Wildflowers April 6

McKinley Woods FP

On Sunday, April 6, I went to McKinley Woods to see how the wildflowers are looking.  No prescribed burn this year so the display is less showy and more uneven than usual as many plants are delayed trying to come up through the leaves, while bare ground and south facing areas are moving along. The important plant for flower chasers is the Twinleaf, whose floral display is so brief as to be often missed. Doesn’t look like a particularly good year for seeing Twinleaf at McKinley Woods due to the lack of fire this year, but we’ll see what happens in the very near future.

Rue Anemone (Anemonella thalictroides): one of the more common bloomers now.

Hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba): Not many in bloom now. Leaves are often unseen and white is the most common color.

Deep blue hepatica flowers like this are uncommon.

Toothwort (Dentaria laciniata): Just starting to bloom.

Bloodroot: (Sanguinaria canadensis): Blooming in scattered areas now.

Twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla): Only a few plants blooming in open ground. Rest hiding under leaves and not blooming yet.  There are thousands of plants at McKinley Woods, so I am hoping that the rest will be starting in a week, or so.

A Beaver stripped the bark from this Red Oak, but did a mediocre job wood chipping their trail. I appreciate them bringing more light into the woods and we have lots of Red Oaks.