The blooming lasts about 2 weeks, but a single flower usually lasts about 4 days. The slender stems with each raceme are at least as long as the flowers they are light green to purplish green. The petals are lanceolate-oblong and sometimes tinted with pink or light purple. Each fragrant flower is about ½” across when fully open, consisting of 4 predominately white petals. The flowers open up and become more erect in the presence of sunshine on warm spring days. The flowering stalk terminates into a short cluster (raceme) of white flowers that becomes longer as it matures. The central stalk is greyish green to medium green, smooth or slightly hairy, and unbranched. The basal leaves and the upper leaves have a similar appearance both types of leaves are greyish green to medium green and largely hairless. Each leaf is up to 3″ long and across, but palmately cleft into 3-5 narrow lobes with dentate teeth along the margins. A fertile shoot consists of a single flowering stalk with a whorl of 3 leaves. The basal leaves are separate from the fertile shoots they help to store energy for next year’s fertile shoots. This herbaceous perennial plant is about 3-10″ tall, producing from its rootstock both basal leaves and fertile shoots with upper leaves. A colony of Cut-leaved Toothwort plants emerging.Ĭut-leaved Toothwort develops quickly and it is one of the earlier spring wildflowers of woodlands. However, when the non-native Garlic Mustard ( Alliaria petiolata) invades a woodland, this is one of the spring wildflowers whose numbers rapidly decline. The presence of this spring ephemeral wildflower indicates that its soil has never been plowed under or subjected to heavy construction activities within the woodland where it grows. “Toothwort” refers to the tooth-like projections on its underground stem (rhizome) that are actually plant stem scars from the previous seasons’ growth segments resemble a string of beads. It does not store any personal data.This week, I’m featuring Cut-leaved Toothwort ( Cardamine concatenata) as one of our local wildflowers that begins to bloom at this time. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. It’s a great time to get out into the woods and catch those spring ephemerals while you can! For example, there are 30 species of Trillium found in the southern Appalachians, with only four species in the northern Appalachians. Green carpetbaggers, they are often called in my neighborhood. ![]() ![]() The southern mountains also hosted its fleeing northern neighbors during the last ice age, and when the glaciers retreated many northern species stayed put in the mild southern hills. This protection gave the flora millions of years to evolve new species. During the last glacial period the flora of the southern mountains was protected from the permafrost by its latitude and cradling coves. Many factors give rise to this high level of biodiversity: a moderate climate, rich soil born of ancient mountains, and varied microclimates created by diverse topography. The southern Appalachian Mountains have the highest diversity of woodland wildflowers in North America. Yellow toadshade (Trillium luteum, Trilliaceae)
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