Spring Wildflower Walk

by Gretchen Lytle

Introduction

Some winters feel longer than others. The cold days just don’t let up. Apparently, this may have been the case this year on the Bard campus. The first bulbs to flower, like the white snowdrops and the sharp yellow aconite, and the early-budding shrubs like witch hazel, started about a month later than the prior two years. Is this true as well for the spring ephemerals, the early-blooming wildflowers? We will take as our measure what happens along the sides of Cruger Island Road as it heads west down to the Hudson, just before the edge of North Campus. If you don’t feel like trekking across campus to Cruger Island Road, you can drive there and park in the pull-out on the right just past the last cluster of dorms. There’s room for several cars to pull off the road.

Scilla and Violets

Walk down the road and eyeball the sides of the road for little blossoms. Blue-violet scilla may catch your eye along the verge. These little cultivars have escaped into the woodlands. They are hardy, tolerant of the cold, and spread easily, and critters from voles to deer have no interest in them. They thrive in the wild. Likely along the verge, you will also come across wildflowers in a not dissimilar color, the common blue violets. Their scent, purply blue color, and the stripes on the lower petal draw pollinators in for the nectar. Historically, people have used violets for food and medicine. Their flowers and leaves are edible. Purportedly, a half cup of violet leaves has as much vitamin C as three oranges. Note that wild violets are totally unrelated to African violets, which are NOT edible. Need I say, do not eat any plant unless you are 100% sure you have identified it correctly.

Trout Lily

Hopefully, you will see other ephemera along the way—wildflowers whose blossoms and foliage will disappear when the trees above fully leaf out, blocking the sunlight. Look for the little yellow dog-tooth violets, also known as trout lilies, growing in clusters, heads bowed over. When their six petals spread apart, you can see six long stamens with yellow or rusty-red anthers hanging from the center of the blossom. Trout lilies are named for their leaves, which are speckled, seemingly like trout. The Haudenosaunee used poultices of smashed roots of the trout lily to treat swelling. Some deer and plenty of chipmunks feed on trout lilies.

Trillium

My personal favorite on this walk is trillium, another member of the lily family. If you’re lucky, you will see both the white and the dark red, each with their recognizable three petals. They are a protected species, so tread carefully if you want to get close. (And, if you want some for your garden, there are reputable nurseries where you can purchase them. Please do not disturb the ones you see in the wild.) Trillium has been used medicinally as an astringent, coagulant, expectorant, and uterine stimulant. Consider its common names, birthwort and Indian balm.

Bloodroot

Keep your eyes peeled for the clear white flowers of the bloodroot, particularly eye-catching on a sunny day. The blossom usually has eight petals distributed symmetrically, with a group of yellow stamens in the center of the blossom. It may blossom for up to two weeks, closing up at night as well as on overcast days. This member of the poppy family grows in colonies. It is of the genus Sanguinaria, which means bloody. The reddish-orange liquid its root exudes when cut gives it its common name. While it contains a skin irritant, indigenous people used its dye for basket materials, on clothing, and in body paint—as well as an insect repellent. It also has antiseptic properties. One does not often come across bloodroot, and it is a protected plant in the wild. This is another plant that needs to be left undisturbed.

Coltsfoot

Along the way you may also come across coltsfoot, a non-native plant introduced by European settlers. It’s a bright yellow flower, almost dandelion-like, which shoots up and opens before its foliage grows, whence comes its name Son-before-Father. It is also quite beautiful when its blossom goes to seed, not unlike a dandelion. The leaves, when they come up, are said to resemble a colt’s foot. It is of the Tussilago genus, which means “to treat a cough.” In fact, the Haudenosaunee used an infusion of its roots as a cough medicine. While people have used its blossoms and leaves as a tea as well as for food, there are warnings about its toxicity in large amounts.

Marsh Marigold

When the road appears to end at the bottom of the hill in the tidal channel, you have two options. If the tide is low, you can continue straight out along the path west into the tidal marsh itself, and your vista opens up to the south. You may find some coltsfoot or marsh marigold along the edge of this path, as well as other signs of spring growth. If you lose your balance in some of the mucky parts of the trail, you may end up soaking wet in the mud, as my husband Mark did once. Yuk.

Water Chestnut

If it’s low tide, you may also see signs of an aquatic plant, the invasive European water chestnut, not to be confused with the water chestnuts one eats in Asian food. Sometime in the late 1800s, Europeans introduced these plants to the Hudson River area, as garden plants and perhaps as food for waterbirds. Some seeds escaped, and the water chestnut has been spreading ever since. They create a brilliant green, floating mat that dies back at the end of each growing season. Each rosette has the potential of dropping 20 greenish-brown, hard, nut-like fruits (each one a seed) into the sediment below, and these fruits can remain viable for some 12 years in that environment. When the mass of intertwined plants blocks the light from going down into the water each spring and summer, it impacts other aquatic ecosystems and interferes with people fishing, boating, and swimming. As you near the river, you may see spiky nuts from the water chestnut that have died and turned black. They resemble caltrops, a manmade defense device with four sharp spikes, intended to disable horses, chariots, and elephants. Watch out. If you step on a water chestnut seed barefoot, it hurts. There is no easy way to control this plant and stop it from spreading.

Tivoli South Bay

When you return to the foot of the road again, turn north and walk to where another viewpoint opens up facing west and north across the marshes of Tivoli South Bay, a wonderful river view. This is a point to return to each season as well as at different tides. It is always spectacular.

Skunk Cabbage

Along this lower part of the road you are likely to see lots of skunk cabbage, which thrives in wetlands. One of few plants capable of thermogenesis, skunk cabbage warms frozen ground, and their version of a flower emerges early. The spathe, a hood-like leaf, surrounds the cylindrical spadix that contains a bunch of little flowers packed in together. Later large green leaves grow in a circular fashion spreading out from its base. My mother used to transplant little, early skunk cabbage and set them in a low bowl in the center of our dining table to welcome spring. If you do this, be careful not to bruise it as that is when your nose will tell you why it is named as it is—Symplocarpus foetidus. Indigenous people cooked and ate the roots. Leaves, stems and flowers are toxic. Amazing to think, then, that various parts of the plant can be prepared in ways to treat a range of wounds and symptoms, including headache, earache, and bleeding as well as skin and mouth sores.

Always More to See

As you make your way back up to where you parked your car, keep your eyes open for flowers you may not have noticed on your way downhill. If you’ve been lucky finding some of these early spring wildflowers, perhaps you’ll see others, too. A different vantage point may open your eyes anew. You can use one of the free plant identification apps (such as PlantNet or iNaturalist) as you walk, or you can Google individual plants. There are also paid apps like PictureThis, which get excellent reviews. Take a photo of the foliage (if it has appeared) along with the blossom to assist in identification.

If you haven’t yet seen the new Bard spring walking map, you can get a digital copy through arboretum@bard.edu or pick up a beautiful hard copy at the Arboretum office at B&G. The map features spring bulbs, perennials, shrubs, and trees. Enjoy the walk along Cruger Island Road, try others—and welcome spring!