New Hampshire is home to a variety of flora that’s just waiting to be discovered among the state’s many photogenic settings, from towering mountains to peaceful lakes and lush forests. This article will show you the different wildflowers in New Hampshire’s countryside, including the popular black-eyed Susan and the state’s Moccasin flower, and learn more about their unique features.
15 Wildflowers in New Hampshire
The state flower of New Hampshire is the Purple Lilac (pictured above), a beautiful and fragrant flowering shrub that is native to southeastern Europe. The Purple Lilac is a deciduous shrub that grows up to 20 feet tall and produces clusters of fragrant, purple flowers in the spring.
The Lilac is a popular choice for gardens and landscaping, and it is a symbol of love, beauty, and remembrance. The Purple Lilac was designated as the official state flower of New Hampshire in 1919, and it is celebrated each year with the annual Lilac Festival in the town of Franconia.
1. Black-eyed Susan
- Scientific Name: Rudbeckia hirta
- Zone: 3 – 10
- Where to see: Statewide
- Season: Summer
The Black-eyed Susans have a dark brown center called the “black eye,” and their flower heads look like daisies. They belong to the Rudbeckia genus and are endemic to eastern North America, but have spread throughout Zones 3 to 10.
Growing up to 3 feet tall, with 6-inch leaves and 2- to 3-inch flowers, they attract butterflies, bees, and other insects with their nectar. These plants love the sun and can survive even if you neglect them, but make sure not to overcrowd them or overwater their leaves to prevent fungal disease.
2. Sundial lupine
- Scientific Name: Lupinus perennis
- Zone: 3 – 8
- Where to see: Lakes down to Seacoast and Merrimack Valley
- Season: Spring to Summer
The sundial lupine is a wildflower with magnificent elongated clusters of purple pea-like flowers that can also range in color from pink to white. You can see them doing well in dry, sandy soils, and they can grow in both full sun and shade. The plant also provides food for several caterpillars, including the Karner blue butterfly.
3. Jack in the pulpit
- Scientific Name: Arisaema triphyllum
- Zone: 4 – 9
- Where to see: Statewide
- Season: Early Summer
The Jack-in-the-pulpit is a species in New Hampshire that prefers to grow in shaded areas and can be found in deciduous woods and floodplains that are rich and moist. Small flies usually pollinate the flowers, and birds and rodents enjoy their bright red berries.
Caution should be taken when handling the plant due to the skin-irritating properties of its leaves and fruits. You should also wear gloves when collecting and cleaning the berries and clean the seeds right away and stratify them to ensure successful germination.
4. Red columbine
- Scientific Name: Aquilegia canadensis
- Zone: 3 – 9
- Where to see: Statewide
- Season: Spring to Summer
You may see the red columbine flower growing throughout the state from spring to summer. This flower can be found in a variety of soil and light conditions, and its magnificent red and yellow blossoms attract pollinators such as hummingbirds and butterflies. Native Americans used different parts of plants for medicine and also as love charms, and to detect bewitchment.
5. Starry false lily of the valley
- Scientific Name: Maianthemum stellatum
- Zone: 3 – 7
- Where to see: Statewide
- Season: Spring to Summer
All around North America, including New Hampshire, you can find starry false lily of the valley. It develops from branching rhizomes and forms dense patches in a variety of environments, such as open forests, prairies, and shorelines.
In spring, it produces delicate starry flowers, and in the fall, it ripens green-and-black striped berries that turn deep red. The leaves usually clasp the stem, are blue-green, and fold along the mid-rib.
6. Common blue violet
- Scientific Name: Viola sororia
- Zone: 3 – 10
- Where to see: Statewide
- Season: Mid Spring
The common blue violet, which has leaves and flowers that emerge directly from rhizomes and create a basal rosette, is one of the herbaceous perennial plants you might find in the state. The flowers are medium to dark violet and have five rounded petals with white hairs near the throat.
It blooms in spring from mid to late and grows well in lawns and gardens with partial sun to light shade and moist to average soil conditions. You may also notice this wildflower attracting bees, butterflies, and other insects, as well as serving as a food source for caterpillars and wildlife.
7. Gray goldenrod
- Scientific Name: Solidago nemoralis
- Zone: 3 – 9
- Where to see: Statewide
- Season: Summer
The Gray goldenrod is another wildflower in the state that grows up to one meter tall with reddish to gray-green stems. It has an inflorescence with up to 300 flower heads, each having yellow rays and disc florets. They bloom throughout the late summer and early fall, luring a variety of insect pollinators, and can be found in disturbed regions, woods, prairies, and grasslands.
8. Azure bluet
- Scientific Name: Houstonia caerulea
- Zone: 3 – 9
- Where to see: Statewide
- Season: Summer
The Azure bluet is among the plants you’ll see in habitats ranging from cliffs and alpine zones to forests, meadows, and shores of rivers or lakes. The species produces pale blue flowers with a yellow center that are about 1 cm in diameter and look very attractive. It also prefers moist acidic soils in shady areas, often thriving among grasses.
9. Eastern daisy fleabane
- Scientific Name: Erigeron annuus
- Zone: 2 – 9
- Where to see: Statewide
- Season: Summer to Fall
Daisy fleabane, also known as eastern daisy fleabane, is a plant that produces flower heads with white rays and yellow centers, as well as a variable number of ray florets. This species is found naturally in North and Central America, and is widely distributed throughout the United States, including New Hampshire. It grows well in different places, even in areas that have been disturbed, and bees, flies, butterflies, and other insects often visit it to pollinate.
10. Wild bergamot
- Scientific Name: Monarda fistulosa
- Zone: 3 – 9
- Where to see: Statewide
- Season: Summer
New Hampshire has plenty of wildflowers, and wild bergamot is one of them. This plant grows in clumps from thin, creeping rhizomes and produces clusters of pink to lavender flowers at the ends of its branches. It grows in a variety of environments, such as dry fields, thickets, and clearings, generally on limy soil, and is frequently used as a honey plant, medicinal herb, and garden adornment.
11. Bunchberry dogwood
- Scientific Name: Cornus canadensis
- Zone: 2 – 6
- Where to see: Statewide
- Season: Late Spring
The Bunchberry dogwood is a blooming plant that grows to be approximately 20 centimeters tall. The wildflower grows into a carpet-like mat, with thin above-ground shoots coming from creeping rhizomes and leaves oriented oppositely on the stem. It blooms in the late spring and early summer with white flowers that have reflexed petals and showy bracts.
12. Cutleaf coneflower
- Scientific Name: Rudbeckia laciniata
- Zone: 3 – 9
- Where to see: Statewide
- Season: Summer to Fall
The cutleaf coneflower is a flowering species you can find all over the state that grows well in wet areas like flood plains, stream banks, and moist forests. This flora can reach a height of 3 meters and has large, oval-shaped leaves that are sometimes deeply cut. Although it’s commonly used as a cooking herb, it’s important to know that the plant can be harmful to livestock.
13. Painted trillium
- Scientific Name: Trillium undulatum
- Zone: 4 – 8
- Where to see: Statewide
- Season: Early to late spring
The Painted trillium is a lovely flower that blooms from early to late spring, with a single white flower with wavy-edged petals and a red or reddish-purple splotch at the base. If pollinated, it develops a bright red fruit in mid to late summer. Painted trillium prefers acidic, humus-rich soils and shade provided by acid-loving trees.
14. Red trillium
- Scientific Name: Trillium erectum
- Zone: 3 – 7
- Where to see: Statewide
- Season: Spring to Summer
The red trillium is among the species that produce flowers with petals that come in different colors, such as dark reddish brown, maroon, purple, pale yellow, or white. After successful pollination, it produces a dark red berry-like capsule.
Indigenous peoples traditionally used the root of the red trillium for medicinal purposes, especially to help with childbirth. It’s also cultivated as an ornamental plant due to its attractive flowers, and it has received recognition from the Royal Horticultural Society.
15. Moccasin flower
- Scientific Name: Cypripedium acaule
- Zone: 3 – 7
- Where to see: Statewide
- Season: Spring to Summer
As the state’s wildflower, the moccasin flower is a well-known species in New Hampshire. This slow-growing perennial has only two leaves down at the ground and a single, pink bloom on a pubescent stalk.
You can also find them in various environments, including pine forests and deciduous woods, and it prefer acidic soil and partial shade. While it was once believed to require a fungus association for growth, recent research has shown that this is only necessary for seed germination.
