Sunday, August 1

Wild Bergamot/Beebalm/Horsemint/Antiseptic

The wild bergamot grows abundantly all over the Black Hills...it's a lavender-colored mint that contains thymol, a natural antispetic compound commonly used in mouthwashes. Plains Indians used bergamot tea to treat colds and coughs....it can be found, rarely, in white...and I know a spot in the E Hills, reached by the off-road trail we go four-wheeling on, where the white bergamot can be found...

There is only a small patch of the white bergamot, easily overlooked among all the lavender...

But up close, the white is striking amid all that lavender....


Also abundant is the spreading dogbane, pretty in candy-stripe pink...the branches tend to run parallel to the ground, the leaves looking like they're hanging on a clothesline...

Some things are just a puzzlement...

There are several types of goldenrod in the Hills, some hard to tell apart, but I believe this is Missouri goldenrod, which is common...

A fritillary (Aphrodite, Northwestern, or Callippe) on silverleaf scurfpea...

The silverleaf scurfpea (love the name!) grows parallel to the ground, it's another legume...the greenery is a silvery color...

The daisy fleabane is growing fairly abundantly now, it's one of many asters in the Hills, some of which don't grow until Aug.
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5 comments:

  1. gypsyroseAugust 1, 2010 at 1:25 PM

    Hi Jann, thank you for coming to my blog and trying to help me identify my bird, Warren came to my rescue with a common buzzard,
    I am from Cornwall England.
    I have been looking round your blog and love what I have seen here, hope you will allow me to visit again, many thanks,

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wanda.....August 1, 2010 at 2:02 PM

    I don't ever remember seeing white Beebalm or a tire up a tree!

    ReplyDelete
  3. troutbirderAugust 1, 2010 at 3:31 PM

    Very enjoyable blog. I must say the Black Hills in general and Custer State Park are one of my favorite places in the world. We often stop in spring and fall on our way to visit the grandkids in Colorado.

    ReplyDelete
  4. RoanAugust 1, 2010 at 7:37 PM

    I'm a big fan of wildflowers. I think they are beautiful, as in these shots. A tire in a tree, okay. Tornado? or weirdo? Hmm...

    ReplyDelete
  5. sylvia murphyAugust 9, 2010 at 10:48 AM

    Hi J,

    One of the hardest thing about my blog is identifying all the plants. I have a photo of Spreading Dogbane in an upcoming post and you just identified it for me. Whooo Hooo. Thanks!

    SM

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