Blue Jay Barrens is not the place to be if you want to see
masses of spring wildflowers carpeting the woodland floor. A history of livestock in the woods reduced
the wildflower population through trampling and consumption. The soil was left eroded and compacted which
made it hard for the wildflowers to become reestablished. More recently, deer and turkey have been
feeding on many of the wildflowers.
White Trout Lilies are currently the most widely spread species in the
woods. These are growing in an area that
was pretty heavily worked over by the turkey flocks.
Spring Beauty is one species that is increasing in
number. It seems to do best along the
woodland edges where sunlight is more readily available.
Rue Anemone is common on the lower slopes and
floodplains. This is always one of the
earliest species to bloom each year. The
plant moves with the slightest breeze, making it a most frustrating flower to
photograph.
Most of the Blue Jay Barrens woodland wildflowers appear
later in the spring. Even when the rest
of the State is reporting early blooms, the plants here are slow to
awaken. I’m seeing signs of things to
come. Leaves of the American Columbo are
pushing up through the leaves. Columbo
flowers won’t appear until early summer.
Large Flowered Trilliums are rapidly emerging. The heavy rain that caused the severe flooding
earlier in the month also cleared leaf litter from some of the steep
hillsides. These Trilliums are quite
conspicuous growing from the bare ground.
It’s neat how this plant emerges as a spike and then unfurls
its leaves after it has some height. This
growth pattern is common with many woodland plants that must push through a
covering of leaves to reach the light.
One of the first bloomers of the year has already produced
fruit. Two weeks ago, Leavenworthia
uniflora was just beginning to bloom.
Now it’s well on its way to producing ripe seed. Cool weather usually slows the plant’s
development so you have a couple of weeks in which to enjoy watching the flowers
develop. Temperatures in the 80’s caused
the plants to flower together and push on to fruit development in just a matter
of days. I hope things aren’t going to
proceed at such a rapid pace all season.
No comments:
Post a Comment