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With warmer days in sight, spring ephemerals are soon to be on the rise! After a long, harsh winter, these five plants are a perfect reminder that spring is just around the corner.
One of the first to be found is skunk cabbage. It can be found as early as February or March! Similar to other spring ephemerals, it can grow and bloom below the snow, typically in mucky and moist areas. However, skunk cabbage is unique as it can generate its own heat, providing a perfect place for pollinators to hunker down when the temps continue to fluctuate. Along with the noticeable dark red spathe encompassing the flower head, the snow surrounding the plant will melt from the escaping heat, making it quite noticeable along the forest floor. As the name suggests, the plant resembles cabbage and has a foul, skunk-like smell that attracts flies for pollination!
Skunk Cabbage
Photo Credit: Katy Chayka & Michael Lynch/Minnesota Wildflowers
The next to be found is bloodroot, which typically blooms between March and April. Spotting the little white bloodroot flower is quite the task, as they only bloom for a day or two. Bloodroot is known for the red sap found throughout the plant, which was historically used to make red dye.
Bloodroot
Photo Credit: Derek Anderson/Minnesota Conservation Volunteer
& Katy Chayka/Minnesota Wildflowers
With temperatures continuing to rise, more ephemerals will begin to make their appearance. The next to be found are hepatica and ostrich ferns, which can be observed between April and May. Hepatica is technically divided into two species, the sharp-lobed and the round-lobed, both found in the St. Croix River valley! The beautiful little white, pink, or purple flowers will close on colder, darker days and then reopen on warmer days, making them a bit tricky to spot depending on the current weather conditions.
Round-lobed Hepatica and Sharp-lobed Hepatica
Photo Credit: J. Jacobowski/Wild Rivers Conservancy & Katy Chayka/Minnesota Wildflowers
On the other hand, ostrich ferns are quite easy to distinguish. Even during the fall and winter months, they stand upright, sometimes poking through the snow and leaf litter. Although they appear brown and wilted during the colder months, they can still be easily identified once you know what to look for! Some unique traits are the stems, with deep, large grooves resembling the letter U (similar to celery stalks), and the spiraled or furled ends of the stem, known as fiddleheads. Between April and May, the leaves will begin to green and slowly unfurl, leading to a stereotypical, feathery-like mature fern. If you are interested in foraging, ostrich ferns are a great plant to start with. Their spiraled fiddleheads make wonderful additions to salads, or they can be picked or sauteed as a side dish. As always, if you plan to forage wild food please follow foragers' rules of harvesting less than ⅓ of the fiddleheads on any individual plant and be sure of your identification and preparation before ingesting any foraged food. Check out this article Fiddlehead Ferns: Identifying, Harvesting and Cooking to learn more about how to forage ostrich fern fiddleheads safely. You can also use the Minnesota Harvester Handbook for more information about harvesting rules, species identification, and preparation tips for a wide variety of common midwestern forageables.
Ostrich Fern Fiddlehead and Full-Grown Forms
Photo Credit: Katy Chayka/Minnesota Wildflowers
Unfortunately, one of the more well-known spring ephemerals is garlic mustard, an invasive species found throughout the United States. This plant can quickly take over the forest understory which can drastically reduce habitat and food sources for our native wildlife, reduce biodiversity, and inhibit native plant growth. If you have this plant on your property, it is best practice to remove it. It can be identified by its garlicky smell when crushed, toothy triangular older leaves and heart-shaped younger leaves, and petite, four-petaled white flowers. The plants typically flower in May or June, so it is crucial to take action before then to ensure the seeds can't disperse. Hand pulling is the easiest removal method, although be sure to bag all parts of the plant and dispose of them in the trash rather than composting or burning. If the seed pods are dry when placed in a fire, they will burst open and allow the seeds to disperse.
As a reward for your removal work, treat yourself to these online garlic mustard recipes to use up some of the plants before disposing of them. Speaking from experience, it makes a delicious pesto! Forager's rules don't apply to this invasive plant so you can take as much as you want!
Garlic Mustard
Photo Credit: MN DNR
Interested in learning more? The St. Croix River valley is a perfect place to view spring ephemerals! Be sure to check out the guided spring ephemerals hike, led by expert Alex Bouthilet with US Fish & Wildlife Service on May 3rd. Registration is required, so visit https://wildriversconservancy.org/event/spring-ephemerals-hike/ to reserve your spot!
For further details on each of these spring ephemerals - check out these links!
Skunk Cabbage: MN Wildflowers, FMR
Bloodroot: UW- Madison, MN Wildflowers, FMR
Hepatica: UW- Madison, MN Wildflowers (Sharp), MN Wildflowers (Round), FMR
Ostrich Fern: UW- Madison, MN Wildflowers, UMN, Missouri Native, Never A Goose Chase, MWWN.
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