It’s the most wonderful time of the year – when trilliums are in bloom! Since I can’t get out in the woods much right now, instead have some completely useless facts about red trilliums. Red trillium (Trillium erectum), like all trilliums, is a monocot, meaning it arises from a seed with a single cotyledon or seed leaf. Most plants are dicots, which have seeds with two cotyledons, so this makes trilliums a little bit special.

Or: why I use iNaturalist. I constantly see posts from my Facebook friends (and even in native plant communities) asking for recommendations on mobile apps to identify plants. Inevitably someone will pop up with PictureThis, or Google Lens, or even Seek. But here’s why I use iNaturalist.org’s mobile app. Free PictureThis is ad-supported if you don’t give them money. The premium version ranges in price from $30-$50/year, depending on plan.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The snow has melted, spring ephemerals are… ephemering, and woodpeckers are gettin’ it on in the trees. In my continuing effort to bring you more dumb plant facts, I figured I’d share some of the pictures of what I’ve been seeing in the woods in the past ~week or so. Round-lobed hepatica, Hepatica americana. Close-up on the white/pinkish flowers Round-lobed hepatica (Hepatica americana), zoomed out a bit to see some of the leathery, tri-lobed leaf This is round-lobed hepatica, Hepatica americana.

Multiflora rose – whose Latin name is Rosa multiflora, logically enough – is kind of a shit rose. A lovely portrait of a shit rose. It is native to east Asia, but definitely not North America, where it has become wildly invasive. … if you know me at all, you know I have a bee in my bonnet about the term “invasive,” but my definition of a shitty invasive is “can I find it naturalized in woodlands behind my house?