Content tagged with "Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants"

When you drive through Missouri in the summer, you’re almost guaranteed to see the pink flower clusters of this plant, whose masses of green foliage coat the right-of-ways along highways. This weedy plant stabilizes the dirt after road construction but degrades our natural ecosystems.

Dead nettle and its close relative henbit are both common, weedy mints that, in early spring, can carpet wide patches of disturbed ground. These shallow-rooted plants pose few problems, however. Recognize dead nettle by the pyramidal look of its purple- or blue-tinted foliage.

Deptford pink has straight, strong, narrow stems that bear small clusters of pink flowers with white dots. Common statewide in sunny, open locations such as pastures and roadsides.

Sometimes called "wild oregano," dittany (like true oregano) is a member of the mint family and can be used as a culinary herb and in teas. Look for it on dry, wooded slopes in Ozark counties.