One of the great things about visiting this area is the abundance of spring wildflowers. Everyone appreciates their beauty, but few are aware of how well adapted they are for life in their environment.
Spring ephemerals, as they are known, must do all of their reproductive work before the trees open their leaves and block the sunlight from the forest floor.
The ephemerals begin blooming as early as March and April. While giving them some time before the trees begin to shade them out, it limits the number of pollinators that are available. When there are lots of plants trying to attract a few pollinators, the results can be impressive.
Bright colors, enticing scents, and nectar guides on the petals have all evolved as strategies for attracting pollinators.
One of my favorite wildflowers is the columbine, Aquilegia canadensis. Our region’s only columbine is primarily pollinated by ruby throated hummingbirds, and has evolved to appeal to these birds. The reddish color, five long, narrow spurs which contain the nectar, and the fact that they bloom when the hummingbirds arrive in April are all designed to help the plant reproduce.
Other strategies have evolved to ensure that the seeds are dispersed away from the parent. This eliminates parent versus offspring competition for resources and provides the seed with a better chance of survival. Wild ginger, Asarum canadense, has seeds with small "bumps" containing oils and possibly sugars which attract ants. The bumps, eliasomes, are consumed, but the shell of the seed is too hard for the ants to eat and the seed is discarded. This provides a great environment for germination. This is called "myrmechochory," which literally means "ant farming." Other spring bloomers assisted by ants are violets, bloodroot, anemones, hepaticas, and trillium.
The next time you’re out enjoying the wildflowers around you, keep in mind that they are the end result of hundreds of thousands of years of trial and error. Only the best adapted have survived.
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