This is a continuation of Wednesday’s post about those small miracles that are happening in the forest each day at this time of year; leaves unfurling from their buds. Much of what is seen here is fleeting and will last only a day or two at best, so it is easily missed. Flower lovers don’t despair-the next post will be full of them. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing. 
A new shaggy shoot, or fiddlehead, of the evergreen Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides.) This is a common fern found all over America, but also one of the few that is truly evergreen. As the current season’s fiddleheads emerge the previous year’s fronds are still green.
Trilliums are all about the number three. Even the name trillium comes from the Latin tres, meaning three. On this red trillium (Trillium erectum) the three green sepals have just opened enough to show the three red petals. Once open the flower will nod under the three leaves (actually bracts,) and be mostly hidden from view for a short time before finally standing erect above the leaves. Inside the flower are six stamens and three stigmas. If flies pollinate the flower a three chambered, red fruit will grow. 
I liked the accordian like patterns I saw in the new leaves of this rose (Rosa rugosa.) This was taken just after a rain and I was surprised to see the leaves holding water. 
Early Meadow Rue (Thalictrum dioicum) has its emerging leaves coiled into a tight bud. When the bud expands it will uncoil from the base. The plants are dioecious, with male and female flowers blooming on separate plants in early spring just as the leaves on trees unfurl. Many people grow this plant for its grayish, maidenhair fern-like foliage, which also resembles that of columbine (Aquilegia.) 
Willow (Salix) leaves emerging after the flowers (pussies) have gone to seed. 
Jack in the pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum ) is another common spring wildflower, but it isn’t often seen at this stage of its life. The green foliage of the spathe is striped even when in the bud. The flower bearing spadix (Jack) inside the striped spathe (the pulpit) of the female plant has a mushroom like odor and attracts fungus flies, which pollinate the plant. Jack in the pulpit is in the same family (arum) as skunk cabbage and needs at least three years from seed to flower. This plant was eaten by Native Americans, but is highly toxic unless thoroughly cooked.
The single dandelion seed resting on a leaf tells the tale of how small these emerging white oak (Quercus alba) leaves really are. The leaves are covered with soft gray down when small.
The new leaves of hawthorn (Crataegus) come with a bit of a surprise: 2 inch long thorns that explain the common name thorn apple. This thorny shrub is in the rose family and small berries, called haws, follow the white or light pink flowers. The berries are usually red when ripe but they can also be black. They have been used medicinally at least since the 1st century AD. 
The black scales on lady fern (Athyrium felix-femina) fiddleheads make them one of the easiest to identify. They are one of the largest ferns, with fronds sometimes five feet tall. Because they are so lacy and showy, people in the Victorian era grew them indoors. Oil from the roots has been used medicinally since the 1st century AD, but too much can cause weakness, coma, and often blindness. 
In my last post I talked about how this plant, what I think might be the cut leaved toothwort, held me mesmerized in the forest for quite some time with its fluid, almost tortured appearance. It made me imagine high winds when there wasn’t even a gentle breeze. In this photo its flower buds can be seen.
“And each flower and herb on Earth’s dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.”
~Percy Bysshe Shelley
For me it is important to see and try to comprehend life’s mysteries, because the mystery is what makes life so exciting. I hope you enjoyed seeing these moments in time. Thanks for stopping by.
