My first spring wildflower sighting

A Halberdleaf yellow violet blooms in Charlotte on Monday

Naturally Wonderful, by Rich Haag – March 6, 2012

I discovered the bold yellow flower you see here just yesterday morning on a hike in a Mecklenburg County nature preserve near my home. It is the first wildflower I have spotted this spring – in fact, the only wildflower I spotted on my hike - and the first wildflower whose name I have ever learned.

I learned the name and more from the website, NCWildflower.org. The Halberdleaf yellow violet blooms most commonly in April and May throughout the Southeast, so clearly I found an early bloomer!

Like many things in life, I discovered the tiny yellow bloom and a second one nearby while searching for something else.

Round-lobed hepatica

That something else is another wildflower that I also just learned about, thanks to the March newsletter of the NC Wildlife Federation. Each newsletter includes the month’s calendar of natural happenings in North Carolina. 
One entry caught my eye. “March 6: Hepatica blooms. Several sucker species begin their spring spawning runs.”

For the sake of this blog I have just watched a YouTube video of suckers spawning on Firth Creek in Canada, and I can’t see what all the excitement is about, unless you are a spawning sucker.

Reaching up

But I did wonder about hepatica. I have hiked hundreds of miles in the Carolinas and observed many beautiful wildflowers and have often thought I should get to know their names someday.

That someday is beginning now. I looked up hepatica on the web and learned that it is part of the buttercup family. Often called liverleafs for their flat liver-shaped leaves, Hepatica send forth gentle blue and purple blossoms on long stems, just before our forest trees get their spring leaves. (The photo above of round-lobed hepatica is courtesy of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.)

Despite our recent warm weather and the NC Wildlife Federation pronouncement, I never saw any blooming hepatica yesterday. 

Moss sends out spore capsules

But thanks to my fruitless hunt I took the time to look more closely at the forest where I hike several times each week. The thick mat of last fall’s leave still blankets the woods, but hints of green have begun to slip out. New leaves still breaking out of their buds glowed pale green in the morning sunlight.

I got down on my knees to photograph fresh shoots (I don’t know the plant names yet) just breaking through the leaf carpet.

I spotted one clump of moss with dozens of red and yellow spore capsules rising on slender stalks. (I since have learned that mosses predate flowering plants by 200 million years and that North Carolina has 400 kinds of moss).

I did finally see more flowers when I got back to the park nature center. You probably recognize this last one. Hey, I thought, maybe they’re native wildflowers, too. I later learned that while America has its own native dandelions, the ones we hate in our yards came from Eurasia.

Resources to learn more about wildflowers and native plants

• NC Wildlife Federation – Sing up her to get the monthly newsletter, learn about our natural world and take part in activities to enjoy and protect it.
• NC Native Plant Society – Dedicated to protecting our native plants.
• US Forest Service Celebrating Wildflowers – The site is dedicated to the enjoyment of the thousands of wildflowers growing on our national forests and grasslands, and to educating the public about the many values of native plants. 
• Mosses of North Carolina – Operated by Duke University’s Herbarium

About Rich Haag -  Rich gained his love for the outdoors while roaming the woods and river gorge near his upstate NY home. He has spent many vacations – one lasting eight weeks -  camping with his wife, Karen, and their sons. Rich still roams the woods nearly every day, either walking with Karen at Reedy Creek Nature Preserve or cycling on the Mallard Creek Greenway.