Identify that Plant

The white blooms of Black cohosh (Actaea racemosa) are striking during mid-summer days.  Not only are they visually beautiful, they also emit a strong, unpleasant smell which can fill the surrounding woods on a warm day.

Here are the basal leaves of a mature plant, along with two glaucous flower stalks rising above those leaves.

The tall flower stalk typically splits into several racemes of flowers.  This next image shows those racemes with flower buds.  (Note:  most of the leaves in the background belong to Wild hydrangea and not Black cohosh.)

Watch this video to see close images of the Black cohosh (Actaea racemosa) flowers which do not have any petals, to study the plant in all seasons of its perennial life cycle and to view the roots of this medicinal plant.

The spring flowering Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) provides a flush of light pink blooms after a harsh winter.  This evergreen shrub reaches a height of ten to twenty feet in its habitat range throughout the Appalachian mountains.

The flower buds have an intriguing shape prior to opening up fully.  They are also quite sticky to touch.

The flower’s style remains attached to the ovary, which becomes a developing seed capsule, for months after the flower’s corolla drops off.

Mountain laurel provides nice color during snowy winter days — with its green leaves and dark brown dried seed capsules.

Watch this video to see close images of the Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) flowers with their reproductive parts and their fertilization method, to learn about their leaves, to hear about the difficulty with penetrating a Mountain laurel thicket, and to see the plant in all seasons of its life cycle.