A Walk On The Wild Side A Walk On The Wild SideWildflowers of West Virginia
Predicting sequence of bloom or whats up and blooming at any particular time in a given area is difficult due to differences in elevations, canopy, orientation to the sun etc., etc. There is however a somewhat logical progression in bloom of different plant genera.
One of the first spring wildflowers to bloom, isn't really a native plant at all. Tussilago fafara or "coltsfoot" as it is commonly referred to, is native to Europe and Asia and was brought here by the early settlers as a medicinal herb. The Latin name for the genus indicates its medicinal use. Any clue??? How bout RobiTUSSin?? Get it??, cough medicine! See.... Latin is easy and makes sense. You can recognize the flowers very easily as they look like Dandelions.
Anyway, you can find T.f. in roadside ditches almost everywhere. It, like many other introduced "exotics" have become weedy nuisances like kudzu, autumn olive, multiflora rose, japanese honeysuckle, etc.
Ooops, I'm rambling again. So what else is up in the woods you ask? How about Jeffersonia diphylla. Named in honor of Tommy Jefferson, our second President, this lovely woodland native has dainty white flowers that are very early and very ephemeral (not long lasting, the flowers that is), although the foliage lasts all summer. Any idea why the specific epithet (or second word in the scientific name) is diphylla?? Well the common name gives it away "Twinleaf."
Speaking of Presidential plants, believe it or not, there IS a genus Clintonia, but that blooms later in the year so stay tuned.
Another dainty little woodland gem is Anemonella thalictroides. Anemonella means anemone- like, referring to the flowers, and thalictroides means Thalictrum-like or resembling Thalictrum ("Meadow Rue") foliage. A. thalictroides is 3-6" tall and has white, sometimes pinkish flowers with 5-10 petals and can be found in the woods almost everywhere.
One of the first plants that attracts people into the woods in the very early spring is Allium tricoccum, commonly referred to as ramps. The word ramps probably came from a prostitution of the word rampion, an old Anglic word for leeks. Ramps are members of the lily family and are in the genus Allium which also is home to Allium cepa, the onion and Allium sativum, garlic. The powerful curative powers of many members of this genus have long been recognized by herbalists and now by even the mainstream medical community.
Hepaticas can be found blooming on well drained hillsides above streambeds, They send up their flowers before their leaves appear. If you miss their blue and white flowers, here's how you can identify the plant: there are two species, both are about 3-6" tall and both have three lobed leaves. Hepatica americana has rounded lobes on the leaves and H. acutiloba has, yes, you guessed it, acute or pointed leaves. Now would be a good time to tell you about the "Doctrine of Signatures". In the "good ole days," people believed that the shape, coloration or some other physical characteristic of the plant indicated its medicinal use. Linnaeus and many other early plant explorers used this theory in naming plants. The leaves of Hepatica resemble the human liver and the Latin word for liver is hepa.
Mertensia virginica can also be seen in abundance in the early spring. It is one of our more ephemeral spring plants, not just the flowers, but the whole plant disappears in late spring. But while it's up, its one of our most attractive wildflowers. They can be found in rich alluvial woods and along stream banks from New York to Michigan, south to Georgia. They have 1" long blue trumpet-like flowers on arching stems. They are commonly called "Virginia bluebells" and here's another rub when you use common names, there are probably 30-50 plants that have common names with the word "bluebells" in it and this leads to a lot of confusion. There is however only one Mertensia virginica.
Podophyllum peltatum, or "May Apple," has bold distinctive foliage and usually occurs in large colonies. You have to lift the two large umbrella like leaves to see the 1 1/2" -2" waxy interesting fragrant white flowers. These flowers evolve into a large green fruit after pollination in late April, early May, hence the common name. In this age of synthetic drugs and medication, Podophyllum peltatum still provides us with a drug that treats kidney disease.
And what would springtime be without Trilliums? The ever-present Trillium grandiflorum can be found almost everywhere. Its three petaled, white flowers gracefully age to a rosy pink color over their gently arching 12-18" stems bearing three leaves. Another Latin lesson here, Trillium has 3 leaves, three petals and three sepals.
There are many, many more early spring wildflowers in these here mountains and how fortunate I am to live here.
- Barry Glick
Letters and Comments | Mailing List | Submissions | Technical Problems