Trillium erectum

 Trillium erectum, also known as purple trillium or wake flower, is a beautiful, but easily overlooked flower. 

Part of the reason it is missed by so many hikers, is due to the fact that the flower itself faces down.  From above, the deep purple petals are hardly noticeable.   

Trillium is reliant upon two different species throughout its reproductive process.  Flies, attracted by the plant's alluring odor of decay, pollinate the Trillium in the spring.  As the bloom dies, and the ovary begins to decay, it's the ants turn to step in. 


The ant is attracted to a special organ called an 'elaiosome' on the seed.  The elaiosome is a structure rich in proteins and lipids.  After the ants have consumed it, the seed itself is transported to a 'waste area'; this provides an excellent nutrient source for germinating seeds. 

As picturesque as these flowers may be, picking them is quite harmful to the plant, and, in many places, is illegal.  By picking the bloom, the leaf-like bract is damaged.  The purpose of the bract is to supply food to the plant (the leaves themselves cannot perform this task, as they have been reduced to papery, underground coverings for the rhizomes).  Damage to the plant can take as long as three years to fully recover.  So, as far as this native lily goes, it's best to admire it, and leave it be.     

May hike

White  Birch

Water fall

New Growth

Reflections

Fungi

Trillium

Fiddleheads

Skunk Cabbage

Skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) is one of New England's earliest flowering, and most infamous wildflowers.  Found in areas of high moisture (wet woods, marshes, and by brooks and streams), this plant is hard to miss. 

Family:  Araceae  (includes plants such as calla lily, taro, elephants ear, and Philodendron)

Flower:  Purple-brown to Green.  The flowers themselves actually produce heat, a big draw for the flies that pollinate this plant.  Flowers bloom from February - April.   

Ecological importance: 

• Shelter: as the flowers give off heat, Skunk cabbage provides shelter for numerous small species including:
• Earthworms
• Millipedes
• Slugs and Snails
• Salamanders and lizards
• Beetles
• Common yellow-throat

• Food: The leaves, which are responsible for the malodorous aroma the plant gives off, are not surprisingly, avoided as food-stuff by most animals (fungi and some invertebrates do consume them, though).  The seeds, however, are edible, and are an important food source for organisms like:
• Wood duck
• Bobwhite
• Slugs and Snails
• Milipedes
• Honey bees
• Flies
• Earthworm

April 2011

Spring has finally reached New England!!  I'd like to share some photos from a few short hikes of one of my favorite places: Mendell's Folly.  Mendell's Folly is one of Bethany, CT's largest tracts of open space, consisting of some tremendously diverse areas: old cattle pastures, logging land, wetlands, rocky slopes, beaver ponds... A really nice, albeit short trail to hike if you've never done so.

Skunk Cabbage

Water Strider

Witch Hazel

Common Reed

Red Spotted Newt, Aquatic phase

White tailed deer tracks (based on size, most likely a yearling doe)

Sunset

Pines

Spiderweb

Cat tails

White tailed deer remains (seven point buck)

Luke, my hiking buddy