May Wildflowers in the Indiana Dunes

May is here! Time to head outdoors to see all of the amazing wildflowers that April showers have brought to the Indiana Dunes!

The Indiana Dunes Flower Quest continues this May as new blossoms join the lovely spring ephemerals popping up throughout our region. How many can you spot before they disappear for another year?

Visit the Indiana Dunes Flower Quest homepage for important information, and then grab your camera and hit the trails! Be sure to share pictures of the treasures you spy at #DunesFlowerQuest.

Be sure to tag @indianadunes and use #dunesflowerquest.

Need some help identifying your discoveries? Try identify.plantnet.org.

Bird-foot Violet

Did You Know?:

This lovely violet-blue flower has five petals: often two of the upper petals will be a considerably darker shade of purple. The lower petal is white, with fine violet lines. The petals surround a golden orange stamen in the center of the flower. The violet gets its name from the distinctive shape of its leaves, which are wider at the end than at the base, reminiscent of, you guessed it, a bird foot! This flower actually expels its seeds, and a gel that surrounds the seeds attracts ants, which help disperse them.

Reference the Quest Map to help guide you to this flower.

Hot Spots

Blackberry

Did You Know?:

Don’t let the name fool you: this shrub is actually part of the rose family! Each plant will have up to twelve white flowers. The petals—which often look wrinkled!—surround a cluster of yellow stamens in the center. After the flowers are done blooming, the plant later grows a drupe, a seedy “fruit” that turns almost black.

Reference the Quest Map to help guide you to this flower.

Hot Spots

Cat's Foot

Fun Facts:

The tight cluster of fuzzy white or pink flowers on this plant are said to resemble a cat’s paw. In fact, they are also called pussy toes! But these flowers aren’t just the cat’s meow: another common name is “Mountain Everlasting.” These lovely plants stay close to the ground, only growing 2-3” tall, but a single plant can spread up to 18 inches.

Reference the Quest Map to help guide you to this flower.

Hot Spots

Common Lousewort

Did You Know?:

These plants can grow up to two feet tall, and their leaves look like those of miniature ferns. The flowers themselves grow in a spike at the top of the plant, with pale yellow petals. The name is unappealing, but undeserved: farmers thought that animals that grazed on the plants got lice because of it—they didn’t—but the reputation stuck!

Reference the Quest Map to help guide you to this flower.

Hot Spots

Dwarf Ginseng

Did You Know?:

This lovely wildflower has a pale green stem that leads to a cluster of tiny white flowers, each flower extending from a single point in the center. After the plant finishes flowering, the white petals are replaced by clusters of yellow berries.

Reference the Quest Map to help guide you to this flower.

Hot Spots

Iris Virginica

Did You Know?:

These irises may remind you of flowers in your own garden, but this particular species thrives in wetland areas like those found in the Indiana Dunes. They grow two to three feet tall, and they have long, sword-shaped leaves surrounding hairy stems and, you guessed it, beautiful purple and dark blue flowers.

Reference the Quest Map to help guide you to this flower.

Hot Spots

Jack in the Pulpit

Did You Know?:

This unique plant has two to three stems, growing up to 2-3 feet high with glossy leaves. The flower that gives it its name grows on its own stem, and has a “hooded” green petal with brown stripes that covers a spadix–the “jack”–with tiny green or yellow flowers. These amazing plants can live up to twenty-five years, and can even change their sex depending on the growing conditions!

Reference the Quest Map to help guide you to this flower.

Hot Spots

John's Cabbage

Did You Know?:

This plant can spread easily across the ground in shaded wooded areas, and has large, bright green leaves that contrast with beautiful white flowers growing in round clusters. It’s also known as Virginia waterleaf, because the markings on the leaves look like water spots!

Reference the Quest Map to help guide you to this flower.

Hot Spots

Lupine

Did You Know?:

These beautiful plants feature a cluster of leaves glowing close to the ground with a flowering stem stretching up to two and a half feet tall! The stem is covered with a number of purple or pale blue flowers. After about a month, these lovely blossoms are replaced by seed pods, and the lupine can actually eject them several feet away from the plant!

Reference the Quest Map to help guide you to this flower.

Hot Spots

Nodding Wakerobin

Did You Know?:

There are a number of beautiful trilliums in the Indiana Dunes, but only this species looks like it’s falling asleep! These lovely creamy white flowers sometimes bend so low on their stems that they tuck beneath their broad green leaves.

Reference the Quest Map to help guide you to this flower.

Hot Spots

Prairie Fleabane

Did You Know?:

Prairie fleabane is a member of the asters. It’s also called the daisy fleabane, and when you see it, you can guess why! But what looks like one flower with a yellow center and white petals is actually many flowers clustered together. And yes, once upon a time people believed these flowers kept fleas away. And no, they don’t!

Reference the Quest Map to help guide you to this flower.

Hot Spots

Ragwort

Did You Know?:

Bees, flies, and butterflies love these yellow flowers, but they are toxic to grazing animals, making them rather unpopular with most, including deer! It got its name from its “ragged” leaves combined with an Old English word for “plant.”

Reference the Quest Map to help guide you to this flower.

Hot Spots

Red Columbine

Did You Know?:

These lovely red and yellow drooping flowers are favorites of hummingbirds. Some insects love them, too, but when they can’t reach inside the petals, they cut tiny holes in the base! You will often see several blossoms on a single plant, looking a little like a cluster of small torches!

Reference the Quest Map to help guide you to this flower.

Hot Spots

Starry False Solomon's Seal

Did You Know?:

Look for the crooked, leaning stem leading to a lovely cluster of small white flowers. Over time, those bright white flowers will be replaced by red berries. A number of birds and animals love these berries, and help spread the seeds.

Reference the Quest Map to help guide you to this flower.

Hot Spots

Virginia Bluebell

Did You Know?:

As the name suggests, this flower features clusters of beautiful blue blossoms, which also shade to purple and even pink over time. Thomas Jefferson grew them at Monticello, and for a time some called these flowers “Jefferson’s blue funnel flowers”!

Reference the Quest Map to help guide you to this flower.

Hot Spots

Wild Strawberry

Did You Know?:

Before you see the fruit, you will see the lovely white petals of this low-growing wildflower. Of course, as much as people love strawberries, insects, birds, and animals love them even more. While the list of creatures that feed on these plants is long, they help to spread the seeds!

Reference the Quest Map to help guide you to this flower.

Hot Spots

A Note on Invasive Wildflowers

The Indiana Dunes are home to so many beautiful wildflowers. Unfortunately, not all of them belong here. Over the years, non-native species have taken root in the region, crowding out native species that are crucial for supporting fragile ecosystems. The parks, non-profit organizations, and volunteers work diligently to restore these areas.

If you spot an invasive species, please leave it be: it takes careful oversight to remove these plants without damaging the area, and poison ivy, ticks, and sometimes even toxins from the plants themselves can be a hazard.

Dame's Violet

These lovely flowers were brought over from Europe as ornamental plants, and, as plants often do, escaped into the wild. While they look like a native plant, prairie phlox, the dame’s violet only has four petals instead of five. Several clusters of flowers will grow from the hairy stem.

Lily of the Valley

The attractive bell-shaped flowers of this non-native plant made it a sought-after addition to gardens. It proved to be as hardy as it is lovely, and it has spread to a number of wild habitats like those found in the Indiana Dunes. Its fragrance makes it valuable for the perfume industry, but it seems to offer little to most pollinators, and its toxicity keeps animals away, as well.

Yellow Iris

With its tall stems and sword-shaped leaves, the yellow iris is easily recognizable, and is a common part of many gardens. However, it has spread to more natural habitats including marshes and wetlands and can now be found in every state. Because it can be so difficult to control, some states have banned this flower.

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