Wildflowers of The Land Between
Backyard Community Science Program
Below are seasonal lists of wildflowers that we have highlighted to look for in every season! This is not a comprehensive list of all the species that you can find, but it should help you identify some common and even rarer species. Click on the buttons below to explore the our highlighted species for each season.
PLEASE NOTE: the Summer, Autumn and Winter pages are currently unavailable because they are under construction.
How to help wildflowers on my property
Wildflowers are beautiful additions to any landscape; however, how we mange our communities effects their ability to survive and provide us with pretty flowers. One way that you can do for wildflowers is to reduce the frequency of lawn mowing! In cottage country many of us have lawns that are much more diverse than the city! Wildflowers are already on your property, you just need to give them the chance to grow. Next, the best way to provide habitat is to naturalize as much of your property as possible - allow wild spaces to remain! For example, consider growing a native shoreland garden, allowing leaves and deadfall to remain in woodlands, and planting native gardens instead of foreign ornamental ones. In addition, refrain from picking flowers (especially on plants that have very few - like trilliums) because this inhibits the plants reproduction and in some cases can cause severe damage!
Spring Wildflowers
Spring is an exciting time for all beings in the Land Between! The longer and warmer days means that the snow starts to melt and many species are emerging from their winter strongholds. Search through the gallery of images below and click the picture to find out more information! Take a look to see if you recognize anyone!
Activity Sheets
Download and print our activity sheets to have some extra fun learning about and searching for wildflowers during your Bioblitz!
Featured Spring Wildflowers: species your are likely to find!
Blue Cohosh
Jack-in-the-pulpit
Trilliums
Carolina Spring Beauty
Large-Flowered Bellwort
Trout Lily
Dutchman's Breeches
Marsh Marigold
Common Wood Sorrel
Field Pussytoes
Eastern Skunk Cabbage
Fringed Polygala
Wild Strawberry
More information about our featured species!
Blue Cohosh
(Caulophyllum thalictroides or giganteum)
Appearance: Grows between 1-3 feet tall. When the plant first emerges it is thin and purplish is colour. As it matures is bushes out and becomes green as it matures.
Leaves: Trifoliate leaf structure (one "leaf" is made of three leaflets that grow from the end of the stem). The left and right leaflets are smaller with a larger centre leaflet. All usually have a few teeth.
Flowers: Have six petals which are all either yellow or purple.
Habitat: Moist shady areas, woodlands
Blooming/fruiting time: Flowers April to May. Has blue berries which ripen in August.
Pollinators: Bees, damsel bugs and flies, but usually self pollinate
Tips to spot them: On spring forest walks keep an eye out for a grouping of strange purple stems.
Carolina Spring Beauty
(Claytonia caroliniana)
Appearance: Small plant with a height of 3-10 inches
Leaves: Slender green leaves grow close to the ground and are tapered at both ends.
Flowers: Small white flowers with five petals and pink-purple veins running out from the flower's centre.
Habitat: Forest floors and forest edges
Blooming time: Typically April to May
Pollinators: The Carolina Spring Beauty is pollinated by a variety of insects; however there is a bee species called the Andrena erigeniae (spring beauty miner bee) which is a specialist of this flower and relys on its pollen solely within the Land Between Region.
Tips to spot them: Like other spring ephemerals, the Carolina Spring Beauty grows for the short period of time between snow melt and deciduous trees growing their spring leaves. Thus, the time to view them is short! Find a location in or around a forest and start your search - they are one of the few plants blooming at this time (Trout Lilys like the same habitat) and are often found growing on leave covered ground!
Dutchman's Breeches
(Dicentra cucullaria)
Appearance: Flower stalks can reach about 10 inches tall with leaves typically spreading out about 14 inches.
Leaves: Small trifoliate leaf structure (one "leaf" is made of three leaflets that grow from the end of the stem). Each of the leaflets is made of several thin finger-like sections.
Flowers: Groups of peculiar looking white (or on rare occasion pink) flowers grow side-by-side along a tall stalk (peduncle) at the top of the plant. The flowers grow in a bolded U or V shape which resembles an upside down pair of pantaloons (as the name suggests), open clam or dragon's head.
Habitat: Moist, rich shaded (or partially shaded) soils or rocky areas in woodlands and forests
Bloom time: April and May
Pollinators: Bumblebees
Tips to spot them: They are typically easy because they colonize entire fields. They are hard to miss!
Fun Facts: The seeds of Dutchman's Breeches are spread by ants (this interaction is known as myrmecochory)! Why exactly do the ants do this? In exchange for their seed distribution services, each Duchtman's beard seed offers a taste pouch of nutritious food to the ants (this pouch is called an elaiosome). The ants carry these seeds back to their nests where they consume the elaisome and then discard the seed when they are finished. The seed is now in a new location with lots of nutrients provided from the waste products of the ant nest! Cool!
Field Pussytoes
(Antennaria neglecta)
Appearance: Has short leafy portion that is close to ground, but flowering body typically grows up to 10-15cm tall.
Leaves: Small soft/fuzzy silver/green spade or ovular shaped leaves grow out radially from center and are very close to the ground.
Flowers: Small groups of fluffy white ovular globes at the end of long stems. Resemble the appearance of cat paws.
Habitat: Sunny meadows, fields and open spaces in many different soil types
Bloom time: April, May and June
Pollinators: Mainly bees and flies. It is also one of the only hosts for the American Lady Butterfly! Keep an eye out for fuzzy black caterpillars on leaves!
Tips to spot them: They are typically easy to spot because they colonize entire fields. They are hard to miss!
Fringed Polygala
(Polygaloides paucifolia)
Appearance: They grow to a size of about 3-6 inches.
Leaves: Whorled-like leaf arrangement (multiple leaflets extend radially from stem). Leaves can be ovular or tapered at both ends.
Flowers: The Fringed Polygala has very unique flowers! in the centre you find a tubular petal that ends in a fringed filaments. To each side you will find one petal, which together resemble wings. Flowers are usually purple-pink; however on rare occasion can be white.
Habitat: Dry to moist soils of forests/woodlands (appear to be more common in coniferous forests
Bloom time: Typically May-July, but late bloomers can sometimes be found in August
Pollinators: Various pollinators
Jack-in-the-pulpit
(Arisaema triphyllum)
Appearance: As part of the Arum family they have the appearance of a lily. Typically reach up to 2 feet in height.
Leaves: Large trifoliate leaf structure (one "leaf" is made of three leaflets that grow from the end of the stem).
Flowers: Long cylindrical green lily like flower green with burgundy stripes on the inside. In autumn a cylinder of many red berries forms.
Habitat: Rich, moist, shaded soils
Bloom time: April to June
Pollinators: Fungus gnats (tiny flying insects)
Tips to spot them: Find an area that matches their habitat and scan the ground carefully for their leaves (look similar to trillium leaves). The first one will be the hardest to spot, but then it becomes much easier!
Large-Flowered Bellwort
(Uvularia grandiflora)
Appearance: Plants grow 30 inches in height and about 12 inches in spread.
Leaves: Large-Flowered Bellwort as thin, slender, smooth leaves that often curl inwards. Leaves also have a waxy glaucous blue-green coating.
Flowers: Each stalk can have one dropping flower at the end. Flowers consist of 6 narrow and slender "petals" (technically tepals because there are not quite petals) that are often twisted into a spiral
Habitat: Rich, moist, calcium or limestone or neutral soils in woodlands
Bloom time: Late April to late May
Pollinators: Various bee species
Tips to spot them: Find an area that matches their habitat and scan the ground carefully for their leaves (look similar to trillium leaves). The first one will be the hardest to spot, but then it becomes much easier!
Fun Fact: Large-Flowered Bellwort also has a symbiotic relationship with ants! Bellwort's seeds have fleshy packets of nutritious food attached to them (elaiosomes) which ants bring back to their nests and consume. Once they have finished eating the packets, they discard the seed outside the nest, effectively distributing the plants seeds!
Marsh Marigold
(Caltha palustris)
Appearance: Typically 12 inches tall and wide in the Land Between, but in some areas can become much larger.
Leaves: Thick, waxy kidney shaped leaves.
Flowers: Plants are covered with bright-yellow, five-petaled flowers, with light veins and resemble a buttercup (they are in the same family). Petals are rounded at the tip.
Habitat: Wetlands, shorlands, wet woodlands and wet soils
Blooming time: Late April-June
Pollinators: Various insect species
Tips to spot them: Search along the side of wetlands, streams, brooks, and other water bodies. Plants are relatively close to the ground and grow in a thick cluster. Once blooming they are hard to miss — nothing else in wetlands look like them!
Eastern Skunk Cabbage
(Symplocarpus foetidus)
Habitat: Wetlands, along sides of brooks or streams and wet soils
Blooming: March-April
Pollinators: Various fly and bee species
Tips to spot them: Walk along the edge of reed/cattail stands scanning carefully for their red flowers or leaf spirals. Do not forget to check in areas that still have some ice or snow! The Land Between is in the northern limits of their range so they may be hard to find.
Fun Facts: Eastern Skunk Cabbage is super cool... or should I say HOT. In spring they are one of the first wildflowers to appear because they literally melt the snow or ice around them! They do this by special using a special chemical pathway (cyanide resistant cellular respiration) that allows them to heat the air surrounding them to temperature up to 35°C! These high temperatures not only allow them to heat melt snow, but also help their skunk-like odour to travel through the air to attract pollinators.
Wild Strawberry
(Fragaria virginiana)
Appearance: Small plant typically between 10-20cm tall.
Leaves: Small ovular trifoliate leaves (one "leaf" is made of three leaflets that grow from the end of the stem) with jagged edges. Red runners (vine like growths) travel between plants.
Flowers and fruit: Small white flowers with five petals and a bright yellow center. The fruit is small, bright red and usually smaller than a quarter.
Habitat: Open and meadow-like areas with sandy or well-drained soils
Blooming/fruiting time: Bloom-April to June, Fruit-June
Pollinators: Various bee species
Tips to spot them: Search along the side or roads and dirt roads for their red runner vines. Their small white flowers are early bloomers and are often one of the first you will see in the spring
Trilliums
(most common:Trillium erectum & Trillium grandiflorum)
Appearance: The Land Between has three different trilliums: red, white, nodding and painted. They are spring ephemerals, meaning that they bloom and typically disappear before trees grow their leaves.
Leaves: Three large, tear-drop shaped leaves that come out of same node on steam .
Flowers: Easily identifiable, all trilliums have three large petals which curl back slightly when they are fully opened. The petals range in color from burgundy-red to pink to white.
Habitat: Woodlands with well drained soils
Blooming: Late April to May
Pollinators: Few pollinators are seldom witnessed on the plant
Tips to spot them: Search along the side or roads and dirt roads for their red runner vines. Their small white flowers are early bloomers and are often one of the first you will see in the spring
Fun Facts: Trilliums are Ontario's provincial flower! These beautiful flowers are tempting to pick, but please refrain from doing so because it can take the plant over a year to recover, if they do at all (this is because they only have a very short amount of time 2-3 months to gain all the energy they need to survive over the winter). These plants are extremely slow growing and usually take close to a decade to flower for the first time!
Trout Lily
(Erythronium americanum)
Appearance: Small plant with large speckled leaves. Mature plants can reach up to 15cm in height.
Leaves: Large smooth teardrop maroon/brown leaves with green speckles. Their appearance resembles a trout.
Flowers: Bright yellow nodding lily flowers with six petals which often curl backwards. Large anthers can be seen pointing downwards.
Habitat: Moist woodlands, moist open areas near woodlands and steam sides
Blooming: March to May
Pollinators: Usually bees, but sometimes beetles and flies
Tips to spot them: This beautiful plant is only visible for a short period of time and plants must be many years old before they flower! Rather than looking for the flower scan the ground its speckled leaves!
Fun Fact: Like other slow growing woodland spring ephemerals, the Trout Lilly takes many year to flower for the first time (4-7 years). Another fun fact the Trout Lilly has a symbiotic myrmecochory relationship with ants (WOW another plant that needs ants)! Trout Lilly seeds have fleshy packets of nutritious food attached to them (elaiosomes) which ants bring back to their nests and consume. Once they have finished eating the packets, they discard the seed outside the nest, effectively distributing the plants seeds!
Common Wood Sorrel
(Oxalis montana)
Appearance: Small plant typically between 10-20cm tall.
Leaves: Small ovular trifoliate leaves (one "leaf" is made of three leaflets that grow from the end of the stem) with jagged edges. Red runners (vine like growths) travel between plants.
Flowers and fruit: Small white flowers with five petals and a bright yellow center. The fruit is small, bright red and usually smaller than a quarter.
Habitat: Open and meadow-like areas with sandy or well-drained soils
Blooming/fruiting time: Bloom-April to June, Fruit-June
Pollinators: Various bee species
Tips to spot them: Search along the side or roads and dirt roads for their red runner vines. Their small white flowers are early bloomers and are often one of the first you will see in the spring. They look similar to the Carolina Spring Beauty, but have very different leaves.