Did you ever notice lady-slipper always has just two leaves and one flower? Also that the blossom is mostly closed, but has a small opening in front to admit pollinating insects, who have to find a different exit to bust out (brushing past the pollen-covered stamen). Lady-slippers can live to be twenty or older! Photo taken May 22, 2013.
Pink Lady-slipper, Moccasin flower (Cypripedium acaule Ait.)
This looks like some kind of wild hydrangea, but based on the way it has these large flowers opening around the edge, I think it’s Hobblebush. The showy outer flowers are sterile, the tiny inner flowers are fertile. Later will have fruit changing from red to purple. Has low hanging branches that put down roots where they touch the ground, forming webs of roots that hobble walkers—supposedly that’s the origin of the name. Honeysuckle family. Native.
Hobblebush, Witch-hobble, Moosewood (Viburnum alnifolium)
Our current sort of strawberries were first bred in Brittany, France, in the 1750s, a cross of Fragaria virginiana (the wild kind pictured here) from eastern North America and Fragaria chiloensis, which was brought from Chile by Amédée-François Frézier in 1714.
Wild Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)
They are wild and native to eastern and midwest North America. Poppies produce latex, and in Celandine Poppies, it’s a bright yellow sap that was used as a dye by Native Americans.
Wood Poppy, Celandine Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum)
The first Jack in the Pulpit of the season, a very dramatic black and green striped and slightly ruffled one! Some folklore from Wikipedia: “One account from the Meskwaki Indians states that they used it to determine the fate of the sick by dropping a seed in a cup of stirred water; If the seed went around four times clockwise, the patient would recover, if it went around less than four times they would not.” Native. Photo: May 3, 2013.
Jack in the Pulpit, Indian Turnip (Arisaema triphyllum)
Sessile means sitting or resting on the surface — these have sessile leaves, which means the leaf comes directly out of the main stem, but the leaf itself has no stem of its own. Lily family. Native. Photo taken May 3, 2013.
Sessile Bellwort, Wild Oats (Uvularia sessilifolia)
These are common in the local woods, can cover large areas. They grow from rhizomes. Buttercup family. Poisonous. Native. Photo: May 2, 2013.
Wood Anemone, Windflower, Nightcaps (Anemone quinquefolia)
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)
