Trailing Arbutus

 I was reminded yesterday that this little flower is out.....  Arbutus has such a lovely scent which only intensifies with age. It is easy to miss, because these little flowers (less than half an inch) grow low to the ground barely sticking their heads above the leaf litter. It is the state flower of Massachusetts and is protected by law. Some may be surprised that this is our state flower.... I think the confusion lies in the fact that it goes by more than one name. May Flower being one. In Massachusetts there is another flower that is also called May Flower, though its full name is Canada May Flower. The later flower is much more plentiful, growing everywhere, and it is easy to see how a resident of this state could assume that when the state flower is mentioned, the Canada May Flower is what comes to mind. Trailing Arbutus has been called May Flower for a very long time.... John Greenleaf Whittier even wrote about them in a poem. Folklore has it that it was the first flower the Pilgrims saw after their very difficult first winter in New England.  It was at that time, referred to as a May Flower. Maybe... named after the ship that brought them safely through their long hard journey to the new world, not unlike the long hard journey through their first winter..... or so the story goes.


Where I found it: road side

Marsh Marigold

 I have been watching these in a wetland area of the woods. They have been up and in bud for a week or two. Today revealed a single flower willing to brave the early Spring.The Marsh Marigold is also called Cowslip. Thoreau called them Cow's Lips.This flower attracts more than 40 different kinds of bees. It reflects light in the ultraviolet range and looks yellow to humans but purple to bees. If you click on the photo you will see the "nectar guide" lines that leads the bee to the center of the flower.

Where I found it: wet, swampy spots that have sun exposure during the early Spring.

Bloodroot or Deadman's Fingers

 Today's find is such a treat. It grows up out of the leaf debris, cuddled in its leaf. I was told years ago that this flower also goes by the name ... Deadman's Fingers. Being the amateur naturalist that I am.... I thought I should find a little more information about this nickname, and I found no reference to this flower going  by that name. I have taken children on nature walks and told them the gory story behind this nickname and it is often the flower they always remember. If you could see below the leaf debris into the soil you would see an underground stem that resembles the shape of a finger, and if you happen to slice off a piece of that underground stem you would notice how red and, excuse me for saying
this, juicy it looks. I can almost hear the children groaning with delight.
 I have included the entry of Bloodroot from my nature journal so you can
 see the root and what it looks like when it has been sliced.

Where I found it: In the woods, on a sunny, sloped site.

Skunk Cabbage

 Though not the most elegant plant in the forest... it is one of the more interesting.
It is the first to appear in the Northeast, flowering February to May. It is again an early source of pollen for bees. It is a little oasis during the still very cold months for bees. If it warms up enough to venture out of their hive, the bees can travel to this carrion smelling flower and nestle into the opening of the spathe to find a spadix that produces a temperature of around 70 degrees F. The bee is free to gather pollen in the spring like temperature of the Skunk Cabbage. Birds and frogs have been known to take advantage of its warmth also.
Thoreau wrote " If you are affected with melancholy at this season, go to the swamp and see the brave spears of Skunk Cabbage buds already advanced toward a new year."

Where I found it : In a swampy wet land not far from the river.

Colts Foot

 Here it is. I was able to go back in the woods with my camera to photograph my first find of the season. Colts foot first comes up without its leaves. They appear later in the spring. The leaves were used in the 19 century to make cough candies or cough drops as we call them. Colts Foot comes up so early that it is an important bee plant. It is an early source of pollen for the bees.

Where I found it : On an open path in the woods.

Colts Foot and Great Horned Owls

March 21 is early for my first flower of the season, but none the less, today, I came across Colts Foot growing on the path in the woods. I was thrilled as I didn't expect anything for another month...   I looked up when Colts Foot can be found in the East, it said as early as Febuary. Also .... I heard a Great Horned Owl hooting at 11:00 in the morning. I heard him three times. This was a special morning.