#narrowleaf gentian

[vandaliatraveler]

Photos from a lovely, post-Debby weekend in the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Good, strong breeze to drive out the heat and keep the sky vibrant and constantly on the move. The narrow-leaved gentian (Gentiana linearis) is now at peak bloom in the mountains. This enchanting perennial loves damp mountain seeps and bog edges and is pollinated primarily by bumblebees, which are adept at prying open the flowers or just chewing through them if all else fails. The pearly everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea) is also in bloom - my mom used these delicate perennials in her dried-flower arrangements.

[wildflowers-of-southern-ontario]

Narrowleaf Gentian Gentiana linearis Gentianaceae Family

Photograph taken on July 31, 2020, at Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada.

[scriptflorist]

Hey! I love your blog so much, and I'm so happy that I found it (it's helped a lot)! I was wondering if you could do a list of flowers that mean (or fall into the category of/are similar to): Obsession, Obsessive love, 'til death do us part, I want your attention, I belong to you, you belong to me, etc., etc. Along with this, I'd also like to know what flowers are native to New Jersey (And also which ones bloom in the fall, if any?) Thank you, and have a lovely day!

That should be possible with some creativity given that obsession and bonding don’t exist as meanings themselves, but it leans well enough into the Victorian flower language to get something out of it still. Hope there’s something in here that works for your story.

arbor vitae – live for me, unchanging friendship

baby’s breath – everlasting love, innocence, pure of heart

bay leaf – I change but in death/dying

broom-rape – union

carnation (pink) – I will/I’ll never forget you, women’s love

cedar leaf – I live for thee

clover (white) – think of me

columbine – I cannot give thee up, folly, desertion

columbine (purple) – resolved to win

cowslip (american) – divine beauty, you are my angel, you are my divinity

currant – thy frown will kill me, thankfulness

daisy (double) – affection, I reciprocate your affection

daphane (rose) – I desire to please

eschscholzia – do not refuse me

euphorbia – persistence

fleur-de-lis – I burn, flame

foxglove – I am not ambitious for myself but for you, a wish, stateliness, occupation, insincerity, youth

furze – love for all seasons/occasions

gladiolus – you pierce my heart, generosity, I’m sincere, flower of the gladiators

heart’s ease – you occupy my thoughts, forget me not, think of me, thoughts

heart’s ease (purple) – you occupy my thoughts

hemlock – you will be my death

honeysuckle – generous and devoted affection, bonds of love, the bond of love, devotion, I would not answer hastily, fidelity

honeysuckle (coral) – the colour of my fate

honeysuckle (wild) – generous and devoted love

japonica – sincerity, symbol of love

jasmine (indian) – I attach myself to you, attachment, separation

laurestine – a token, I die if neglected, delicate attention

mallow (syrian) – consumed by love, persuasion

rose (carolina) – love is dangerous

shepherd’s purse – I offer you my all

spindle tree – your charms are engraven on my heart

tulip – (a) declaration of love, perfect lover, fame, beautiful eyes

tulip (red) – declaration of love

virginia creeper – I cling to you both in sunshine and in shade

Plants native to New Jersey that bloom in fall/autumn:

allegheny monkey flower

american angelica

american arrowhead

american blue vervain

american lotus

american water-willow

ashy sunflower

bigleaf aster

black-eyed susan

bluebell

blue bead lily

blue cohosh

blue mistflower

blue star

blue wood aster

bottle gentian

bowman’s root

brown-eyed susan

bunchberry

bushy aster

canada goldenrod

canada wild ginger

canadian violet

cardinal flower

carolina geranium

caroline redroot

closed bottle gentian

coastal plain joe-pye weed

common boneset

common evening primrose

cow parsnip

crooked aster

cutleaf coneflower

cup plant

downy skullcap

early goldenrod

false aster

false sunflower

field thistle

flat-topped white aster

foam flower

fringed bleeding heart

fringed loosestrife

gayfeather

golden crownbeard

grass-leaved goldenrod

grassy arrowhead

gray goldenrod

great blue lobelia

hairy aster

hardy hibiscus

heath aster

hoary vervain

horizontal calico aster

jerusalem artichoke

joe-pye weed

late boneset

marsh betony

maryland golden aster

maximilian sunflower

meadow phlox

narrowleaf mountain mint

new england aster

new york aster

new york ironweed

nodding lady’s tresses

orange fringed orchid

orange jewelweed

patridge pea

pearly everlasting

pink tickseed

prairie sagebush

purple-head sneezeweed

purple mountain saxifrage

red baneberry

rock harlequin

rough goldenrod

salt heliotrope

sawtooth sunflower

scarlet bee balm

seashore mallow

seaside goldenrod

selfheal

showy black-eyed susan

showy goldeneye

showy goldenrod

showy tick trefoil

slender buch clover

slender dayflower

smooth beggartick

smooth blue aster

sneezeweed

spotted joe-pye weed

stiff goldenrod

stiff sunflower

swamp sunflower

swamp thistle

sweet goldenrod

sweetscent

sweet-scented joe-pye weed

tall boneset

tall cinquefoil

tall goldenrod

ten-petaled sunflower

threadleaf coreopsis

tickseed

virginia meadow beauty

water arum

western sunflower

wild bergamot

wild cucumber

wild potato vine

wild senna

wingstem

white baneberry

white goldenrod

white panicle aster

white snakeroot

white turtlehead

white wood aster

whorled milkweed

woodland sunflower

wreath goldenrod

yellow jewelweed

yellow pond lily

This website gives a breakdown by county in form of excel lists, albeit it doesn’t say whether the plants bloom in fall or not.

https://npsnj.org/native-plants/where-to-buy-natives/plant-lists/

– Mod Jana

Disclaimer

This blog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods are not responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences of using this advice for real world situations or in any way that said advice was not intended.

https://www.gardenia.net/native-plants/new-jersey

[vandaliatraveler]

Late afternoon at the balsam fir swamp in Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge.

From top: nodding bur-marigold (Bidens cernua), also sometimes referred to as nodding beggarticks, a clumping, wetlands-loving annual whose flowerheads nod as they mature and get heavier; bushy St. John's wort (Hypericum densiflorum), a gorgeous, densely-packed shrub with vibrant yellow flowers and copper-colored bark; white meadowsweet (Spiraea alba), a rapidly-colonizing shrub whose branching clusters of white flowers are one of summer's most generous gifts; narrow-leaved gentian (Gentiana linearis), a tall, elegant bottle gentian that can only be pollinated by bumblebees strong enough to pry open (or chew through) its closed petals; flat-topped white aster (Doellingeria umbellata), also known as parasol whitetop, a tall, attractive mountain aster with flat, branching clusters of white flowers; and the dainty white flowers of virgin's bower (Clematis virginiana), a vigorous, twining vine that forms beautiful, dense waves of foliage and flowers.

[vandaliatraveler]

Not so long ago, the land encompassed by the Little Canaan Wildlife Management Area, which adjoins the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, was a timbered-out, burned-over wasteland. Today, the WMA is in full-scale recovery and provides a home to a diverse collection of wildlife, including black bears, fishers, porcupines, northern goshawks, ruffed grouse, and saw-whet owls. 

[vandaliatraveler]

Blinded by the green (redux): Blackwater Canyon, Panel 1.

[vandaliatraveler]

Post 2 of 2: Above are a few more photos highlighting the seasonal treasures of the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area. Although the extended heat and drought of September have delayed or muted the colors of the plains, the heath thickets (a mixture of huckleberry and blueberry) were starting to get their burnished sheen this past weekend. A few wildflowers - among them narrowleaf gentian (Gentiana linearis) and flat-topped white aster (Doellingeria umbellata) - were still in bloom, but most had gone to seed. Closer to Dobbins Slashings in Dolly Sods North, beavers were building a dam in the middle of a trail; the quaking aspen nearby shivered in the wind and dropped gold-plated leaves on the pond’s surface.  

[vandaliatraveler]

One of the state’s newest reserves, Little Canaan Wildlife Management Area is still recovering from heavy logging during the last century and was under threat of vacation home development for a time (if you want to know how completely the natural beauty of a place can be obliterated by second homers from DC, then visit Deep Creek, Maryland). The WMA abuts Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge and provides upland habitat to compliment the refuge’s wetlands. There’s a lovely cranberry bog adjacent to one of Little Canaan’s winding trails; it was brimming with cotton grass, narrowleaf gentian, and plump cranberry fruits starting to ripen.

[vandaliatraveler]

Above are a few late season gems from my trip up the Highland Scenic Highway (top to bottom): (1) a marshy area along the Cowpasture Trail at Cranberry Glades; (2) the ever-gorgeous purplestem aster (Symphyotrichum puniceum), also known as swamp aster; (3 - 4) a lavender-phased variation of narrowleaf gentian (Gentiana linearis), perhaps the loveliest and most delicate of all the autumn wildflowers in these mountains; (5 - 6) the more broadly-leaved closed bottle gentian (Gentiana andrewsii), quite striking in its own right; (7) red-belted conk (Fomitopsis pinicola), a shelf fungus parasitic on conifers; the brilliant red “haws” (berries) of dotted hawthorn (Crataegus punctata), which are edible and have a tangy-sweet flavor; a grandly-beautiful field thistle (Cirsium discolor) gone to seed; and the ripe, tart berries of large cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon), the only healthy thing I snacked on all day (the wild berries are a hundred times more pucker-worthy than the commercially-grown ones).

[vandaliatraveler]

Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Part 3. Canaan Valley is the highest mountain valley of its size east of the Mississippi River and hosts the largest wetlands complex in the Central and Southern Appalachians. Most of these wetlands are now protected by Canaan Valley State Resort Park and Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge. The Freeland Boardwalk Trail in the refuge is an ideal place to get an up-close experience with one of the wetland types - a balsam fir swamp. A half-mile long, raised boardwalk with wildlife viewing platforms winds through the swamp, allowing visitors to interact with the wildlife and plants without damaging the fragile ecosystem.

From top: Bur marigold (Bidens laevis), also known as smooth beggartick, a wetlands-loving beauty that produces a profusion of golden flowerheads; bog goldenrod (Solidago uliginosa), another wetlands native with a bright red stem and closely-packed flowers on a plume-like inflorescence; the bright blue berries of arrowwood viburnum (Viburnum dentatum); the ripening berries of American black elderberry (Sambucus canadensis), also known as American black elder; white meadowsweet (Spiraea alba), a native spirea of Appalachia’s wetlands that draws hordes of pollinators with its beautiful spikes of white flowers; grass-leaved goldenrod (Euthamia graminifolia), also known as flat-top goldentop, not a true Solidago, but even more beautiful with its flat panicles of golden-yellow flowers and graceful foliage; and an industrious bumblebee prying open the closed petals of a narrowleaf gentian (Gentiana linearis) to get at the nectar pot below.