Field Guide

In spring, wild hyacinth bears an elongated cluster of pale blue flowers with prominent anthers that sway on stalks up to 2 feet tall.

It has grasslike leaves, but it’s not a grass. In fact, it’s in the same family as the common garden iris! Four species of blue-eyed grass grow in Missouri, and this one, often found on prairies, glades, and pastures, is the most common.

Often found on gravelly Ozark streamsides, shining blue star lifts its clusters of showy, light-blue flowers in late spring. A top choice for native wildflower gardening, it is interesting spring, summer, and fall.

Smooth spiderwort is the most common and widely distributed of Missouri's spiderworts. It has slender, straight or zigzag stems. The long, narrow leaves are folded lengthwise and attach to the stem in a thick node. The 3 petals of the triangular flower are blue, rose, purple, lavender, or white.

Horse nettle is a native perennial with spiny stems and leaves, white to purplish flowers, and toxic fruits that look like tiny yellow tomatoes. It does well in disturbed habitats, and many people consider it a weed.

Dwarf spiderwort is a low-growing perennial with bright magenta, purple, or purplish-blue flowers with three petals arranged in a triangular pattern. It blooms in Ozark woodlands in April and May.

Closed gentian, or bottle gentian, never opens — it stays closed and budlike throughout the pollination process. How is it pollinated? Bumblebees push their way into the flowers!

A spreading, mat-forming perennial of dry, rocky soils, sand phlox is distinguished from our other phloxes by its creeping habit and the deep, V-shaped notch on each of the five petal lobes.

A beloved native spring wildflower, shooting star makes a lasting impression on hikers who encounter a nice big colony of these downward-pointing pink, white, or purplish flowers.