Thanks Tour de Fleurers

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Wildflower hunters with 
thin-leaf coneflower in background

Special thanks to those who attended the Tour de Fleur along Ten Mile Creek Greenway last Saturday. The walk was organized by Kathleen Gibi, with the city parks and rec, and Ellen Blasius with the county parks and rec.

Highlights were several oddities: Florida blue lettuce, fogfruit, green passionflower, heal-all, Virginia buttonweed and boneset.

The summer cicadas were singing and Kathleen managed to catch a small treefrog for all to see. 

Thanks, Kathleen and Ellen.

Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum)

Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)

Florida blue lettuce (Lactuca floridana)

Heal-All (Prunella vulgaris)

Green Passionflower (Passiflora tenuiloba)

Fogfruit, a.k.a frogfruit (Phyla lanceolata)

Mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum)

Kathleen holding small treefrog

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bone breaker

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How’s your head bone?

The genus “Eupatorium” contains between 36 to 60 species depending on who does the classifying. Native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, the flowering plants are commonly called bonesets, thoroughworts or snakeroots.

Boneset is the painful one because the plants were once used to treat “bonebreaker” fever. Also known as Dengue fever, the illness is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes and causes a fever and headache that feels like the skull is going to break apart.

Ouch!!

- Photo taken in South Knoxville

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