Rock On

Sunlight through Fern

I recently became interested in how plants work. My vague memories from science classes weren't telling me what I wanted to know, so I started doing some searching.

In the process, I was startled by a fact which I didn't ever really quite realize --- plants are virtually the only source of oxygen on the planet. So without them, we would just simply die. I'd been aware of several reasons, besides my own love of nature, why trees are so important, but hadn't ever quite twigged (pardon the pun) to this one.

"The overall chemical reaction involved in photosynthesis is: 6CO2 + 6H2O (+ light energy) = C6H12O6 + 6O2. [or carbon dioxide plus water acted on by light energy (in chloroplasts) produce glucose and oxygen] This is the source of the O2 we breathe, and thus, a significant factor in the concerns about deforestation."
University of Cincinnati

Carbon dioxide, on the other hand, is present in the atmosphere regardless of whether humans are breathing or not, so though we may need plants, they don't need us. A humbling thought.

Knapweed II

This is a Knapweed flower in full blossom. The following is an account of how the flower got its "common" name:

"The flower-head is hard and solid, [this can be only partly seen in this picture behind the petals] a mass of bracts lapping over each other like tiles, each having a central green portion and a black fringe-like edge. In some districts the plant is called from these almost round heads, 'Hardhead,' and the ordinary English name, Knapweed, is based on the same idea, Knap, being a form of Knop, or Knob."

[It has also been called] Hardhead. Ironhead. Hard Irons. Churls Head. Logger Head. Horse Knops. Matte Felon. Mat Fellon. Bottleweed. Bullweed. Cowede. Boltsede.

This larger species of Knapweed was in olden times called 'Matte Felon,' from its use in curing felons or whitlows. As early as 1440 we find it called 'Maude Felone,' or 'Boltsede.'"
Botanical.com

Knapweed

Knapweed is in the genus, Centaurea, a group of "herbaceous thistles and thistle-like flowering plants in the family Asteraceae".
Wikipedia

This flower is in its early stage of opening. It becomes much fuller as it matures.

In an Ontario wildflowers website, the author identifies this flower as Spotted Knapweed - Centaurea maculosa.
Wildflowers of Ontario

There are several species (and subspecies, apparently) of Spotted Knapweed and classifying them (as with many other plants) can be very confusing, especially when common names are used. To complicate matters, the same name is sometimes used for different plants, depending on geographical or cultural location.

The scientific classification is far more precise (though there are discrepancies of opinion even in the scientific realm). Here is an example of the standard set of hierarchical categories that all plants have a place in:

Kingdom Plantae -- Plants
Subkingdom Tracheobionta -- Vascular plants
Superdivision Spermatophyta -- Seed plants
Division Magnoliophyta -- Flowering plants
Class Magnoliopsida -- Dicotyledons
Subclass Asteridae
Order Asterales
Family Asteraceae -- Aster family
Genus Centaurea L. -- knapweed P
Species Centaurea stoebe L. -- spotted knapweed P
Subspecies Centaurea stoebe L. ssp. micranthos (Gugler) Hayek -- spotted knapweed P
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

Musk Mallow

A very beautiful wildflower, "it emits from its leaves a faint, musky odour, especially in warm weather, or when drawn through the hand."
Botanical.com

This flower is a member of the Mallow Family. Our candy, the marshmallow, is now made from sugar and gelatin, but was originally made from the root of the marsh mallow plant, another member of the same family.

The root of the plant has mucilage in it, a sticky, sugary substance.
Wikipedia

"The first marshmallows were made by boiling pieces of the marsh mallow root pulp with sugar until it thickened. After it had thickened, the mixture was strained and cooled. As far back as 2000 B.C., Egyptians combined the marsh mallow root with honey. The candy was reserved for gods and royalty."
How Products are Made

Not a Wild Flower?

Sweet Peas
I couldn't find this flower in my wildflower book, so I checked it out & found that the sweet peas we see today, which do grow outside of cultivated areas sometimes, are "cultivars" which have been developed by humans from the original "wild flower", a native of the Mediterranean area.

"Sweet Pea (Lathyrus odoratus) is a flowering plant in the genus Lathyrus in the family Fabaceae (legumes), native to the eastern Mediterranean region from Sicily east to Crete...

Unlike most peas, the seeds of the sweet pea are poisonous as they contain a neurotoxin, and should not be eaten...

Sweet peas have been cultivated since the 17th century and a vast number of cultivars are commercially available...

Harry Eckford (died 1906), a nurseryman of Scottish descent, cross-bred and developed the sweet pea, turning it from a rather insignificant, if sweetly scented flower, into the floral sensation of the late Victorian era."
Wikipedia

Flame Lichen

"Lichens are the most overlooked of the conspicuous organisms in the natural landscape. The eye often cannot see what the mind does not already know."
Lichens of North America