31 August 2014
Turtleheads
Chelone glabra
Northeast Penjajawoc Preserve
Bangor, Maine
Usually the flowers of this plant are standing upright in a clump like the photo below found on the side of a road. This flower was on the NE PJJ trail near the bridge. It must have gotten trampled by someone on the trail earlier in its life because the flowers were hanging upside down and near the ground. There were only these two verses a larger clump like below. The plant blooms in late summer and fall and prefers swamps and stream banks.
The flowers are about an inch long. "The upper lip of the flower arches over the lower lip, giving a striking resemblance to a turtle's head." [Newcomb's Wildflower Guide] The leaves are 3 to 6 inches long and finely toothed. Photos by Donne Sinderson
Turtleheads
Chelone glabra
Northeast Penjajawoc Preserve
Bangor, Maine
Usually the flowers of this plant are standing upright in a clump like the photo below found on the side of a road. This flower was on the NE PJJ trail near the bridge. It must have gotten trampled by someone on the trail earlier in its life because the flowers were hanging upside down and near the ground. There were only these two verses a larger clump like below. The plant blooms in late summer and fall and prefers swamps and stream banks.
The flowers are about an inch long. "The upper lip of the flower arches over the lower lip, giving a striking resemblance to a turtle's head." [Newcomb's Wildflower Guide] The leaves are 3 to 6 inches long and finely toothed. Photos by Donne Sinderson
