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.