The grass under what I think of as the Uncle Dave maple (because he planted it) has hundreds of tiny maple-tree-wannabes. I don’t remember noticing them ever before. Of course, spring is coming late this year and we are here earlier than usual, so I’m guessing that confluence is the reason for the different plants and different plant phases I have been noticing.
We spotted just a few of these not-asters (as I was calling them in my mind) in the grass, too, farther out from the trunk than the densest of the mini-maples. I had to look them up (KW can testify that I forget my wildflower names!). This one I don’t remember ever identifying before, although they look slightly familiar. The ID book says: Philadelpha fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus). It is indeed in the aster family…. It has a large range across North America, and apparently several Native American groups used the plant in teas and poultices, smokes and snuff, for an assortment of ailments. I love the many dainty petals; this one is hosting a sleeping? spider.
SEE COMMENTS for correction to…English Daisy, still in the Aster/Daisy family.
30 May 2014 at 6:33 am
Sherry says:
If it is growing really low to the ground I think it is a garden escapee….the English Daisy. Your lovely neighbors have them throughout their lawn as well….
30 May 2014 at 8:05 am
Sammy says:
Aha! I wasn’t sure my specimens matched the book description. Thanks for the REAL DEAL! I suspect this is an escapee from my great-grandmother’s garden ca. 1910–1920 and later.