America's 18 Wildest Wildflowers

Wildflowers are nature’s gems, unfurling not only beautiful blooms but also wonderful tales of tenacity and folklore. Some wildflowers, like the perennial purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) shown here, transition easily to a garden setting. Others demand such specific growing conditions that they don’t adapt to a typical home landscape. Look for both types of native plants in this gallery, which showcases wildflowers with intriguing back stories. These plants provide talking points you can use at your next book club, barbecue or family dinner. If nothing else, you’ll grab some new words for your Scrabble arsenal.

What’s inspired our interest in all things wildflower is the recent update — decades in the making — of the National Audubon Society Wildflowers of North America. This beloved guide is the go-to book for nature lovers who want to learn about the plants they encounter while they’re enjoying the Great Outdoors. Let’s go for a walk on the wild side.

With its alien looks, this carnivorous wildflower is the stuff of nightmares for insects. Hair-like tendrils on leaves are tipped with sugary, sticky droplets that unsuspecting insects mistake for nectar. Once a mosquito, fly or gnat zips in for a sweet morsel, they’re trapped by the stickiness. The tendrils detect when insects are caught, and the leaf slowly wraps around its prey, engulfing it and digesting it with enzymes. Roundleaf sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) supplements its diet with insects because it grows in the nutrient-poor acidic soil of bogs, moors and heaths. Historically, people used sundew in anti-aging potions and as a love charm because of its power to lure. Hardy in Zones 5 to 9.

This pretty purple bloomer could be called the Velcro wildflower because its stems, leaves and flower bases have backward-pointing bristles that stick to animal fur or fabric. In the era of the Spanish ranchos, women would wear these flowers on their dresses for decoration, which gave rise to the name blue fiesta flower (Pholistoma auritum). This annual plant grows 12 to 24 inches tall and opens lavender to purple blossoms. It’s native to the Desert Southwest and California, growing in a variety of well-drained soil types. Look for it at nurseries that specialize in native plants to learn if it’s adaptable to your garden.

Because ghost pipe (Monotropa uniflora) lacks chlorophyll, it doesn’t need sunshine to grow but thrives in the deepest, darkest forests where it finds nutrition by connecting with underground fungi and tree roots. As tree leaves feed their roots through photosynthesis, they nourish the roots of ghost pipe, too. Also known as Indian pipe, this plant produces one 3- to 9-inch-tall stem topped with a white- or pinkish-white bell-shaped flower. It’s the same flower shape as a blueberry, which is a botanical cousin to ghost pipe. This spooky wildflower turns black if picked, so it’s best enjoyed in its native habitat. If you own a woodlot with oaks or maples, search it for ghost pipe. Hardy in Zones 4 to 9.