Layman’s Guide to Late Summer and Fall Wildflowers at Fitzgerald Lake

Broad Brook Coalition has an updated publication. Please enjoy and use the Layman’s Guide to Late Summer and Fall Wildflowers at Fitzgerald Lake by Bob Zimmermann.

From the introduction:

Over the past several years, I’ve become ever more intrigued by the
succession of wildflowers that appear in the spring, summer and even fall.
The Fitzgerald Lake Conservation Area affords an abundance of these
wonderful plants and I started taking my camera along on hikes to try to
capture their fleeting beauty. This in turn inspired me to share my photos
with others in a context that relates some basic information about the
flowers, their growth, their habitat and their reproduction. I’ve become
particularly interested in the folklore associated with these plants and their
use for food or medicinal purposes. I hope that this brief guide will help you
to identify a sampling of the late summer and fall wildflowers that grow
along the paths and in the woods and pastures of the FLCA. All but Lady’sThumb are native to New England. Though many flowers fade as fall
approaches, the season is enriched by the matchless effusion of asters and
goldenrods. The photos were taken by me at the FLCA or on abutting land
(except for two goldenrods from Graves Farm), but most can be found
within the FLCA. The present collection of flower descriptions follows
similar guides to spring and summer wildflowers that I’ve compiled in the
past two years. Common, family, genus and specific names follow those
found on the Go Botany web site (see Sources). Once again, I am deeply
indebted to Connie Parks for looking over preliminary versions of this guide
and for offering numerous helpful suggestions and corrections; while errors
may persist, they are mine.

Bob Zimmermann August 2019;
revised and expanded, August 2020

Layman’s Guide to Late Summer and Fall Wildflowers at Fitzgerald Lake