C is for Cut-leaved Toothwort

Yes, we have a flower thing going on. That’s what happens when you spend so much time in the woods avoiding people.

This fine-leaved spring ephemeral can be easily overlooked if the flowers aren’t open.

Its name is both from those leaves and the knobby roots, which appear to have tooth-like projections on them: Cut-leaved Toothwort, Dentaria laciniata. The flowers, which stand up better in full sunlight, attract many kinds of native bees and spring butterflies.

One sad note Miz Flora came across while researching toothworts is that the roots were a minor food source of Passenger Pigeons, which became extinct from overhunting in the early 20th Century.

And remember: This is the year to enjoy our wildflowers from an extreme distance. Stay home! (We squirrels are watching you!)

B is for Bloodroot

Blooming now!

(But not in the rain.)

The leaves aren’t flushed out, so the sunlight is reaching the ground and warming it for the spring wildflowers, or as Miz Flora calls them, spring ephemerals. That’s making the blush of green you see across the forest floor.

Bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis, gets its name from the red sap that flows from the broken roots. It’s one of the spring flowers that saves its blooming for sunny days when the bees are flying so they will pollinate it.

You humans are VERY enthusiastic about your wildflowers, but keep in mind that this is the year to enjoy them from an extreme distance. Stay home! (We squirrels are watching you!)

G is for Green and Gold

Lol, that’s one plant with two G names!

Unfortunately, neither of the Green and Gold plants in our neighborhood are blooming quite yet. And once we poked our noses closer, we discovered they are two different species, though Miz Flora assures us they are both Chrysogonum virginianum, and the non-fuzzy one is a subspecies. Hickory isn’t so sure, and that’s getting too detailed for me.

At any rate, this second one is fuzzier.

Green and Gold–sometimes called Golden Star–is a shade-loving ground cover that spreads, though not as fast as some of your human ornamentals. It’s a native aster with five petals that blooms fairly early, so that’s a help to the bees. And that it likes shady, moist soil is a help to lots of gardeners.