A look at some common Blue Jay Barrens shrubs showed only
one species to be in full bloom. The
Hazelnut, Corylus americana ,
is covered with flowers, but the small size of the bloom makes it nearly
impossible to notice.
Hazelnut is one of those plants that produces separate male
and female flowers. The long male
flowers, called catkins, are produced in the fall, but don’t mature until early
spring. When the scales of the catkin
pull back and the color lightens to a pale green, the female flowers should be
present.
Like many of our native shrubs, Hazelnut grows in the forest
understory and effectively blends with its surroundings.
Buds of the Fragrant Sumac, Rhus aromatica, have not yet
begun to enlarge. It would not be
surprising to see some of these flowers emerge within the next week.
Fragrant Sumac commonly grows at the edges of small openings
or fields. The blooms produce an
abundant supply of nectar and are visited by a wide variety of insects.
Buds of the Flowering Dogwood, Cornus florida , are just beginning to swell. The buds look to have suffered very little
winter damage this year. Hopefully,
weather conditions will continue to support a good flower show.
All of the Flowering Dogwood branches are loaded with flower
buds. It’s been quite a while since I’ve
seen such a good prelude to the flowering season.
Redbuds are pushing out from beneath their protective scales. Blooming of the Redbuds coincides with the
emergence of the Henry’s Elfin butterflies.
The tiny butterflies will mate and then lay their eggs on the young
Redbud blooms. The size of the Blue Jay
Barrens population of this uncommon butterfly tends to fluctuate along with the
success of the Redbud flowers.
Flowers of the Spicebush, Lindera benzoin, are not far from
emergence. That’s a leaf bud tucked in
between the developing flowers. I’ll be
back later in the year to examine the leaves for larvae of the Spicebush
Swallowtail butterfly.
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