Last week, the first native spring ephemerals were seen
flowering here at Hawthorne Valley. In our gardens, the
introduced snow drops, crocusses, and even daffodils have been
blooming for quite a while. And the introduced coltsfoot, who
tends to be the very first wild growing herbaceous plant that
flowers around here in spring, has also already been seen in
bloom for several week, now. Coltsfoot, which is closely related
to the also introduced dandelions, but lacks the rosette of
leaves at flowering time (the leaves emerge after the flowers
have wilted and are roundish with a long stalk, very different
from the leaves of dandelion), tend to grow around here either
along scoured shores of creeks or along roadsides. It most
likely was originally introduced for is medicinal properties,
but now grows wild in patches of sandy or gravelly soil.
Flowering activity of the native plants in the woods has so far
been limited to trees, such as the maples, elms, and
cottonwoods, and shrubs, such as shadbush and leatherwoo