Showing posts with label Ephemeral. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ephemeral. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Spring's beauties...

It was cool this afternoon at 46 degrees, but it was sunny, and you could feel the shift of winter to spring in the warmth of its rays, so I headed over to the Little Miami River to see if any wildflowers were blooming. I knew I wouldn't be able to walk very long, but I wanted to see some of spring's beauties...

Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica) - the first wildflower of spring.
Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica)

Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica)
Spring Beauties are one of the first ephemerals to bloom along the Little Miami River.

...the five stamens and long thin leaves of a Spring Beauty make it easy to identify this spring ephemeral.
When identifying Spring Beauties, look for five stamens with pink anthers and long thin leaves. The stem is often reddish and the petals have beautiful pink striations.  


Golden-crowned Kinglet...another one of spring's beauties (...although we have Golden-crowned Kinglets in our woods all winter, they look especially sweet in spring).