Hoary Puccoon (Lithospermum canescens)

Photo by Leticia Provencio

     Hoary Puccoon is a native, perennial wildflower in Wisconsin. It grows to a height of six to 12 inches. The flowers form in flat clusters that are two to three inches across. The 1/2-inch flowers are orange to yellow in color. Each flower has five petals that form a small tube at the base. It has narrow, 1/2 to one-inch long, hairy leaves.  It grows in dry, sunny, rocky soils in prairies and along roads. (EW)

 

Yellow Star Grass (Hypoxis hirsuta)

Photo by Leticia Provencio     

     Yellow Star Grass is a native, perennial wildflower in Wisconsin. The plant grows to a height of four to 12 inches. The yellow flowers appear at the end of each stem in a group of two to six, but occasionally only one. It has basal leaves that grow up to 12 inches long and one or more stems that grow eight inches long.  The leaves are elliptical with smooth margins. Both leaves and stems have some white hairs. Yellow Star Grass grows in moist to slightly dry habitats such as prairies, savannas, and abandoned fields. It can even pop up in lawns. (EW)

Downy Phlox (Phlox pilosa)

 

Photo by Leticia Provencio

     Downy phlox is a native, perennial wildflower.  It grows six to 24 inches tall. The flowers grow in rounded three-inch clusters at the top of the stems.  Each flower has five petals that are pale pink, lavender, or purple. The flowers are 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide. The stems are upright and sometimes branched near the top. Leaves and stems are hairy and the plant is sticky. The leaves can be up to three inches long and 1/2 inch wide. It is found in prairies and open woodlands.(EW)

Wood Betony (Pedicularis canadensis)

     

             Wood Betony is a perennial, native wildflower in Wisconsin. It grows five to 14 inches in height.  The flowers appear in a spike cluster, one to three inches tall. The plant bears yellow, white, or red tubular flowers that are about an inch long. The leaves are highly divided, fern-like in appearance, one to three inches long, and covered in fine white hairs. It grows in dry woods and prairies. (EW) 

Pasqueflower (Pulsatilla nuttaliana)

    

      

 

 

 

Pasqueflower can grow up to 16 inches tall. The flowers are one to three inches wide. They have five to eight sepals, usually lavender or blue-purple, sometimes nearly white. The center of the flower is bright yellow with a mound of 150 to 200 stamens surrounding the styles. The flower stems are fuzzy. The one to two-inch wide basal leaves are ternately compound (divided into three parts) and densely covered with silky hairs. It enjoys dry to moderate moisture soils and full sun. It is generally found on sandy hillsides and prairies. (EW)

 

False Rue Anemone (Enemion biternatum)

     Rue Anemone is a native, perennial wildflower found in Wisconsin. It grows four to 16 inches tall. The white flowers are 1/2 to 3/4 inch across. The flowers consist of 5 petal-like sepals surrounding numerous yellow stamens. The leaves are compound and two or three times divided. Each leaflet is toothless, hairless, and deeply lobe into two or three parts. The lobes have a tiny point at the tip. Basal leaves have long stalks, while stem leaves become shorter as they ascend the stalk. False Rue Anemone thrives in moist woods, wood edges\, and floodplains with rich, loamy soil. It prefers partial shade and often forms colonies from short rhizomes. (EW)

     

Cut-leaved Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata)

 

Photos by Gary Kurtz

     Cut-leaved Toothwort is a native, perennial wildflower in Wisconsin. It grows to a height of eight to 10 inches. It bears small groupings of three to 15, half-inch long white or pale lavender flowers. Each flower has four petals. The three-lobed leaves form whorls. The leaves are up to three inches long and across. Each leaf is coarsely toothed. Cut-leaved Toothwort grow in shady deciduous woods. (EW)

Rue Anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides)

     Rue Anemone is a native, perennial wildflower in Wisconsin. It grows four to eight inches tall. It bears two or three white-to-pink or lavender flowers. Each flower is about an inch wide and made up of five to 10 sepals and a green center. The simple leaves consist of five to eight lobes, growing in a whorl just below the flowers. Each leaf is an inch long with 3 teeth ending in a rounded tip. They can be found in wet, deciduous woods. (EW) 

Prairie Trillium (Trillium recurvatum)

     Prairie Trillium  is a native, perennial in Wisconsin. It grows 12 to 18 inches tall. It bears a red-maroon flower that grows directly from the center of a whorl of three leaves. The three petals are erect and clawed and the three sepals are turned down. The flower is nearly two inches tall. The leaves have a mottled dark and light green appearance. They are ovate in shape and smooth along their margins. The leaves are three to six inches long and two to four inches wide. Despite its name, it grows rich, moist, shady woodlands in southern Wisconsin. (EW)

Downy Yellow Violet (Viola pubescens)

 

     The Downy Yellow Violet is a native, perennial wildflower in Wisconsin. It reaches a height of 8 to 16 inches. It has several 3/4-inch yellow flowers per plant. Its flowers have 5 petals with several dark purple veins. Each flower grows on its own stalk.  It has hairy heart-shaped, alternate leaves with round or scalloped teeth. It grows in wet, cool, shade, in deciduous woodlands. (EW)
      

Arrowleaf Violet (Viola sagittata)

 

      The Arrowleaf Violet is a native, perennial wildflower in Wisconsin. It can grow up to 12 inches in height. It produces 3/4-inch, purple flowers with white patches and veins. Each flower has five purple-violet petals and five light green sepals. It has distinctive leaves that are much longer than wide with small lobes at the base. The leaves are all basal, 1-1/2 to four inches long and about 1/3 as wide. It prefers dry, open habitats such as prairies, glades, or woodlands, often in sandy soil. (EW)

Sweet White Violet (Viola blanda)

Photo by Carla Wells 

The Sweet White violet is a native, perennial wildflower in Wisconsin. It grows six to 12 inches in height. It produces small white flowers. The lower petals have purple veins, and the upper petals are often twisted or bent backwards. The basal leaves are heart-shaped and grow one to two inches long. It grows in mesic and riparian woodlands, swamps, shaded roadsides, ditches, and lawns. (EW)

Shooting Star (Dodecatheon meadia)

     

 Top photo by Gary Kurtz and Bottom photo by Carla Wells

     The Shooting Star is a perennial, native Wisconsin wildflower. It reaches a height of 10 to 20 inches. The flowers are purple and sometimes white.  Each plant has only one stalk with one to five nodding flowers, an inch wide with five petals. It has toothless, lance-shaped basal leaves that are up to six inches long with rounded tips. It is typically found in glades, rocky wooded slopes, bluff ledges, meadows, and prairies. (EW)

Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum)

Photos by Carla Wells

     Prairie Smoke is a perennial, native wildflower in Wisconsin.  It grows six to 16 inches tall. The flowers form in groups of three or six droopy, reddish brown, bell-shaped flowers, 3/4 inches long, growing on each stalk. Each flower has five-pointed petal-like sepals that alternate with narrow bracts and five very small petals. The plant has basal leaves that are four to nine inches long and divided into many small-toothed leaflets. It grows in dry prairies. (EW)

 

Sharpe-lobed Hepatic (Hepatica acutiloba)

 Sharp-lobed Hepatica is a perennial wildflower in Wisconsin. It is small, four to six inches tall. Its flowers have five to nine petal-like sepals that range in color. They come in white, pink and purple. There are three bracts underneath each flower. The one inch flowers sit on a single hairy, sometimes drooping, stem. Each basal leaf has three sharply pointed lobes rising from a thin hairy stalk. It grows in the dry shade of deciduous woodlands. (EW)    

Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium montanum)

Photo by Debi Nitka

     

     Photo by Laticia Provencio 

     Blue-eyed Grass is a native, perennial Wisconsin wildflower. It grows to a height of four to 12 inches tall and produces small blue or violet flowers with yellow centers that resemble miniature irises. The leaves are narrow and grass-like in appearance. Blue-eyed Grass grows best in full sun to partial shade in moist to dry soils in prairies, meadows, open woodlands, rocky slopes, or along roadsides. (EW) 

Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)

Photo by Debi Nitka

     Jack-in-the-pulpit is a native Wisconsin perennial wildflower. It grows to a height of one to two feet tall and produces an unusual flower structure consisting of an upright spadix surrounded by a hooded spathe that resembles a pulpit with Jack inside it. The leaves are trifoliate with each leaflet up to 10 inches long and eight inches wide. Jack-in-the-pulpit grows best in rich, moist soils in deciduous woodlands or along shaded streams or springs. (EW)

Yellow Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum)

     Top photo by Carla Wells and Bottom photo by Sevie Kenyon 

     Yellow Trout Lily is a native, perennial wildflower. It grows to a height of five to 10 inches and has nodding yellow flowers. Each flower is an inch wide and has six backward curving petals. The plant has mottled foliage that resembles the markings of a brook trout. The leaves are eight inches long, elliptical, pointed, and basal. Yellow Trout Lily is most commonly found in dry, deciduous woodlands, where sugar maple, American beech, and other deciduous trees are present. (EW)

White Trout Lily (Erythronium albidum)

 

    

 Photo by Levi Plath  

     White Trout Lily grows up to four to eight inches tall and is a native, perennial in Wisconsin. The flower is a single, nodding flower at the end of a stiff naked stalk up to eight inches long. It has six lance-elliptic petals up to 1½ inches long, usually white tinged purplish on the outer surface. The leaves are lance-elliptic to oval to egg-shaped, three to nine inches long, blue green irregularly mottled with purplish brown. It grows in part shade or shade in moist woodlands. (EW)

Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense)

Top photo by Debi Nitka. Others by Levi Plath

     Wild Ginger is a native, perennial wildflower. It grows to a height of six to 12 inches. It has a single, brownish to greenish red, cup-shaped flower that is one to two inches tall with three pointed lobes, and it is located between two leafstalks at ground level. The plant is stemless and features dark green heart- or kidney-shaped leaves with visible veining. The leaves are three to six inches wide. Each leaf is soft and velvety due to dense hairs. Wild Ginger is most commonly found in shady, moist, deciduous woodlands. (EW)