Friend or Foe

Falcons related to parrots?! I agree, that just doesn't sound right.

I'm sorry to hear you don't feel well, but glad that you have another lead on your Aster and that you got your Carrion Flower ID'ed.

Edited to add that I've also seen a Spiderwort flower or two in my garden. There are some plants that will bloom again when the weather gets cooler, and this must be one of them.

This message was edited Oct 14, 2014 7:29 PM

The aster with small white flowers used to called Aster vimineus, then Aster lateriflorus. Now in Flora of North America I belive it is Symphotrichum lateriflorus but I'm not 100% positive.

You're right, Symphotrichum lateriflorus seems to be the current name.

I have not had a chance to deal with the white aster, but remember ruling out Symphotrichum lateriflorus (Calico aster) because our soil is alkaline. I talked to the nursery man and he said this common for our part of Iowa. Oh, I did measure the flower head, it was about 1.5 cm in diameter.

I am going through photos and found this. I am hoping this is not Indian Strawberry, I found it in our prairie-to-be. When I was out there last week, I was so distraught to find Creeping Charlie. I really do not want yet another non-native to battle with. These photos were taken 8 October.

Thank you.

The leaves don't look the same as Duchesnea indica (Indian Strawberry) leaves; however, it looks as if the flower on your plant is yellow.

Native strawberries (Fragaria species) have white flowers, so unfortunately your plant does seem to be Indian Strawberry.

This message was edited Nov 6, 2014 9:45 PM

The leaves are not right for indian strawberry. Might be a Fragaria Vesca the woodland strawberry.

Didn't see Muddy's post. Good point on the yellow flower.

It looks like something I have out back but I can't remember the name of it. Mine is quite vigorous. I hesitate to say invasive. Maybe it just likes where it's growing.

I was thinking it might be Potentilla norvegica, Norwegian Cinquefoil, but because of that Indian Strawberry looking so similar, I wanted other opinions. I am very much a novice at identifying plants. I finally worked through and IDed the Sweet Black-eyed Susan that was growing in the prairie patch.

Oh, why in the world would a North American native be called, "Norwegian"??

I think you're right! That would explain why the leaves don't really match Indian Strawberry. As you can tell, I'm also a novice at ID'ing plants, but the learning process is fun.

Here are some good links about Potentilla norvegica. It seems that the answer to your question is that P. norvegica is native to Europe, the U.S. and parts of Asia. USDA considers all species of P. norvegica native to the U.S..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potentilla_norvegica

https://gobotany.newenglandwild.org/species/potentilla/norvegica/

This message was edited Nov 7, 2014 11:33 AM

Yes, the learning process is fun and fascinating. I am very much a novice.

Learning to ID asters is a laborious process. The genus Aster has been split into Pityopsis, Symphotrichum and maybe more. On a good day only a few people could differentiate the confusing fall asters. Cosider there are about 200 more genera of other asters native to North America. Don't be too hard on yourself for not knowing they are tough to ID.

I am bumping this thread to say I have a partial answer to this one:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=9907457&extraimg=0

We have two and both were growing with the Norway spruce that died. My husband went back to that nursery today and took a branch from one of the mystery trees. It's an Elm. He didn't think to ask which variety. The man said they have been in the area for a long time and the seeds always get into his pots. It was a buy one, get an elm free. :)

I have given up on small white asters. That's just what I call them.

Many of the blue ones will remain unnamed, except I am watching some Sky Blue Asters I just put in the ground. One looks like it will bloom yet this fall, so I have taken photos of basal leaves, stem with upper leaves and the unopened flowers. Maybe I'll become familiar enough with it that I can tell what it is when/if it comes up in our prairie patches.

That works! You know they're native, they're all pretty, and you'll stumble across an ID someday.