Spring Flowers - Roadsides - White and Cream-colored
Ox-eye Daisy; Chrysanthemum leucanthemum*
Aster Family (INN) Rank 3 May 18, 2005 The daisy is a Composite flower. The yellow center is made up of nearly 100 tiny individual disk flowers. The white "petals" are individual ray flowers, which are the advertisement to the pollinators. Daisies bloom throughout the warm months. The saying may be "Fresh as a Daisy", but Daisies do not have an especially pleasant smell! The scientific name means, "yellow flower, white flower." This photo was taken in Oak Ridge. Perennial Where seen: Widespread
Solitary Pussytoes; Antennaria solitaria
Aster Family April 10, 2005 Solitary Pussytoes are a composite flower, they have a single flowerhead which consists of many tiny flowers. Note the creeping runners that grow from the stem. Piney Falls State Natural Area has lots of these unusual flowers in April. Perennial Where seen: Piney Falls SNA, Great Smoky Mountains NP
Aster Family Each small "flower" is a composite of several individual flowers. The leaves of yarrow have a very strong odor when crushed, another good way to identify the plant. These were growing at Clark Center Park in Oak Ridge in mid-May. Perennial Where seen:Oak Ridge Greenways, Great Smoky Mountains NP, Warriors' Path SP
spp. These are the common field blackberries. Look for the blackberries to ripen around the 4th of July. These vines have sharp prickles which take some of the fun out of picking the berries!
close-up This picture shows how this plant got its name!
Field Pepperweed; Lepidium campestre*
Mustard Family The flowers on this plant may not be completely open yet. The leaves are quite downy. I found this plant in my trusty old, taped-together Peterson's Wildflower Guide! This one was blooming in a powerline cut on the Haw Ridge Trail. Where seen: Haw Ridge Greenway
Common Fleabane; Erigeron philadelphicus
Aster Family Height: 6" to 20" May 26, 2005 This Fleabane has smooth stems and leaves. Look for flowers with the ray flowers eaten off, a small caterpillar may be responsible. These flowers may bloom all spring and summer. I found these blooming in Oak Ridge. Perennial Where seen: Great Smoky Mountains NP, Widespread
Solitary Pussytoes close-up
Common Fleabane; Erigeron philadelphicus
Aster Family Look for flowers with the ray flowers eaten off, a small caterpillar may be responsible. These flowers may bloom all spring and summer. I found these blooming in Oak Ridge. Perennial Where seen: Great Smoky Mountains NP, Widespread
Dewberry (Bramble); Rubus flagellaris
Rose Family At first glance this may appear to be a blackberry. Dewberry vines are found growing prostrate on the ground. The flowers bloom in clusters. Field Blackberry plants are more bushy and thorny. Both plants are in the Rose Family. I found this plant in late April at the University of Tennessee Arboretum. Perennial Where seen: Oak Ridge Greenways, University of Tennessee Arboretum, Great Smoky Mountains NP
White Beardtongue; Penstemon hirsutus
Snapdragon Family Note the Hummingbird moth drinking nectar from the flowers. Tube-shaped flowers depend on pollinators with long tongues, such as butterflies and moths to pollinate them. There are many of these plants blooming along Bull Bluff Road in Oak Ridge. They bloom in May. Where seen: Oak Ridge, Haw Ridge
Hoary Bitter Cress; Cardamine hirsuta*
Mustard Family This is a strange-looking version of this plant.
Lesser Daisy Fleabane; Erigeron strigosus
Aster Family Common Fleabane has hairy stems, Lesser Daisy Fleabane has a smoother stem, non-clasping leaves, and the flower stems are longer. I found many of these blooming at Clark Center Recreation Park in Oak Ridge. A fisherman spotted me while I was taking the photograph, he asked, "Why are you taking a picture of those weeds?" I answered, "You might call them 'weeds', I call them wildflowers! A 'weed' is just a plant that is growing in a place where you don't want it!" Perennial Where seen: Great Smoky Mountains NP, Warriors' Path SP, Widespread
Robin's Plantain; Erigeron pulchellus
Aster Family April 8, 2005 These flowers of this plant can be easily confused with fleabane. It doesn't have as many flowers on each plant as fleabane and the flowers are much larger. Sometimes the flowers of Robin's Plantain are tinged a pale purple or blue hue. The flowers are common in the Smokies. I photographed these on the Haw Ridge Trail. Pulchellus means "beautiful." Perennial Where seen: Great Smoky Mountains NP, Haw Ridge Greenway, University of Tennessee Arboretum, Frozen Head SP, Warrior's Path SP
Wild Strawberry; Fragaria virginiana
Rose Family The small red berries of this plant are edible and delicious! I found this blooming in Oak Ridge in June. Wild Strawberry is common in the mountains of the Appalachians. Perennial Where seen: Oak Ridge Greenways, Great Smoky Mountains NP, Warriors' Path SP, Haw Ridge
Multiflora Rose; Rosa multiflora*
Rose Family These fragrant white roses are a common sight along fencerows and roadsides in early May. They were brought to this area to be used as "living fences", however they have a tendency to spread rapidly from seeds. They are difficult to remove due to their wicked thorns. Where seen: Oak Ridge Greenways, Warriors' Path SP, Widespread
Low Bindweed; Calystegia spithamaea
Morning Glory Family May 14, 2005 This Bindweed has much smaller leaves and it doesn't grow into as much of a vine as its more invasive relative Hedge bindweed. Note the outline of the spider on the back of the flower! The small black dots in the center of the flower are tiny ants. Perennial Formerly known as: Convolvulus spithamaea Where seen: Oak Ridge greenways
Shortpod Whitlow Grass; Draba brachycarpa
Mustard Family March 18, 2010 Oak Ridge, TN Height: 2"-8" I found this tiny flower growing in a mowed soccer field not far from my house. I'm surprised I'd never seen it before since I've lived here nearly 29 years!
Plantain-leaved Pussytoes; Antennaria plantaginifolia v. parlinii
Aster Family These are common roadside flowers. They are multiple composite flowers. The leaves are covered with small white hairs. We called these plants "Rabbit Ears" when I was a little girl. I found these growing in Oak Ridge in April. Perennial Where seen: Oak Ridge, Great Smoky Mountains NP, Warrior's Path SP, Haw Ridge
Robin Plantain close-up
Blackberry (long-caned); Rubus
spp. /Rose Family There are several species of blackberries. I found this one in the Smokies at the Townsend Wye (a "Y" in the road). Where seen: Great Smoky Mountains NP
Gray Beardtongue; Penstemon canescens
Snapdragon Family May 5, 2005 Beardtongues have long, pointed opposite leaves. Gray Beardtongue has a downy, purplish stem.
Hoary Bitter Cress; Cardimine hirsuta*
Mustard Family These small flowers bloom very early in spring. Within a few weeks the long, thin fruits ripen and pop, throwing the seeds when touched, ensuring a new crop of this pesky weed for the future. Unfortunately, these were preparing for a new crop in my yard! Winter Annual Where seen: Everywhere!, Great Smoky Mountains NP, Ijams Nature Center
Poor Man's Pepper; Shepherd's Purse; Lepidium virginicum
Mustard Family This plant can become weedy in gardens and along roadsides. Annual / Biennial Where seen: Great Smoky Mountains NP, Oak Ridge, Warrior's Path SP, widespread