Last year, walking in the woods at lunch, I found an odd plant with fern-like foliage and tubular, lipped yellow flowers. I took photos and noted the location for future visits. It turned out to be Pedicularis canadensis, wood betony, a hemiparasitic plant. What is a hemiparasitic plant? In the case of wood betony, it has leaves that photosynthesize nourishment for the plant, but if you were to look underground, you would see that its roots attach to the roots of another plants, stealing water and minerals and avoiding the hard work of sending down its own deep roots.
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| Wood betony (Pedicularis canadensis), hemiparasite |
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| Flowers. |
Many beautiful wildflowers are parasitic. One of my favorites is Indian paintbrush, with plumes of flowers that look like they've been dipped in bright red paint. I saw large swaths of it on the side of the Interstate last Friday.
Maybe the most famous hemiparasitic plant is mistletoe, though it attaches to tree branches instead of roots.
A few other things blooming on my walk:
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| Coreopsis |
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| Coreopsis |
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| More white wild indigo. |
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