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What's blooming in Bath, Highland
BY CHARLES GARRATT • STAFF WRITER
 | | Ironweed fills fallow fields with purple flowers in late summer. The plants of this native wildflower can range from two to ten feet tall. (Recorder photo by Charles Garratt) |
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WARM SPRINGS - Late summer fields filled with tall purple blooms of ironweed bring a welcome wash of color to the browning grasses.
Ironweed, Vernonia sp., is a native wildflower known for its tall stems that can persist through winter. The stems are so tough and light they have been used to make kites for fall breezes or even spring winds.
The thistle-like head of ray florets of ironweed are sometimes mistaken for asters, which often follow ironweed in area fields in early fall. While ironweed is a member of the aster family, it lacks the yellow center of common asters.
Insects and butterflies like the nectar produced deep inside the small tubular florets. The constant fluttering of colorful butterfly wings around a patch of ironweed is a show of its own.
Ironweed was used by Native Americans to treat stomach disorders. Today its only uses are to brighten summer fields and by children who use the stout stems for kites and swords and other flights of fantasy.
There are a couple of species of ironweed growing in the Highlands, differentiated by the height of the plant and the shape of the leaves. Tall ironweed may grow to 10 feet in height. More common varieties will reach four to six feet.
The lack of rain is limiting or shortening the bloom times of many area wildflowers. Ironweed is no exception and plants locally seem to be turning dark purple to almost black earlier this year.
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