By Richard B. Primack
“How much of beauty - of color, as well as form – on which our eyes daily rest goes unperceived by us!” -Henry David Thoreau in his Journal.
Thousands of rose mallow plants with huge flowers the size of dessert plates flower in early August on the banks of the Charles River in Newton, Needham, Waltham, and Dedham. The plants are typically 3 to 7 feet tall, and dozens of stems can grow in a clump.
Rose mallow plants emerging from the Charles River
Rose mallow flowers are usually pink, but some plants produce flowers that are darker pink, others lighter pink, and some are white. Many flowers have red markings at the base of the petals, forming a striking bull’s eye, and flowers can vary from 3 to 7 inches across.
White and pink flowers produced on neighboring plants.
Along the Charles River, about one in three plants produces flowers with a red center, and one in ten has white flowers, usually with a red center. Plants with entirely white flowers can be found but are rare.
A rare white-flowered plant.
Rose mallows are probably increasing in abundance along the Charles, as they colonize areas from which invasive purple loosestrife plants have been removed and places where beavers have cleared away woody riverside thickets.
Different plants produce flowers of different color and size.
August is a great time to be out on the river and see our spectacular native rose mallow plants growing in the wild. It is a world-class wildflower display right here in Boston.
An article about rose mallows along the Charles recently appeared in the Boston Globe.
No comments:
Post a Comment