Downy Pagoda Plant © 2010 Bo Mackison
Another wildflower that I photographed on my brief foray to Missouri. This is Blephilia ciliata, commonly known by a variety of names — Ohio horsemint, Downy Pagoda Plant, Downy Woodmint. It is a Missouri native perennial which grows in dry open woods and thickets, clearings, fields and roadsides in the eastern two thirds of the State.
It is a member of the mint family, and while aromatic, it is not as strong as most mints I’ve come across in the more northern climes. It appears to be attractive to butterflies and bees, at least it was in the wildflower garden at Shaw Nature Reserve.
The flowers are blue to purple and bloom from May through September. The plant grow in a circular column, sometimes having as many as six or seven pagodas full of flowers. The larger ones seem to outgrow themselves, and a few were tipped over with the weight of the hundreds of blossoms.
Wading in the Shallows
We camped on the shores of the Lake of the Ozarks, in the southern part of Missouri, and awakened to harsh croaking sounds. I quickly discovered that these calls belonged to a group of herons enjoying the foggy dawn with a bit of companionable fishing.
waiting for occupancy
Bluebird houses, all in a row, wait for the bluebirds’ return.
You can’t hear them or see them but earlier this week the air around this marsh was filled with the spring peepers doing what they do best – peeping. Spring peepers are actually tiny frogs (the northern ones are about 1 1/2 inches long with a brown X on their backs) and in spring they noisily sing their mating calls – by peeping, of course. It’s a lovely call – no wonder there are lot and lots of tiny peepers.
If you do not know what a peeper sounds like, take a listen. You may very well recognize it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Peeper (check under the media heading)
Wakonda State Park
LaGrange, Missouri
March 29, 2008
