Wild Ginger is native to the Eastern U.S. and Canada and can be found blooming in early to mid-Spring. The blossoms aren’t the showy kind though. Indeed, one has to seek them out.
Most of us won’t casually notice the flowers of wild ginger because they bloom at ground level. The flowers are found blooming under the umbrella of the large heart-shaped leaves.
The short flower stem and back of one flower can be seen in the upper left and one flower is facing us on the far right. (Click on any image to see a larger view.)
The flowers of wild ginger plants are
shaded by their leaves held a few inches above. The blossoms are pretty effectively hidden from view.
The point of the heart-shaped leaves is sometimes so rounded that the leaf shape is more like a kidney than a stylized heart. The leaves come out of the ground partially formed and crinkly in early Spring. The leaves straighten out and grow into single-stemmed, heart-shaped leaves.
An edge view of the leaves shows minute hairs all over the surface and that gives wild ginger a velvet-like appearance.
Images were taken on 6 May 2014 at Little Buffalo State Park near the creek.