Starflowers
A group of the white woodland wildflower, Lysimachia borealis (aka Trientalis borealis):
Always delightful to find. There can be dozens of them in the forest understory.
Nature Diary
Notes from the field, essays, and observations.
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They are lovely. I always think they look like tiny paper cutouts someone’s scattered in the woods.
They are tiny and delicate, and the whorled leaves are pretty. I found these in spot where I haven’t noticed them before, at the edge of the woods.
I see that these are called starflowers.
It’s those pointy petals that suggest stars. The number of petals varies, sometimes as many as.10.
So delicate and so white !
Thanks! Tiny and pretty, they have a short bloom season.
As common as they are, starflowers are still a delight to find and I am lucky enough to have a few growing naturally in the yard. Nice collection of sevens on average which is an unusual number in flowers.
None in my yard, but it was fun to find this patch in a favorite spot in Carlisle that I visit for other things. Seven petals is the number I often see for starflower. You must have woods in your backyard…
Our property is about an acre and I’d say the wooded area is about 25% of that. We’ve had some trees taken down but that area is still fairly shaded. I am slowly trying to introduce some natives in there. Most have done well but lady’s slippers have proven difficult as one might imagine.
My house lot is smaller, but it has woods in the back, but no starflower. I have a wildflower meadow instead of a section of lawn in back, but its a “wildflower” mix, part native, part non-native. Last year I added more natives – the meadow is just starting to bloom now.
Such pretty little flowers!! A gorgeous shot, love the blurred background
I probably knew this at some time, but now I remember that ‘borealis’ means ‘northern.’ Lysimachia seemed familiar, too, and I finally tracked down our version: the scarlet pimpernel. It’s also a very tiny flower, but it comes in two colors: blue and orange. This star flower appeals more to white flower loving me: it looks like a miniature version of the paper stars we used to cut.
It’s one of the signs of the season for me – the transition from spring to early summer, the green season. I’d love to see scarlet pimpernel, it is found up here.