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| Jacob's Ladder, Polemonium reptans, opens and closes with changing light levels. |
Springtime for a naturalist can get pretty overwhelming, even during normal times. After what can seem like a slow start for all the early flowers, bees, fungus and the like that we always keep and eye out for, things really start to ramp up. It can be hard to keep up with all the new things blooming, butterflies coming out, birds arriving from the south (and departing to the north).
Now, this year things have been relatively cool and that not only helps to slow things down, but also keeps things blooming longer. While I can't share all the springtime wildflowers here, I'm going to try and include as many as I can. They are all amazing and play a special and unique role in our eastern forest ecosystem, whether we have discovered what that is or not!
Let's start with a couple of classic, well known, but well loved flowers. Two of the most common trilliums we have on the preserve are the Large-flowered and Toad Trillium. The former has the prestige of being our state wildflower, the other possible a bit more humble. All the trilliums seem to have several common names, which makes knowing the scientific names handy when discussing them. Those names can be helpful too, in that they are often descriptive of how the plant looks. Large-flowered Trillium, Trillium grandiflorum, is named for it's large flower. Toad Trillium, Trillium sessile, is name for the fact that the flower is stalkless. All trilliums are in the genus of the same name indicated their parts in sets of three.
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| Large-flowered Trillium, Trillium grandiflorum, is one of four trillium species found on the preserve. |
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| Toad Trillium, Trillium sessile, has an interesting dark, maroon red flower. |
Next in our line-up are two of the more curious spring wildflowers. First is Wild Ginger, Asarum canadense. This is one plant that unless you know what you are looking for, you may not ever notice the flower. The three-petaled flower lies on the ground at the base of the plant and towering over it are a pair of fuzzy, heart-shaped leaves. Usually the flower, like the Toad Trillium, is a dark, maroon-red color.
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| This Wild Ginger, Asarum canadense, is sporting a green flower instead of the usual dark red. |
Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Arisaema triphyllum, is a very cool flower from the Arum family. Plants in this family have two parts to their flower, a spathe and a spadix. The spathe is the part that wraps around or folds over the spadix which has the actual flowers. Jack-in-the-Pulpit owes its coolness to the fact that while is it dioecious, it can change it's sex from year to year. Plants that are dioecious have either male flower or female flowers, rarely both. In this case, depending on how much energy the plant has, it will be either male or female. When conditions change, the plant can change to. A fantastic adaptation!
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| Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Arisaema triphyllum, can change from having onl male flowers to having only female flowers from year to year. |
Let's move on to some flower in one of my favorite hues - purple. Dwarf Crested Iris, Phlox, Jacob's Ladder, Wild Hyacinth and Wild Geranium are all in this line up. Dwarf Crested Iris, Iris cristata, is an incredibly striking plant. Forming colonies through underground stems called rhizomes, the mass of blooms becomes an outstanding display. These beauties are only a few inches high and found in mesic forests unlike their taller wetland loving cousins.
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| Dwarf Crested Iris, Iris cristata, being all awesome and iris-y in a sunny spring forest. |
In general, Phlox is a well known kind of flower. Found both in the the wild and in the horticultural industry, most folks have encountered some kind of phlox before. According to USDA Plants, there are over 70 different species of phlox. They have been cultivated for hundreds of years and are popular in garden settings. Wild Blue Phox, Phlox divaricata, is an especial favortie of mine. The color can range from a pale lavender to an intense mouth watering purple. I love the color so much I think it should be some sort of flavor!
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| Wild Blue Pholx, Phlox divaricata, is one of four native species of phlox occurring on the Preserve. |
Jacob's Ladder, Polemonium reptans, is a funny one for me. I don't anticipate it coming into bloom each season, but when it does I'm super excited to see it. It's a delicate looking plant with long stems adorned with several flowers at each end. Jacob's Ladder is a popular plant in the insect world. Flies, bees and beetles are all know to visit feeding on both pollen and nectar. However a flower visitor is not always a flower pollinator. Larger sized bees seem to be best at actually pollinating this plant.
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| Jacob's Ladder is a popular pit stop for pollen and nectar. |
Next up is one that I DO anticipate each year. Wild Hyacinth is an extremely attractive, pleasant smelling, spring wildflower. From grass-like basal leaves, a tall flower stalk emerges with a plume (technically, raceme) of gorgeous 6-petaled, pale lavender/blue flowers that bloom from the bottom up. It's not super common on the Preserve but can form large patches where it does grow.
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| Wild Hyacinth, Camassia scilloides, invites you to experience the sweet scent of its flowers. |
Ah, Wild Geranium. I know that spring is advancing when this gem comes into bloom. Another lovely purple-hued flower that can range in intensity of color. Geranium is a really good source of nectar and pollen for a wide range of insects. Beetles, flies, and a decent sized list of bees have been documented using Wild Geranium. It is also a host plant for two moth species, Parectopag eraniella, a leaf-mining morht, and Orgyia leucostigma, a tussock moth.
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| Wild Geranium, Geranium maculatum, offers both pollen and nectar to visiting insects. |
With so many delightful mid-season spring wildflowers to share, I'll divide this into two posts. Stay tuned for Part II and more on EOA's spring wildflower show!
Posted by: Robyn Wright-Strauss
