Learning About Wildflowers

During the past two weeks I’ve watched small patches of blue spread through the yard like wine spilled on a linen tablecloth. The source of these lovely sky-blue stains is Common Speedwell (Veronica officinalis), a small perennial wildflower that, like most wildflowers, is over-looked by people more often than not.

A rose by any other name may still be a rose, but wildflowers aren’t held in such high esteem. As a result of bad press, misinformation, indifference and ignorance they are at best ignored, at worst considered weeds, banished from lawns in an apocalyptic storm of chemicals.

More than 10,000 wildflowers grow in North America and according to fossil records, they were around long before we were even a twinkle in the eye of evolution. Working out survival strategies over the millennia, they now grow in acid bogs, fetid marshes, arid deserts and fertile fields. Some are rare and limited by the conditions they require to thrive while others are highly adaptable and consequently abundant. It is this paucity of some, and abundance of others, which has cast wildflowers in an unflattering light. Somewhat ironically, we created the weeds that so annoy us, and made such treasures as Showy Lady‘s-slipper (Cypripedium reginae) extreme rarities.

With agriculture on their minds, colonists recently arrived from Europe began clearing forests and draining and filling wetlands. As a result, sun-loving wildflowers found new, ready-made habitat, and spread with wild abandon. Wetland species, conversely, were made rare as their habitat disappeared. Some wildflowers, which otherwise might have gone unnoticed, became annoying pests while others, pushed to the brink of extinction, became unknown to most people.

Perhaps the greatest irony, though, is the suburban lawn.

With their absurd notion of what a lawn is, suburbia has cleared the way for species such as Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) and Sweet Clover (Melilotus officinalis) to thrive in the open sunny confines of backyards. But these adaptable wildflowers are unwanted and considered “weeds”. When they show their flowery mugs they are immediately drenched with chemicals.

Suburbia giveth, and suburbia taketh away, I guess.

Common wildflowers were not always so disreputable. Many were considered valuable medicines by our great-great-grandparents. Native Americans, who found a use for almost everything that grew, cherished those wildflowers we now regard as “weeds”. Many such plants have been cultivated since ancient times for medicines, food, flavorings, scents, dyes and ropes. And then there’s Dandelion wine and Violet syrup.

Personally, I cherish wildflowers for their diversity and their beauty. Perhaps if people were better informed, and they became familiar with wildflowers, fewer chemicals would poison our yards and more colorful blossoms would unfold their delicate petals. Maybe rare wildflowers would once again flourish as their habitats expanded. Wildflowers are a natural part of our heritage, and should be protected and enjoyed. (And if they are enjoyed, then people will certainly protect them. That’s more irony.)

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