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TRILLIUM CERNUUM BLOOMS IN THE WISSAHICKON VALLEY

THE SANGUINE ROOT VISITS WISSAHICKON VALLEY PARK IN HOPES OF FINDING TRILLIUM CERNUUM IN BLOOM.

Trillium Cernuum blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA
Trillium Cernuum blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA

 

The shapes of the leaves.  The recurved white petals.  The striking color of the stamens.  The way the flower blooms below the leaves.  What isn’t there to love?

Trillium Cernuum blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA
Trillium Cernuum blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA

 

This is the first fresh bloom we have actually seen in three years of frequenting this site.  We would always end up being too late or too early.  But on this May Day of 2011, we were right on time.

Trillium Cernuum blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA
Trillium Cernuum blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA

 

The Trillium cernuum reminds us of a Mayapple, the way it has a beautiful, shy flower underneath the leaf.  The two plants also seem to bloom at exactly the same time in the Wissahickon Valley Park.

 

Trillium Cernuum blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA
Trillium Cernuum blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA

This is what Trillium cernuum looks like at first glance, from a human eye point of view.

Trillium Cernuum blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA
Trillium Cernuum blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA

But natural beauty is often found from more subtle viewpoints.

Trillium Cernuum blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA
Trillium Cernuum blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA

We wonder what kind of relationship this Trillium has with insects.  You can see on the petal to the right a potential pollinating insect.

Trillium Cernuum blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA
Trillium Cernuum blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA

Again, we would like to note that there is a certain resemblance between the Trillium cernuum and the Mayapple.

Trillium Cernuum blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA
Trillium Cernuum blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA

Here we have a variety of species growing together: Trillium cernuum, Sanguinaria canadensis, Podophyllum peltatum, Smilacina racemosa. Isabelle Dijols is appreciative of this diverse ecosystem.

Trillium cernuum blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA
Trillium cernuum blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA

It is a rare occurrence to find Trillium cernuum in the Fairmount Park system of Philadelphia.  To find them in bloom is a really special occasion for us.

 

Uvularia perfoliata blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA
Uvularia perfoliata blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA

We also had never see Uvularia perfoliata growing in the wild before.  The flower is even more beautiful than what we anticipated.

Trillium cernuum blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA
Trillium cernuum blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA

The common name “nodding trillium” seems quite appropriate in this particular picture.

Arisaema triphyllum blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA
Arisaema triphyllum blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA

We found Trillium cernuum in the immediate vicinity of Arisaema triphyllum, and Podophyllum peltatum.

Podophyllum peltatum blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA
Podophyllum peltatum blooms in the Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia PA
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BLOOMING PINXTERBLOOM AZALEA IN FULL BLOOM DAY 2

THE SUN FULLY ILLUMINATES THE HUNDREDS OF BLOOMS ON THIS SPECTACULAR NATIVE SHRUB GROWING ON THE RICH UPLAND FOREST OF MORRIS PARK

Pinxter-Bloom Azalea blooms in Morris Park, Philadelphia
Pinxter-Bloom Azalea blooms in Morris Park, Philadelphia

Rhododendron periclymenoides

Pinxter-Bloom Azalea blooms in Morris Park, Philadelphia
Pinxter-Bloom Azalea blooms in Morris Park, Philadelphia

On a cloudy day, this flower lights the place up. On a sunny day, the flowers are transformed into sparkling orbs bursting forth from this normally unassuming woodland shrub.

Pinxter-Bloom Azalea blooms in Morris Park, Philadelphia
Pinxter-Bloom Azalea blooms in Morris Park, Philadelphia

After we saw this, we purchased another one at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education where they have a Spring Native Plant sale this weekend.

Pinxter-Bloom Azalea blooms in Morris Park, Philadelphia
Pinxter-Bloom Azalea blooms in Morris Park, Philadelphia

We are happy that the nursery trade has been able to cultivate this native woodland shrub and there is a market for it.  It is a long process (years) by seed, so its propagation is best done by cuttings.  Our new specimen is only about 11 inches tall, with  a few branches.  Still , this must have taken some time and care to create, and we are overjoyed at its commercial availability.  We can only imagine how many years it will take to look like this naturally occurring upland forest beauty here in Morris Park.

Pinxter-Bloom Azalea blooms in Morris Park, Philadelphia
Pinxter-Bloom Azalea blooms in Morris Park, Philadelphia

We have been keeping a close eye on the area around the shrub.  We remove the invasive vegetation that grows on it and around it, such as Japanese Honeysuckle, and Garlic Mustard.  We have been pulling Japanese Stiltgrass from nearby as well.  Asiatic bittersweet looms in the vicinity, and we see shoots come up from time to time which we immediately yank out.   However, the most ominous and alarming invasive is the Aralia elata, the Japanese angelica tree, which is growing only 25 feet from this shrub.

Pinxter-Bloom Azalea blooms in Morris Park, Philadelphia
Pinxter-Bloom Azalea blooms in Morris Park, Philadelphia

However, on this sunny and balmy spring day at the very end of April, we are very happy to see the Pinxterbloom Azalea in full bloom.

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MAYAPPLES BLOOM IN MORRIS PARK

MAYAPPLES, PINXTER-BLOOM AZALEA, CORAL HONEYSUCKLE AND WILD GERANIUM ALL BLOOM WITH JUST A FEW DAYS APART. DOGWOOD STILL BLOOMING THROUGHOUT PARK

Mayapple in bloom, Morris Park, Philadelphia
Mayapple in bloom, Morris Park, Philadelphia

Look closely, underneath the double parasols can be found the waxy white flowers in full bloom.

Mayapple in bloom, Morris Park, Philadelphia
Mayapple in bloom, Morris Park, Philadelphia

Podophyllum peltatum

The Mayapple flowers have finally come to Morris Park.  These pictures were taken this afternoon after some April Showers. Once lowered down below the leaves, one can see the flowers, many as much as 2 inches across.  This is a time when many plants are blooming at once, so it is hard to keep up, or to remain focused on one flower like we have been doing with the Bloodroot.  The Mayapple flower can easily be overlooked because they bloom underneath the umbrella-like leaves.

Wild geranium in bloom, Morris Park, Philadelphia
Wild geranium in bloom, Morris Park, Philadelphia

Also this afternoon, this one Geranium maculatum was found blooming.  There will be more to come.

Coral Honeysuckle in bloom, Morris Park, Philadelphia
Coral Honeysuckle in bloom, Morris Park, Philadelphia

The native honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens, is blooming. A huge effort has been undertaken to preserve this plant in Morris Park.  Some of the specimens were mistaken for the Lonicera japonica, the much more common and invasive exotic Japanese honeysuckle and were cut by a well-meaning person who was unaware of the native specimens and wanted to protect the young trees from the choking vines.   The two vines are very similar in appearance to the untrained eye. The Sanguine Root took immediate action after this unfortunate incident, and proceeded to carefully remove the Japanese honeysuckle from the entire area, much of  which was twining up the same tree as the native one!  This was a tedious process, but necessary to preserve the native Honeysuckle.  The above picture is our reward for all of the hard work.  While we generally avoid any kind of ribbons or tags in the park, there are some circumstances that require their use.  We have small pale -yellow ribbons identifying the plant, so that there will be no more mistaken identity in the future.

 

Pinxter bloom Azalea in bloom, Morris Park, Philadelphia
Pinxter bloom Azalea in bloom, Morris Park, Philadelphia

Rhododendron periclymenoides

Blooming Pinxter-bloom Azalea.  This is a great native shrub in the forest.  This specific specimen is the biggest we have ever seen. Hundreds of bright pink blooms!  There are a handful of these in the overlook area at the end of the Morris Park Road Trail.  We dote over them and make sure there are no invasives nearby.

Pinxter bloom Azalea in bloom, Morris Park, Philadelphia
Pinxter bloom Azalea in bloom, Morris Park, Philadelphia

Yeah, we also decided to go ahead and buy one for our yard, and they are available at native plant nurseries.