How to Identify Pennsylvania Flowers
Pennsylvania has large numbers of wildflowers growing in and around its fields, woodlands and waterways. You can identify the many types of flowers you encounter in Pennsylvania by centering your attention on such details as where you found it and what color it is. Some of the more vibrant wildflowers of Pennsylvania's countryside are the cardinal flower, New England aster, joe-pye-weed, evening primrose and the state flower---mountain laurel. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Identify the cardinal flower by its brilliant red, tube-like flowers and by its location. The cardinal flower always grows where the soil is moist, so you will typically find it along the banks of rivers, brooks and streams. It averages about 3 feet in height and features a stalk full of bright red blooms.
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Use the rich purple color of New England asters to identify them. Despite the name, these flowers grow in Pennsylvania and display up to 40 separate petals around a yellowish center. New England asters bloom in meadows and thickets from August to October and stand from 3 to 7 feet tall.
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Recognize butter and eggs by the orange spot between yellow petals. The orange is the "egg" while the yellow is the "butter." These wildflowers blossom in Pennsylvania from May to October and appear in large numbers along roadsides, standing as tall as 3 feet but usually much lower to the ground.
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Search along fields and roadsides for the yellow evening primrose. Remember that this flower, which can reach 5 feet in height, only opens partially during the day and then fully opens at night. Identify evening primrose by its sturdy stem and the many yellow flowers near its top.
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Distinguish joe-pye-weed by its leaves and its dome-shaped flower clusters. These roadside and meadow plants flower in late summer and early fall, developing tiny purple-pink flowers at the top. The leaves have toothed edges and they encircle the stem. Joe-pye-weed can grow very tall, with some well over the average adult's head.
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Identify daisy fleabane by the 1/2-inch-wide flowers that resemble miniature daisies. In Pennsylvania, as in other eastern states, daisy fleabane grows in large stands along the road and in fields. It can be 4 feet tall and it has white petals that radiate from a yellow center.
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Look for the state flower of Pennsylvania, mountain laurel, in the hilly terrain of the region. Mountain laurel has white and pink blossoms that emerge in late May. A shrub, it has evergreen leaves that remain on the plant through the winter and grows as tall as 10 feet.
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