May 25: White Snakeroot and Tall Meadow Rue

Summer is fast approaching and many of the spring flowers are gone. Here are a couple flowers seen more often in the summer. The first is White Snakeroot, and this is a dangerous plant.

White Snakeroot

There are a lot of flowers that look sort of like this...this one has simple leaves with serrated edges. White Snakeroot is poisonous and if cows eat it, it poisons the milk -- it is thought that this is what killed Abraham Lincoln's mother.  Here's a close up of the bloom.

White Snakeroot bloom

The next flower is also considered somewhat toxic though butterflies like it. It's Tall Meadow Rue, and it can grow  6 to 8 feet high. 

Tall Meadow Rue

Because it gets so tall and attracts butterflies, many people like to include Tall Meadow Rue in their gardens. According to a website originating in New York State, Tall Meadow Rue normally blooms in late summer, so I'm wondering if it blooming in May is a Michigan thing or if it is just very early this year.

There are a variety of plants called "Rue" -- Rue Anenome, Early Meadow Rue, Tall Meadow Rue -- but some are from the Thalictrum family and not the true rue "Rutacaea" family. Many of the Thalictrum family seem to have leaves which, when full grown, look like stylized tulips. Many of these plants attract butterflies.

"Rue" leaves

But it seems to take a while for the leaves to grow these little spurs. The youngest leaves, usually closest to the top of the plant where the flower is, frequently don't have them.