Author: Badger Johnson

Verbena hastata

~ Badger Johnson

Verbena hastata, “blue vervain”
Verbenaceae

Been wanting to post about this after I heard about friends using it for back pain. I believe I have seen it out car windows on the highway, but these photos from Illinois Wildflowers, as I just haven’t had time to go look at these.

For cultivation, the preference is full to partial sunlight, moist conditions, and soil consisting of fertile loam or wet muck. This plant tolerates standing water if it is temporary. This is a good plant to locate near a small river or pond in a sunny location. Habitats include river bottom prairies, moist meadows in floodplain woodlands, soggy thickets, borders of rivers and ponds, marshes, ditches, fence rows, and pastures. This plant adapts readily to degraded wetlands and other disturbed areas, but it can be found in higher quality habitats as well.

Mammalian herbivores usually avoid eating this plant because of its bitter leaves – an exception is the Cottontail Rabbit, which may eat the foliage of young plants to a limited extent. Also, various songbirds occasionally eat the seeds, including the Cardinal, Swamp Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Song Sparrow, and Slate-Colored Junco. Experimental studies have shown that these seeds can pass undamaged through the digestive tracts of cattle, therefore they are probably distributed to some extent by these seed-eating birds.

(Illinois Wildflowers)

Contains the active components tannin, a bitter principle, the glucosides verbenalin and verbenin. Herbalists recommend using an infusion as an anthelmintic, anti-rheumatic, anti-periodic, antispasmodic, emetic, expectorant, sedative, and tonic for treating intermittent fevers, diseases of the spleen and liver, epilepsy, stones, gravel, to restore blood circulation and as an antidote to poke (Phytolacca americana) poisoning.

(“Medicinal Plants of the Heartland”, Kaye and Billington)

Lespedeza capitata

~ Badger Johnson

Lespedeza capitata, “Round-headed bush clover”
Fabaceae

Thanks Calvin Maginel for pointing this out when we were on Stegall Mountain!

Picture one is from Prairie Moon Nursery, picture two is my own and shows L. capitata is on the left, and Lespedeza virginica is pictured on the right, with a probable hybrid shown in the middle. Very cool to see intermediate blending of the traits. Lespedezas like hybridizing.

L. capitata was one of our more drought-resistant native Lespedezas.
L. capitata has tannins, the flavonoids lespecapitosine and kaempferitrin, and two flavonoid derivatives apigenin and luteolin. It is valued by contemporary herbalists for use in an infusion, as an astringent & diuretic for tumors, as well as urinary and kidney ailments. Research has shown that it lowers blood cholesterol levels, removes nitrogenous compounds from the blood, and is useful against certain carcinosarcomas.
Round Headed Bush Clover is a host plant to a number of butterflies and moths, including the Southern Cloudywing Butterfly, Northern Cloudywing Butterfly, Hoary Edge Butterfly, Silver-Spotted Skipper, the Bella Moth, and the Common Ptichodis Moth. The plant is especially high in protein making it a favorite choice of many kinds of mammalian wildlife including deer, rabbits, and muskrat. It can also be used in pastures as livestock forage. The seeds are eaten by gamebirds and songbirds, including the Mourning Dove, Bobwhite, Turkey, and Junco.

Chamaecrista fasciculata

~ Badger Johnson

Chamaecrista fasciculata, “showy partridge pea”
Fabaceae

I first met this native annual legume at Oak Spirit.

Excellent pollinator plant with extra-floral nectaries at the base of its leaves. Meaning the thing is putting out nectar for pollinators that aren’t even visiting its flowers, much like some strains of elderberrie. It is often planted for honey production and soil stabilization, the seeds are one of the major food items of bobwhite and other quail. If there is a seed source it often moves in early after soil disturbance, then politely fades out when its work is done. Nutritious livestock forage but poisonous when consumed in large amounts (like most forage species lol).

(NRCS Plant Fact Sheet)

Apparently Cherokee athletes would use the root to keep from tiring during ball games??

(“Medicinal Plants of the Heartland”, Kaye and Billington)

Upright, 60-90 cm tall, unbranched, or few-branched near or above middle of stem.

Pinnately compound, leaflets 10-20 mm long, 2-5 mm wide.

Gland located near middle of petiole sessile or nearly so (potentially unreliable; use leaflets)

Yellow flowers, petals subequal (largest petal only slightly larger than others), 25-30 mm diameter, 10 stamens.

Prairies, glades, fallow fields.

Compare with C. nictitans (leaves fold rapidly when touched, smaller leaves and flowers, gland on stalk)

(Hybrid MOFEP/Park Service Fire Ecology Manual)

Thanks Erik Peterson for inspiring this post with your Hibiscus laevis share

Lespedeza frutescens

~ Badger Johnson

Lespedeza frutescens, “Violet bush clover”
Fabaceae

First saw this working at ONSR, then Daniel Boone showed it to me in Mount Airy Forest at the buffalo clover patch. Was doing very well there.

Stems usually much branched, often below middle, covered in appressed hairs. *Often grows in spreading clumps. Delicate overall appearance. Leaves 2-ranked on stem.

Leaflets glabrous above, rounded, often a light green color, with obvious darker green lateral venation.

Racemes loose, few-flowered, some flowers with petals on peduncles exceeding subtending leaves (plus flowers without petals on short stalks in leaf axils). Keels exceeding other petals.

Found growing in rocky open woods, thickets, rocky prairies.
Compare with L. violacea (narrower leaves, taller and more solitary habit).

Passiflora incarnata

~ Badger Johnson

Passiflora incarnata, “maypop”, “passion flower”, “happy dappies”
Passifloraceae

Pictures from Jenny Hipscher’s yard in Columbia, MO.

Passion flower’s name refers to a bit of Catholic lore. Kids stepping on the fruit And making it loudly explode=maypop. Happy dappies is what Melissa calls it, because it makes her happy to stick her nose in since she was a child.

It has long been used as a carminative (relieving flatulence), and as a sedative for treating menstrual cramps, tension headaches, insomnia, high blood pressure and nervousness without bad side effects. People make a tea or smoke it, it’s fairly non-addictive.

The aerial parts of this plant contain flavonoids, sterols and the alkaloids harmol, harmane, harmaline, harmine and harmalol.

(“Medicinal Plants of the Heartland”, Kaye and Billington)

Easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Tolerant of drought. Roots appreciate a loose mulch. Spreads by root suckers to cover large areas in optimum growing conditions. Although P. incarnata is the hardiest of the passion flowers, it is not reliably winter hardy throughout USDA Zone 5 and may not survive extremely cold winters therein. In the St. Louis area, it is best to plant this vine in a protected area that is sheltered by a wall, garage or other structure.

“Passiflora incarnata is a rapid-growing, tendril-climbing vine which is woody in warm winter climates and herbaceous (dies to the ground) in cold winter climates. A native of the Southeastern U.S., including southern Missouri where it typically occurs in sandy soils, low moist woods and open areas. Features three-lobed, dark green leaves and showy, 2.5″ diameter, fringed flowers having white petals and sepals and a central crown of pinkish-purple filaments. Flowers bloom in summer and are fragrant. Fleshy, egg-shaped, edible fruits called maypops appear in July and mature to a yellowish color in fall. Ripened maypops can be eaten fresh off the vine or made into jelly.”

(Missouri Botanical Garden)