Large-flowered Valerian along the Little Miami River

...pushing up through the shadows along the Little Miami Trail, Large-flowered Valerian (Valeriana pauciflora) was putting on a spectacular show. The flower heads looked like bursts of fireworks nodding in the breeze...dotting the hillside as they slid down to the river. Upon closer inspection, I found each blossom in the "burst" was a tiny tubular-shaped flower with the corolla about 3/4" long. Three stamens extended from each corolla and added to the sparkly look of fireworks. I photographed the flower, but I didn't know what it was, and it wasn't in my two Ohio wildflower books. Andrew, from The Natural Treasures of Ohio blog, identified the delicate flower and filled me in on its role as a riparian indicator species. Just like the Acadian Flycatcher in this post, Valeriana pauciflora lets us know the riparian ecosystem along the Little Miami River is healthy and pollution free. Yeah!

...a beautiful starburst of tubular-shaped blossoms tops the long stem of this native perennial wildflower.

...an interesting arrangement of leaves, they grow in opposite pairs.

...a closeup of Large-flowered Valerian (Valeriana pauciflora) leaves. Three leaflets are showing here, but the pairs can have up to 7 leaflets on each side.

...a tiny beetle climbs among the blossoms. I couldn't find much info on what pollinates Large-flowered Valerian. The Illinois Wildflower blog reports that, "the long slender corollas suggest that the flowers are pollinated by bumblebees, butterflies, Sphinx moths, and possibly hummingbirds. The nectar of the flowers is inaccessible to most insects with short mouthparts."

...a close-up reveals the beetle is glowing yellow and white as tiny balls of pollen cling to his armor. Whether he is a pollinator or not, he seems to be doing a good job here!