Black-eyed Susan is easily spotted with its bright yellow flowers. The plant reaches 2 to 3 feet in height and has a stiff stem and leaves covered in coarse hair. You will see these bright flowers in the fields and open wooded areas from June thru October. In fact, this is one of the most common of all American wildflowers. Many flies and bees love to feed from its blooms, but most other wildlife avoid eating it because of its bristly leaves and stems.
The roots of this plant were used by the Ojibwa, Menominee, and Potawatomi tribes for its medicinal properties as a diuretic, a poultice for snake bites, and a cure for colds. The black-eyed Susan flower was also used to make a yellow dye.
Did you know?
This cheerful flower is used to create a blanket of blooms which covers the winning horse at the famous Preakness Horse Race.
Learn more: Robert Freckmann Herbarium
Have you heard a loud buzzing on a warm July afternoon? If you have it was most likely one of the loudest insects around…the cicada. The most common species of cicada in Wisconsin is the dog-day cicada. Cicadas attract a mate with their loud buzzing, which is made by drum-like organs near its belly that are vibrated very quickly. After mating, the females insert eggs into tree branches. When the eggs hatch, the young larvae crawl into the ground where they live and feed on root juices for about 2 years. Other species of cicadas spend more time as a larva beneath the dirt. When the time is right, the larvae will come above ground and split their skins before emerging as large-eyed, winged adults. Chances are good that you will find one of these shed skins (or exoskeletons) clinging to a tree branch or porch railing. After spending all that time in the ground, an adult dog-day cicada only lives a few short weeks.
Some species of cicadas, called periodical cicadas, live in the ground as larvae for 17 years. They then seem to emerge as adults all at once and can make for very noisy time! Periodical cicadas emerge in late spring and early summer, unlike the dog-days cicadas that come above ground in mid-summer.
Learn more: Wisconsin DNR
This delicate, bell-shaped flower has been blooming in the sunnier areas at CWES for a few weeks now. The slender plants are much hardier than they appear and can be found growing even in rocky or sandy areas. The leaves on its upper stem are long and thin, while the basal leaves (leaves growing just at the base of the plant) are round. We will get to see this plant blooming late into summer.
Harebell was once used for a blue dye in Scotland where the plant can also be found.
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