Wildflower of the Year 2024 White Turtlehead (Chelone glabra)

White Turtlehead is a perennial herb rising from a rhizomatous rootstock. The smooth stems are only sparingly branched above and attain heights 0.5 to 2 m. Leaves are opposite, narrow, linear to lance-ovate, and up to 15 cm long, with prominently toothed margins. Flower spikes are 3-8 cm long and form at stem tips from…

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Wildflower of the Year 2023 Hollow Joe-Pye-Weed (Eutrochium fistulosum)

VNPS offers Joe-Pye-Weed artwork on T-Shirts, Tote Bags, and Coffee Mugs.  Visit our Online Store to order. Hollow Joe-pye-weed is a perennial herb that may grow as tall as 35 dm (about 11.5 feet). Stems are frequently purple and, when young, are covered with a thin, glaucous, layer of wax. Cross sections of stems will…

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Wildflower of the Year 2022 Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)

Buttonbush is a shrub or small tree commonly attaining heights up to about 6 m, occasionally twice that size. Leaves are opposite or whorled, elliptic to ovate, 2-8 cm wide, and 6-15 cm long; margins are entire and apices are acute or cuspidate, i.e., with an abrupt, short, tooth-like point. Triangular stipules, 2-3 mm long,…

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Wildflower of the Year 2021 American Wisteria (Wisteria frutescens)

Wisteria frutescens is a woody liana, potentially growing to heights of 15 m; young stems are smooth or covered with small hairs pressed tightly to the stem surface. Stems climb by twining around supports in a clockwise direction. Leaves are alternate and odd-pinnately compound, 10—30 cm long. Leaves may have from 5 to 15 leaflets…

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Wildflower of the Year 2020 Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)

Wild Geranium is a woodland perennial herb. Plants emerge from stout, shallow, rhizomes bearing knobby leaf scars and thin roots. Aerial stems attain heights of 2 to 7 dm; stem hairiness ranges from a few scattered trichomes to densely pubescent. Leaves are crowded basally, but well separated and opposite on flowering stems. Overall leaf shape…

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Wildflower of the Year 2019 New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus)

Ceanothus americanus - VNPS 2019 Wildflower of the Year - Illustration by Betty Gatewood

New Jersey Tea is a low shrub, generally less than 1 m tall and often profusely branched. Stems are finely hairy, but may become smooth with age. Vegetative stems are perennial, but flowering stems persist for just a single year. Leaves are mostly 5 to 10 cm long; leaf shape varies from narrowly to widely…

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