As spring warmth and sunshine increase around the region, observant residents can start to spot spring ephemeral blooms among the early plant growth.
According to the Encyclopaedia Brittanica, an ephemeral plant “in botany, [is] any short-lived plant, usually one that has one or more generations per year, growing only during favourable periods (as when adequate moisture is available) and passing the unfavourable periods in the form of seeds.”
Spring ephemerals in Maryland are woodland wildflowers that quickly emerge, bloom, reproduce, and die back in the spring, usually within a span of only a few weeks. They start growing as soon as there is enough light reaching the forest floor in early spring, living their entire life span in the sweet spot between winter freeze and summer heat, and providing some of the earliest food for pollinators coming out of dormancy.
Some spring ephemerals you might find in Baltimore County include: Virginia springbeauty (Claytonia virginica), Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria), Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum), Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica), Cutleaf toothwort (Cardamine concatenata), and White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum).
Clockwise from upper left corner:
- Cutleaf toothwort (photo by Robert Severynse of Native Plant Scapes, https://nativeplantscapes.com/)
- Dutchman’s breeches (photo by Matthew Beziat, submitted to Maryland Diversity Project, https://www.marylandbiodiversity.com/)
- Virginia bluebells (photo by Sean McCandless, submitted to Maryland Diversity Project, https://www.marylandbiodiversity.com/)
- White trillium (photo by Jim Brighton, submitted to Maryland Diversity Project, https://www.marylandbiodiversity.com/)
- Mayapple (photo by NeighborSpace, taken in Volz Neighborhood Park)
- Bloodroot (photo by Kerry Wixted, submitted to Maryland Diversity Project, https://www.marylandbiodiversity.com/)
- Virginia springbeauty (photo by Kimberly Booth, submitted to Maryland Diversity Project, https://www.marylandbiodiversity.com/)