Mint Family August 6, 2007 I almost missed these pretty little blue flowers while I was photographing much larger flowers in the cedar barren in Oak Ridge, the plants were only about 6 - 8 inches tall. An unusual aroma caught my attention, it came from the leaves of this plant. I found out that the flowers fall off the plant easily late in the afternoon when I touched them, this one is about to drop off. These flowers are not typical Mint-type flowers since they don't have a "lip." Annual {Formerly known as: Trichostema brachiatum}
Nightshade Family Horsenettle is a member of the Nightshade family and is a thorny relative of the tomato. The small, poisonous yellow fruits look and smell like tomatoes. The unripe fruit and leaves are poisonous to humans (although, you'd have to be starving to death to want to eat the thorny leaves!), rodents, goats, cattle, sheep, and horses. The toxins contained in the leaves are soladulcidine and solanine. Perennial Where seen: Oak Ridge, Great Smoky Mountains NP, Warrior's Path SP, widespread
Lily Family I almost missed this plant while exploring a cedar barrens in Oak Ridge, even though it is is 6 feet tall! The strange flowers and seed pods caught my attention. Although it is in the Lily family, it does not have large showy petals and sepals. The flowers are quite strange looking! They have large seed pods. The leaves grow low on the ground. I found this blooming in mid-July. Perennial Where seen: Jefferson Middle School Cedar Barrens, Haw Ridge Greenway
