Lynn Firth Virtual Wildflower Walk

Spring beauty

Claytonia virginica

Cecile: One of the earliest and smallest blooming wildflowers of Spring, growing just over 6 in. tall. Stem contains one pair of long, narrow leaves. Flowers range in color from white or light pink to darker pink/purple and flower petals have distinctive dark pink lines running lengthwise along the flower petals. Found in early Spring in drier wooded sites. It is part of the Portulaca Family.

Violet

Viola spp.

Cecile: There are many different varieties of this common wildflower. Blue or purple are the most common species but there are also white and yellow varieties. The leaves are heart-shaped, and the solitary flowers are produced on leafless, individual stems. Violets usually bloom in May and do best in moist, shady sites but can adapt to other settings. Violets are one of the larval food sources for fritillary butterflies.

Scroll through the Violet photos to see an example of the three colors you can find in Northwestern Pennsylvania.

Spotted geranium

Geranium maculatum

Melissa: This showy relative of your garden geranium is often found in clumps in the woods or on the edge of fields. The 'spotted' in the name refers to the white specks on the leaves. Plants grow 1-3 ft. tall, with 1.5 in. flowers growing in small clusters above a pair of deeply-lobed leaves. Spotted geraniums are pretty easygoing as far as woodland wildflowers go - they'll grow in anything from full sun to dappled shade,and in moist hummusy soil to well-drained, poor soil. The nectar and pollen of this flower is an important springtime food source for our native pollinators.

Marsh marigold

Caltha palustris

Melissa: You can find carpets of these bright mounding flowers in Spring wetlands. Marsh marigolds can grow between 8-24 in. tall. They have fairly round, lightly scalloped basal leaves. Plant stems are hollow (a trait that helps differentiate it from a similar looking invasive species). The flowers bloom in clusters on a plant, average 1 in. across, and, though they appear to be just yellow to us, bees see them as being very colorful. To insects, the upper part of the petals appears as a mixture of yellow and an ultraviolet color, "bee's purple", while the lower part is all yellow. Unlike most of the other wildflowers in this slideshow, you'll usually find Marsh marigold in sunny locations.

Purple cress

Cardamine spp.

Melissa: Probably the prettiest plants in the mustard family (Brassicaeae), Cardamine douglassii (Purple Cress), shown here, is similar to Cardamine bulbosa (Spring Cress), except that the latter has flowers with white petals and green sepals and lacks a hairy stem. This wildflower blooms in the early Spring beneath deciduous trees with evenly moist soil.

Note that this is the place where Annie recorded the mud PSA - be prepared for some wet toes!

Trout lily

Erythronium americanum

Melissa: This flower is named for the mottled fish that the leaf pattern resembles. Though usually yellow, you'll occasionally come across a rare patch of white Trout lilies. It takes up to 5 years for a plant to start flowering (many species in the lily family take a long time to mature). This is one of the most common wildflowers you'll see in our woods. Trout lilies cameo in many of the photos for other wildflowers in this slideshow - see how many you can find.

False hellebore

Veratrum viride

Melissa: Also known as Indian poke and Corn-lily, this is a unique-looking plant found on floodplains and shallow wetlands. The large, deeply ribbed leaves are the prominent feature of this plant. False hellebore might be the largest plant in this tour - it can grow up to 6 ft. tall, though it's usually closer to 3-4 ft. It has a subtle cluster of star-shaped, hairy flowers that grows from a central stalk. The flowers fade quickly, while the leaves persist through early summer.

Slender toothwort

Cardamine angustata

Melissa: You can distinguish this species from other toothworts by looking at the leaves - Cutleaf has deeply incised leaves; Forkleaf has pencil-thin, delicate leaves; and Slender has variable leaves with a pair of broad basal leaves and a narrow pair that subtends a cluster of nodding white blooms. Plants will grow roughly 8-12 in. tall. Our flowers are just about to bloom - keep an eye out for these if you walk the trail closer to May.

Blue cohosh

Caulophyllum thalictroides

Cecile: Spreading and bushy when mature, blue cohosh is a large, multi-stemmed perennial, 1-3 ft. tall. Thrice-compound leaves with lobed leaflets are purplish in spring and become green as they develop. Inconspicuous, purplish-brown to yellow-green clusters of flowers are followed by conspicuous, bright-blue berries.

Be sure to scroll through the photos of Blue cohosh to see what it looks like as the seasons progress. The first photo was taken on April 22nd, 2020, to give you an idea of what to look for this time of year.

Red trillium

Trillium erectum

Melissa: This is my favorite wildflower! The plants grow from an underground rhizome, from which it takes years for a plant to mature and start blooming. Fun fact: Trillium plants produce no true leaves or stems above ground. The “stem” is actually just an extension of the horizontal rhizome and produces special leaves called cataphylls. These highly modified leaves surround the flowering scape (the above ground plant) as it pushes up through soil in early spring. The leaf-like structures are technically bracts subtending the flower. As the name suggests, all parts of this plant tend to be arranged in threes (the"leaves", flower petals, and reproductive parts), which is typical of plants in the Lily family (Liliaceae). The Red trillium is sometimes called a 'Wakerobin' as it blooms for just 2-3 short weeks around when the American robin starts to sing. You can find this plant in the understory of rich, moist woods.

Be sure to scroll to the 3rd and 4th photos to see another similar species, the white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum).

Wild ginger

Asarum canadense

Annie: Wild ginger occurs as a low, colony-forming perennial typically 4-8” high, primarily in the understory of deciduous forests in moist, rich soils. An individual plan consists of a pair of velvety, heart-shaped leaves. The solitary flower is often overlooked, hidden as it is at the base of the leaves, and is red or purplish in color. The rootstock does have a strong, gingery flavor, but is not related to commercial ginger (Zingiber officinale). Although used by early Americans as a seasoning, the plant is not typically used for culinary purposes, and in fact is considered toxic by the USDA.

This flower is part of the wildflower hotspot that Annie referred to in the video before this slideshow. It occurs along a stream, supporting the moist, rich soils that it needs to thrive.

Bloodroot

Sanguinaria canadensis

Melissa: This poppy relative is a true Spring ephemeral, with flowers that only last about 1-2 days. A solitary 6-10 in. bloom emerges from the rhizome wrapped up in a deeply scalloped leaf. Bloodroot flowers open during the day and close up at night. The leaves will keep developing over the summer after the flower has faded, and can reach up to 10 in. across. Colonies will grow together in the rich soils of streamside forests. The flower is named for the red sap present in all parts of the plant.

Also note that this spot on the map is the wildflower hotspot that Annie referred to in the video before this slideshow.

Mayapple

Podophyllum peltatum

Melissa: This is a good flower to practice on if you're just starting to learn Spring wildflowers. It's fairly tall (growing up to 20 in.) with large, conspicuous leaves. These plants are appropriately named, as they bloom like clockwork around early May in our region. A fleshy fruit that resembles an apple will follow later in the summer. Much like the Canada mayflower that you'll see elsewhere in the slideshow, Mayapple flowers only bloom on fertile shoots with two leaves. The infertile stems with just a single leaf will vastly outnumber the blooming ones within a colony. These plants make me think of little fairy umbrellas.

Canada mayflower

Maianthemum canadense

Melissa: One of the most common wildflowers you'll see out in our woods in the Spring. These diminutive plants grow about 4 in. high in dense clumps - but you'll only see the blooms on the plants with two or more basal leaves. The infertile single-leaf shoots usually outnumber the fertile blooms. These plants thrive in dappled sunlight with high humidity and cool temperatures. The berries, which form later in the year, are a favorite food source for Ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus). You'll often see mayflowers alongside Spring beauty and Trout lily.