Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 10, 1990 TAG: 9006080300
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PATRICIA C. HELD
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Many of the flowers considered weeds today originally did not grow in North America. As colonists crossed the Atlantic, they brought along many plants of their native lands. Some species were brought over to this country intentionally; others were carried over with food and livestock.
No matter how these plants arrived, the result is the same. A large number of our common field wildflowers are not native to the area.
Among the plants held in low esteem is the wild carrot. Some call it the "chigger weed" because they claim that one is bound to pick up chiggers near the plant. Its other name is Queen Anne's lace because of its lacy flower heads. Wild carrot is believed to be of the same stock from which garden carrots were raised, hence its name. The root does smell like a carrot but its color is more yellow and it has a bitter taste. The beauty of this plant is often hidden by the dust and dirt of automobile traffic because this plant prefers to grow along roadsides.
Hawkweed is a member of the composite family, as are many of the field flowers. It spreads quickly through pasture land and along roadsides. At first glance it resembles dandelions, but it has clusters of yellow raylike flowers rather than single flowers per stem. Although there are several native hawkweed species, many were introduced from Europe. Now a mixture of native and alien species dot the fields.
Twining and twisting morning glories hide many unsightly rubbish heaps, but they can be pesky if they take possession of old fields or strangle the more desirable plants. Both the common morning glories of our gardens and the hedge bindweed grow extensively throughout our area.
Ox-eye daisies are the most common daisies of the spring roadsides. The name comes from "day's eyes," a label the flowers got because their gold-centered blossoms close at night and open at dawn. In England they are known as "moon daisies" and they are called "dog-daisies" in Scotland. Although the colonists brought these flowers over from the Europe, today dairy farmers despise them because they can produce an unwanted flavor in milk when eaten by cows.
To us it is a weed, but on the islands of Madeira, where many beautiful flowers grow in wild profusion, natives carefully cultivate yarrow. Its grey-green leaves have fragile cuts, giving the plant the nickname of "hundred-leaved grass." These leaves are aromatic and produce a rather intoxicating beer. Achilles is said to have used yarrow to cure the wounds of soldiers and today the flat-topped clusters are dried and used in floral arrangements.
Both bladder campion and evening lychnis are European introductions and are members of the pink family. With white flowers and an inflated calyx (outer leaves protecting the flower), the campion and lychnis are difficult to tell apart. The lychnis blossoms have curved styles and supposedly a sweeter scent.
Who could overlook the dandelion? Many gardeners curse this plant as its blossoms threaten to overtake their lawns.
The yellow-flowered dandelion is another member of the composite family. Each blossom is actually made up of many minute yellow-rayed flowers. These flowers transform into fluffy white clumps of seeds which are dispersed by wind or lung power.
Although many consider dandelions unsightly weeds to be yanked out by the roots, others look more favorably upon this plant, not only for its beauty but also as a source of edible greens.
The prettiest of all our field blossoms is the scarlet field poppy. Another immigrant, the poppy originated in the Mediterranean.
While not endowed with the potency of the opium-producing Oriental poppy, the field poppy has been used for a variety of purposes, including as a cure for whooping cough and colic, and as an aid for heartbreak and sleeplessness. The poppies migrated westward onto mainland Europe and finally to England as their tiny seeds mingled easily with grain seeds. In no time it had established itself on American shores. It grew in the first gardens of Williamsburg as well as in the door-yard gardens of most farm families in the East.
To many, the flowers that grow in the fields and along our roadsides are just weeds. According to Emerson, a weed is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.
Held will respond to readers' questions on the plant and animal wildlife in the region. Mail inquiries to: Patricia C. Held, P.O. Box 65, Goode, Va. 24556.
by CNB