We identified 16 total herbs, 8 from the grassy, open habitat of the school area and 8 from the forested habitat (mostly behind the school); however, many can be found in both habitats.  The chart below is a brief outline of where each plant can be found and some basic details about it.  Farther down the page, one can find a photo and a brief description of each herb.
 

This page contains a number of high-quality photos, so please be patient while it downloads!  If you have a problem downloading all of the photos initially, try pressing the "Refresh" button -- the pictures should all load.

By clicking on the name of the herb listed below, you will be immediately linked to the brief description of the plant farther down the page.  Also, by clicking on the thumbnail picture of most of the plants you will be linked to a more complex and larger photo (with the exception of D. ishaemum, E. capillifolium, and R. crispus).  To access these photos you will need to go directly to the web site listed in the ***note below the chart.  A link to the website has been provided.
 
 

***Our photographs for Digitaria ishaemum, Allium vineale, and Rumex crispus were terrible!  However, the actual herb was identified from a specimen collected at the site.  The photos presented here are courtesy of http://www.ppws.vt.edu/weedindex.htm.  Please visit this informative web site for tons of great information about weeds of the Southeastern United States.
 
 

Gnaphalium purpureum -- Purple Cudweed

A low-growing summer or winter annual, or biennial, that forms a rosette of grayish green woolly foliage. Found throughout the United States but most common in the South.  Leaves arise from the rosette or connected to the elongating stem (cauline). Rosette leaves 10 cm long, 2 cm wide. Stem leaves alternate, grayish-white and woolly, without petioles (sessile), and progressively reduced in size moving up the stem. Leaf margins may be wavy or without teeth (entire).  Flowers are in clusters at the ends of the stems. Each flower is small, tannish-white with bracts that are light brown, pink or purple.

This species of thistle is unique because of its strongly reflexed, lanceolate, sepal-like purple bracts.  It also has nodding reddish-purple flower heads and interrupted prickly wings on the stem.  Leaves are very spiny.  The plant can grow to 1-3 feet tall.  It is most common in fields and waste places and blooms from June to October.
 
 

This flower, often mistaken for the common dandelion, has numerous yellow flower heads, 0.5-0.75" wide.  The stem is usually smooth but sometimes has a few leaves.  The leaves are veined with purple.  Mostly weedy plants, they can spread in runners or form mats in dry woods and clearings.  The bloom from Spring until Fall.
 
 
 
 
 

A common weed of gardens and roadsides, the yellow woodsorrel has sour-tasting leaflets in three's that are notched at the tips.  They are low plants with 0.25-0.5" wide flowers in small, long-stalked clusters.  The stem is rather erect, not creeping.  Stalks of pods can be observed.  The entire plant generally grows to 3-15" and blooms from Spring to Fall.
 

The smooth leaves of this plant are narrow, dark green, not fleshy.  Whitish, greenish, or brownish flowers can be found in a dense spike or head rising 1-6" high with stiff bracts protruding from the cluster.  The entire plant reaches heights of 6-12" and can be found along roadsides and wasteplaces.
 
 
 
 

Trialing plants with white flowers 0.25-1" wide.  Leaves are divided into 3 or 5 toothed leaflets.  Flowers can be observed solitary or in small clusters.  Fruit is reddish, black when ripe (Summer) and stems are bristly.  It can be found in swamps, open woods and clearings.
 
 

The flowers are yellow-eyed, 0.5-0.75" wide, and solitary.  Each petal-like part has a bristle-tip.  Stems are wiry, two-edged and the lower stem is barely winged (no flat edges) and pale green.  The plant grows to be 6-18" high and is most commonly encountered in fields and meadows.  It blooms from late Spring to early summer.
 
 
 
 

A trailing or climbing perennial vine with white and yellow flowers and spreading stems up to 10 feet. Found throughout most of the United States, most common in the eastern states. All parts of the plant are toxic.  Flowers are star-shaped, with white petals and a yellow or orange center, 12-16 mm in diameter.  Leaves are dark green to sometimes dark purplish, 1-4 inches long, petiolated, alternate, and often have 2 basal lobes or leaflets at the base.
 

Perennial from a basal rosette with yellow flowers. Primarily a weed of turfgrass found throughout the United States.  Flowers are large, bright yellow in color, and 3-5 cm in diameter. Flowers are solitary on the end of unbranched, leafless, hollow stalks.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Trialing or climbing vines with pea-shaped flowers and tendrils at the tips of the leaves.  Flowers are a bright violet-blue, 0.5" long, and in dense one-sided racemes.  Leaflets are narrow and there are hairs closely pressed to the stem.  It blooms in late Spring and Summer and can be seen in fields and along roadsides.
 
 
 
 
 
 

A familiar spring wildflower found in various habitats and widely distributed thoughout the US.  The flowers have five nearly equal petals, the loer on usually larger than the rest and spurred at the base.

This summer weed, often the bain of avid lawn growers, has hairless leaves and stems and can be found throughout the United States.  The stems tend to grow close to the ground and can reach lengths of 10".  They produce a seed head in the form of a hairy spike.  The leaves are actually blades that may change color to deep purple as the plant ages.
 

Dogfennel is easy to spot because of its tall (up to 12') single shoot covered in wiry hairlike structures.  The plant also emits a distinctively unpleasant smell, which can be amplified by crushing the stem.  In the Fall, the plant will produce numerous tannish flowers that are spread by wind and water.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

This strong-smelling weed is common in yards and open fields throughout the United States.  Leaves are round and hollw and can grow up to 25" in length.  The plant does produce tannish flowers that are easily dispersed by the wind.
 

The leaves of this plant have numerous teeth and are grouped in three's.  The stem is erect or arched and rather prickly.  Flowers are usually white and about an inch wide.  The popular fruit is black and juicy with a bitter taste.  The entire plant can grow to 2-8' and can be found in dry fields and clearings.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

These flowers are distinctly stalked and grow in a series of whorls.  Usually considered a weed, it produces many drooping green flowers during the late Spring and Summer.  The lower leaves are pointed with curled margins and can be entire or slightly toothed.  This weed is common in fields and waste places.