Mesic Upland Forest Ephemerals

It was such a nice weekend that, regardless of how much I had to get done, we had to get out and see some of the ephemerals before they're gone. Lindsay, Bootypants, and I headed to a mesic upland forest property owned by friends of ours just northeast of Potato Creek State Park in St. Joseph County, Indiana. It's a great time to be in the woods... I think of spring as a celebration of colors. Birds are molting into colorful breeding plumage, wildflowers are blooming to take advantage of the closing window of warm enough soil temperatures and sparse enough canopy cover before leaves are fully formed... as the comedian Robin Williams once said, "Spring is nature's way of saying 'Let's party!'".

Mesic Upland Forest

Wood Anemone (Anemone quinquefolia)

Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)

Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense)

Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica)

Squirrel Corn (Dicentra canadensis)

Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria)

Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)

False Rue Anemone (Enemion biternatum)

Lapham's Phlox (Phlox divaricata ssp. laphamii)

White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)

Prairie Trillium (Trillium recurvatum) - interesting pointed petals that are more open than normal

Prairie Trillium (Trillium recurvatum) - one of the strangest forms I've ever seen, with not quite yellow petals, but definitely lacking the pigment that you normally see

Downy Yellow Violet (Viola pubescens)

Longspur Violet (Viola rostrata)

Common Blue Violet (Viola sororia)

It's hard to find a happier dog than one amongst the spring wildflowers.

I've posted some additional photos from our day on Get Your Botany On!; you can access that post by clicking here.

Look What's Flowering Now!

We had some beautiful weather here in northern Indiana on Saturday, and I was able to take full advantage of it by botanizing at Sebert County Park in LaPorte County, Spicer Lake Nature Preserve in St. Joseph County, and Bendix Woods Nature Preserve in St. Joseph County. This is intended to be just a quick post to show some of the plant species that I saw in flower that Lindsay and I hadn't yet seen this year. For more information on several of these species, see my post here at Get Your Botany On!.


At Sebert County Park, I stumbled across American Dog Violet (Viola conspersa). This handsome blue violet is uncommonly encountered in moist woods, mostly east of the Mississippi River.
Limestone Bittercress (Cardamine douglassii) was flowering at Spicer Lake Nature Preserve. This plant of the mustard family (Brassicaceae) is commonly found in moist woods, often in somewhat disturbed areas.
The flowers of Limestone Bittercress have four petals, characteristic of mustards. This species is similar in appearance to Bulbous Bittercress (Cardamine bulbosa), but as you'll notice in the photograph below the stem within and below the inflorescence is pubescent, while that of Bulbous Bittercress has no hairs. There are also habitat differences, as Bulbous Bittercress is more often found in springy areas.

Also at Spicer Lake, Virginia Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) had begun to flower on trails through an old-field. I later saw this somewhat weedy species, which can be found throughout North America, flowering on the trails on our property. This is a welcome site for Bootypants, who thoroughly enjoys plucking the Virginia Strawberry fruit right off of the plants as we walk our trails during the summer.

Bendix Woods will probably be at its peak for wildflower viewing next weekend, when I will be leading a hike there for Shirley Heinze Land Trust. However, several ephemerals were already in bloom on Saturday. One of those was Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense), which is found in moist woods throughout eastern North America.

The 1-inch long flowers of this gorgeous species are hidden below the leaves very close to the ground, and can be easily overlooked if you aren't specifically looking for them.

Lindsay recently talked about seeing Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) in this post; on Saturday at Bendix Woods, I saw the closely related Squirrel Corn (Dicentra canadensis) just beginning to flower. The flowers of Squirrel Corn often have a soft pinkish tinge to them. The plant is named Squirrel Corn because of the tuberous roots, which are yellow and look like kernals of corn.

I really do enjoy seeing this next plant every spring. This is False Mermaidweed (Floerkea proserpinacoides), a plant of moist woods that is very easily overlooked and somehow often confused with bedstraw (Galium sp.).

The tiny flowers of this species have three whitish petals. You want to amaze your friends? Find False Mermaidweed in mid- to late-April and show them the beautiful flowers. Trust me... they'll be amazed. In the United States, this species is found as far east as Massachusetts and as far west as California.

And from one spring wildflower with three white petals to another...

This is White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum), of the lily family (Liliaceae). White Trillium is the state wildflower of Ohio, and it's easy to see why. I've never come across someone in the woods who isn't completely enamored with this species. As the season progresses, the petals begin to turn pink. Next week, Bendix Woods should be a carpet of white, made up in large part by White Trillium.

Finally, I came across this little insect that I believe is a Click Beetle, though I have no idea to what genus or species it belongs. From what I understand, they are called "click beetles" because of their ability to snap two body parts together, which shoots them into the air to avoid predators.

This Click Beetle was perched on the spike of Plantainleaf Sedge (Carex plantaginea). If anyone can help with a positive identification of the insect, I would be love to know what it is.

More to come as the spring progresses!

By the way, the ticks are out, so watch yourself. Bootypants and I are tied at two each; Lindsay hasn't had any yet.

I need a little spring!

I'm not one to complain about the snow. I love the snow. I love the winter. But even I have to say that spring can't come quickly enough this year. Parts of LaPorte County were blanketed with almost 2 feet of snow... last night! It's only early February, but it's hard to believe that spring will be roaring in less than two months. Since I don't think I'll be seeing any live flowering plants anytime soon, I figured I would post some old early spring photos to hopefully brighten our spirits.

Behold, the harbinger of spring - Erigenia bulbosa! This photo was taken on March 19, 2005 at Fall Creek Gorge in Attica, Indiana.

Trillium nivale, aptly named snow trillium, as it can sometimes be seen flowering while snow is still on the ground. This photo was taken on March 19, 2005 at Fall Creek Gorge.

The ubiquitous spring beauty, Claytonia virginica. In the depths of winter, even the most common of plants can bring us joy. This photos was taken on April 1, 2006 at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.

When there isn't much florally happening on the forest floor in early spring, Hepatica acutiloba is at its best. This photo of sharp-lobed hepatica was taken at Dowagiac Woods in southwest Michigan on April 15, 2006.

Upside-down, they do look like a Dutchman's breeches, don't they? I took this photo of Dicentra cucullaria at Bendix Woods in South Bend, Indiana on April 10, 2005.

If you've seen the roots of Dicentra canadensis, you understand why it's commonly referred to as squirrel corn. This photo was taken on April 17, 2005 at Bendix Woods.
In mid-April, marsh marigold lights up forested wetlands and seeps. This photo of Caltha palustris was taken in LaPorte County, Indiana on April 19, 2006.
Bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis, is beautiful even prior to anthesis. This photo was taken at Waldhaus in Buchanan, Michigan on March 25, 2007.

This perennial favorite, yellow trout lily (Erythronium americanum), is about as photogenic as they come. I snapped this shot on April 10, 2005 at Bendix Woods.

And a final sign of spring, the leaves of Asarum canadense, wild ginger, just beginning to unfurl. I took this photo at the Heron Rookery in Porter County, Indiana on April 1, 2007.

I can't wait for spring!