April showers bring....April Flowers!

 New life is increasing at a steady pace these days. Although there hasn't been a lot of April shower activity, the sporadic bit that we have had, as well as the greater abundance of snow these past few months, has allowed the usual emergence of early spring flowers.

I do most of my spring wildflower exploration at Rondeau, which has some of the greatest biodiversity of anywhere in Ontario. However since it is a peninsula sticking out into the cold waters of Lake Erie, the usual prevailing winds coming off the water affects the temperature at Rondeau making the emergence at least a week or two behind inland areas.

Certainly one of the earliest and showiest wildflower is Bloodroot, a native woodland species that I always consider to be a harbinger of spring.

 At about the same time, is Colt'sfoot. not a native species, but somewhat showy itself. It usually is seen at the edge of woodlands.

As the temperatures increase a bit, and the days get longer, there is a progression of colour. In open, grassy oak woodland, Early Buttercup can dominate. This first photo shows the abundance of this species in a section of the picnic area at the north end of Rondeau.

In the more woodland areas, Dutchman's Breeches are nice to find.

Cut-leaved Toothwort emergence can vary a little, as this one shows that it is just about to open, but not quite. This species can be quite abundant on the rich, forest floor.

Hepatica, shown next, come in two types: Sharp-lobed and Round-lobed types, based primarily on the shape of their leaves. As the leaves of individuals are not always visible, it is sometimes hard to determine which is which. But they are attractive, with the flowers sometimes in a rich purplish colour....

...but more often, as almost white.

Flowers also occur on woody plants, and one of the most dominant species at Rondeau is Spicebush. Due to the more open forest canopy of Rondeau in recent years, as a result of the decline of Ash trees from the Emerald Ash Borer, and the slower decline of American Beech trees due to Beech Leaf Disease, the growth response of Spicebush is quite amazing. When the majority of them are all in flower, it can create a distinctive yellow glow to the forest understorey.

In open, dry sandy areas, Lyreleaf Rockcress is fairly abundant.

Other woody plants that are in flower are members of the willow family. Pussy willow flowers are evident, and on this first one, a type of Drone Fly is sipping away at the nectar. It flew off before I could get a better photo of the fly, but it is quite possibly a Narrow-headed Marsh Fly, shown below.

Narrow-headed Marsh Fly

Flowers aren't always large and showy, and even things like members of the sedge family have flowers of some type. This next one is an Oak Sedge, showing a close-up first, and then a small clump which is fairly common along open forest edges. This one was photographed along the north end of Harrison Trail.

Violets can be fairly common. This is Smooth Yellow Violet, which lacks the hairiness on the stems that are more typical of Downy Yellow Violet.

And of course one of the highlights of the spring wildflower season is the appearance of Ontario's provincial wildflower, the White Trillium. They are just starting to show up at Rondeau, although I expect they are much more common in many inland woodlands. 

These are just a foreshadowing of a much greater variety of wildflowers to come in May, as long as there is adequate April showers! We will certainly see in the next few weeks!

 

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Early spring wildflower parade, and the silliness of social media

 A few weeks ago, someone posted a photograph of a beautiful Tulip-tree flower in excellent bloom. The leaves were fully developed and the flower looked quite attractive. Here is a photo of what it would look like in peak flowering.

The person who posted it got it from a friend, who was adamant that because of the warmer than usual winter southern Ontario had experienced, the Tulip-tree flowers at Rondeau Provincial Park were in full bloom even in late March! Even though it was pointed out that this was highly unlikely, the person who posted it stuck to the narrative, and at least a few others who saw the post bought into it.

Totally ridiculous!!!

Here is what the Rondeau forest looked like on April 14. 

There are lots of Spicebush coming into flower, as detected by the yellowish cast of the lower woody plants, but of course they flower before the leaves develop. There are Tulip Trees in this photo, but the leaves are undeveloped and there certainly are no flowers. The normal flowering date for this species is at least late May, depending on the year, but more often in early June.

Conclusion: it just goes to show how mis-leading, even somewhat useless, social media can be. I am sure that most readers of Nature Nuggets would not have fallen for such a silly post.

On to the real world.

With the sunnier, warmer days that have sometimes occurred in recent weeks, some of the early spring wildflowers are a bit ahead of themselves, at least by a few days. I have been out exploring some inland woodlots, such as Clear Creek Forest Prov Park, as well as the McKerrall Forest and Sinclair's Bush, all of which are a bit warmer than Rondeau which is very much affected by the surrounding cool waters of Lake Erie. While the trees are not yet in leaf, the spring wildflowers take advantage of all of the sunlight reaching the forest floor, as shown in this next photo of Clear Creek Forest.There is a hint of greenery, from the smaller spring wildflowers, shown here.

Here are some of the ones I was able to photograph at various places.

Bloodroot is normally one of the earliest, and they are still in flower.

As the forest photo of Rondeau shows above, the abundance of Spicebush is obvious, in part due to the decline of mature beech and ash trees which has allowed a lot more sunlight to get to the forest floor. This results in a huge profusion of Spicebush.

Virginia Spring Beauty

Dutchman's Breeches

Early Blue Cohosh

Cut-leaved Toothwort

Purple Cress

Red Trillium typically opens in flower slightly earlier than their white counterpart, and sure enough I saw more Reds in flower than Whites.

Most of the White Trilliums were open enough to see which species it was, as shown next....

...and I did see the occasional one completely open, especially if it was on a south facing slope which made it slightly warmer.

Yellow Trout Lily has lots and lots of the typical leaves visible scattered across the forest floor. A fair number of the plants may be in full flower if it is a sunny day.

Skunk Cabbage typically flowers before showing the leaves. A previous post showed the flowers, with virtually no leaf parts showing. Now, the opposite is the case, as the large green leaves are well developed and the purplish/yellow flower at the base is much harder to see.

Virginia Bluebells are a rather rare spring wildflower, and normally does not open up much until at least the end of the first week in May. I have a small clump in my yard, and this has been open for a few days. This photo was taken today, April 23.

The sandy soils of open places at Rondeau have many of the Early Butttercup in good flower.

When on the prowl looking for wildflowers, there are other things within view which I try and photograph. Butterflies are fairly plentiful due to the influx of Red Admiral and American Painted Lady.

Red Admiral

American Painted Lady

There are others as well, such as Eastern Comma and Spring Azure, although some butterfly persona would just call the latter species an Azure of the Celastrina complex.

Just for a bit more diversity, here are some turtles that are enjoying the sunnier days. Midland Painted Turtles, shown first, are quite abundant....

...whereas the Northern Map Turtle, next, is considerably less common.

Birds are showing up in greater numbers and diversity. I expect the next post to feature primarily birds.

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A Spring Wildflower 'Walk'

 The warmer than usual weather of a couple of weeks ago spurred a lot of spring wildflowers on their way. But the cool damp weather of the last few days have slowed their growth, and certainly caused the bird migration to stall, with a few birds dribbling through, but not like most birders hope for in late April and early May.

I know there are some readers who look forward to seeing the variety of spring wildflowers, but for various reasons cannot do it like they used to. As one ages, it is hard to get down to ground level to see them up close, and even harder to get back up again! And then there are some folks who have had a misfortune in their lives that limit their mobility in a serious way. I think of one reader in particular, Furry Gnome, who I have known casually for several decades. He has devoted a significant part of his life and career to protecting and promoting natural areas in various ways. Unfortunately a few years ago as a result of some needed surgery, is now limited to a wheelchair. Yet he continues to try and do the best he can. You can read about his adventures in his blog, which I have listed on the side of my blog site entitled 'Seasons in the Valley.'

This blog post is therefore devoted to those like Furry Gnome, who are unable to see spring wildflowers like they would like to, or used to. I am fortunate that I can still get out and about, and even have a camera body with a tilt screen enabling me to see those flowers up super close, without having to get down on my belly to do so.

What follows does not necessarily represent any particular order of flowering, but to a certain extent, just the way they are labelled. Their order of flowering can vary from site to site, depending on how well they are shaded, what the slope of the ground might be which could favour those getting a stronger sunlight to flower earlier.

Unless otherwise noted, all of the following flowers were photographed in the last couple of weeks.

One of the earliest to flower is this one:

Bloodroot

Cut-leaved Toothwort

Downy Yellow Violet

A closer view, which shows some kind of spider approaching the throat of the flower.

Downy Yellow Violet

Early Blue Cohosh

There is another, quite similar species of Cohosh that has greener flowers, and is in flower a couple of weeks later.

Early Buttercup

Dutchman's Breeches

This next one is Squirrel Corn, not nearly as common as Dutchman's Breeches in my experience. The leaves are very similar, so it is necessary to see the actual flowers to determine which species it is.

Yellow Trout Lily, shown next, usually has to have a bright sunny day before the petals open enough to curl back. Sunny days have been few and far between lately so the third one is from a brighter day a year ago.

Very similar to Yellow Trout Lily is White Trout Lily. It isn't as common. Again, it needs a good dose of bright sun to open and the only ones I have seen so far this year are hardly open at all. This one is from a couple of years ago.

Hepatica, shown above, can be one of two different kinds, primarily based on their leaf shape. However early in the season, the flowers typically emerge before the leaves are fully formed, and so are difficult to identify to species. The colours can vary from very white to bluish purple.

Next is Jack-in-the-Pulpit.

In some of the wetter parts of a woodland, one may come across a beautiful cluster, or many clusters of Marsh Marigold.

Also in the slightly damper parts of a woodland you may come across Purple Cress.

Red Trilliums are always a highlight to see. I am not sure why some have the single petal pointing up, as above, while others have the single petal pointing down.

Red Trilliums always seem to open up a bit earlier than their white counterpart. Most of the White Trilliums I have seen so far are still fairly tightly closed....

...but over the last few days, a few of the whites are showing better.

Spring Beauty, next, is just as its name implies.

One that flowers prolifically, but is seldom noticed, is Wild Ginger. Their distinctive leaves are apparent in various woodlands, but it isn't until you get down and look at the part of the stem right at ground level after brushing away the leaf litter that you can see the chocolatey brown flower resting on the ground. It isn't pollinated by flying insects as most wildflowers are. Instead they are pollinated by invertebrates that crawl on the ground.

A counterpart to the Downy Yellow Violet shown near the beginning is the Downy Blue Violet.

In very wet areas, such as the sloughs of Rondeau, is this Yellow Water Crowfoot, a member of the Buttercup family.

And spring wildflowers are not limited to those fleshy plants growing on the ground. Where there are damp woods, Spicebush, a woody shrub, can be dominant, as it is at Rondeau.

Not a flower in the usual sense, although it is the flowering/spore producing part of a common plant, is this Scarlet Cup, a fungus that is present primarily in spring.

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