Wake Robin Hunt

That Jane Bourquin is really something.  We were on The Island - and off to the left of the (Yellow 12) trail there was a pretty good patch of White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) but no Trillium erectum,  which is referred to as Red Trillium, Purple Trillium, Blue Trillium, or Wake Robin.  Well at least it was obvious to everyone but Jane that all the flowers were white.   Nonetheless Jane went tramping through the Trillium, careful not to step on any plant, and kept searching.   In time she spotted a plant with a tiny bud, which was sort of dark.  Jane announced that this bud would become a Blue Trillium.  We marked the location with two crossed sticks (X marks the spot).  We expect that Jane is right and that we'll see the Wake Robin next week.

The photo of the Red Trillium was taken by Jane a few years ago.  The photo on the right of a patch of White Trillium was taken by Maggie today. -- click it to see it bigger.   Jane explained that May Apple flowers always occur in the notch between two leaves at the top of the plant.  If there's only one leaf, the plant is sterile.

click pic to see it large

Also in bloom: Lesser Celendine, High Bush Blueberry, Spring Beauty, Trout Lily, Dead Nettles, Ground Ivy (Gill Over the Ground) 

Each of the links above goes to the flower's page on mlra.org -
For comparison, here is the page for the Marsh Marigold, which we did not see.   We also saw a small white flower, the size of a Spring Beauty, but with six petals, not five.  It looked somewhat like the photo of the Star of Bethlehem, but I doubt that's what it was.  We also saw both yellow and purple violets.  This page has the six varieties of violets which were identified by Rudy Salati.  I think what we saw were the common yellow violet and the marsh violet.  There may have also been field pansies.

 Pebble Run Bridge, l to r: Jane, Cecile, Ro.  Milly behind Ro