June Afternoon

I took some photos in the arboretum recently.

Pycnanthemum muticum, one of the native mountain-mints. Attracts droves of pollinators all summer long.

Lonicera sempervirens, coral honeysuckle. This is one of our native honeysuckles, much less robust but more elegant than the invasive Japanese honeysuckle (the one with the yellow and white flowers we kids used to love picking and sucking on)

Another shot of the coral honeysuckle. As you can imagine, hummingbirds love this flower.

Bignonia capreolata, crossvine, another Southern native vine. This plant loves to scale pines and other tall trees. One usually only sees the flowers as they fall and scatter on the bed of pine needles below.

Aclepias tuberosa, butterfly-weed. This is one of the milkweeds, which are hosts to monarch butterflies.

Butterfly-weed closeup.

Echinacea purpurea, purple coneflower. One of our most well-known U.S. wildflowers. Some of the other species are used in herbal medicine.

A carnivorous pitcher plant, probably a hybrid or cultivar (Sarracenia species). These are related to Venus flytrap and also catch insects to supplement their nutrition. Unlike Venus flytrap, it has no moving parts. The insect flies into the pitcher, attracted by the smell of nectar, and gets trapped by downward-facing hairs which push the victim down into a digestive fluid at the base. The white spots on the pitchers are false-windows, further confusing insects in search of a way out.