Missouri - Tumblr Posts
Dwarf Larkspur
Delphinium tricorne
A favorite of hummingbirds and butterflies when it blooms. This spring ephemeral is native to the central and eastern United States. The flowers can range in color from white to all shades of purple.
April 12th, 2023
St. Louis County, Missouri, USA
Olivia R. Myers
@oliviarosaline
Drooping Trillium
Trillium flexipes
April 12th, 2023
St. Louis County, Missouri, USA
Olivia R. Myers
@oliviarosaline
Squirrel Corn
Dicentra canadensis
This spring ephemeral is scattered throughout the eastern United States, but it is somewhat rare in Missouri.
April 17th, 2023
Washington County, Missouri, USA
Olivia R. Myers
💕
@oliviarosaline
Dutchman's Breeches
Dicentra cucullaria
April 12th, 2023
St. Louis County, Missouri, USA
Olivia R. Myers
@oliviarosaline
Hop Trefoil Clover
Trifolium campestre
This species of trifolium is not native to the United States, its native range is in Europe and Western Asia, but it has now been introduced in some areas of the US due to being grown for fodder and escaping. However, it's not yet listed as an invasive species here.
June 17th, 2023
Weldon Spring, St. Charles County, Missouri, USA
Olivia R. Myers
@oliviarosaline
Violet Wood Sorrel
Oxalis violacea
This beautiful oxalis violacea with showy, soft violet blooms is a perennial species native to the eastern and central United States.
May 12th, 2023
Jefferson County, Missouri, USA
Olivia R. Myers
@oliviarosaline
Northern Cardinal
Cardinalis cardinalis
Male
Shining in all his glory.
March 17th, 2024
Jefferson County, Missouri, USA
Olivia R. Myers
@oliviarosaline
Some kind of bolete mushroom
Boletales
This bolete featured unusually large, bright yellow pores.
There are over 150 described bolete species in the Midwestern United States alone, so sometimes it's a challenge to narrow them down to an exact species ID. It's not an ash tree bolete. I found this one while doing field research in an old growth forest near the Meramec River near swamp white oak, pin oak, cottonwood, silver maple, green ash, persimmon, and hackberry trees. I'm not sure which tree it was associated with.
Aug. 18th, 2023
Arnold, Jefferson County, Missouri, USA
Olivia R. Myers
@oliviarosaline
Amanita sect. Vaginatae
Aug. 15th, 2023
St. Louis County, Missouri, USA
Olivia R. Myers
@oliviarosaline
Don't worry, bee happy.
This adorable bumblebee buzzed over and photobombed my flower picture.
Aug. 15th, 2023
St. Charles County, Missouri, USA
Olivia R. Myers
@oliviarosaline
Small-Funnel Veil Amanita
Amanita multisquamosa
Amanita ser. Pantherinae
Also known as the White Panther Amanita, this species is found in forests east of the Great Plains in the United States. It has a mycorrhizal association with oaks and can sometimes be found near conifers as well. Likely psychoactive and presumed toxic. ☠️
Aug. 14th, 2023
St. Louis County, Missouri, USA
Olivia R. Myers
@oliviarosaline
Missouri Coneflower
Rudbeckia missouriensis
This species is endemic to the Ozarks of Missouri and Arkansas, where it usually grows in limestone and dolomite glades. There's also a few scattered populations in Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Louisiana. It thrives in full sun and dry, well-drained soil.
Sept. 27th, 2023
De Soto, Jefferson County, Missouri, USA
Olivia R. Myers
@oliviarosaline
Lanceleaf Frogfruit
Phyla lanceolata
This perennial species in the verbena family is native to much of the United States and Mexico. It's usually found growing in disturbed wetlands, ditches, or yards and provides nectar for many beneficial insects when it blooms during summer.
The plant pictured was in disturbed bottomland woods near Butler Lake and the Meramec River in southern St. Louis County, Missouri, USA
June 20th, 2023
Olivia R. Myers
@oliviarosaline
Eastern Redbud Tree
Cercis canadensis
This small tree in the legume family showcases lovely pink blooms in spring and is native to much of eastern North America. They grow in a variety of habitats, but prefer well-drained slopes in woods without many other plants to compete with. Its flowers are pollinated by carpenter bees and other bees with long tongues, and the leaves provide food for several caterpillar and moth species. The flowers on this tree are also edible and contain beneficial anthocyanins, a group of antioxidants.
March 19th, 2024
St. Charles County, Missouri, USA
Olivia R. Myers
@oliviarosaline
Wildflowers flourishing along a tranquil Ozarkian trail. It was a blessing to enjoy this beautiful place where the sun kissed spots of the blue forest floor and only the sound of bird songs and soft wind whispered through the trees. The blue-eyed mary (Collinsia verna) and virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) thriving on the forest floor are both native spring ephemerals found throughout the central and eastern parts of North America.
April 17th, 2023
Washington County, Missouri, USA
Olivia R. Myers
@oliviarosaline
Purple Cress
Cardamine douglassii
Also known as Limestone Cress, this species in the mustard family features clusters of light purple flowers in early spring and can be found in wet and swampy forests with calcium carbonate rich soils. It's native to parts of the eastern United States and southern Ontario, Canada.
The plants I photographed are part of an isolated population remaining in a tiny bottomland forest remnant in St. Charles County, Missouri. Unfortunately, the rest of the forest has been lost due to suburban sprawl and what little of it remains has many invasive species, including winter creeper, callery pear, and japanese honeysuckle trying to encroach from surrounding developments and outcompete native plants like this one.
March 12th & 13th, 2024
St. Charles County, Missouri, USA
Olivia R. Myers
@oliviarosaline
Ink Cap Mushroom
Psathyrellaceae
April 3rd, 2024
Saint Louis County, Missouri, USA
Olivia R. Myers
@oliviarosaline
Mica Cap Mushrooms
Coprinellus sect. Micacei
Growing at the base of an old cottonwood tree in the woods.
April 3rd, 2024
St. Louis County, Missouri, USA
Olivia R. Myers
@oliviarosaline
Tall Thimbleweed
Anemone virginiana
This anemone is native to the United States and southern Canada, where its range extends primarily east of the Great Plains. Its common name originates from the cluster of pistils forming a thimble shape, and it can tolerate and grow in a variety of conditions. This particular plant was thriving in a partly sunny, moist area of the woods near a small creek.
June 22nd, 2023
St. Francois County, Missouri, USA
Olivia R. Myers
@oliviarosaline
Mexican Hat
Ratibida columnifera
I found this lonely blooming Mexican hat plant gleaming like a beacon light amongst a sea of non-native, invasive teasel growing in a dry, disturbed, almost waste-like land near Interstate 55 in Missouri.
This sombrero-resembling prairie coneflower is native to North America, where its historic native range primarily spanned the Great Plains and surrounding areas to the west, to Missouri on the very eastern edge of its adventive range. However, there are now naturalized populations east of Missouri. It's commonly grown in gardens and can escape from them. This species prefers dry, sunny habitats such as prairies, savannas and some disturbed areas with well-drained, neutral to alkaline soils. Its flowers provide food for an array of insect species, including bees, beetles, moths, wasps, and many more.
June 20th, 2023
Arnold, Jefferson County, Missouri, USA
Olivia R. Myers
@oliviarosaline