Seek spring flowers before they’re gone

I really enjoy this time of year, but not for what you might think. Sure, there are thousands of birds migrating back to the northland each night. Huge flocks of snow geese are pushing northward. Hibernating animals from chipmunks to black bears are waking up and looking for something to eat. Early flying insects are buzzing around in the cool spring air. 

No, it’s not all of these fuzzy and feathery critters that I enjoy so much about this time of year. It’s the spring ephemeral wildflowers. Ya, that’s right, flowers. Specifically, spring ephemeral wildflowers are native, perennial woodland plants that emerge very early in spring, put out their flowers and develop seeds, thus completing their entire lifecycle before the tall deciduous trees, which tower above them, leaf out fully. 

Spring ephemeral wildflowers are a large group of different kinds of flowers that all share similar strategies to reproduce early in the spring season, thus completing their lifecycle in just a matter of weeks. In early spring, our deciduous trees that make up our forests take their time putting out their leaves. First, they need to put out their flowers for reproduction. Most of our trees are wind pollinated, which means the tree relies on the wind to blow its pollen from the male flowers to female flowers. Thousands of leaves would only get in the way of the transportation of the tree’s pollen, so the leaves are delayed until after the trees are done reproducing. 

On the forest floor below the towering trees above, the spring ephemeral flowers are taking advantage of the extended time that the forest floor gets direct sunlight. The wildflowers grow quickly, taking advantage of the bare tree branches. The name “ephemeral” means “short-lived” or “fleeting,” which aptly applies to the wildflower’s brief life and lifecycle. 

By the time the deciduous trees start to grow their leaves and fill in the canopy, thus blocking the sunlight from the forest floor, the wildflowers will have completed their entire lifecycle and will die back to the ground and not be seen until next spring. 

The variety, shapes, and colors of the spring ephemeral flowers are staggering. They range in size and color from giant white Trilliums to tiny purple Hepatica to the large and foul-smelling Wild Ginger. Also, the variety of orchids, such as the Yellow Lady-slipper, is always a treat. The sizes, shapes, and colors of the spring ephemeral wildflowers are always worth the time to seek out and enjoy their beauty. 

One thing that many of these wildflowers have in common is their dependency on ants. Most of the wildflowers produce seeds that have a fatty appendage called elaiosome. Ants are attracted to this food source and carry the seeds back to underground nests. They eat the elaiosome and discard the seeds in their underground trash pile, which is the perfect place for the plants to germinate and grow, achieving seed dispersal well away from the mother plant. 

Many of these spring ephemeral wildflowers can withstand freezing, which is good, because at this time of year the nights often get below freezing. They often carpet the forest floor making an impressive show of color and life at a time of year when nothing is green yet. Until next time…

Stan Tekiela is an author / naturalist and wildlife photographer who travels extensively to study and capture images of wildlife. He can be followed at www.instagram.com and www.facebook.com. He can be contacted via his website at www.naturesmart.com.