The Water-Willow wildflowers are blooming on the Cape near the swamps and ponds. They are an aquatic shrub with magenta flowers that grow in whorls. (Click on blog link to see the interesting whorls.)
The flowers are only 1/2 to 1 inch while the plants grow up to 9 feet tall. I’ve seen Water-Willows on the boardwalk on the Red Maple Swamp Trail at Fort Hill and along the banks of the Silver Spring Trail at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.
Such a pretty and delicate little flower…
I was just commenting to Phil that I hadn’t seen an Indian Pipe wildflower yet this summer. And then, not even 5 minutes later, there was one on the side of the John Kendrick Woods Trail. It was perfect, under the tree with a little bit of sun shining on it.
Indian Pipe, a whitish, waxy, scaly stalk with nodding bell-shaped flowers, does not contain chlorophyll, so it doesn’t photosynthesize. Its nutrients come from decaying matter. They bloom in the rich woods from July through September, so you still have time to see it.
Have you ever seen one?
