Field Guide

There are nearly 20 species in the genus Ranunculus in Missouri. Identify early buttercup by its early blooming time, its distinctively shaped, usually hairy leaves, and its preference for open woods, glades, or prairies.

Indian strawberry is a weedy plant that looks a lot like strawberry, except its petals are yellow, and its small, strawberry-like fruits lack juiciness and flavor.

As pretty as this wildflower is, the common name “Jacob’s Ladder” comes from its ladderlike leaves, which made people think of the story from Genesis in which Jacob dreams of a ladder reaching up to heaven.

Of the many invasive nonnative plants that were originally introduced to stop soil erosion and improve soils, kudzu is one of the worst. This “vine that ate the South” is often the first plant that comes to mind when we think of “invasive plants.”

The flower of wake robin, or trillium, has 3 petals and 3 sepals, and 3 leaves that subtend the solitary flower. The petal color varies in this common woodland spring wildflower, but it is most commonly brownish or maroon.

The largest trillium in Missouri has white petals, and when it blooms in spring, the flowers droop or hang sideways. Look for white wake robin in eastern and east-central Missouri, and in counties bordering the Missouri River.

In spring, wildflower lovers locate wild ginger by looking for its unique, hairy, heart-shaped leaves, then by stooping to view the small, three-parted brown flowers that form between the leaf bases, close to the ground.

Bird’s-foot trefoil forms low patches of bright yellow flowers along roadsides, having been planted to stabilize soil after road construction. Up close, it clearly has pea flowers. The leaves are cloverlike, with two leafy stipules at the base of each.

A bushy native perennial legume with small clusters of pink flowers, slender bush clover provides nectar for numerous insects. Several types of birds eat the seeds, and many mammals eat the foliage.