FIELD NOTES: Ephemerals
~ by Jim Eagleman
The ground outside my window is more white than brown right now. Next week’ s predicted rain will dissipate the remaining snow— the moisture from both adding to my native plant area and the experimental Hugel mounds I wrote about in earlier Field Notes.
Another order from a native plant nursery should arrive soon, and the mere thought of warming temps makes me anxious. Spring is coming!
The first spring wildflowers: hepatica, spring beauty, rue anemone, toothwort, and others, are referred to as ephemerals, the early bloomers. Their first-of-the-year brilliance is the color I look for, from monochrome to sudden pastels, bathed in the sun’ s warmth that slowly dries mats of dead leaves. These plants appear quickly from the sun-flected forest floor, while the canopy overhead is still open.
In a few days, the flowers push into the cool spring air, fueled by storehouses of energy from the previous year. Some of them grow from hidden, below-ground stems called rhizomes, others emerge from corms or fibrous roots. Only after the plants have leafed out will photosynthesis boost survival. This strategy helps them persist in the light-hungry world of the chilly woods.
Once rapid growth has reached this point, we momentarily inspect these beauties. Don’ t plan to return in a few days with a camera or flower book— they will have probably disappeared.“ Short-lived” is their trademark— so enjoy them while you can.
Once these ephemerals have unfurled their leaves, they reap sunlight’ s energy and carbon dioxide at a furious rate. The breathing holes in their leaves, the stomata, are opened wide. One plant biologist and author, David Haskell, calls them the“ fast-food junkies of the forest.”
Bloodroot
Spring Beauty
38 Our Brown County March / April 2021
Toothwort