Wordless Wednesday 137: Goat's-Rue

A not-so-wordless post this week. Last night (Tuesday, June 24), I took a walk up to Grady Tract of the UW Arboretum, my destination being the Grady Knoll. Everything is a couple weeks behind "normal" this year, due to the long, hard winter followed by a cold, wet spring. Goat's Rue has been coming up for weeks but hadn't yet flowered, and I wanted to see if it finally had, what with all the rain and warm, humid temps we've had recently. I was in for a pleasant surprise. Not only has it started to flower, but there is a vast abundance of it this year, probably owing to the controlled burn done in early May. Here are some of the photos taken Tuesday evening.

Goat's-Rue, also known as Rabbit-Pea (hey, I don't name these!), are pretty flowers with lemon-yellow outsides, whitish insides, and "wings" that are rose, bright pink or purple in color.

Goat's-Rue is a member of the fabaceae or Pea/Bean family, and usually bloom in June and July, and sometimes into August. Look at all of it blanketing the Knoll -- it was practically covering the path in some places.

Native Americans used the roots in many medicinal teas, as well as shampoo. The roots have small quantities of rotenone, which has both cancer-fighting and cancer-causing properties. Wild turkey and quail eat the seeds.

In Wisconsin, they are most prevelent in the southwest, in oak barrens, sand prairies, old fields, and along roadsides and railroads -- wherever they can get full sun and well-drained soil. As you can see, they are quite attractive to bees.

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* Information used in this post was taken from the awesome Prairie Plants of the University-Madison Arboretum, an invaluable resource not only for visits to the Arboretum, but natural areas throughout Wisconsin.