Trout Lilly

Six to eight inches of snow had not melted around the house by this morning (elevation 3050 feet), so I went to Camp Creek State Park (elevation 2000 feet) early this morning in hopes that Trout Lilies had managed to bloom. The snow was gone in areas and the Trout Lillies were frozen solid in the 27 degree temperature. There would probably be several in full bloom by the end of the day when the temps hit upper 50's, but I will be out of the area for a while and may not see them before they are gone.
         This flower must be tough, the morning temperatures have been in the low 20's for most of the week, so the flowers that were up must thaw and grow when the temps warm up each day. I found some that had pushed or thawed through the snow. Life is tough and desperate for an ephemeral.
Trout Lilly # four for the Big Year.

Trout Lilly

  

Elevation 3050 feet and under snow for over a week

Tough Flower 

Camp Creek Falls, Elevation 2000 Feet

Snow Trillium (Trillium nivale)

I have been researching and hoping to see Snow Trillium for several years and on Saturday,  March 23, 2013, I was able to see it in Randolph County, WV. Number 3 for the Big Year .

Snow Trillium is difficult to find and  is considered endangered, threatened or rare across most of its range. West Virginia does not have state threatened and endangered species legislation so species listed as either threatened or endangered in the state are only found on the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s list of federally threatened and endangered species. Only four plants are considered endangered and two considered threatened and receive federal protection. The WV Natural Heritage Program tracks rare species and ranks Snow Trillium as imperiled and very vulnerable to extirpation from the state. 

          In an article by Craig Stihler called "The Elegance of Spring Trilliums",  Snow Trillium were described:

"This is our smallest and earliest blooming trillium. Plants are usually less than six inches tall. Flowers white; ovaries white. Leaves have a blue-green coloration.  This uncommon trillium is almost always associated with limestone in areas where leaf litter does not accumulate and cover the plants. It begins to bloom as early as mid-March and may be found in bloom surrounded by snow."  (West Virginia Wildlife Magazine, Spring, 2005)

This article was my introduction to Snow Trillium and I have been waiting to see it ever since. I had arranged to make this trip two weeks before and as the day drew closer the weather grew quirkier. On Wednesday four inches of snow covered the site and on Thursday the report was that the flowers were covered and things did not look good. On Friday there was a long wait as someone surveyed the site and finally reported that the snow had melted enough so the flowers were exposed and in bloom. 

         I arrived Saturday after a three hour drive and joined a group led by botanists with the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. After a short drive with an extremely interesting and talented AmeriCorps volunteer, we set out on a hike to the limestone cove. There was exposed limestone cliffs on a dry hillside and the Trillium were growing right against limestone ledges where wind kept leaves cleared away. 

They were much smaller than I would have imagined, no more than two inches tall. Only two or so were in full bloom and the rest were just beginning to unfold. The botanist mentioned that the recent snow had slowed the bloom somewhat. 

A Group of Five Snow Trillium

I generally prefer to hike alone to sites such as this, but this is a protected botanical area in a National Forest so I welcome the rare opportunity to join an organized hike to see this rare flower. 

Randolph County WV Highlands

Travels

“Thanks to the interstate highway system, it is now possible to travel from coast to coast without seeing anything.” – Charles Kuralt

Saturday, I started a week long, across the state, series of trips for my school. I had to visit Huntington Saturday evening so, per my usual routine, I made plans to visit interesting parks or historical sites as I travel. This time it was the Salt Rock Petroglyphs. More information here at The West Virginia. Cyclopedia.

I kept a look out for wild flowers especially for Skunk Cabbage which I have never seen.The only thing I saw was a road side bank covered with the years first "Easter Lillys" as they're called around here, actually a  naturalized Daffodil. A sign of Spring, but not a wildflower.

I'll be in Charleston and Morgantown the rest of the week. I hope to visit Little Creek Park and Kanawha State Forest in Charleston and the WVU Arboretum and West Virginia Botanic Garden in Morgantown. There is a snow storm headed into WV that may ruin all of those plans. It is predicted to drop anywhere from 6 to 24 inches of snow around the state. (sigh) Here in the south, we already have six inches of snow from the past couple of days. Spring seems so close and yet so far away. 

                                                           UPDATE Thursday March 7, 2013

Well the snow sort of fizzled out. We got 5-6 inches around my Raleigh County Home, a dusting in
Charleston and 1-2 inches in Morgantown. I went to several areas looking for two things; signs of Spring and Skunk Cabbage. I found neither. 

         At Kanawha State Forest, it was raining. I hiked along a creek for awhile and found Hepatica with new growth just barely peeking from the ground and an interesting colorful mushroom that may be one of the red or scarlet cup mushrooms. I drove around stopping at every likely looking swampy place, but no sign of the elusive Skunk Cabbage. 

     

       In Morgantown, there almost no snow except for the West Virginia Botanic Garden, which had a generous covering. It is a fairly new place and advertised as the only botanic garden in West Virginia. It has great trails and walking paths and should have a variety of wildflowers, especially in the forest trails. There is a nice boardwalk through a wetland, but again, no Skunk Cabbage. On the way home, I stopped at a swamp like area near the Stonewall Jackson lake dam, again, nothing. Maybe I'll never see it, or one day I'll stop at a gas station and there will be a mud puddle full of the things. I still have a few places near my home to look, but I am about to give up. 

   

“I glanced out the window at the signs of spring. The sky was almost blue, 

the trees were almost budding, the sun was almost bright.” 

― Millard Kaufman, Bowl of Cherries