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| Early Bloomers |
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Something wonderful is happening in the woods! As the late winter sun shines on the forest floor, early blooming wildflowers decorate the ground with their pretty blossoms. Once the trees start to leaf out in late spring, the forest becomes too shady and these shy little flowers disappear.
Flower power
One of the first wildflowers to poke its head up through last year’s fallen leaves doesn’t really look like a flower at all. The speckled leaves of the skunk cabbage hide the strange flower parts inside. It may not be sweet to see or smell, but the skunk cabbage has the amazing ability to heat up the ground around it. It blooms in late winter until the middle of March.
Another March bloomer is the snow trillium. This small and rare white flower is a relative of Ohio’s state wildflower, the large white trillium. The snow trillium has three white petals and three green leaves, like its bigger cousin, but is just two to six inches tall. The snow trillium only feels at home in certain soils that sit above limestone bedrock, so its range is limited to central Ohio, and portions of southwest Ohio. John Bryan State Park and nearby Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve are good places to spy snow trillium.
Toward the end of March, dainty wildflowers start to cover the ground like a carpet. Hepatica, a member of the buttercup family, is the first to pop up under the trees. Hepatica is just four to six inches tall, with white, pink, or bright lavender blooms. When old-time farmers saw the hepatica flowers, they knew it would soon be time to plant their fields.
April showers, April flowers
In early April, the lovely spring beauty starts to bloom. Spring beauty’s five oval petals are white with pink stripes, or solid pink. Deer love to munch these plants, which have roots that taste like radishes when raw. People can eat spring beauties too! The roots taste like baked potatoes when they are boiled or baked. Another tasty April flower is toothwort, part of the mustard family. The spicy root of toothwort tastes like pepper. The spiky toothwort leaves are easy to spot halfway up the stem, which is topped with clusters of flowers with pointed white petals.
The speckled leaves of the trout lily are almost as handsome as the flower. In early April, look close to the ground to see the leaves, which are long, thick ovals with glossy green and brown spots that look like the scales of a trout. The graceful, bell shaped yellow flower hangs down from its tall, curved stem. The edible leaves and bulbs taste great cooked with butter, although black bears prefer to eat them raw. Pioneers made trout lily tea to cure hiccups, and Roman soldiers wrapped the leaves around their sore feet.
By mid-April, the bloodroot is in bloom. The bloodroot’s sturdy petals and heart shaped leaves are much larger than the tiny wildflowers sprinkled across the forest floor. This bright white flower is named for the dark red sap that oozes from its roots. In the frontier days, Indians used the sap to make war paint for their faces, and a dye for clothes and baskets.
Two favorite blue flowers bloom in late April. The bright little bluet is a cheerful sight in open woods, as well as grassy fields, such as picnic areas. The bluet has four sky-blue petals and a sunny yellow center on a slim eight inch stem.
Compared to the tiny wildflowers of early spring, the Virginia bluebell is big and showy. The bluebell blooms with bunches of trumpet shaped blue flowers dangling from the plant’s thick stem. Since the Middle Ages, the bluebell has been a symbol of love and loyalty. A bouquet of bluebells was a sweet way to say “I am loyal and true” to someone special.
Some of spring’s later flowers are known for their interesting shapes. The blooms of Dutchman’s breeches look like tiny pairs of white pantaloons hanging on a clothesline. Squirrel corn looks very similar, except the blooms are shaped like little white hearts, and have tiny yellow tubers at the bottom that look like kernels of corn.
Don’t wait for May flowers!
Plan a walk in the woods soon, so you can see our early bloomers. Many Ohio State Parks have guided wildflower hikes in April. See the calendar of events for dates and details.
Try hiking the same trail every few weeks to see what’s new. If you can’t come early, don’t worry. May bloomers, like large white trillium, wild ginger, mayapple, and ladyslipper orchids are fun to find. Even the shady woods of summer offer something beautiful in bloom!
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| Photos from left to right: skunk cabbage; trout lily; and snow trillium, all photos courtesy of Ohio state park Naturalist Jenny Richards; spring beauty. |
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