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Nature Notes

tolly-beck

Nature Notes

Written by Tolly Beck
Tolly Beck is a horticulturist at Lasdon Park and Arboretum in Westchester County. She was formerly a horticulture educator for New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rockland, NY.

Spring Ephemerals

The long-awaited month of March is here bringing with it the beginning of spring, lengthening daylight and warming temperatures. While spring planting must wait for a while, the urge to see leaves emerging and flowers blooming grows increasingly strong. Luckily nature has provided an early opportunity to enjoy spring’s beauty, the Spring ephemerals.

Spring ephemerals are native woodland wildflowers that bloom for a short period of time between the onset of spring and the leafing out of trees. The spring ephemerals must start growth and flower production before the emerging tree leaves create too much shade on the forest floor. Native woodland wildflowers like round-lobed hepatica or liverleaf (Hepatica americanum), bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), and trout lily (Erythronium americanum) are all hardy in our area.

Round-lobed hepatica is among the first of the early woodland wildflowers to bloom, a much- needed source for early pollinators. The plant has rounded, leathery, three-lobed leaves slightly resembling the shape of a human liver. The wildflower, however, has no medicinal value. Leaves are evergreen, turning a burgundy color in fall. New leaves appear in spring after round-lobed hepatica has bloomed. The lovely, small spring flowers are shades of blue, white, or pink.

On a future visit to Lasdon, be sure to walk one of the hiking trails. Finding spring ephemerals on a woodland walk is a sure sign that spring has finally arrived.