Wildflowers, pt.1

At this time of year, wildflowers, known as spring ephemerals, take advantage of woodlands where trees have not yet leafed out, and sunlight is able to reach the forest floor.  Here are some you may find as you wander the forests of northern Illinois.

Two species of hepatica, both members of the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae.  They have simple flowers having an indefinite number of petals, sepals, pistils, and stamens.  Each floral part is separate and independently attached to the plant.  There is very little consistency in this family, but there is one characteristic that stands out: all species contain an acrid oil that makes each one toxic to some degree.  They prefer dappled sunlight in spring and shade in summer and are native to North American woods.

Both sharp-lobed hepatica, Hepatica acutiloba, and round-lobed hepatica, Hepatica americana, have leaves containing three deep lobes and pale blue, pale pink, or white flowers.  Plants hybridize easily and are found in early spring.  They tend to grow in colonies where groups of flowers persist for two to three weeks, although each individual flower only lasts a few days.  No nectar is produced, but pollen is taken by a variety of bees and flies.  Chipmunks find the fruit to be one of their favorite foods.  Hepatica, meaning ‘of the liver’ in Latin, gets its name from the similarity of the three lobes on each leaf to the shape of a liver.

Spring beauty, Claytonia virginica, has light green foliage surrounding stems terminating in an array of white flowers with varying shades of pink stripes.  Flowers bloom in mid to late spring over a 6-8 week period.  They open during warm, sunny days but remain closed at night or during cool, overcast periods.  Flowers are visited by bees, flies, and butterflies for both pollen and nectar.  The corms are often eaten by white-footed mice and Eastern chipmunks.  Seed pods nod almost to the ground and contain a small elaiosome, a fleshy structure rich in lipids and proteins attractive to the ant species that are the main dispersers of its seeds. 

Spring beauty is commonly found throughout Illinois in open woodlands.  Plants can survive stressful conditions and severely degraded areas.

Cutleaf toothwort, Dentaria laciniata, has two different types of leaves and a flower stalk ending in a group of small white flowers.  Flowers open on warm, sunny days, but remain closed in cooler, overcast conditions.  One set of leaves provides food for this year’s flowers and seeds, while a second set of basal leaves stores energy for next year’s shoots.  Seed pods develop after the flowers, and will forcefully pop open when touched, shooting seeds in every direction. 

A wide variety of bees and early spring butterflies have been observed on the flowers.  Forty-eight known species of bees in the Chicago area enjoy its nectar, and two species of leaf beetle use the plant for breeding.  There are several species of toothwort in the family, but this is the only one native to Illinois.  All are closely related to mustard, broccoli, and cabbage.

White trout lily, Erythronium albidum, has green leaves mottled with brown and nodding flowers with six white sepals curved upwards and six yellow stamens hanging downwards.  They bloom for about two weeks in mid-spring.  After blooming, a three-chambered seed pod grows.  Trout lily can reproduce from seeds or from stolons, aboveground shoots that root wherever they touch soil.  They can be found everywhere in Illinois except in the farthest northwest corner of the state, near Galena.

There are three native trout lily in Illinois and white trout lily is the most common, but you may also find yellow trout lily, Erythonium americanum, and prairie trout lily, Erythronium mesochoreum.  Several bee species are attracted to the pollen and nectar of all three species.  Seed pods contain two rows of seed and an attached elaiosome as a treat for the ants who aid in the seed dispersal.

All of these plants can be found in spring in open woodland areas in northern Illinois.  Finding large clumps of any of the species is a clear indication of higher quality woodlands that have seen little disturbance over a long period of time.  Many wildflower species are being threatened by invasive plants introduced into our woods, and these are all particularly affected by garlic mustard, Alliaria petiolata.  In addition, many woodland invasive species leaf out quite early and severely affect the amount of sunlight available for native species growing on forest floors.  Come take a walk in one of the many forest preserves and enjoy these flowers among the many that are blooming this spring.