Three spring ephemerals
Spring beauty, white trillium, and red trillium (oh my!)
Happy Friday my flora friends! Do you have big weekend plans to get outside? Well, the sun is shining and the wildflowers are popping here in Ontario. It is looking like a perfect weekend to grab your mom (Happy Mother’s Day) and get a dose of nature.
This weekend I will be visiting the Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory for their annual Spring Bird Festival. I am excited to be giving a talk about how remote sensing data can be used to support bird research. And I will, of course, be making time to enjoy a walk in the woods and check out what’s blooming.
Have a great weekend. Happy exploring.
Red trillium
Red trillium (Trillium erectum) is a real eye-catcher… and a nose-catcher! Another common name for this species is Stinking Benjamin. Rather than producing nectar, these blooms produce a compound that smells of rotting flesh to attract flies to get the pollination job done. Stinky indeed. A resident of spring woodlands, it is also able to tolerate more acidic environments and so you’ll find it along the Canadian Shield to the north and in conifer stands.
White trillium
As a resident of Ontario, it may very well be my civic duty to capture an annual photograph of our provincial flower looking stately. This flower got its name from its three leaves, three petals, three sepals, and a seedpod with three sections (tri means three, lilium means lily). There are five trillium species found across Ontario, with White trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) being the most prolific in Prince Edward County. You’ll find them growing under the emerging forest canopy, and you may find some white-tailed deer there too grazing on them.
Spring beauty
If you would like a little extra confirmation that spring is indeed beautiful, look no further than Spring beauty (Claytonia caroliniana). With pink anthers and pink veins along their petals, these blooms are pretty in pink. Below ground, you’ll find tiny tubers which perhaps helps explain one of its other common names - Fairy spud. These wildflowers enjoy the sun-dappled floor of woodlands, but I come across them popping up in the grass too.
And that’s it for this week!
There is a lot more blooming in an around Prince Edward County, and it is really ramping up as the weather continues to warm. Be on the lookout for Wild blue phlox, Dutchman’s breeches, Yellow and white trout lily, Cutleaved toothwort, and more. What’s blooming in your part of the world?
Lovely!