#mayapple

Rue anemones and a mayapple doing shadow art in May

first photo was taken on the first day of april-- and the last photo is from the last week of may. they have emerged, flowered, fruited, and are now finishing 👋💛

From top: Painted trillium (Trillium undulatum), a sylphlike spirit of old mossy woods; running clubmoss (Lycopodium clavatum) and young ferns lay seige to a rotting stump; wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis), often mistaken for ginseng, with clusters of ball-like white flowers; a mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum), whose distinctive, palmately-lobed leaves shield a single white flower; heartleaf foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia), a lover of moist forest coves and seeps; the pendulous yellow flowers and graceful, arching stems of smooth Solomon's seal (Polygonatum biflorum); the gaudy, pouch-like flowers of the pink lady's slipper orchid (Cypripedium acaule), which function as highly effective bee lures for pollination (note that one of the flowers in the lower photo is pure white, a rare genetic mutation); and a young red eft (Notophthalmus viridescens) starts its perilous journey to adulthood.

-Minnie Curtis Wait -1901

₊˚⊹ Mayapple blossoms (Podophyllum peltatum) & wild Allegheny blackberry bramble (Rubus allegheniensis) ˚✧₊

Podophyllum peltatum / Mayapple at Penny's Bend Nature Preserve in Durham, NC

Very busy walk today with so much wildlife everywhere. Lots of fun.