This report is written by Lorraine Anderson (lorraine@bwca.cc). She is part of a group of three seniors that have been looking at wildflowers in Cook County, Minnesota. They have gone out almost every Wednesday for over 20 years and love it, even in the winter. But of course there aren't any flowers in the winter!!

Wednesday Wildflower Report: July 23, 2003

We spent our rather short day in the Maple Hill area. Our special treat was seeing the Ragged fringed-orchids. The Shinleaf (Pyrola) was still blooming. This seems to be a good year for Pyrolas. My friend called them "English Bluebells" I call them Creeping Bellflower. They are beautiful no matter their name. Then above the cemetery we found that the Indian Pipes (View more photos of Indian Pipes on the BWCA Discussion Board.) were just erupting but no sign of our last years "mystery plant" . The field above the Red Pines was still very colorful.
I hope it doesn't mean an early fall but some of the maples are starting to turn color on the Gunflint Trail.

Flowers we found Blooming:

Avens, Yellow - Geum aleppicum
Bedstraw, Northern - Galium boreale
Bellflower, Creeping - Campanula uliginosa *
Black-eyed Susan - Rudbeckia serotina
Buckwheat, Climbing False - Polygonum scanclens
Bunchberry - Cornus canadensis
Buttercup, Tall or Common - Ranunculus acris
Caraway - Carum carvi
Chamomile, Scentless - Matricaria maritima *
Chickweed, Common - Stellaria media
Cinquefoil, Rough - Potentilla norvegica
Clover, Hop - Trifolium agrarium
Clover, Purple, Pink - Trifolium ssp.
Clover, Sweet, White - Melilotus alba *
Clover, Sweet, Yellow - Melilotus officinalis
Columbine, Garden or European - Aquilegia vulgaris
Daisy, Ox-eye - Chrysanthemum leucanthemum
Dogbane, Spreading - Apocynum androsaemifolium
Everlasting, Pearly - Anaphalis margaritacea *
Fireweed - Epilobium angustifolium *
Hawkweed, Orange - Hieracium aurantiacum
Hawkweed, Yellow - Hieracium scabrum
Heal-all - Prunella vulgaris
Linnea, Twinflower - Linnea borealis
Lupine - Lupinus polyphyllus
Lychnis, Evening - Luchnis alba
Meadow Rue, Tall - Thalictrum polygamum
Nettle, Hemp - Galeopsis tetrahit *
Nettle, White Dead - Lamium album *
Orchid, Ragged-fringed - Platanthera lacera ***
Parsnip, Cow - Heracleum maximum
Pineapple Weed - Matricaria matricarioides
Pea, Beach - Lathyrus japonicus
Rose - Rosa ssp.
Shinleaf (Pyrola) - Pyrola elliptica *
Trefoil, Bird's-foot - Lotus corniculatus
Vetch, Purple - Vicia americana
Yarrow - Achillea millefolium

Shrubs we found with berries
Elder, Red-berried - Sambucus pubens
Strawberry, Common - Fragaria virginiana

* - new this week