Welcome to Awesome Native Plants

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This is the female flower of Corema conradii - Broom Crowberry that is a rare plant found down in the Pine Barrens and blooms mid March. Broom crowberry is a ground-hugging, shrubby plant. It needs open, sandy areas to grow and has specialized wildfire needs. The NJ DEP is attempting to restore habitat for this plant in the East Plains Natural Area in Ocean County See close-ups of the male & female flowers..

Violets: Un-Appreciated
Downy yellow violet - Viola pubescens

So often we consider violets as weeds and we want to get rid of them. Even for some plant experts violets are frequently difficult to identify in the field. Just another violet! They are an important part of our ecosystem. We decided to look at some violets using the dichotamous keys to see what are the species distinguishing features. To see details with disections of this yellow violet Click Here.

Another Violet
Arrowleaf violet - Viola sagittata

Here is a violet with distinctive leaves. Note the little lobes at the base of the leaf. Most violet leaves are heart shaped. See the general flower structure of violet flowers and the details of this violet Click Here.

Another Violet
Britton's coast violet - Viola brittoniana

Here is another violet with distinctive leaves. Note the many lobes. However, there are two other species with similiar leaves. The leaf shapes are somewhat variable making the identification difficult. For more details Click Here.