Plant of the Week: kitten tails

Kittentails

Besseya bullii (Eat.) Rydb., also called Wulfenia bullii (Eat.) Barnh.

other common names: 
Bull’s synthesis

Besseya: named for Bessey, a well-known botanist

Bullii: named for its discoverer, George Bull

Snapdragon family: Scrophulariaceae

Wildflowers of the Tallgrass Prairie: The Upper Midwest, Second Edition, by Sylvan Runkel and Dean M. Roosa, photographs by Thomas Rosburg

Plant of the Week: prairie smoke

Prairie smoke

Geum triflorum Pursh

other common names
: old man’s whiskers, Johnny smokers
Geum: the ancient Latin name used by Pliny for this group
Triflorum: from Latin, meaning “three-flowered”
Rose family: Rosaceae

Wildflowers of the Tallgrass Prairie: The Upper Midwest, Second Edition, by Sylvan Runkel and Dean M. Roosa, photographs by Thomas Rosburg

Plant of the Week: water hemlock

Water hemlock

Cicuta maculata L.

other common names: beaver poison, cowbane, musquash root, spotted cowbane, spotted hemlock

Cicuta: the ancient Latin name for poison hemlock

Maculata: from Latin, meaning “spotted” or “mottled”

Parsley family: Apiaceae (Umbelliferae)

Wildflowers of the Tallgrass Prairie: The Upper Midwest, Second Edition, by Sylvan Runkel and Dean M. Roosa, photographs by Thomas Rosburg