Consider-the-Lilies Web Gallery

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Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon

This most unusual member of the Aster family has a family resemblance to its cousin, the Common Dandelion.

(Other related lilies, Chamomile, Chicory, and Hyssop Boneset, as well as several varieties bearing the family name, Aster are also found in the Gallery.) 

You are probably familiar with the Dandelion, but have you ever seen a Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon blossom?

Although it is quite common, it very likely that you have not seen this common wildflower.

The probability of sighting of this immigrant Aster is low simply because it doesn't produce massive amounts of flowers and those displayed don't last long.

These qualities, scant flowering and abbreviated flower life, along with an interesting mode of seed propagation, make this a lily worthy of consideration.

Here is another view showing the whole plant.

Reaching more than eighteen inches, taller than Dandelion, its height and bright yellow blossom, with outreached seed pod candelabras, does catch the eye.

(Especially for this specimen, which, sprawling outward to reach for the little sunlight to be found on this shady lane, looks like a hitchhiker hoping that some  cars might be coming its way.)

I came across this plant while walking this lane with my dog one June morning, and, as is my wont, I returned with my camera later in the morning to photograph the single golden-yellow blossom.

But, the blossom—note that it was the only one displayed—was gone.

I wondered if someone had come along and picked it before I got to it?

Closer examination, however, revealed that the blossom was there, just hidden.

After just a few hours of early morning sunlight on a shady lane, it had finished its blooming time, and had retired, blanketed in its sepals.

This strange lily  was living up to its name: Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon. 

(Other wildflowers in the Gallery with short-lived blossoms include Chicory or Blue Sailor, Blue-eyed Grass, Scarlet Pimpernel, Virginia Spiderwort, and Asiatic Dayflower. Of these, however, none has blossoms shorter lived than Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon.)

But that is not the end of the story for this interesting lily; for within the tightly clenched seed pod, the not-so distinctive yellow blossom undergoes a wonderful metamorphosis.

This marvelous change originates in the interesting structure of the complex blossoms displayed by Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon and other Asteraceae—also known as the Compositae or Composite family.

Many members of this family also display distinctive, apparently simple flowers with a daisy-like configuration.

One is the native Purple-stemmed Aster, (right) which colors our stream banks and fence lines with pastel hues in late summer.

Another Composite cousin is the flowering herb Chamomile (left).

The simple daisy-like flowers above, with the white and lavender petals—actually sepals—are not the blossoms of these Compositae.

Instead, we might say more correctly each flower is a bouquet  of blossoms: The center heads of these examples above, yellow and orange, respectively, are actually composed of multiple florets, each of which will produce a seed.

Thus, too, with the Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon: Each upright element in the center is a self-contained floret.

Another member of the family, Queen Anne's Lace, has the same attribute, but in a different, not-so simple  "flower."

Its open structure allows the florets to stand out.

Here is a view of the individual florets—literally "little flowers"— that make up the umbrella-shaped Queen Anne's Lace "flower."

I think the composite form is more easily seen here, because the florets vary in size and are more separated.

So, what do all these florets mean for the intriguing, suddenly disappearing Asteracea/Compositae?

In a few days after its short time in bloom, the change is complete.

The early retiring flower bursts forth as a magnificent seed head that lives up to its alternative common names, Buck-beard and Showy Goat's-beard.

Several times larger than the Dandelion clock, standing upright in this field, this seed head commands its habitat for several days.

And, if we consider these fine, hair-like filaments with which each seed is equipped, it easy to see why this plant's botanical name is Trago-pogon = goat's-beard; pratensis = growing in a meadow.

So some day in June, while out for a stroll, you too may come across the candelabras of this unusual Aster standing tall in a meadow near you. You may not see the "here and gone" blossom of Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon, but, in my opinion,  you have seen the best of this unusual lily.

So even if you do manage to see the elusive blossom of this unusual wildflower, I recommend coming back in a few days to consider the even-more impressive seed head of Jack-go-to-bed-at noon!

(Another "Jack" to be seen in the Gallery is Jack-in-the-Pulpit.)

Any thoughts, pro or con? Why not drop me an anonymous note at the Comments page?

OR

Go back to the Main Directory to consider more lilies of the field.