There is a bit of meadow where these stalks have emerged. They seem few and far between so I wouldn’t feel right harvesting them. But they look good! (Later when they fruit, they’ll have small red berries that are poisonous to humans.) There is an asparagus recipe in the oldest surviving cookbook, which is a Greek book from the third century AD. Native to Europe, Africa and Asia. Introduced to North America around 1850.
Wild Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis)
Native to North America. They require cross-pollination by insects… they’re food for many butterfly larvae. Plus, a beautiful sign of spring. (Photo taken May 1, 2013)
Wild Crab Apple Tree (Malus coronaria)
Leaves smell garlicky when crushed. An invasive that crowds out more delicate native wildflowers. It was brought to North America as a cooking herb in the 1860s. Mustard family. (Photo taken April 30, 2013.)
Garlic Mustard (Alliaria officinalis)
Dark blue and purple orchid-like flowers. This plant is introduced and invasive. It belongs to the Mint family. (Photo taken April 30, 2013. I’m way behind on posting photos, so I’m going to add the actual dates I collected the photos, for the AFs who are trying to compare this year with last year—you know who you are!)
Creeping Charlie, Ground Ivy, Gill-over-the-ground, Haymaids (Glechoma hederacea)
Very small, but with an exotic orchid-like form if you look closely. Called deadnettle because even though it looks like a nettle, it is not, and it doesn’t sting like a nettle. Apparently the flowers, leaves and stems are edible, raw, cooked or dried. Mint family. Native to Europe and Asia.
Purple Deadnettle, Red Deadnettle, Purple Archangel (Lamium purpureum)
Last year I misidentified these as Marsh Marigold. Now I have better resources, and I know that Marsh Marigolds don’t have this many petals. So based on the number of petals (8-12) and the heart-shaped variegated leaves, it’s Lesser Celandine (to distinguish from Celandine, a larger wild poppy). They follow the sun during the day and close in cloudy or cold weather. The name Celandine is derived from the Greek word for swallow (chelidon), because the early flowering time was also when the swallows arrived. (Last year we spotted these March 22… so… 3 weeks later this year.) Buttercup family.
Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus ficaria)
At Centennial, I noticed a single beautiful little blue flower among the brown leaves. I wasn’t going to count it because it’s Scilla siberica, a spring bulb flower. But as I kept looking, I saw this big drift of color at the edge of the woods where this flower had been naturalized, and the single one I saw was clearly an escapee from this group. So let’s not count it as a wildflower, but the field of blue was so gorgeously springy as to require a post. Native to southwestern Russia, the Caucasus and Turkey. But not Siberia.
Siberian Squill (Scilla siberica)
The flowers similar to other asters, but this variety is loaded with flowers all along the little branches. Native.
Small White Aster (Symphyotrichum racemosum)
A new flower appears at Centennial, I’m on it like a spider discovering something new in the web. There is a large area covered with these, just starting to come into bloom. (There are many similar kinds of asters, difficult to distinguish, and they randomly hybridize. In the reference books and sites I consult, there is some disagreement about what the common name of this aster is, although I think the latin name identification is correct.) Composite family. Native.
Awl Aster, Heath Aster, Frost Aster (Aster pilosus)