Spring Wildflower Report, May 28th 2003

This report is written by Lorraine Anderson (lorraine@bwca.cc). She is part of a group of three seniors that have been looking at wildflowers in Cook County, Minnesota. They have gone out almost every Wednesday for over 20 years and love it, even in the winter. But of course there aren't any flowers in the winter!!

Wednesday Wildflower Report: May 28, 2003

The weather was not perfect today. it started out a bit rainy & then the wind kicked up - a LOT - so much that we didn't go out to the lighthouse to see if the Brook Lobelia was blooming.

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We thought we might be blown away. We did go down behind the Power plant to see the Bird's-eye Primrose. They were particularly pale this year. We also saw Butterwort. Next we went to our "Magic Garden", going South on the SHT (Superior Hiking Trail) parking on the Old Ski Hill Road. Jean had not seen Goldthread before and we saw plenty. There were boardwalks over low areas and the Marsh Marigolds were stunning. While we were still on the North Shore Trail we were surprised to se many Spring Beauty, a few Dutchman's-breeches, Nodding Trillium. What a wonderful woods. We don't have to go all the way to Ward Lake road to see these things.

The roadways are dotted with blooming fruit trees, mostly Pin Cherry & June Berry. We then had lunch in the car at the Scenic

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Overlook. It was still windy. We discussed which type of Bird's-eye Primrose we had. Books we had along differed but for now we will call it Primula laurentiana. We also had our yearly discussion as to which - Twisted Stalk, Solomon Seal - Hairy Solomon Seal, Rosy Twisted stalk. Also which type of Bellwort were we seeing. They weren't blooming so it made it harder.

We went up the Trail, E. on #60 - ks on the Lindskoog Road to the SHT parking lot where L had found some Ginger in the woods beyond the parking lot.

Flowers of the week: J chose Goldthread, B, Nodding Trillium and L stuck with Marsh Marigolds.

Home we went, tired and happy.

Flowers we found Blooming:

Wood Anemone - Anemone quinquefolia

Red Baneberry - Actaea rubra

Bloodroot - Sanguinaria canadensis

Butterwort - Pinguicula vulgaris

Clintonia, Bluebead Lily - Clintonia borealis

Coltsfoot , Early - Petasites palmatus

Cuckoo-flower - Cardimine bulbosa

Common Dandelion - Taraxacum officinale

Dutchman's Breeches - Dicentra cucullaria

Wild Ginger - Asarum canadense

Goldthread - Coptis groenlandica

Lily-of-the-Valley, Wild - Maianthemum canadense

Marsh Marigold - Cowslip - Caltha palustris

Mertensia ( Bluebells ) - Mertensia paniculata

Primrose, Bird's-eye - Primula laurentian

Wild Sarsaparilla (Smooth) - Aralia nudicaulis

Spring Beauty - Clatonia caroliniana

Starflower - Trientalis borealis

Strawberry, Common - Fragaria virginiana

Nodding Trillium - Trillium cernuum

Violet, Yellow

Trees & Shrubs we found Blooming:

Pin Cherry - Prunus pennsylbanica

Currant, Skunk - Ribes glandulosum

Dewberry - Rubus pubescens

Elder, Red-berried - Sambucus pubens

Gooseberry - Ribes

Honeysuckle, Fly - Lonicera canadensis

Juneberry - Amelanchier

Note: I pictured Baneberry on the Trees & Shrubs page and I guess it isn't.

Also, we saw mustard blooming but didn't identify it.