Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Ambrosia artemisiifolia
Description
Common ragweed is instantly recognizable by its ornate, 2–3 times pinnately lobed, hairy leaves. You’ve probably seen it many times and wondered what it was.
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Eupatorium serotinum
Description
Late boneset, or late-flowering thoroughwort, is a native perennial wildflower with clusters of white, fuzzy-looking flowers. It’s one of nine similar-looking species of thoroughworts in Missouri.
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Trifolium pratense
Description
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.
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Symphyotrichum spp. (formerly Aster spp.)
Description
Missouri has 24 species of New World asters in genus Symphyotrichum. Most have purple or white ray flowers and yellow disk flowers that turn reddish over time. Most bloom in late summer and fall.
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Cuscuta spp.
Description
Dodders are easy to identify, even though at first you might not recognize them as plants. These parasitic plants usually look like a hairlike mass of yellow or orange, leafless, wiry, vining stems wrapping around the stems of other plants.
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Portulaca oleracea
Description
Purslane can be an aggressive pest in gardens and is one of the worst agricultural weeds in the world. Meanwhile, it’s also a favorite wild vegetable served cooked or raw, and many people cultivate it.
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Eupatorium spp.
Description
Nine white-flowering species of thoroughworts, or bonesets, have been recorded for Missouri. They have rounded flower clusters that look rather fuzzy, because each little composite flowerhead lacks petal-like ray florets.
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Persicaria virginiana (formerly Polygonum virginianum)
Description
Virginia knotweed, or jumpseed, is common yet rarely contemplated. It might be most eye-catching in spring, when its new, oval leaves are marked with brownish Vs. In summer, it blooms with tiny, teardrop-shaped white flowers on wandlike stems.
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Trifolium repens
Description
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.
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Vinca minor
Description
Common periwinkle is a low-growing, mat-forming, purple-flowering perennial herb that is woody at the base. Native to Eurasia, it is often grown as a groundcover. It has proven invasive in much of the eastern United States and frequently escapes from cultivation. Planting it is not recommended.
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!