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Transcript
Wildflower Stories by Wendy E. Jones, Head Naturalist ³7KHGDQGHOLRQWHOOVPHZKHQWRORRNIRUWKHVZDOORZWKHGRJ-toothed violet when to expect the 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 OLNHWKHOLYHUWKH/DWLQZRUG³KHSDWLFD´ZDVDSSOLHGWRWKLVORYHO\SODQWDQGLW 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 HDUO\OHDYHVVWDQGLQJXSOLNHWKHHDUVRIDIDZQDGGHU¶VWRQJXHIRUWKH 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 OHDYHVWKHVHSDOVDQGWKHSHWDOV'XULQJWKHIORZHU¶VILUVW\HDULWRQO\ 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 VWRU\DERXWWKLVIHDWXUHVDEHDXWLIXO\RXQJZRPDQZKRZDQWVWKHFKLHI¶V 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! ³7ZRZHHNVODWHUIDOOLQJUHGEXGEORVVRPVZHUHVSUHDGLQJSLQNUXJVRQWKHJURXQGGRJZRRG 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´ )RUPRUHLQIRUPDWLRQRQ)HUQZRRG¶VVSULQJZLOGIORZHUVIUHHKDQGRXWVDUHDYDLODEOHLQWKH 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.