Spring Ephemerals

In early spring, before the trees leaf out, the forest floor is flooded with light. In this narrow window of warming temperatures and abundant sunshine, a hardy group of plants rush to reproduce. They are the spring ephemerals. These plants are perennials that spend most of the year underground, as a root or stem. But, as the days lengthen the spring ephemerals push up their leaves, produce flowers, make fruits, then die back to await the next spring. In colder regions, the spring ephemerals can flower while there is still snow on the ground.

Hepatica (Anemone americana), a spring ephemeral, in flower and showing
its three lobed leaves.  

A Piedmont deciduous forest
in late February.  This is prime habitat for spring ephemerals. 

Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) is a beautiful spring ephemeral with oblong, pointed green leaves mottled with purple. This leaf pattern looks like a trout in a stream and gives the plant its common name.  Plants bearing flowers usually have a pair of leaves. Trout lily flowers are yellow with reflexed petals and deep reddish-brown stamens. Trout Lilies can propagate vegetatively and grow in large colonies.

Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) with its trout patterened
leaves and yellow flowers.

Closeup of Trout Lily flower showing its reddish-brown stamens
and yellow, reflexed petals..

Trout Lilies showing the paired leaves. 

Bloodroot’s (Sanguinaria canadensis) dramatic name comes from its deep-orange colored sap. Bloodroot, like other members of the poppy family produces toxic molecules to protect the plant from animal grazers. Bloodroot flowers in late winter and makes a single flower with many white petals and bright yellow stamens. Bloodroot generally makes one multi-lobed leaf that wraps around the base of the flower.

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria candensis) flower just opening. Note the lobed
leaf at the base of the flower. 

Bloodroot flower opening. 

Closeup of Bloodroot flower. 

Bloodroot flower. 

Bloodroot plant with lobed leaf and a developing fruit.

For such a small plant, Hepatica or Liverleaf (Anemone americana) is quite spectacular. The name Hepatica comes from the Latin for liver. The second common name, Liverleaf, echoes the Latin because, like livers, the leaves of this plant have lobes. Hepatica found a use in folk medicine to treat liver disease based on the Doctrine of Signatures. This medieval medical idea stated that plants advertised their usefulness by their appearance. So by the Doctrine of Signatures the Toothwort plant was used to treat toothache, Spleenwort to treat disorders of the spleen and Hepatica to treat liver disease. Hepatica makes the first purple flowers of spring. These flowers rely on the earliest flying pollinators like bumblebees for reproduction.  But, if the spring is cold and pollinators are not available, Hepatica can also carryout self-pollination. Unlike most spring ephemerals, the leaves of Hepatica persist through the year. The leaves turn dark red in fall and the following spring they are replaced the by new, green leaves.

A Hepatica plant with multiple flowers.

In the Piedmont of North Carolina, look for spring ephemerals from late February to mid-April. They run their rapid life cycle in the leaf litter of mature forests. But look quick, they are ephemeral.