A favorite woodlands plant that we have growing on our mountain ridge is called Smooth Solomon’s Seal, Polygonatum biflorum. It grows only in wooded areas and it blooms in the middle of Spring, followed by large blue berries in Autumn.
Solomon’s Seal has one long arching stem that supports its linear and pointed leaves. Each leaf grasps the main stem at the base and graduates into a fine point at the end. Linear leaf veins that extend the length of the leaves show this plant to be of the monocot lineage.
Smooth Solomon's Seal blooming in a Pennsylvanian forest. Photo taken 11 May 2012.
Flowers of Solomon’s Seal usually dangle in pairs, but sometimes there is only one bloom at a leaf node or leaf axil. The cream-colored, bell-shaped flowers dangle from the main stem and sway with the breezes of Spring.
(Click any photo to see a larger image.)
Flowers of Smooth Solomon's Seal dangle in pairs from leaf axils. Photo taken 11 May 2012.
In the photo above note how the linear leaves sheath or grasp the main stem.
One of the Spring woodland flowers that is quite common is the yellow-flowering Dogtooth Violet, Erythronium americanum. It’s also called the Trout Lily because it blooms in early Spring when the trout are spawning.
The dogtooth violet has six long, narrow petals that are bright yellow on the inside with streaks of red to brown on the under or back side. The petals are swept back or reflexed which makes the yellow stamens stand out. A single flower rises up on a short flower stalk about 4-8 inches.
Foliage consists of one or two sword-shaped basal leaves. Leaves are thick, noticeably variegated, and entire, having a smooth margin. Photos taken 26 April 2011.
Mottled leaves and swept back petals of the Dogtooth Violet.
The trout lily is often seen near streams and other wet, woodland areas. Look for it in areas where the Skunk Cabbage grows.
Trout Lilies can often be found near Skunk Cabbage in wetland areas.
Trout lilies will often be found in massive quantities. Along a back road in central Pennsylvania a large group was spyed among brush in a swampy area near a creek.
Wetland habitat of trout lily. Trout lily in foreground and center of image with skunk cabbage. The taller greenery in the background is Mayapple. This area is lowland as noted by the rising hill in the background.
This could have been a beautiful display if the overgrown brush was removed. There were several lilies per square meter.
Many trout lilies growing in the same habitat. Mass of Trout Lily in Juniata County, PA - at least 50 lilies in bloom.
(Click on photos to see larger images.)
Like other Spring ephemerals this massive display of our native trout lily in bloom would probably hide on a cloudy day. We noticed the wetland flowers by the glint of their bright yellow flowers open in the sunshine.
Late May to early June is the blooming time for Whorled Loosestrife, Lysimachia quadrifolia in Pennsylvania, in particular South-central PA. These delicate loosestrife plants are about two feet tall and have lance-shaped leaves in whorls. You can find them flowering in open woods, at the edges of fields and along hiking trails.
About a dozen plants of Whorled Loosestrife blooming in the open woods.
Cohorts include Spotted Touch-Me-Nots and blackberry vines. Photo above taken 8 June 2010.
Flower buds project well over the whorled leaves, one flower for each leaf.
Whorls have typically four leaves and flowers but on the mountain ridge here we often see whorls of five. More rarely plants will have whorls of three. Photo above taken 31 May 2010.
Flowers and leaves in whorls.
In the photo above taken 31 May 2010 the Whorled Loosestrife plant on the left has five leaves per whorl and the one on the right has four leaves per whorl.
The flowers are truly star-like with five golden-yellow petals. Each has red dots around the center of the flower.
08jun2010
..whorled loosestrife flowering profusely
plants are two feet tall, whorled leaves
Whorled Loosestrife, Lysimachia quadrifolia,
loosestrife-whorled-lane.jpg 08jun2010
About a dozen plants of Whorled Loosestrife blooming in the open woods. Cohorts include Spotted Touch-Me-Nots and blackberry vines.
loosestrife-whorled-flower-buds.jpg 31may10
Flower buds project well over the whorled leaves, one flower for each leaf. Whorls have typically four leaves and flowers but we often see whorls of five.
loosestrife-whorls.jpg
In the photo above taken 31 May 2010 the Whorled Loosestrife plant on the left has five leaves per whorl and the one on the right has four leaves per whorl.
The flowers are truly star-like with five golden yellow petals. Each has red dots around the center of the flower.
Probably the first thing noticeable about yellow stemmed violets would be their heart-shaped leaves. The leaves branch off each other which gives a nice effect of producing a clump of heart-like leaves. Each leaf stands apart from the other as to make the heart-shaped outlines very obvious.
Heart-shaped leaves of Downy Yellow Violet.
Stemmed violets have both flowers and leaves produced on the same stem. The differences between several yellow-stemmed violets come down to leaf shape.
The yellow stemmed violet that we have here is called the Downy Yellow Violet, Viola pubescens. Two identifying characteristics are first, the downy or softly hairy surface of the stems and leaves, and second, the toothed stipule, which is like a tiny leaf at the base of the heart-shaped leaves.
Toothed stipules of downy yellow violet.
Note the yellow circle around the toothed stipule (hard to see the teeth in this image) and the downy hair on the leaves and stems.
The flowers appear differently depending on the angle that you view them at. Looking down on the violet you’ll see four petals, sideways you can see the spur and straight on gives you a look at the lined lower petal.
Looking down on the yellow stemmed violets.Top-side view of the Downy Yellow Violet.
Yellow violets seem common in low-lying areas near creeks or wetlands. Blooming cohorts included white violets, the common blue violet, miterwort, wild ginger and wild stonecrop. Bloodroot and trout lily had already bloomed in this area. Photos were taken 30 April 2010 near the Day Use Area of Little Buffalo State Park in Newport, PA.
These pretty violets – and all members of Viola – are edible, but the Peterson Edible Plants Guide tells us that the yellow species may be mildly cathartic, which means that they may act as a laxative. The young leaves and flowers can be added to salads. The leaves can be used to thicken soups, boiled as a cooked green, or dried to make tea.
One of the earliest blooming Spring Ephemeral flowers is Bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis. The days are often cold and windy at the time of year when the bloodroot blooms, but once the sun shines long enough to warm the ground bloodroot will emerge.
Bloodroot grows in eastern forests, especially moist soils in wooded areas. The Mill Race Trail at Little Buffalo State Park, Newport, Pennsylvania, is a great place to see this perennial spring flower blooming in early April.
A group of bloodroot flowers in the woodlands.
The flowers arise from an underground rhizome in a bud fashion. If you looking for bloodroot on the early side, you might see a few flowers still curled up tight before the blossoms open.
Bloodroot flower emerges as a tight bud.
In the image above you can see the leaf curled around the flower stem below the small white flower bud. The sword-like mottled leaves next to the bloodroot are trout lilies that had yet to bloom.
As bloodroot grows the flower stem continues to elongate and the flower opens up. The leaf of bloodroot is still wrapped around the flower stem while the flower is blooming.
Bloodroot flower opening. Note leaf curled around flower stem.
Once the petals of the bloodroot flower start to open you’ll be able to see the large canary yellow stamens.
Leaf of bloodroot opening.
As the bloodroot flower matures the leaf also continues to develop and pull away from the flower stem.
Bloodroot petal closeup.
It would be cool to see bloodroot flowers under a UV light – I wonder if the gray lines on the white petals would light up to show the pollinators where to find the pollen. You have to inspect the flower really closely to see these lines, which are barely visible in bright sunlight.
Bloodroot is considered a Spring Ephemeral, flowering only for a brief time in early spring before the trees leaf out. If you get into the woods after the tree leaves emerge, you probably won’t find any bloodroot still blooming.
Bloodroot blooms for about a week, depending on the weather in early Spring. Here in Southcentral PA we see bloodroot the first or second week of April.
Bloodroot flowers have eight to ten, white, elongated petals that seem to be attached rather loosely. Any attempts at picking the flower or digging one up will result in the loss of petals. That’s probably why we don’t see bloodroot at garden centers. They’re too delicate for any handling and would never look good in flower arrangements because of that.
Group of bloodroot flowers.
The flowers of bloodroot should be appreciated in their natural habitat or perhaps in a native plants garden.
Bloodroot flowers in the forest in early April.
Closer inspection of the flower shows that it comes up first, followed by a single leaf for each flower. The leaves emerge curled around the flower stem. After the flower has bloomed and lost its petals, the leaf will grow in earnest.
The large round leaf of bloodroot is a unique one with a deeply scalloped edge. In the image below there are about 16 bloodroot leaves.
Bloodroot leaves after the flower is gone.
Some of the leaves will get pretty large – as big as your hand, or 8 to 10 inches across. No two leaves seem to have the same exact design, although they all have 7-10 deeply cut lobes each of which are scalloped or have deep, rounded notches.
Bloodroot leaf with scalloped edge and rounded lobes.
Peeking underneath the leaves you can see the seed pods forming from the old flower.
Seedpods under the leaves of bloodroot.
Bloodroot seedpods are circled in yellow in the image above. (Click on photo for larger image.) Eventually, the flower stem will bend down to the ground where the seedpod can release its contents. The bloodroot plant disappears, or cycles back to the earth, in summer.
(Photos of bloodroot flowers were taken 3Apr2010 and photos of bloodroot leaves were taken 18Apr2010.)
Bloodroot is named for the red juice that bleeds out from a cut or damaged root. The root itself is an orange-red color. Native Americans used bloodroot as a dye and to decorate their skin. If you rub the juice on your skin it will last a few days.
Peterson’s Medicinal Plants Guide tells us that, historically, bloodroot was used in the form of a root tea to treat coughs, laryngitis, asthma, bronchitis, lung ailments and rheumatism.
CAUTION – bloodroot is toxic – do not ingest.
A component in bloodroot, sanguinarine, has been shown to have antiseptic, anesthetic and anticancer activity. Today, it is used in commercial mouthwash and toothpastes as a plaque-inhibiting agent.
tells us that the yellow species may be mildly cathartic, which means that they may act as a laxative. The young leaves and flowers can be added to salads. The leaves can be used to thicken soups, boiled as a cooked green, or dried to make tea.![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=820ba929-6f9e-4687-9d32-c3df1a8540cd)
tells us that, historically, bloodroot was used in the form of a root tea to treat coughs, laryngitis, asthma, bronchitis, lung ailments and rheumatism. ![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=68ea5c60-a1b8-4827-a7f6-8d9498ffdf09)