Author: Daniel Morrill

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Species-This is Phragmites australis and is found down in a ditch in Hilliard, Oh just off I 270. It is a grass with a unique seed head and being invasive it is essentially the only thing growing in this ditch.

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Species-This is Liriodendron tulipifera. This is found just east of adriaticos on 11th. It is alternate, pinnate, and simple.

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Trait-This is a dandelion or Taraxacum officinale. It is a member of asteraceae and is a ligulate flower head. Notice the individual flower in the middle it’s stigma is split thus showing it has (two carpels).  It is found in an older flower bed in Hilliard.

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Trait-This is green ash or Fraxinus pennsylvanica. It is (opposite pinnately compound) and has the “Philips head screwdriver” bud. It is found growing in the understory of a mixed pine wood lot in Hilliard.

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Family-This is Cersis canadensis or eastern redbud. It is cordate simple and palmate. And the trait best used to determine the family, fabaceae are the seed pods that grow on the tree. This was found at the Chadwick arboretum.

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Family-This is Queen Anne’s lace or  Daucos carota. It is found at the Heffner Wetland Research Center. The big trait that tells the family is the umbel flower head. All though this is in the fruiting stage the umbel is still intact.

 

Olentangy River and Hefner Wetland Flowers

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Impatiens pallidaThis is Impatiens pallida also known as pale “touch me not”. This plant is a member of the family balsaminaceae. It is a native species to Ohio and another one listed in Newcombs  is as well which is Impatiens capensis. This plant was found growing along an edge on top of the dam near the footbridge over the Olentangy River south of the OSU wetlands on September 17, 2014.  It was fairly open  where it was found with small shrubs such as Lonicera spp. and some other small trees. Easy ways to determine this plant is by the unique flower. It is zygomorphic or irregular and has a bowl underneath three lobed petals on the flower. It has alternate leaf arrangement along the stem meaning the leaves are staggered on different sides of the stem, but not at the same point, and the leaves are serrate meaning they look like a knife on the leaf edge. Lastly this flower is yellow and has light green seed pods that when touched lightly will explode, hence the name “touch me not”

 

Helenium autumnaleThis is Helenium autumnale also known as sneeze weed. It is a member of the family asteraceae and is native to Ohio.  This plant was found down in the OSU wetland surrounded by young Salix sp. and other members of asteraceae. It was found on September 17, 2014. Another Helenium alutumnale was found further south growing in the bank of the Olentangy River.

 

Aster novae-angliaeThis is Aster novae-angliae or New England aster. This plant was found along the edge of the bike trail at the OSU wetlands on September 17, 2014. Like the sneeze weed this a member of the family asteraceae. The other plants surrounding it mostly were Sarix sp. and Lonicera sp. and Toxicodendron radicans.