Crow’s Nest: What’s blooming now?

By Daniel Barringer, Preserve Manager.

The spring wildflower season is underway and it would be a full time job to keep up with what’s happening—but I’ll try to hit some highlights. Above, bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) is one of the earliest. You’ll find it along some of the local roadsides, or find a spectacular line of them along the Horse-Shoe Trail where it passes through Crow’s Nest along an old railroad right-of-way from Trythall Road going west.

In that same area of our Deep Woods along Mine Run north of the Horse-Shoe Trail, peak trout-lily (Erithronium americanum) blooming looks like this (above).

The round-lobed hepatica (Hepatica americana) can be found in the same area of woods.

Rue-anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides) is also in bloom. The other anemone there, wood anemone (Anemone quinquifolia—with five-lobed leaves) is just about to bloom.

On the lower sides of our Monocacy Hill section of the preserve, I stumbled on yellow fumewort (Corydalis flavula). I don’t think I have ever seen it here before, proof that there’s always something new to discover. It’s a short-lived perennial with finely-cut leaves.

It’s not all flowers—there are creatures out there too, like this leopard frog posing in Mine Run. You never know exactly what you’ll see when you’re visiting the preserve.