I ran across my first-ever Mullein Foxglove last Saturday along the gravel road to the Blue Hole at Pigeon Mountain.  I had made a few trips down this way, monitoring a location for a couple of orchid species I want to catch in bloom.  Jay Clark and I spotted the leaves of these orchids back in March, but now there is so much understory growth I haven’t been able to relocate them.  In any case, it wasn’t a wasted trip since I was able to photograph a Whiteflower Leafcup, Heal-all, Agrimony, Tall Bellflower, Browneyed Susan, Pale Indian Plantain, and the Mullein Foxglove, all before the rain sent me home.

While I was photographing the plant, this fly landed on one of the blossoms.  Dr. John Hilty at illinoiswildflowers.info says that bumblebees, honeybees, miner bees, and butterflies sip the nectar of this plant.  We add this fly to his list.

Fly on Mullein Foxglove – Dasistoma macrophylla

Click on the image to go to Flickr, where you can view a larger version.