by Fred L. Fox
Lower Ozarks Project Director
The Nature Conservancy

Everyone likes wildflowers, and there is something for every wildflower enthusiast in the Ozarks. From the bloom of spring beauties in late winter, to the last goldenrods of November, there is always a floral display somewhere. Many of our most appreciated wildflowers, like fire pink, larkspur, purple coneflower and columbine, are common here and easily identifiable for the beginner.

There are few better places than the Ozarks to catch sight of some of the rarest and most unusual wildflowers. Several dozen species of plants are endemic to the Ozarks, meaning they live nowhere else in the world. Plus, several globally rare plants, as will as many that are rare in Missouri, can be seen in the Ozarks.

If you are just starting out, a good field guide, such as “Missouri Wildflowers,” is a must. Here are some rare and unusual wildflowers to look for on your visit to the Ozark National Scenic Riverways:

Marsh Blue Violet (Viola cucullata) This violet is rare in Missouri, and flowers from April to July. Look for it in wet, low-lying areas.
	Loesel’s Twayblade, (Liparis loeselii). This member of the orchid family was first found in Missouri in 1936 in Shannon County. Although no additional sightings occurred until 1979, it is now known in six Missouri counties. Its yellow-green flowers are visible in May and June, and it is most likely to be seen in fens (grassy wetland areas), alder thickets and at the edge of sinkhole ponds.
Showy Lady’s Slipper    (Cypripredium reginae) A large, rare and extremely beautiful member of the orchid family, it can be found at the base of north facing limestone bluffs along small streams, and in fens and wet swales. It flowers from the middle of May until early June.
	Early Ladies Tresses (Spiranthes lucida) Another orchid, it is rare in Missouri. In flower from mid-May through June, it is the only species of ladies tresses found here that flowers in the spring. It can be seen in fens and other wetland areas.
Royal Catchfly (Silene regia) This striking plant may grow as high as five feet, with bright red flowers. It flowers from May through September, and can be seen in remnant prairies and open woods. In Missouri, it is known only in the Ozarks.
	Rein Orchid (Platanthera flave) This rare orchid produces greenish- yellow flowers in June and July, and can reach a height of two feet. In Missouri, it is known to occur in only five counties.

Heart-leaved Plantain (Plantago chordata) Once common throughout the eastern United States, this plant survives in a very small handful of sites outside the Ozarks, making this its last stronghold. Siltation, pollution and other water quality degradation of previously clear, gravel bottom streams caused this plant’s disappearance from much of its former range. Look for it in small gravel creeks throughout the area.
Forked Aster (Eurybia furcatus) Another edge of range species, it blooms on wooded slopes in August and September. New flowers are almost pure white, becoming rosy or lilac colored with time.
	Ozarks Wild Crocus (Tradescantia longipes) This beautiful flower is found in the Ozarks, and nowhere else on Earth. Its variably colored flowers (magenta, purple, purplish-blue) are visible in April and May in heavily forested areas surrounding the Current River and its tributaries.

Learning to identify wildflowers and other plants can be a very rewarding experience. But please, don’t pick or dig wildflowers and other plants. Leave them there for others to enjoy also.

The Nature Conservancy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth. It depends on the voluntary contributions of thousands of Americans to do its work. The Nature Conservancy can be contacted at:

P.O. Box 960
Van Buren, MO 63965.
Phone: (573) 323-8790.

When botanists think of areas with a wealth of plant species still to be discovered, they think of the tropics. But some Missouri botanists recently found there still are discoveries to be made right here at home. While conducting a biological inventory of public land near the Current River in Shannon County, they discovered a genus of wildflower never before seen in Missouri, monkshood.

“It’s a wildflower that is very different from any others we have in the state,” says Missouri Department of Conservation Botanist Tim Smith. “It’s a blue flower that has a hood at the top of the flower. It’s a little like a delphinium overall, or a larkspur, except that monkshood has a distinctly different flower shape.” The remote location where the flower was discovered leads botanists to believe that the monkshood population is a native occurrence. The site is not near any old homestead where the flower could have been used as a landscape planting. Monkshood is native to Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia with the nearest previously known location in southern Indiana. Smith says good timing played a role in discovery of the monkshood. He says the flower was in bloom at the time biologists were conducting their plant inventory. Failing to recognize the monkshood’s unfamiliar looking vines and leaves, they looked for a specimen with a flower or other characteristic that would help them identify the plant.

Once they found some flowering plants, they knew they had found a flower which had never before been recorded in Missouri. Further examination of part of a plant by George Yatskeivych at the Missouri Botanical Garden showed that the wildflower found was Aconitum uncinatum, the wild monkshood.

Smith says the discovery is important because, “It reminds us that there is botanical work still to be done in Missouri. It also is important to know what plants grow in the state so that we can prevent them from becoming threatened or endangered. It’s part of our flora, and we are charged with protecting the diversity of the flora of the state.”

Smith says similar habitats near the one in which the monkshood was discovered will be examined to see if the wildflower occurs in greater numbers than initially discovered. Please remember that all wildflowers in Ozark National Scenic Riverways are protected by law. Digging or picking them deprives others of their beauty.
(Courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation.)

For more on the Monkshood, visit the USDA Plants Database.

Photos courtesy USDA, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and University of Wisconsin

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