No photograph can convey the vivid purple color of ironweed, one of our most spectacular late-summer flowers. A field of ironweed and goldenrod is a sight not easily forgotten. Two species are common in our area; Tall Ironweed is, as its name implies, taller than New York Ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis), but otherwise very similar.
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Tall Ironweed (Vernonia altissima)
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Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
No matter how much suburbanites hate dandelions in their lawns, anyone with any aesthetic sense must grudgingly admit that the common dandelion is one of our most perfectly beautiful flowers.
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Green-Headed Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata)
Favors wet areas; these plants were spotted on the edge of a marshy pond in a small park in the Allegheny valley.