Mariton: Now Blooming

by Tim Burris, Preserve Manager

Leaf out has really started here at Mariton.  Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) is still in flower, but I can see leaf buds starting to bulge, so the yellow cast in the woods is changing to green.  Hepatica (Hepatica americana) and Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) are still blooming along trails if you know where to look. 

Rue Anemone (Anemonella thalictroides) is starting to bloom.  I found a patch of Early Saxifrage (Saxifraga virginiensis) on an outcrop yesterday.  I found one Dutchman’s Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) flower, but more should be blooming soon. 

Mayapples have pushed up their umbrellas and are leafing out all over the woods.  Lots of wildflowers are just starting to pop up through the soil, so in a couple weeks we should really start seeing blossoms.  Trilliums are beginning to leaf out, although slowly. 

Although not a wildflower, the new shoots of Christmas Fern are about to unfurl.  There are lots of fiddleheads around the forest now.