Common Spring Wildflowers in the Cacapon Valley

One of my favorite things to observe in nature is the 'ephemeral' spring wildflowers- those delicate flowers that bloom early in the spring before the fleshing of the tree leaves blocks the sunlight to the ground. The Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) is one of my favorites, and there is a separate article on that tiny lily, as is the Virginia Bluebell (Mertensia virginica) also with its own article. This article and the pictures describe some of the other easily spotted spring wildflowers in the woods near the Cacapon River every spring. I list them here more or less in order of blossoming time, earliest first, but there is much overlap. By mid-May, most are gone for another year, some showing no evidence they were ever there save in the mind of the observer.

These flowers reproduce readily in the wild, but although not endangered at present, their habitat is easily destroyed. It is this loss of habitat that threatens the continued existence of West Virginia's great diversity of wild plants and animals. Clearing forests and meadows, draining and altering stream courses, and disturbing river floodplains can result in a drastic decline, or even extinction, of vulnerable species.

Leave wildflowers and native plants undisturbed in the wild!! Do not dig plants or roots, and avoid clearing, draining, or disturbing their habitats. Protection of the places where they grow will ensure that wildflowers will be there for your children's children.

Hepatica  Hepatica americana (Family Ranunculaceae)

This delicate looking plant is actually hardy, and is one of the very first to bloom in spring. Its name, "Hepatica", is derived from the old theory of "The Doctrine of Signatures". This theory held that if a plant looked like a body part, it could be used for ailments of that body part. The leaves of this plant (which appear after the flowers have died back) are three lobed, and reminded someone of the liver. It was therefore used for Hepatic ailments, and is also known as "liverwort" and "liverleaf". There are two types of hepatica, "sharp lobed" and "round lobed". Both bloom in early spring..

Here are two thumbnails of pictures taken by the author along the within 300 feet of the Cacapon River. Click on the picture to see a larger version:

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Golden Ragwort  Senecio aureus

This member of the Sunflower (compositae) family sports yellow daisy-like flowers in clusters. Each cluster contains 8-12 flowers that are 3/4 inch (2 cm) wide with a yellow central disk. The look is similar to the fleabane, but the petals of the flowers are yellow instead of white. They mostly grow in moist soil, but I have seen them in a shale barren near the Cacapon River.

Here are two pictures taken by the author near the Cacapon River:

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Spring Beauties Claytonia virginica

Spring beauty  is classified in the Portulacaceae or Purslane Farnily. The starchy tubers, a half- to one inch in diameter, were a favorite Indian food. The name Claytonia was named by Linnaeus in honor of John Clayton (1693-1779), an early botanist in Virginia. Our beloved Cacapon River was in western Virginia during the Colonial period. The pink flowers of the spring beauty carpet woodlands and sunny stream banks and are often found in lawns. I don't mow mine until the flowers are finished their show. Although individual flowers are small, only a half-inch across, their massed display is spectacular. The flowers are  white with red veins if you look closely, hence the pink appearance. There are two narrow  fleshy leaves, a few inches long, midway up the stem on each plant. There can be as many as 15 blossoms from each underground stem.
The flowers of spring beauty open only in sunlight. They bloom for up to two weeks. Then the above-ground parts disappear, leaving only a deep-seated underground tuber. The common name "fairy-spuds" alludes to the tuber's resemblance to a miniature potato with many protruding eyes.

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In spring in the moist, low woodlands along the Cacapon, a wildflower with an unusual name is the "cutleaf toothwort". It is called cutleaf as the whorled leaves are deeply cleft (like a dandelion) and toothwort because of the ivory colored tooth-like projections on the rhizome. In fact this species is also known as Dentaria laciniata. These underground stems are edible and have a radish like taste, but I'd never eat them. It usually blooms in April at about the same time as the spring beauties. The pinkish-white flowers are four-petaled, at the end of a slender stem. This herbaceous perennial is in the Mustard family (Brassicaceae) . They seem to thrive in woodsy areas with a lot of leaves as mulch, but are difficult to grow from seed. When fully grown, they are only 8-12 inches tall, so I don't mow them, either!

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The common name comes from the fact that the leaf resembles the shape of a birds foot.Viola pedata is found mainly in  shale barrens setting in well drained  rocky soil. The blossoms look much like a form of pansy. The flowers are produced in profusion in early spring and stand up well above the foliage. Colors range from pale blue to dark lilac.  The leaves look a bit like the buttercup, in that they  are lobed or dissected into 3 parts, with each lobe then divided further, hence the birdfoot appearance. The flowers are colored in two ways, one all lavender, and one two colored, lavender and darker purple, and occur at the ends of the long stalks. This perennial has short rhizomes and makes a seed capsule 7-9 mm after the blooms are finished. The pictures are of the two color type near Largent, West Virginia.

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These delicate perennials with finely-cut, fern-like leaves bear 1 to 10 showy flowers on slender drooping stalks. The blossoms have spurs like upside down bloomer legs. Dutchman's Breeches is pollinated by bumblebees. It can be found in woods with rich soil. It looks a bit like a wild miniature bleeding heart, and grows about 9 to 12 inches tall. Each upside down blossom is sealed from the effects of rain or wind on the pollen and from  invasion by most other crawling or  flying insects. Only the long tongue of the female bumblebee is said to be able to reach from the flower's bottom opening up into each of the two long spurs to gather the nectar, thus picking up and depositing pollen. There is  record of its use as a tonic, a diuretic, and for skin infections. The Native Americans may have used it as a love charm or for seduction. This perennial grows from a bulbous-like rootstock that is primarily found in or along the edges of woods, or along river banks. Early settlers called this plant "Little Blue Staggers" because of the effect it had on cattle that grazed upon it. The chemical responsible for this is a morphine-like poison called cucularine. It is present in both the leaves and the tubers. The picture here was gratefully accepted from Dr. Harold Bright.

 

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Some call this pretty little plant "Easter Candle" which describes its usual time of blossoming.  Bloodroot is part of the Poppy family (papavaraceae). It is fragile and probably  the leaf opens to the Sun since it is growing in March, when the weather is still cold and no leaves to block the warmth. . The leaf curls into itself at night. This flower usually lasts only a short while. It is an indicator species to the Birch-Maple-Basswood hardwood forests of North America. Pollination is by Bumble Bees. . Generally, if you see two blossoms very close together, both are sprouting from the one long horizontal root. After the flower has faded, the petals drop and the leaf spreads out, gets  greener and begins to show heavier veining. The 1 to 4 inch long  rootstock is round, fleshy, and thick and contains an orange-red sap, hence the name bloodroot.  The root contains several alkaloids, most notably sanguinarine, which has shown antiseptic, anesthetic and anticancer activity. Click here to go to a site with information on bloodroot as an herbal cure for cancer. Native Americans  used the root for rhuematism, asthma, bronchitis, lung ailments, laryngitis and fevers. The juice from the root was applied to warts, used as a dye and a decorative skin stain. These pictures were taken by the author near the Cacapon River in Largent, West Virginia.

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Colt's Foot tussilago farfara

Along roadways in early spring, this perennial plant of damp clay soils has showy yellow blooms resembling in color the dandelion. The flower has a scaly stem,  and the plant's common name is from the shape of the leaf. The heart-shaped leaves develop after the flowers have withered and are green above and whitish underneath. This medicinal non-native plant was and is still used to cure a cough, and was once the symbol of the old world apothecary shops. It is an ingredient in concoctions used to treat diarrhea. The leaves are sometimes smoked for relief of congestion. The crushed leaves or a leaf decoction may be applied externally to sores, injuries, rashes and painful joints. It contains a sterol that can lower cholesterol.

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Quaker Lady houstonia caerulea

This tiny flower is from the Madder or Bedstraw family (Rubiaceae). Also called "bluets", after sundown their four petals close roundly over the yellow center to look like the bonnet Quaker ladies used to wear. These delicate looking flowers are only about 6" tall and are bluish to white in their clusters. The leaves are 1/4" long and oval shaped and flowers are not much larger. This is another spring flower I mow around. This perennial blooms through early summer in open woods and fields with acidic soil, and seems to grow well in shade or partial shade. Cherokee thought that a tea made from this member of the Bedstraw family would stop children from wetting the bed.

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