I am a neophyte at identification and am out of practice at photography. Here is what I saw yesterday.
 |
| Sidewalk view |
After consultation with my wildflower book and online resources, I decided that this is bittersweet nightshade. It’s an invasive plant, but the flowers are pretty. I found it twining around the burdock next to the sidewalk in an untended, wild property (assuming that I identified burdock correctly).
I was delighted to find the blossoms and to see them through the camera. But my appreciation always declines when I learn that a plant is nonnative and invasive. What did this land look like 150 or 200 years ago? This question propels my quest for wildflowers, as they are the remnants of that earlier time, when plant life was diverse, and the inhabitants here knew how to coexist in a way that did not threaten the future.
 |
| Close-up |
I fight a never ending battle with both burdock and nightshade on our property. three flowers are pretty, but I always hear my mother's voice in my head when I see it and then I grab my gloves and pull pull ull and throw it on the burn pile
Wise woman, your mother, whose message about invasive plants could also apply to other attractive nuisances.