Indian Cucumber Root or Medeola Virginiana flowers from May to June. It grows well in thickets and moist woods. It is found in Minnesota and till the Gulf of Mexico in the south. It produces greenish yellow colored flowers on twisted footstalks. The flowers grow in clusters above a circle of leaves. The stems are cottony when the plant is immature. The plant has no branches and it can be up to two and a half feet in length. It has two varieties, flowering and non-flowering.

The leaves of the plant place themselves in a circle below the flowers. This makes the plant noticeable as its flowers are not brightly colored. Leaves in the upper whorl are less in number than in the lower whorl. They are also smaller than the leaves in the lower circle. An adequate length of the stem separates them so that the required sunlight is available to the plant. This is important so that the plant gets the required nutrition. The ants may pilfer the nectar from the flowers. This is prevented by the cottony stem which entangles their feet. The plant looks stunning in the month of September when dark purple berries in clusters replace the flowers and rich hue stain the leaves. The birds are attracted towards the plant and thus its seeds are dispersed. This plant tastes like cucumber and hence Indians used to eat its horizontal, fleshy, white rootstock. This plant is also a member of the Lily of the valley family.

Yellow star grass or Hypoxis hirsuta flowers from May to October. It grows well in grassy fields and open woods. They are found all over from Maine in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the south. The plant produces flowers that are yellow colored on the inner side and hairy and greenish colored on the outer side. The flowers have six parts and they are half an inch in width. The grass like leaves are hairy and egg shaped. It is a member of the Amaryllis family.

Usually only one flower from the cluster opens up at a time, however it peers brightly among the grass and cannot be ignored. Small bees mainly Halictus come over to these yellow flowers. They collect pollen grains for their babies' bread which is not hatched. They are able to carry few of the pollen as some of it is stroked off on the sticky pistil tip present at the centre of other flowers. Self fertilization is not needed as the stamens radiate. If there are no insects, the flower closes and brings its own stigma in contact with its pollen laden anthers.