Spring Ephemerals- the Early Wildflowers

(Script by Francie Von Mertens)

There's a group of early wildflowers that are called spring ephemerals for the brief nature of their lives. I learned the term years ago on a hike with a good friend. We came across a surprising cluster of wildflowers that stood out in an otherwise dormat world not yet woken from winter.

Spring beauty is the wildflower's name. My friend explained they were one of the spring ephemerals, woodland wildflowers that emerge as soon as the spring sun warms the forest floor.

These early bloomers emerge on a hurry up schedule. The leaves must form and the flowers must bloom and seed before the trees overhead leaf out and shade their forest world. Several factors help them hurry along. Spring soils are consistently moist from rain and snowmelt. They are rich in nutrients from decaying leaves and other forest debris.
The early bloomers have little competition- for sun or food, or for pollinating insects.

Walk the woods in May with a watchful eye for spring ephemerals including dwark ginger, wood anemone, violets, trout lily and trillium.
With a watchful eye and an alert nose:

Some flowers attract pollinators by color and by smell- but not always a sweet smell. Red trillium attracts pollinating flies with its smell of decaying matter... and a crimson color that resembles blood.
This popular wildflower has many nicknames, including a few that suggest its aroma. "Stinking Benjamin" is one, and the more descriptive "wet dog trillium".

But I prefer its more common nickname "wake robin", with its suggested wake-up call to the natural world that spring has indeed arrived.