This native wildflower volunteers in the sunny front yard of a neighbor of mine, where his lawn meets a border filled mostly with hosta a...Read Morend volunteering goldenrod. There it blooms only for a couple of weeks in late spring. The flowers are lavender here. It has no visible leaves.
This parasitic species has a wide host range, including goldenrod and Helianthus. My neighbor's goldenrod appears healthy. No stonecrop or Heuchera are present.
Native to North America, this species has been found in every continental state and most of Canada. It is most commonly a woodland species, and generally absent from the Great Plains. Despite its wide geographic range, its distribution is spotty, and it is often locally rare, and in some states endangered.
It is disputed whether this species is an annual or a perennial. I have not attempted to cultivate it, but I've read that it can't be successfully transplanted.
Perhaps I'll collect seeds and place them at the base of a suitable host.
Inflorescence - Solitary flower on axillary pedicel to 15cm long. Pedicel glandular pubescent, erect.
Flower -
Corolla typically white, tubular, 2.2cm long, dense glandular pubescent, 5-lobed. Lobes to 6mm long, 4.5mm broad, with two yellow bearded strips alternating with two bottom lobes. Stamens 4, adnate at base of corolla tube, alternating with lobes. Filaments white, glabrous, to +4mm long. Anthers pale yellow, 1.1mm long. Style 7-8mm long, glabrous, tubular, expanded at apex. Stigma two lobed. Calyx tube campanulate, 5-lobed. Tube to 4mm long, 5-6mm in diameter, dense glandular pubescent. Lobes attenuate, to 5mm long, glandular pubescent.
Habitat -
Wooded slopes, rocky open woods, rocky glades, base of bluffs.
Other info -
It's a small plant but easy to find because of the fairly large white flower. The stems are short and thin and rarely seen unless you dig a bit at the base of the pedicel.
This native wildflower volunteers in the sunny front yard of a neighbor of mine, where his lawn meets a border filled mostly with hosta a...Read More
Stems -
Parasitic on roots of other vascular plants, herbaceous, achlorophyllous, subterranean, thin, glabrous.
L...Read More
This pretty little plant has no leaves and is a root parasite on Stonecrops (Sedum sp.) and Alum-roots (Heuchera sp.)