Download Wildflower Stories by Wendy E. Jones, Head Naturalist

Wildflower Stories by Wendy E. Jones, Head Naturalist
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wood thrush, and when I have found the wake-URELQLQEORRP,NQRZWKHVHDVRQLVIDLUO\EHJXQ´
~ John Burroughs, Wake Robin
For those tuned into nature, they know John Burroughs speaks the truth, for the wildflowers of
spring have many stories to tell. From how they were named and what they were used for
medicinally to their folklore stories, there is much to discover on a walk in the spring woods. At
Fernwood, follow the Ecology Trail below the Water Wheel and the Fern Trail heading from the
Corkscrew Bridge to the Frog Pond, turning up to the Summer House for the best spring
wildflower viewing.
As the days warm in late March, it is time to look for hepatica, one of the first
wildflowers to bloom in spring. This plant offers a great example of the
Doctrine of Signatures, a 16th century medical theory that the color and shape
of a plant indicated its medical uses. Because the leaves of hepatica are lobed
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was used medicinally to cure liver diseases (in 1883, 450,000 pounds of
domestic and imported dried leaves were used to produce a tonic for such
purposes!). When farmers found hepatica blooming, they knew that planting
time was not far off. Sharp-lobed hepatica is abundant at Fernwood in the wet
forests; its lovely blossoms range in color from white to pink to deep purple.
$QRWKHUZHOFRPHVLJQRIVSULQJ¶VDUULYDOLVWKHILUVWVLJKWLQJRIDtrout
lily. These yellow flowers bloom around the best time to go trout fishing,
suggesting one source of the name. Another reason for the trout name is
that the splotchy leaves mimic the spotted sides of that fish. Other
common names for this wildflower include fawn lily, a description of the
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anthers (pollen sacs) that point out from the blossom like the tongue of a
snake; and dogtooth violet, a reference to the white, tooth-shaped bulb,
despite the fact that trout lily is not a violet at all.
The lily is common in many different folklore traditions. It is the sacred
flower of motherhood and was considered the flower of the Greek
goddess Hera, responsible for marriage and childbirth, and Juno, the
Roman goddess responsible for women and their lives. In the Christian
tradition, it is believed the lily grew from the tears that Eve shed when she found out she was
pregnant.
Woodland spring wildflowers are perennials, with many plants living for decades. Trout lilies do
not flower until the plant is seven years old. Until then, the plant only produces one leaf, whose
only job is to produce sugars by photosynthesis for the plant to store in the bulb. After its seventh
birthday, the plant uses those stored energy reserves to grow two leaves and a flower, allowing it
to reproduce. Trout lilies usually show synchronized blooming, with large numbers of these
lovely yellow flowers appearing every three years in mid- to late April.
May brings on the trillium show, with 10 species found at Fernwood (some native and others
introduced by Fernwood founder Kay Boydston). The word trillium
PHDQV³OHDYHVRIWKUHH´(YHU\WKLQJRQWKLVSODnt comes in threes: the
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grows one leaf. For years two through six it grows three leaves but no
flower. Finally, when it is seven years old it grows a flower and blooms.
Trilliums have long been used for love potions. A Native American
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son to fall in love with her. She boiled a trillium root to slip into his
food, but as she approached him she tripped and fell, with the root
falling into the food of an ugly old man. He then fell in love with her
and chased her for months trying to get her to marry him. Trillium roots
were also used to ease childbirth pains, so the plant is often called birthroot. Native Americans
also used the plant juices for eye medicines.
Perhaps the best story in the spring woodlands is of a plant that can change from male to female
and back again! When Jack-in-the-pulpit first grows, the plant will only produce a single threelobed leaf for several years. In its fifth year, a flower structure joins the single leaf, with the
structure RIWKHIORZHULQVSLULQJWKHQDPHWKHJUHHQ³ILQJHU´RUVSDGL[LQVLGHWKHOHDI\KRRGRU
spathe, resembles a preacher in his covered pulpit. These flowers are at first male, with anthers
at the bottom of the spadix. But in WKHSODQW¶VVHYHQWKyear, two leaves are
produced along with the flower, which this time has ovaries (egg sacs)
located at the bottom of the spadix instead, making Jack a Jill. Because it
takes more energy to produce a female flower and the resulting seeds, Jill
will often revert back to a Jack for a few years, before becoming a Jill
once again.
The leaves of this plant are filled with calcium oxalate crystals which burn
the mouth when eaten. Country boys often took advantage of this by
feeding it to visiting city boys to tease them. The pain could be eased by
drinking a gallon of vinegar and eating a pound of lard, which sounds
worse than the Jack-in-the-pulpit alone! Despite this, Native Americans
consumed this plant by drying the root and pounding it into flour, giving
rise to the name Indian turnip.
As ZHFHOHEUDWH)HUQZRRG¶Vth anniversary this year, let the words from Kay¶s book
Reflections best capture the magic of this beautiful, changing, and ephemeral season.
³$GD\FDPHZKHQWKHEORRGURRWZDVDWLWVVKRUW-lived perfection. Each closed flower wrapped in
its own leaf had pushed through the ground, later to open the eight to twelve shiny white petals
toward the sun. The spice bush cast a yellow haze thru the damp woods; hepatica flowers in
ZKLWHVSLQNVDQGEOXHVQHVWOHGDPRQJODVW\HDU¶VOHDYHVEHIRUHWKHQHZVLON\ones appeared;
anemones were everywhere ± at first, pink, with dark reddish leaves; skunk cabbage still showed
its strange brown flower and many another early flowering plant appeared on every hand.
³$ZHHNODWHUIRXQGWKHIORZHUVRIEORRGURRWJRQHEXWits lovely leaves expanding to a
surprising size to be a conspicuous part of the green forest all summer. By now, the long-lasting
anemones were pure white and their leaves green; violets of many kinds grew in patches below
redbuds now in full bloom everywhere in the garden and woods. Jacks, trilliums, mertensia, and
ginger were uncurling in their typical watch-spring fashion. So much happening on every side!
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was at its height, lilacs coming on and later wild flowers like phlox, geraniums and columbine
were in bloom. Trees were nearly full and fern fronds far enough advanced to show their varying
intricate designs. In little more than three weeks we had moved from the time of winter buds to
full spring ± all of it quite unbelievable ± DQGWKULOOLQJHYHU\PRPHQW´
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Nature Center or attend one of our wildflower walks (see the spring Fernwood Notes for details).
Reflections by Kay Boydston is available in the Fernwood Gift Shop.