Spring Wildflower Guide

A Guide to the Spring Wildflowers along Fox Island's Nature Preserve Trails

Welcome to the trails of the Fox Island Nature Preserve. This publication is designed to introduce you to the wildflowers that can be seen easily from these trails in March, April, and May. The flowers are listed in approximate order of bloom. The scientific names are printed in italics. The colors of the flowers are underlined as an additional aid to flower recognition. Please take care not to harm the plants in any way. Picking of plants is prohibited by State Law anywhere in the preserve or park.

(Click on any image to see it full size)

Skunk Cabbage
(Symplocarpus foetidus)
The hood (spathe) is mottled green, brown, and purple. It emerges tightly closed in very early spring (sometimes in the snow.) It opens to about 6" high and 3" wide. Inside is a thick spike (spadix) with tiny flowers which show yellow stamen. By late spring the tight roll of green leaves, beside the spathe, begins to unfold cabbage-like leaves, which grow 1' to 2" long. The bruised plant has a fetid odor.

Harbinger of Spring
(Erigenia bulbosa)
Harbinger-of-spring and skunk cabbage are the earliest flowers to bloom at Fox Island, opening their petals in mid- to late-March. The tiny white flower petals contrast with the dark anthers, giving this plant a common name of salt-and-pepper. The leaves are tiny as well. Each plant has only one or two leaves, and they are divided into tiny segments.

Spring Cress
(Cardamine bulbosa)
The white 3/4" flowers with four petals are in clusters at the top of the stem. The leaves, all less than 2" long, are roundish, long-stalked at the base, stalkless and toothed on the stem. The plant is 8" to 18" tall. It blooms in mid-April. Purple cress has lavender flowers and the basal leaves are purple underneath.

Bloodroot
(Sanguinaria canadensis)
The single, white squarish flower is 1 ½" across with eight to ten petals which detach very easily. It has a center of golden stamens. The flower blooms on its own 6" to 8" stalk. After emerging closely wrapped around the flowering stalk, the wide circular leaves, with five to nine lobes each, unfurl up to 10" in width. The plant is 6" to 10" tall. Its roots bleed red. Bloodroot blooms in mid-April.

Spring Beauty
(Claytonia virginica)
The white to pink 3/4" flower has five petals with dark pink veining. There are two grass-like leaves halfway up the stem and a larger leaf at the base. The plant is 6" to 12" tall. It blooms in mid-April.

Cut-Leaved Toothwort
(Dentaria laciniata)
The white to pink ½" flowers with four petals are in clusters at the top of the stem. Below the flower, but above the midstem, are three whorled, deeply-cut leaves, each about 3" across. The plant is 8" to 12" tall. It blooms in early April.

Dutchman's Breeches
(Dicentra cucullaria)
The 3/4" white yellow-tipped flowers (4 to 8) hang on short stems along the top of a slightly curving, 5" to 10", leafless stalk. The two inflated spurs of each flower suggest tiny pantaloons. The blue-green leaves are fern-like. The plant is up to 10" tall. It blooms in late April. The plant is very abundant at Fox Island.

Blue Violet
(Viola papilionacea)
The deep blue flower is about 1" across. The flower has five petals. The lower petal is extended back into a spur. It and the side petals are strongly veined. Flowers and the heart-shaped leaves are on separate stalks. The plant is under 10" tall. It blooms in mid-April. Smooth Yellow Violet is also along the trails.

Trout Lily
(Erythronium americanum)
The three yellow petals and three yellow sepals, each up to 2" long, are on curved back framing bronze anthers. At the base of the leafless stalk are two broad, mottled leaves. The 4" to 8" tall plants form dense clumps. The Trout Lily blooms in late April. There is also a White Trout Lily also. This picture shows only the leaf of the plant - no flowers are shown.

Gill-over-the-Ground, Ground Ivy
(Glecoma hederacea)
This tiny purple flowers are two-lipped with two lobes on the upper lip and three lobes on the lower lip as is characteristic of mints. The flowers are in whorls in the axils of the scalloped, roundish 1" leaves. This low, creeping, ivy-like plant blooms in late April.

Blue Cohosh
(Caulophyllum thalictroides)
The green to yellowish-green six-petaled flowers are less than ½" wide and are in terminal clusters. The leaves are bluish-green and are divided into three leaflets which are three-lobed or again divided. The Blue Cohosh blooms in early May. Flowers are replaced by blue berries in the fall. The plant grows up to 3' tall.

Wild Strawberry
(Fragaria virginiana)
The white flowers, less than 1" across, with five rounded petals and many stamens, clustered at the top of a separate stalk. Each hairy leaf stem has one leaf which is divided into three sharply toothed leaflets. The Wild Strawberry plant has its berries in June. It is 6" to 10" tall. It blooms in early May and can be found in abundance in the field along the road to Bowman Lake .

Wild Geranium, Cranesbill
(Geranium maculatum)
The five-petaled lavender flowers are about 1 ½" across and are in terminal clusters of two to five. The leaves are up to 6" wide and are deeply cut into three to five lobes with sharp teeth. The plant is 1" to 2" tall. It blooms in early May. The fruit resembles the bill of a crane.

Garlic Mustard
(Allaria officinalis)
The bright green, 2" to 3", triangular or heart-shaped toothed leaves appear very early. The white, tiny, four petal flowers are in long, branching groups at the to of the 1' to 3' stem. The species is an invasive exotic and tends to overpopulate in sections of Fox Island. The blooms appear in the middle of May.

Greek Valerian
(Polemonian reptans)
Jacob's Ladder
(P. Van-bruntiae)
Both plants have terminal clusters of a few five-petaled, blue bells, ½" by 3/4". The leaves have paired, 1" to 2" leaflets, suggesting, "ladders." Jacob's Ladder has more rungs on its ladder and has stamens extending beyond the petals. It grows 1" to 3" tall. It blooms in late May. Valerian grows 8" to 15" tall. It blooms in early May.

???Large Flowered Bellwort
(Uvularia grandiflora)
The three petals and three sepals join to form the 3" lemon-yellow, long twisted bell flowers. They droop from one branch of a forkedstem which has alternate 3" to 5" leaves on both branches. Theplant is up to 20" tall. It blooms in early May.

Blue Phlox
(Phlox divaricata)
The blue, violet or pale blue (occasionally white) 3/4"flowers are slender tubes with five notched petals. Theflowers are in loose clusters at the top of the stems which have pairs ofwidely spaced leaves about ½" long. The Blue Phloxblooms in early May and is very fragrant.

LargeFlowered Trillium
(Trillium grandiflorum)
At the center of the flower are six green stamens with goldenyellow anthers. They are circled by three wavy-edged, waxy, white petals thatturn pink with age. The petals are as long as 2" and the three green sepalsshow between them. A few inches down the stem are the three sessile (resting onthe main stem without a stalk) broad leaves. The plant grows12" to 18" tall. It blooms in early May. The plant is very abundant in FoxIsland.

Columbine
(Aquilegia canadensis)
The flowers are red and yellow, 1" to 2" long, and have fivepetals, each ending in a long, red spur. The five sepals are yellow and mergewith the petals. Leaves are divided into three leaflets, eachup to 2" wide with three lobes. The plant is 1' to 2' tall. It blooms in earlyMay.

False Solomon's Seal
(Smilacina racemosa)
The tiny, creamy white and star-shaped flowers are in a plumeat the top of an arching stem up to 3' long. The stem has oval, pointedleaves to either side as long as 6". Bright red berriesreplace the flowers by fall. The blooming takes place in mid-May.

May Apple
(Podophyllum peltatum)
The May Apple is very abundant. First, a tiny silver button emerges, then astalk that looks like a tiny unfurled umbrella with its downward,tightly-curled leaves, and finally a plant 12" to 18" tall.The single white flower, 2" across, with golden stamens, hidesbeneath two large, circular leaves, each with five to nine lobes. The May Appleblooms in mid-May. The small, apple-like fruit ripens in June.

Sweet Anise
(Osmorhiza longistylis)
Sweet Cicely
(O. claytoni)
Both of these species have a few white flowers in loose clusters above widespreading, fern-like leaves. The Sweet Anise has a distinctive, anise odor whenthe leaves are crushed and has hairs only at the stem nodes. Some stems aredark purple. Sweet Cicely is covered with hairs and lacks the anise odor. Theplants both grow to 3'. Both bloom in late May.

Jack-in-the-Pulpit
(Arisaema triphyllum)
A green and brown modified leaf (spathe) cups the base of, and forms a hood toshelter the flower spike (spadix) which has tiny male or female flowers at itsbase. Each stalk has one or two leaves; these leaves have three pointedleaflets up to 7" long. There are clusters of bright red berries in latesummer. The plant is 1' to 2' high. It blooms in late May.

Solomon's Seal
(Polygonatum biflorum)
The pale, greenish-yellow flowers about ½" long, hang in pairs frombeneath the leaves. The leaves closely resemble those of the False Solomon'sSeal. In the fall, blue-black berries replace the flowers. The branches are upto 6' long but, because they arch, the plant is listed as 3' tall. It blooms inlate May.

Large-Leaved Waterleaf
(Hydrophyllum macrophyllum)
The rough, hairy, irregular cut leaves with seven or morelobes, mottled light green on dark green, emerge in large rosettes along thetrailside, calling attention to this plant. Later it grows to 1' to 3' tall. Ithas lavender flowers, only 1/3" long, with protruding stamensin full, terminal clusters. This plant blooms in late May. Another species isthe Virginia Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianaum.)The flowers are similar to the Large-leaved, but the leaves are not as largeand not as water-stained.

Flowering Dogwood Tree
(Cornus florida)
When weather conditions are ideal, the Flowering Dogwood Tree blooms in mid-Mayin the emerging forest canopy, while the Large Flowered Trillium is spreadingits bloom on the forest floor. The two together present the most beautifulsights at Fox Island.

Only a sample of the spring bloom has been presented in this publication.You will want to look for other varieties of wildflowers at Fox Island: theearly yellow blossoms of the Spice Bush, the myriads of rose-pink blossoms onthe bare branches of a Redbud tree, and the Buckeye tree with its showy budswhich open to panicles of pale yellow, bell-shaped flowers. Harbinger-of-Springis hidden along the Tree Trail. Hepatica and March Marigold, which you mightexpect to find, are not in the Nature Preserve. (A clump of each has beenplanted in the park.) Anemones are present but not common.

SPRING WILDFLOWERS OF FOX ISLAND

For the more serious wildflower student, and extensive check list, including scientific names and references to field guide page numbers with detailed descriptions and pictures, is available from the Fox Island Nature Center. Please report any species you find that are not on that check list and the Fox Island location to the naturalist.

Credits:

Text and Editing: Fox Island Alliance Trailguides
Photographs: John Schutt

This Spring Wildflower Guide is published by the Fox Island Alliance and the Allen County Parks. The Alliance is a volunteer organization established to help preserve the natural features of Fox Island Preserve, to raise funds to facilitate its development as a nature preserve, and to coordinate volunteer efforts. Membership in the Alliance is open to all interested persons.

This Spring Wildflower Guide was published to commemorate Earth Day 1990.