Maryland Wildflowers

Welcome to Maryland Wildflowers! I am a wildflower enthusiast and have combined my love of plants with my hobby of photography. This web site is the result. The wildflowers here have been photographed and identified by me, Cynthia Bolognese and my husband Jeff. This site will start off small, but if my dreams are realized, it will grow and give everyone an excellent site to visit. If you have any questions or comments, or have noticed that I've incorrectly identified a plant, please email me. Click on the thumbnail to see a larger image. The images are arranged alphabetically by common name. For instance, purple gerardia would be under 'G' for gerardia. Use your browser's 'find' command to search for a particular plant. Enjoy!

Jump ahead to the table of wildflowers.

There are also a number of wonderful places to hike which are not in Maryland, but are great daytrips and have provided me with a number of chances to see additional mid-atlantic wildflowers. So visit Wildflowers From Outside of Maryland.

Books I recommed:

• Peterson Field Guide to Wildflowers - This is what I use to identify the plants in the table.
• Finding Wildflowers in the Washington-Baltimore Area by Fleming, Lobstein, and Tufty - Good directions to trail heads, and an excellent listing of plants and their bloom season. In fact, if you're from the Mid-atlantic region many of the plants listed may grow in your neighborhood. It may be worthwhile to check-out the book for the info on bloom times and the taxonomic listings.
• Hiking, Cycling, and Canoeing in Maryland by Bryan MacKay - Great places to hike if you have dogs and kids. Bryan is an instructor at UMBC, in the Department of Biological Sciences, and teaches field biology and ecology. He has included general information on the natural history and ecology of the site of each hike he describes.
• Country Walks Near Baltimore, 2nd ed., by Alan Fisher - Good directions to trail heads and nice descriptions of trails. Many of the photos were taken on trails found in this book.
• The Baltimore Trail Book, revised ed., by Suzanne Meyer Mittenthal - Good directions to trail heads and nice descriptions of trails. This covers almost the same trails as Country Walks Near Baltimore. And once again, many of the photos were taken on trails found in this book.
• The Wild Gardener by Peter Loewer - Interesting tidbits on native plants

  All photography by Cynthia and Jeff Bolognese. These pictures may not be used for commercial or competitive purposes without the express permission of the photographers.

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  A few reminders about wildflower etiquette: never remove a plant from it's habitat, and never pick a flower or a seed pod. Please be careful about making your own paths through the woods. You could unkowningly trample delicate plants. "Take only photos and leave only footprints" sums up the best way to hunt for wildflowers.

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  Maryland Wildflower Images Last image addition 7/30/97

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  Anemone, rue	Anemonella thalictroides Gunpowder Falls, May 1996 This flower frequently grows in patches with other wildflowers such as violets.
  Aster	Soldier's Delight, September 1995 The asters were growing along a creek in a mix with fringed gentians
  Blazing Star, New England	Liatris borealis Soldier's Delight, September 1995
  Bloodroot	Sanguinaria canadensis Gunpowder Falls, May 1996 This plant gets it's name from the red sap that oozes from damaged roots or broken stems.
  Blue-eyed grass	Sisyrinchium montanum Oregon Ridge, June 1996
  Cardinal Flower	Lobelia cardinalis Catoctin Mtn., July1996 Here's another shot of this stunning flower.
  Columbine	Aquilegia canadensis Gunpowder Falls, May 1996
  Cress, winter	Barbarea vulgaris Gunpowder Falls, May 1996 Here's a phot of the plant's growth habit.
  Dayflower, Asiatic	Commelina communis Potapsco State Park, June 1995 This was an unexpected find right along the path when first entering the park. Yes, it really was that blue.
  Dutchman's Breeches	Dicentra cucullaria Gunpowder Falls, May 1996
  Gentian, Fringed	Gentiana crinata Soldier's Delight, October 1995 The Fringed Gentian is a rare wildflower and has only one habitat in Maryland. It really does have a very striking blue hue. Most of these plants were growing a few feet off of the path. If people had ventured into the grass on either side of the path, many (maybe all) of the plants would have been destroyed.
  Gerardia, Slender	Gerardia tenuifolia Soldier's Delight, September 1995 The foilage is rather red on this particular plant. This is due to the unusual soil composition at Soldier's Delight. This area is what's known as a serpentine barren. The soil is very high in mineral content, particularly chromium. In fact there once was a very large chromium mine in the park.
  Hepatica, round lobed	Hepatica americana Gunpowder Falls, May 1996
  Ironweed, New York	Vernonia noveboracensi Soldier's Delight, September 1995 This plant was found growing along a small creek in the park along with many other wildflowers. It was a particulary dry summer, so the majority of the wildflowers were in bloom just along the creek.
  Jack-in-the-pulpit	Arisaema atrorubens Gunpowder Falls, May 1996
  Lobelia, Great	Lobelia siphilitica Soldier's Delight, September 1995 This is in another part of the park, a little further from the chromium mine and in a small wetland. Lobelia's love wet feet.
  Partridge Pea	Cassia fasciculata Soldier's Delight, September 1995 This was my first encounter with this little flower. I don't know much about it, but it seemed happy in the serpentine grasslands. I think that the dark foilage color may be a result of growing in the barrens.
  Rattlesnake plantain, downy	Goodyera pubescens Gunpowder Falls, August 1996 For those beginners out there, this is a native orchid. Here's a look at the leaves.
  Rose Pink	Sabatia angularis Soldier's Delight, September 1995 This plant was found in the same serpentine grassland as the Slender Gerardia mentioned above.
  Spearmint	Mentha spicata Catoctin Mtn., July 1996 This mint was growing in the same moist ditch along with Cardinal flower, Spotted Touch-Me-Nots (Jewel Weed), and white Turtle head
  Tick-trefoil, Naked-flowered	Desmodium nudiflorum Potapsco State Park, June 1995 This is also known as a 'sticktight' because the seeds you see are fuzzy and stick tight to your clothes and your dog's fur!
  Tick-trefoil, Showy	Desmodium canadens Catoctin Mtn., July 1996
  Touch-me-not, spotted	Impatiens capensis Catoctin Mtn., July 1996 This is also called a Jewel Weed. If the genus name, Imaptiens, sounds familiar, that's becuase this is a native impatiens. The typical impatiens you plant in your shady garden comes from Aftrica.This plant gets the common name'touch-me-not' from it's seed pods. Just like the African impatiens, these seed pods pop open when you touch them to disperse the seeds. If you're not careful, you could get a seed in the eye!
  Trout Lily	Erythronium americanum Gunpowder Falls, May 1996 Here's the growing habit of Trout Lily's.
  Turtle Head	Chelone glabra Catoctin Mtn., July 1996
  Violet	Viola spp. Gunpowder Falls, May 1996

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  Last update 7/30/97

  
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