Motherwort, Leonurus cardiaca (Lamiaceae) St. Mary's Cemetery, West Peoria IL. Late May & early June 2015. Motherwort is a non-native member of the mint family, and it has the typical flowers for the group: small, bilaterally symmetrical, united petals. The flowers on a motherwort plant are a bit furrier than average, though. The petals are pale pink, and they're attached straight to the stem and arranged in whorls above the leaf axils. Also typical of plants in this family is the squared-off, 4-sided stem and opposite leaves, though the petioles are quite a bit longer than other related plants. You can see pretty well from the second photo that this configuration gives the plant a distinctive look. The stems are unbranched, and they grow fairly tall at up to 5 feet. They can be attractive when the flowers are in bloom and the plant looks fresh, it starts looking pretty weedy and quite a bit less cute after too long. Motherwort is pretty much everywhere and currently blooming, it's easy to spot at the edges of wooded areas and along shady roadsides. These photos were all taken within the last few weeks, when most of the motherworts I'd been coming accross were rosy-flowered and green-leaved. Fair warning: I reckon we're about a 2-3 weeks away from them hitting their not-cute life phase all at once.
