It's the end of April, and after horrendous thunderstorms led to flooding (that closed schools), we went off to see the damage.
It was interesting - see other blog entry - but it was the wildflowers that captivated me.
We used to call these "Russian Dandelions", the first blooms of spring.
In the 1980s they were rare here, but now they bloom in huge clumps in the sandy, gritty, edges of country roads.
It's actually Coltsfoot.
Tussilago farfara.
The flower emerges before the leaves do.
It's in the aster family.
Spring Beauty
(Claytonia virginica)
There is a pair of opposite leaves, lance like, I would say, but Illinois calls them cauline.
The plant is perhaps 2-4 inches tall.
The plant is 3-6 inches tall.
It's in the purslane family, like portulaca.
Here it grows in the dappled sunshine on the edges of woods.
The speckled leaf on the right in the picture above is not from Spring Beauty.
It's from Dogtooth Violet.
The Dogtooth Violet is also called Trout Lily
(perhaps because of the speckled leaf?)
Erythronium americanum
A drive through the state forests and country roads shows so many wonderful plants!
This is about 4-6 inches tall.
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