This is a catalog with descriptions and pictures of about 300 species of New England wildflowers, with all but a handful found in Hopkinton, Mass. I took most of the 1000 photographs in this catalog over the last 15 years within a mile of my house on South Mill St. When I started this project, I never dreamed there would be this wide a variety of flowers in such a small area—what you see here are 20% of all the wildflowers in the northeastern quarter of the U.S. (among those that are listed in most field guides). That’s pretty impressive for an area of just a couple of square miles. The descriptions here are derived from a combination of personal observations, web research, and several references.
This catalog also includes flowering shrubs and small trees that are listed in wildflower field guides, a few grasses, sedges, interesting lichen and mosses, and a page of ornamental shrubs that were growing here as long as anyone can remember (but no mushrooms or ferns).
Disclaimer: The information I provide has no official or scientific status and I make no claims for its accuracy. I actually don’t know anything about botany. But I like plants and reading about them, and this project has given me with many hours of relaxation in addition to frustration. This catalog is constantly evolving.
I took nearly all these photos myself, but in a handful of cases where I was never able to find the plant in bloom, I linked to another source as an identification aid. I hope you enjoy this web site and maybe even find it useful. If you want to look up a flower from its description, check out the identifier.
The text in this catalog is not yet complete. This is an ongoing process that will take me a long time to finish.
Catalog last updated 4/20/2010
To find a flower by the way it looks, see the identification guide which lists flowers by color and number of petals.