Dandelion at Gilbert, AR

My first wildflower of 2014. Yeah, I'm easy. I'll take any bit of color I can get during the middle of winter, even a "lowly" dandelion.  This one was blooming in Gilbert, AR.  Jo and I found it while taking our New Year's Day hike along the Buffalo National River.

Dandelion at Gilbert, AR

Common Blue Violet (Viola papilionacea)

Common Blue Violet
(probably Viola papilionacea)

This particular Common Blue Violet (Viola papilionacea or Viola sororia) is ALWAYS our first spring wildflower. It grows in a microclimate, a crack in a large, south-facing rock. In the winter, leafless trees allow much sunshine to warm the rock, but it's shaded in the summer so the violet doesn't get too dry and die. I first found this little violet about ten years ago. It's bloomed every year since, though our unusually mild winter this year means it's blooming a lot earlier.

Viola papilionacea is a native perennial that grows throughout most of eastern and central North America. Both flowers and leaves are highly variable. Flowers can range from white, to blue, to deep purple. They can also be variegated. The taxonomy of the plant is also questionable and some authors place the plant as a variety of V. sororia. V. pranticola is another synonym. Finally, the Common Blue Violet can hybridize with at least four other species of Viola.

Bees and other insects do sometimes visit and pollinate violets, but they have no reliable pollinators. Hence, violets also produce cleistogamous flowers, flowers that never open and are automatically self-pollinating.

Nature Notes

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Common Blue Violet (Viola papilionacea)

Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata)

One of my favorite weeds is beginning to bloom. I'm always amazed that a flower so beautiful and exotic-looking is a native wildflower, and even considered an invasive pest by some.

Passionflower is a native, perennial vine growing in the southeastern United States. Its vine can be up to 25 feet long and climbs with axillary tendrils or sprawls along the ground. It spreads by root suckers. The vine dies back to the ground during winter, but re-emerges in the spring.

Passionflowers are often purple, but can range from a deep purple to almost pure white. All passionflowers I've found around here are white, although you can see a slight tinge of purple in some of the fringe. Many different pollinators from bees to butterflies nectar on the passionflower and it is a larval host for Gulf Fritillary, Zebra Longwing, Crimson-patch longwing, Red-banded hairstreak, Julia butterfly, Mexican butterflies.

(More information and photos at Floridata.)

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Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata)

Spiderwort (Tradescantia sp)

Spiderwort (Tradescantia sp)

(probably Tradescantia ernestiana)

Spiderwort is a native herbaceous perennial common to the central US. It prefers full to partial shade with medium to wet soil and is often found growing at the edges of woodlands. There are several different species of spiderwort and these can be difficult to distinguish without either a lot more experience than Jo and I or side by side comparisons.

Sources and additional information:
Nearctica
Missouri Plants
Missouri Botanical Garden (Kemper Center)

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Spiderwort (Tradescantia sp)

Shooting Star (Dodecatheon meadia)

In all our wanderings on and around our place, Jo and I have found only one specimen of this beautiful wildflower. It's growing near the bluff edge below our house, in area I'd call rough, rocky, not very fertile and "disturbed". (It was scraped off with a bulldozer not too long before we bought this place.) Most of the other growth in that area, I'd classify as brush and brambles.

(Note:  Jo deserves triple credit for this photo, especially for persistence and determination.  Shooting Star stands about a foot tall on a slender stem with flowers and buds dangling loosely.  Even the slightest breeze causes the entire plant to sway.)

Name: Shooting Star (Dodecatheon meadia)
Other common names: Pride of Ohio, Roosterheads, Prairie Pointers
Plant type: Herbaceous perennial native to eastern and central North America.
Family: Primulaceae (Primrose)
Flowers: White to pink to purple with no floral scent.

Sources and additional information:
Kemper Center for Home Gardening
Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center
Illinois Wildflowers
Missouri Plants
USDA Range Map and Plant Profile

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Shooting Star (Dodecatheon meadia)

Yellow Trout Lily (Erythronium rostratum)

Yellow Trout Lily is another woodland wildflower that begins blooming here in mid-March. This photo Jo took on March 17, is one of the very first trout lily blooms we saw in 2011. The trout lily's common name is based upon its mottled leaves. (Here is a previous post with a photo that shows leaves.)


Trout lilies are also known as Dog-toothed Violets. The numerous rhizomes on the bottom of its root could resemble a dog's jaw and canine teeth if you've got a good imagination. However, it is a member of the lily family and not a violet. Both leaves and roots are supposedly edible, although I've never been hungry enough to give either a try.


Yellow Troutlily is much less widely distributed than it's long, red-anthered cousin Erythronium americanum. It is limited to the Ozark Mountains and a few other isolated pockets in the south-central United States. Unlike the other members of its genus, E. rostratum has erect rather than nodding flowers.

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Yellow Trout Lily (Erythronium rostratum)

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)

My blogging is starting to lag way behind both our photography and the season. Bloodroot is one of our earliest woodland wildflowers. Jo took this photo in mid-March.

Bloodroot is a member of the Poppy family. Its name is derived from the red juice that can be extracted from it's red-orange roots (actually rhizomes). Various medicinal and mystical properties have been associated with this juice in the past. However, since the juice is escharotic (a substance that causes tissue to die and slough off) and an incorrect internal dosage is toxic, the FDA recommends that bloodroot not be used by herbal healers.

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Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)

Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria)

My best shot at an ID: Dicentra cucullaria
Plant family: Fumariaceae (Fumitory - Bleeding Heart)
Habitat: Rich moist woods, shaded ledges and banks, especially north slopes. Locally abundant especially the mountains.
Range: North Dakota to Quebec and south as far as northern Georgia. Very scattered locations in the southern part of range. Also found in a few northwestern states.
Plant Type: Native perennial.
Flower description: The flowers are irregular in shape and are up to 1.75cm long (0.7 inches). Flowers actually have 4 petals, the inner ones are very small. The pair of outer petals form a swollen 'V' making the hanging flower look like a pair of breeches hung upside-down.
Lore: Native Americans used Dutchman's Breeches as a love potion and in making love charms.

We are pretty much at the southern limit of this unusual little flower's range. Jo and I have only found it growing in one location in the area we normal frequent. It's abundant exactly where the guide books say it should be: A rich woodland shaded by a ledge on a north slope.

To see and enjoy more flowers from around the world, please visit Today's Flowers.

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Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria)

Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata)

Cutleaf Toothwort

Other Common Names: Pepper Root
My best guess at an ID: Cardamine concatenata
Plant family: Brassicaceae (Mustard)
Habitat: Woodlands
Range: Throughout eastern and central North America
Plant Type: Native perennial
Lore: The roots (rhizomes) are said to have a peppery taste and can be eaten pickled, fermented (to make them sweet), boiled and eaten raw with salt. I haven't done a taste test.

This plant is the most prolific early-blooming wildflower in our woods. It doesn't have the most showy bloom, but is appreciated for it's abundance when little else is blooming. Cutleaf Toothwort is just starting to bloom in our woods.

Bloodroot will be the next early spring wildflower to bloom in our woods.

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Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata)

Yellow Fumewort (Corydalis flavula)

On March first, the blooms on the Yellow Fumewort down in our woods had not yet opened

Yellow Fumewort

(Corydalis flavula)

Other common names: Yellow Corydalis and Yellow Harlequin.


A native herbaceous perennial with a small (.5"/1.3cm or so) bright yellow flower that blooms early and continues blooming for a couple of months. The plant ranges from ground cover height up to around 15"/38cm.


Range and Habitat: Minnesota, Iowa and Michigan in the west to New York in the east, southward to Florida and Louisiana. (USDA Range map) Found in open woods, primarily on rocky or sandy soil.


Herbal Lore: As is typical for a member of the Poppy order, Yellow Fumewort contains alkaloids. Native Americans placed the root on coals and inhaled the smoke to "clear the head". In earlier times, doctors may have used the astringent root to stop bleeding, for irregular menses, pain, diarrhea and dysentery. These past medicinal uses of Corydalis flavula are presented only for their historical value. Even small doses of Corydalis may be toxic. Symptoms include trembling and convulsions.

By March sixth, a few of the blooms were just beginning to open.

Sources and additional information and photos:
2bnthewild
Nearctica
Connecticut Botanical Society
Missouri Plants
Vanderbilt

To see more nature photos or participate in Nature Notes, please visit Rambling Woods.

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Yellow Fumewort (Corydalis flavula)

Common Blue Violet (Viola papilionacea)

Our homestead award for first wildflower bloom of the spring goes to a Common Blue Violet (Viola papilionacea or Viola sororia), and I am not surprised. I first found this little violet several years ago. It has garnered the first bloom of the spring award every year since. The violet is growing out of a crack in the south-facing side of a large (small house sized) rock. Sun shines on the rock face and the rock retains the sun's warmth creating a microclimate that allows this particular violet to bloom a week or more ahead of its more conventionally located kin.


Viola papilionacea is a native perennial that grows throughout most of eastern and central North America. Both flowers and leaves are highly variable. Flowers can range from white, to blue, to deep purple. They can also be variegated. The taxonomy of the plant is also questionable and some authors place the plant as a variety of V. sororia. V. pranticola is another synonym. Finally, the Common Blue Violet can hybridize with at least four other species of Viola.


Bees and other insects do sometimes visit and pollinate violets, but they have no reliable pollinators. Hence, violets also produce cleistogamous flowers, flowers that never open and are automatically self-pollinating.

Nature Notes

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Common Blue Violet (Viola papilionacea)

Johnny-Jump-Up (Field Pansy) - Viola bicolor

Johnny-Jump-Up (Field Pansy)

(Photo:  Marvin Smith on 3/29/10)

Johnny-Jump-Up

Other Common Names: Field Pansy, Wild Pansy
My best shot at an ID: Viola bicolor (Pursh)
Plant family: Violaceae (Violet)
Habitat: Fields, waste ground, disturbed sites, meadows, roadsides, railroads, lawns (just about any open area)
Range: Throughout most of eastern and central North America and into western Canadian provinces
Plant Type: Native annual
Description (from Illinois Wildflowers): Each flower is about ½" across, consisting of 5 petals and 5 sepals. The petals are pale to medium blue-violet with dark purple lines, becoming white near the throat of the flower. However, the lowermost petal has a patch of yellow near its base. Also, the two lateral petals are bearded with white hairs near the throat of the flower.
Lore: Native Americans used Johnny-jump-up to treat colds, coughs, headaches and boils. It was also used to prepare a spring tonic.

Getting an ID on this little flower was more difficult than I expected, especially since I started out thinking that I knew what is was. It has three scientific name synonyms. Some sources attribute it's common name to a different plant. And, there is disagreement about whether V. bicolor is native or not. (The USDA says it is native.)

Johnny-Jump-Up spreads by seeds and is usually found in clusters. We have several patch in our yard and garden. Illinois Wildflowers says it is sometimes used as one of the parents of pansy cultivars developed for the mass market.

Text originally posted on March 29, 2008.

Johnny-Jump-Up (Field Pansy) - Viola bicolor

Yellow Troutlily (Erythronium rostratum)

Yellow Troutlily

(Photo:  Jo Smith on 3/24/10)

Yellow Troutlily
(Erythronium rostratum)

The Troutlily's common name is based on the speckled appearance of its leaves. It is also commonly known as Dog-toothed Violet though it is, indeed, a member of the lily family and not a violet. The bottom side of the plant's rhizomes vaguely resemble canine teeth. The most common form of Troutlily has only one leaf and does not bloom. Blooming forms have two leaves.

eFlora says E. rostratum is found in Mesic woods, often in flood plains and along waterways, also on shaded lower ledges of bluffs. It is the shaded lower ledges of bluffs that provide Troutlily habitat in our woods where it has just begun blooming this year.

Yellow Troutlily is much less widely distributed than it's long, red-anthered cousin Erythronium americanum. It is limited to the Ozark Mountains and a few other isolated pockets in the south-central United States. Unlike the other members of its genus, E. rostratum has erect rather than nodding flowers. (Please see US Wildflowers for photos and information on Erythronium americanum.)

eFlora distribution maps for E. rostratum and E. americanum.

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Yellow Troutlily (Erythronium rostratum)