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| A field of red trillium, on the Valentine Flats trail, photograph by the author. For a trail map go HERE |
Because of COVID-19 and
the schools being closed, Boy Scout Troops can’t meet, and so for my readers
who are Boy Scouts in the United States, this article can help you with the
plant identification requirements for First Class – Author’s Note
Have
you ever been walking through the woods during the early spring and saw a
flower or plant and wondered what its name was?
Wouldn’t it be more fun if you knew what it was called and a little bit
about it?
It
annoys me when I am out in the woods and I see something that I can’t
identify. So, here are five plants, that
I have learned to identify over the years. Four, that I saw this spring, while I was
exploring the “Valentine Trail”, in Zoar Valley, outside of Gowanda, New York. And one, that I last saw in Algonquin Provincial Park, alongside the “Big Pine Trail”, off
route 60, two years ago.
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| Trout-lily (erythronium americanum), photographed in Zoar Valley on the valley wall, by the author. |
 |
| Range map of the trout-lily, from United States Department of Agriculture. States are colored green where the trout-lily may be found. |
Trout-lilies
are also known as fawn-lilies or dogs-tooth violets, and in Canada, they grow in
Quebec, Ontario and in Nova Scotia. In
the United States they can be found from Maine, west to Minnesota and then south
to Georgia.
The
trout-lily is one of the earliest blooming wildflowers that you will find in
the hard wood forests of northeastern North America. Even before the ground is fully thawed, the
leaves of the trout-lily are emerging into the Sun, pushing through the matted
leaves of the hardwood forest, that they call home. The trout-lily can be found in the woods from
the first thaw to when the trees of the forest come into full leaf, which
depending on your latitude and elevation is from March to June.
Trout-lilies
are perennials flowers that will come up each year, and they can be recognized
by their brown mottled leaves, which are said to resemble the spots on the trout
found in the woodland brooks. The
trout-lily has no stem, except for when it flowers, then one flower and a stem push
up from the underground bulb. Trout-lilies
are often found in large colonies, which can be hundreds of years old, since,
although they produce seeds, they spread mainly from underground bulbs, that
have “budded” from older bulbs. Unfortunately,
these plants are slow to spread as the bulbs are sterile up to their seventh
year and in that year, they only produce one leaf and no flowers. When the bulbs are fully mature, they will
produce two leaves and a single yellow flower each year1.
 |
| Red trillium, trilium erectum L., photographed in Zoar Valley on the valley wall, by the author. |
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| Range map of the red trillium, from United States Department of Agriculture. States are colored green where the red trillium may be found. |
Red
trillium or red wakerobin or bethroot2, as it is also known, can be
found in the forest of northeastern North America from April to May, depending
on your elevation and latitude. Red
trillium can be found in the rich, moist soils of Manitoba, east to Nova Scotia,
and south throughout Ontario, Canada. In
the United States, they can be found from Georgia and Alabama, north to
Illinois and Michigan, and all the way to the east coast. They favor drier areas of open
woodlands. They are also perennial flowers
that come up each year. Red trilliums
are interesting flowers, that do not have nectar and so they do not attract
bees, however since they are deep red and have a disagreeable smell, similar to
rotting meat, they attract carrion flies, which then pollinate them. Red trillium flowers produce only a single reddish-black
berry each season.
 |
| Great white trillium (trillium grandiflorum), photographed in Zoar Valley on the valley floor, by the author. |
 |
| Range map of the great white trillium, from United States Department of Agriculture. States are colored green where the great white trillium may be found. |
Great white trillium is
a perennial wildflower which has a wide range across eastern North
America. In
Canada, it grows in the deciduous or mixed coniferous and deciduous forests of southern
Quebec and Ontario. In the United States
it grows in woodlands from Maine, west to northeastern Minnesota and then south
along the Appalachian Mountains to Georgia.
Interestingly, even though the great white trillium is the floral emblem
of Ontario, Canada, this flower is not found in Algonquin Provincial Park, and according
to Wildflowers of Algonquin Provincial Park, this is probably due to the
Park’s higher elevation. The great white
trillium blooms, from April to early June, depending upon latitude and
elevation.
 |
| Northern blue violet, (viola septenrionalis), photographed in Zoar Valley on the valley floor, by the author. |
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| Range map of the northern blue violet, from United States Department of Agriculture. States are colored green where the northern blue violet may be found. |
Northern
blue violets are perennial wildflowers, which bloom from
April to June, depending on elevation and latitude. In eastern Canada, northern blue violets are
found in Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia.
In the United States it is found from Maine, west to Minnesota and then south
along the Appalachian Mountains to North Carolina. There are several types of wild violets which
can be found in the woods of northeastern North America and the northern blue
violet is commonly found, particularly in sunny meadows and open coniferous
woods. The petals of this flower can
range from a deep blue or violet to a pale lilac, and it has heart-shaped
leaves.
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| Indian Pipe, (monotrope uniflore L.), photographed in Algonquin Provincial Park, alongside the “Big Pine Trail”, off route 60, by the author. |
 |
| Since my picture of the indian pipes is not as clear as I would have liked, here is an extract from Wildflowers of Algonquin Provincial Park. |
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| Range map of the indian pipes, from United States Department of Agriculture. States are colored green where the indian pipes may be found. |
The
indian pipe or as it also known, the ghost pipe, is a rather sinister looking
flower that grows throughout most of the United States and Canada, apart from
the Rocky Mountains. It favors deep
shady woods at low to moderate elevations.
Indian pipes have only one flower per stem, with five-part flowers, and
the stems are about four to eight inches (10 -20 cm) tall with small scale like
leaves. These plants are usually found
in clusters but are sometimes found alone.
Indian pipes bloom from June to September, depending on the elevation
and latitude.
This
deathly-pale plant is a parasite and is white due to a lack of chlorophyll,
which is a substance that plants use to turn the Sun’s energy into carbohydrates
through photosynthesis. Indian pipes
steal nutrients and carbohydrates from myccorhizal fungi in the soil, which in
turn parasitizes adjacent tree roots.
Oh,
and just in case it needs to be said; look, take pictures, enjoy, but don’t
pick the flowers. A century ago, New
York State was heavily farmed, and today over fifty percent of the state is
abandoned farmlands, that are returning to forest. But while the trees and shrubs have made a
comeback, the wildflowers have been slow to spread. In fact, it has taken seventy years for some
wildflowers to spread just 33 feet, or 10 meters3!
I
hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me
on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other related videos, HERE.
Don’t forget to follow me on both The
Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE,
and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube. If you have questions, as always, feel free
to leave a comment on either site. I
announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at
bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.
That
is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!
Notes
1 Trout-lilies
are edible and while the author of Edible Wild Foods, “Trout Lily, Erythronium
americanum” discusses how slow to reproduce these flowers are, he or she also
writes about how to harvest and enjoy the, cucumber-tasting bulbs of these plants. Personally, since these flowers are so slow
to reproduce and since the bulbs of trout-lilies are small, measuring only 1/8
to ½ inches (about .3 to 1.3 cm) long, providing very little food value, and since
they can cause vomiting, if you eat to many; it is my opinion that it is best
to leave them be.
2 The
root of the red trillium has traditionally been used to help with childbirth,
which is why it is sometimes called “bethroot”, a corruption of “birthroot”. Native Americans made a root tea from this
plant to help with menstrual problems, to help with labor and to induce childbirth. The whole plant could be made into a poultice,
which would be used to treat inflammation, ulcers and tumors.
Mark
Pistrang, “Red trillium (Trillium erectum L.)”, Plant of the Week, U.S.
Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture
3
From the Wildflower Restoration Project, a project run by the SUNY College of
Environmental Science and Forestry, which notes that “These plant species
appear to be limited by their slow rates of dispersal. Their seeds are only
able to travel short distances, and have an extremely low chance of survival.”
Wildflower
Restoration Project, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry,
Sources
DeLay, Chantelle; “Ghost
Pipe (Monotropa uniflora L.)”, Plant of the Week, U.S. Forest Service, United
States Department of Agriculture, https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/monotropa_uniflora.shtml,
accessed May 9, 2020
Edible Wild Foods, “Trout
Lily, Erythronium americanum”, [EdibleWildFood.com, Copyright 2020], https://www.ediblewildfood.com/trout-lily.aspx, accessed May 9, 2020
Pistrang, Mark, “Red
trillium (Trillium erectum L.)”, Plant of the Week, U.S. Forest Service,
United States Department of Agriculture, https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/trillium_erectum.shtml, accessed May 8, 2020
Strickland,
Dann and LaVay, John; Wildflowers of Algonquin
Provincial Park, [Friends of Algonquin Park, Whitney, Ontario; 1986],
pages 2-8
Stritch,
Larry; “Great White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)”, Plant of the Week, U.S.
Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture, https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/trillium_grandiflorum.shtml,
accessed May 8, 2020
The
3 Foragers, “Trout Lily Identified”, Monday, April 15, 2013, http://the3foragers.blogspot.com/2013/04/trout-lily-identified.html,
accessed May 9, 2020
United States Department
of Agriculture, “erythronium
americanum”, https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=ERAM5, accessed May 9, 2020
United States Department
of Agriculture, “monotrope uniflore”, https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=MOUN3,
accessed May 9, 2020
United
States Department of Agriculture, “trilium erectum”, https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=TRER3,
accessed May 9, 2020
United States Department
of Agriculture, “trillium
grandiflorum”, https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=trgr4,
accessed May 9, 2020
United States Department
of Agriculture, “viola septenrionalis”, https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=VISE5,
accessed May 9, 2020
Wildflower Restoration
Project, “NYS Wildflower Identification Guide”, SUNY
College of Environmental Science and Forestry, [Syracuse, New York;
Copyright 2020], https://www.esf.edu/restorewildflowers/NYS%20Wildflower%20Identification%20Guide.pdf, accessed May 6, 2020
Wildflower Restoration Project, SUNY
College of Environmental Science and Forestry, [Syracuse,
New York; Copyright 2020], https://www.esf.edu/restorewildflowers/,
accessed May 6, 2020
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