I never saw the flowers even though I make it a point of hiking through this area regularly. Due to the chewed off tops, it is quite possible if I had visited a few days or a week later I may not have seen these plants either. bboy - not sure if you are referring to the plant's odd name or if you think they were eaten by horses, but on that note, while I was looking up info about "horse gentain" it was noted that nobody really knows why it was given this name :-)

Umm. That can get to be a *huge* tree. If you want to keep it, better move it. But also know that it's a poor choice for windy sites. It's weak-wooded and tends to break. It's a tad young to bloom. Beyond that, when it does set buds, they're on the tree during the winter and can freeze before they bloom. Take a look here http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ldplants/3plants.htm#parthenocissus (You may need to scroll down the page a bit.) Here is a link that might be useful:

The first one might be a Solomon's Seal plant unfolding it's leaves Polygonatum species. Looks like maybe something nipped off the original plant and it's growing a new shoot. The second one might be White Wood Aster, Eurybia divaricata; or maybe some other wild aster. Third one maybe a Black Cherry? Fourth one might be Tilia americana, as Floral_UK suggested. Makes me think a little bit of Hazelnut, too. I think the last one is probably an unfolding beech leaf. That's a lot of 'maybes' and 'I thinks' but it's a place to start.

I had no idea there were so many varieties of Perennial Bachelor's button . I think I may have stumbled across what I have here ( I have been searching for a long time ) I think it may be Persian Cornflower Psephellus dealbatus Name also: Whitewash Cornflower Latin synonym: Centaurea dealbata Family: Daisy Family – Compositae, subfamily Carduoideae (formerly Aster Family – Asteraceae) Growing form: Perennial herb. Subterranean runners. Height: 60–100 cm (25–40 in.). Flower: Flowers 3–5 cm (1.2–2 in.) wide, single flower-like capitula surrounded by involucral bracts. Capitulum’s ray-florets rose–bluish red, obliquely funnel-shaped, lobed at tip, neuter; disk florets red, tubular. Stamens 5. Gynoecium composed of 2 fused carpels. Involucre spherical, involucral bracts overlap in many rows, with elliptic, yellow-brown appendage. Capitula solitary, terminating stem and branches. Leaves: Alternate, lower stalked, upper usually stalkless. Blade pinnately lobed, underside light, tomentose, lobes wide, apex https://www.luontoportti.com/suomi/images/10527.jpg However they call this Centaurea dealbata so if this is dealbata what is the other one I thought was dealbata but perhaps isn't UGH! The one that spreads via spreading roots ?