July 26, 1990 - Blooming Beauty by the RoadsideC12 The Suffolk Times • July 26, 1990
Blooming Beauty by the Roadside
By Paul Stoutenburgh
I've always envied, to some degree,
those who live on the edge of the ocean.
There's something magical about water,
its ever - changing surface, the changing
waves, and its mystery. Perhaps deep
inside all of us is that unknown attrac-
tion that goes back to the very begin-
ning, when life emerged from the sea, a
sort of parentage. Whatever it is, few of
us are privileged to sleep and play at its
very edge. Yet for a short time, a week
or so, it is possible to taste that ecstasy
of ocean living by taking advantage of
the State Park in Montauk. We did just
that last week when we camped there,
with the ever - present voice of the sea
reminding us how lucky we were. The
sparkle of the water kept us under its
spell the whole time.
As we drove over we could see that
summer's bloom was upon us for the
roadside flowers were at their height.
Probably the most conspicuous,
because of its size and umbrellas of
white, were the Queen Anne's lace. A
more appropriate name would be hard to
find for its resemblance to lace is
perfect. The only oddity is nature's
twist in stitching the very center, for
here there is a tiny dark purple, almost
black, flower. Why this miss stitch and
for what purpose? I'm unable to find an
answer.
Queen Anne's lace is listed in most
books as an obnoxious weed but I have
trouble with that, for unless you're rais-
ing hay and your field is overrun with
it, it has a charm of its own. This
showy plant is a welcome addition to
our often ugly roadsides. The plant actu-
Focus on
Nature
ally belongs to the carrot family and is
often called wild carrot. In days gone by
it was used as a medicinal plant. Its ex-
tract in a tea was used as a stimulant, as
a dieuretic and as a deobstruent, which
means in a way a laxative. The name
Queen Anne's lace gives us a clue as to
where it comes from. Like most way-
side plants, it immigrated from across
the sea to make its home in the New
World. Who knows who first brought
it?
Wild Lettuce Everywhere
As we drove along we could see now
and then the other wild but common
vegetable — wild lettuce. It too grows
tall, sometimes reaching a height of
three or four feet. Its fragile, toothed
leaves have prickers on them. When the
stem is broken a white milky substance
comes forth, very much like our com-
mercial lettuce, but there in a lesser de-
gree. The flowers are yellow and small
and very plentiful. As the season goes
on these flower heads soon ripen and
their fizzy seed carriers will be wind-
blown, giving this plant its wide distri-
bution.
The dried seed stalks of dock are start-
ing to appear all along the roadside.
This is a persistent plant that has a deep
tap root and can take all sorts of pun-
ishment and still come back again. Its
long, lance-shaped leaves have been
used for pot -herb dishes and it is the
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standby for greens when wild poke
(inkberry) has grown too big to eat.
Probably this plant is one of the easiest
to remember, for we'll see the seed
heads throughout the year as it stands
out against winter's ice and snow.
Being so persistent, it's often collected
and dried for winter bouquets.
Another tall, rugged plant that is now
blossoming with its small stalk of yel-
low flowers is mullein. The soft, fuzzy,
pale -green leaves of this sentinel are
easily recognized and like the dock will
die back, leaving the dried flower stalk
to be seen throughout the winter, mark-
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
MULLEIN —This tall spike -like
plant with its soft pale green vel-
vety leaves at its base is often
seen along our highways and va-
cant fields.
ing the place where it grew so profusely
during the summer.
Day Lilies Along Highway
The escaped day lilies, often in great
patches of orange, are a welcome sight
no matter where they are. When the
plant first breaks through the ground in
early spring the small spears of green
can be cut and cooked, making a wel-
come treat after the absence of fresh
greens during the winter. Now the buds
of this tall lily can also be eaten, giving
the summer table a different treat. Day
lilies, as the name implies, last for a
day but new flowers are always there to
take the place of the old.
Of course, the common milkweed
with its interesting shaped seed pods is
always a must for winter bouquets. Of
all winter collectibles, these dried stalks
of the milkweed rank No. 1. They are
now blossoming, but the star of this
group of milky -sap plants is the hand-
some, orange -red butterfly weed. It has
become such an outstanding plant of the
weedy fields and roadways that it is now
being sold for a place in your garden.
The best way to introduce it into your
area is to collect the seed pods when
they become ripe. These seed pods, like
the other milkweeds but smaller, have
their future windblown parachutes
neatly folded up in their seed pods.
There are so many interesting and
colorful wild flowers along our
roadsides during this time of year and as
each segment of the season unfolds a
new group emerges. Right now chicory
can still be found, but most of its blue
flowers have been spent on previous
sunny days.
Yarrow is in full bloom. I love to
smell its scented leaves. Wild indigo, a
balled umbrella type of plant with nu-
merous yellow flowers, is at its height
right now also. When the flowers fade
they turn black. It's a true roadside
plant.
We have a large group of clovers
blossoming throughout the summer
months. Now the big red clover, that as
kids we'd pull apart and suck the sweet
nectar from, is an easy one to recognize.
Then there is the fingernail -size rabbit
foot clover that looks like a fuzzy, gray-
ish, elongated ball that grows in large
clumps along the highway.
Yellow St. Johnswort is there also,
the plant my grandfather used to make a
rubbing lotion. The list could go on and
on, but space doesn't permit it. Do try
to enjoy these small wonders that you
can get acquainted with by not even
leaving your car, but merely gazing out
its windows or, better yet, walk along
the road edge where you can stop and
enjoy their elegance. It's part of our
East End heritage.
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