Wildflowers Found
Along
Iowa Roadsides
Grasses and wildflowers
of Iowa's original prairie are well adapted for use in roadsides.
They provide the best low-maintenance weed and erosion control.
Added benefits include beautification and wildlife habitat.
As you travel across Iowa, keep an eye out for one or more of these
plants.
Showy
Partridge Pea (Chamaecrista fasiculata)
Showy partridge pea is an annual plant that reaches a height of 1
to 3 feet. The leaves consist of 10 to 15 pairs of small, narrow
leaflets that are somewhat delicate to the touch. The showy
yellow flowers are about 1 inch across and grow two to four together
in clusters on the stem.
| Flowers normally bloom July through September. This plant grows on a wide range of soils , but best on moderately lime, well drained soils. This plant provides food for birds. The seed is one of the major food items of northern bobwhite and quail because it remains in sound condition throughout the winter and early spring. The plant can be used along road banks and stream banks to control erosion. The flowers of this plant can be used to beautify areas where wildflowers are planted. |
Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
A
part of the mint family, Wild bergamot has a wide variety of uses.
The Meskwaki used this plant in combination with other plants to relieve
colds. The Hocak (Winnebago) used wild bergamot in their sweat
bath and inhaled the fumes to cure colds. Other uses included
cooking it with meat for flavor, placed in warm water baths for babies,
as a cure for bronchial affections, as a cure for eruptions on the
face, to relieve a headache, as a cure for abdominal pains and stomach
aches, and rubbed over the body to cure fever, and as a remedy for
colic, nausea and vomiting. Wild bergamot is also used in flower arrangements.
Bees, butterflies and hummingbirds use the plant for nectar.
This perennial herb grows to 5 to 12 inches high. The pink to
lavender, tubular flowers bloom from June to September.
Black-eyed
Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
Black-eyed
Susan is used along road cuts, hillsides, and other areas subject
to erosion. The plant offers protection and food to several
song and game birds. Black-eyed Susan can be used for landscaping
and in wildflower gardens. This plant is a biennial forb and
1 foot tall with yellow ray flowers and dark brown spherical centers.
Sometimes flower stalks will appear in the first summer, but typically
Black-eyed Susan blooms from June to September of the second year.
