Field Guide

Smooth cliff brake is almost always seen growing out of an exposed limestone or dolomite bluff or rock. Its fronds, with blue-gray, lance-shaped, ovate, or oblong leaflets, are not very fernlike.

Ragworts, or groundsels, have several common names, and separating the different species can be a little tricky. But members of genus Packera, with their bright yellow daisy-like flowers, are distinctive as a group. Seven species have been recorded in Missouri.

Prairie ragwort is one of seven Packera species in our state. It grows in sunny, open habitats. Look for its clusters of bright yellow, daisylike flowers in May and June.

Sweet autumn virgin’s bower, also called autumn clematis, is a nonnative, invasive perennial vine that spreads aggressively and climbs rapidly over any support. In late summer, it produces dense clusters of white, sweet-smelling flowers, which mature into fuzzy seed masses.

Swamp agrimony has wandlike clusters of tiny yellow flowers atop its stout, upright stems. Its feather-compound leaves have up to 23 narrow, sharp-toothed main leaflets, plus smaller leaflets between the main ones.

Red clover, or purple clover, is the familiar large, pinkish-purple clover that grows in lawns, pastures, and roadsides statewide. A Eurasian native, it was introduced to North America by the middle 1600s.

Round-headed bush clover is a stiffly upright plant that has rounded flower clusters with cream-colored, pea-shaped flowers with purple markings on the banner petal. It grows statewide in open habitats.

White clover is the familiar white-flowering clover that grows in lawns, pastures, and roadsides statewide. A Eurasian native, it was widespread in North America by the middle 1700s.

Butterweed, one of Missouri’s seven species of ragworts or groundsels, is the only one that is an annual. It grows in colonies, at times covering acres of floodplain. Stems are heavily ridged and usually inflated or hollow. It blooms April–June.