Spring Time in the Southeast

      It is with great irony that I am writing this post because it is snowing outside right now.  However, I'm in Baltimore, not the southeast, and on my drive up here I was able to see the early signs of spring.  Last Friday, I was camping in Blackwater State forest (N. Florida) and the sparkleberries (Vaccinium arboreum) were already in bloom!  Even way back in  January I spotted a "confused" elderberry plant that was flowering.  Normally, I don't see them until early summer.  I was also surprised to see the dewberries (Rubus trivialis) are blooming too.  As long as we don't get a late frost, we should have plenty for eating, making jams, and fermenting into wine or mead.  The fragrant black titis (Cliftonia monophylla) that normally bloom in late February or March are also starting to bloom in wetlands and along roadside ditches.  Redbuds (Cercis canadensis) are blooming in hardwood forests and residential areas. Cultivated plants such as Chinese magnolias, red buds, Bradford pears and evens some azaleas are blooming along city streets and in suburban yards.

Dewberries (Rubus trivialis) are blooming early this year.  Pay attention to where you see these flowers because sweet and tart fruit will replace the flowers in late spring (Photo by Jonathan Bollhoefer).

A fragrant black titi (Cliftonia monophylla) I noticed blooming a little early.

Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) flowers appear in clusters before the trees leaf out.

      Perhaps what I will miss the most this spring is finding one of my favorite plants.  In years past I would search the hardwood forests surrounding Tallahassee for underwood's trillium (trillium underwoodii) which heralded the arrival of spring.  This year, I won't be searching for trilliums because I'm not near any suitable hardwood forest, but I know they are probably flowering in large numbers.  These camouflage little plants are initially hard to find, but once you spot one, you will probably realize that you are standing amongst a patch of them.  They are easy to recognize because almost everything on the plant occurs in threes, as the name suggests.  They have one set of three leaves, three sepals (specialized leaves that surround the flower), three flower petals three pistils (female part of the flower) and 6 (which is still a multiple of 3) stamens.

A camouflage underwood's trillium (Trillium underwoodii) has emerged from the leaf-litter and flowered.

A closer view of a trillium that will soon be blooming.

      Even with this early spring, I will still have to wait about a month before my favorite flower, the dogwood, appears.