Photo by John Nelson What’s the biggest wildflower that grows near you? Could it be this one?

It’s a native species that is common from New England and Ontario south to Florida and well into the Midwest and Texas. Technically, it is an herbaceous plant, but it comes up from a massive root system and it looks like a shrub with branching stalks that can be up to eight feet tall. It really likes wet places, and will be seen in marshes, ditches, damp meadows, and along open, wet power lines.

The flowers may be 8” across, when fully opened in the midday sun. The broad leaves are dark green above and whitish or gray beneath. Each flower is on a long stalk which bears a small leaf. The color of the flowers is variable among populations, but is most often white. The petals may be milky white to creamy, or even pale yellow. Other plants have pink petals.

Photo by John Nelson Whatever their shade, each of the five petals bears a striking ruby–red blotch at its base. When the open flower is viewed from the front, a very conspicuous eye is presented. This eye acts as something of a target and is probably attractive to visiting hummingbirds.

Late in the season, the flowers are replaced with drying capsules which split open and release seeds. Each seed is dark brown and about the size of a large BB.

It is a member of the family “Malvaceae,” and is thus related to cotton, okra, and garden hollyhocks. In this family, the pollen–bearing stamens of a single flower are characteristically fused into a hollow column which surrounds the pistil. The end of the pistil branches into a number of receptive stigmas (usually five).

The roots of this plant, or at least some of its close relatives, have long been known as a source of a sweet gum. An old–timey confection used to be made from boiled down roots, which, when mixed with sugar, would yield the earliest form of marshmallows. Marshmallows that are bought in a store these days are not made this way. They are completely artificial, made of gelatin and sugar.

The scientific name of this species, at first glance, suggests the word mosquito, but the plant has nothing to do with the insect other than commonly living in the same place. Rather, the scientific species name means musky, although very little odor can be detected from the flowers.

Answer to last week’s mystery plant

Dayflower,

Commelina erecta

Dr. John Nelson is the curator of the USC Herbarium.

To learn more about the Herbarium, call him at

777-8196. His department also offers free plant identification.

www.herbarium.org