Spring Wildflowers

In what now seems like the distant past, I loved getting out in the woods in May, learning the plants and listening to the chorus of birdsong.  I had cornea transplants when I was 20 & 21, so had to be on call for a fast two hour trip to Toronto.  I spent that time in nearby Trillium Woods and never forgot those days. I've been in love with the woods in May ever since.  These wildflowers don't all bloom at once, but I've included them all even though you'd have to go out about three times to see them all.

The woods after it has warmed up but before the tree leaves cast heavy shade is a very special place.  Sunlight can reach the forest floor and the spring wildflowers take advantage of that.  Thus they are known as 'spring ephemerals'.

Soon the woods looks more like this, and the wildflowers revert to building their roots in preparation for next year.  The photo is on the (then) blue-blazed Mac Kirk Side Trail at Old Baldy, where I walked almost every year for awhile, and led several wildflower walks.

Round-lobed Hepatica is the first wildflower to bloom here (if we set aside Skunk Cabbage), and the blooms are often gone by mid-May.

Spring Beauty comes along soon after..

I think of the Blue Cohosh, as the ghost plant.  It comes out of the ground a real purple colour.  It grows so fast that if you sat and watched it on a warm day you could almost see it grow!

Red Trillium blooms well before the White Trillium.

Bloodroot has an unusual leaf that wraps around the stem of the flower until blooming is over.

The dark reddish-brown flower of Wild Ginger lies on the ground underneath the large round leaves.

Dog-tooth Violet or Trout Lily, a very common flower.

Foamflower is not as common in my experience, and hard to photograph when you do find it!

Dutchman's Breeches, supposedly in the shape of white breeches, hanging on the line.

Squirrel Corn, though where that name comes from I have no idea.  These two species have leaves that are identical.

Largeflower Bellwort always looks a little wilted or droopy.

The Jack-in-the-pulpit flower is an inconspicuous green, but it will eventually transform into a cluster of very bright red berries.

And White Trillium is actually one of the last to bloom, and it takes some hunting to find a profusion of blooms like this!  Hope you're enjoyed these spring ephemerals, even though the photos are nearly ten years old!  And Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there.

It's the big birthday weekend here, three birthdays in three days!  This post is one of my contributions to the celebration.