Field Guide

Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants

Showing 1 - 6 of 6 results
Media
Photo of wood betony plants with flowers
Species Types
Scientific Name
Pedicularis canadensis
Description
Wood betony has a tight spiral of tubular, hooded yellow flowers atop a plant adorned with deeply incised, fernlike leaves that are about as attractive as the flowers themselves. In early spring, these leaves have a beautiful wine-red coloration.
Media
Photo of viper’s bugloss, closeup of flower
Species Types
Scientific Name
Echium vulgare
Description
A biennial plant with bristly hairs and usually with single stems, viper’s bugloss can grow 2½ feet tall. The flowers are pink in bud, blue to ultramarine later. The protruding stamens are pink.
Media
Photo of foxglove beardtongue flowers
Species Types
Scientific Name
Penstemon digitalis
Description
Foxglove, or smooth beardtongue is a showy flower that is popular in native gardening. It is the tallest of the four white-flowered penstemons in Missouri.
Media
Photo of common violet plant with flowers
Species Types
Scientific Name
Viola spp.
Description
Violets, as a group, are fairly easy to identify, with their colorful five-petaled “faces” so welcome in springtime. Missouri has 17 species, and some are confusingly similar. This page introduces them as a group.
Media
Missouri violet blooming along Katy Trail near Easley, Missouri
Species Types
Scientific Name
Viola missouriensis (syn. V. sororia var. missouriensis)
Description
Missouri violet is one of five Missouri stemless violets with purple or blue flowers and unlobed leaves. It is distinguished by its triangular or heart-shaped leaves that are longer than wide and are coarsely toothed only on the basal two-thirds.
Media
Broom moss, or fork moss, Dicranum species
Species Types
Scientific Name
Approximately 315 species and varieties in Missouri
Description
Mosses are small, low plants that form cushions or carpets, usually in damp places. They lack veinlike structures and do not produce flowers or seeds. They release spores from tiny capsules that usually arise on thin stalks.
See Also

About Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants in Missouri

A very simple way of thinking about the green world is to divide the vascular plants into two groups: woody and nonwoody (or herbaceous). But this is an artificial division; many plant families include some species that are woody and some that are not. The diversity of nonwoody vascular plants is staggering! Think of all the ferns, grasses, sedges, lilies, peas, sunflowers, nightshades, milkweeds, mustards, mints, and mallows — weeds and wildflowers — and many more!