being Common Cinquefoil (Potentilla simplex) to probably now being Potentilla recta.

Thanks Dena and Marvin for invaluable the ID help. It is so nice to "meet" Internet treasures.
For a write-up from Marvin, who appeared to post the same thing (with name) at almost the same time see:
http://elmostreport.blogspot.com/2008/05/common-cinquefoil-potentilla-simplex.html

As is, I discovered several patches of this on 530 between Pine Bluff and Little Rock in the Interstate medium. (5/17/2008) I am not sure the pictures show the pale yellow color correctly. It was a very soft with just a touch of lemon, and grew about a foot high.

Concerning the label, Marvin writes:

It was quite a coincidence that we both posted a Cinquefoil. However, I don't think yours is Potentilla simplex, but a related species. The main visual difference is that P. simplex grows in a vine-like manner. (See Missouri Flora) The plant in your post is growing more upright. Also, according to 2bn the Wild, Common Cinquefoil always has five leaflets at the end of a stem, whereas other members of the family may have more. Yours has more. The plant in your post may be Potentilla recta. However, Missouri plants warns that there are many other species of very similar Cinquefoil.

Most people consider all Cinquefoils weeds, but Common Cinquefoil is our weed. It is a native species. P. recta and most other species are invasive weeds introduced from Europe. In the interest of giving credit where credit is due: I researched and wrote my blog post, but my wife took the photos and made the initial ID. (I usually give her photo credit when using her photos, but forgot.) Jo is also the one that notice the upright stature of the plants in your post. Check outthe links I've provided and make up your own mind. We are not experts and have no formal education or training in botany. We're just a couple of backyard naturalists with field guilds, the Net and determination. We've mis-identified many plants and insects in the past -- and will, no doubt, do so again in the future. Here's hoping that you and your family have a great weekend. Cheers, Marvin

Snapshot Week 18: 5/3-5/19: It's a jungle out there

Rain, Rain, Sun, Rain

RAIN

Mount Holly Cemetery Roses

Privet Hedge Sludge...

Cat's Ear


Lance Leaf Coreopsis

Spiderwort

Catalpa Blooms after downing rain

Crimson Clover, having gone to brushy seed head.

The week of May 3 through May 9 was one wet steamy mess. With some two weeks marked by rain, many parts of the state are juggling flood and mud. And we even had one 90 degree day in the mix.

QuObservation: I watched as a diesel bus left a trail or rose petals in its wake.

Quick notes:

1. The school bus yellow lance leaf coreopsis reved with the rain.


2. The purple vetch all but disappeared, leaving behind growing little pea beanies.


3. Spider Wort, Catalpa, Privet Hedge in full stride.


4. Red Clover, White Clover, Yellow clover, Mega White Clover....going wild. Crimson gone to seed.


5. Grass, Grass, Grass. I have yet to give the kind of kind of time to it will take to learn my grasses and tell them apart, but there are more and bigger grasses in the wake of rain than I have seen in some years.